Page 13 of Hidden in Memories
In Norrland most police officers have to spend many hours in their cars simply to attend a crime scene, and the district of Jämtland also includes Härjedalen.
Hanna hopes that the lead CSI will be Carina Grankvist. They worked together on the case of the dead skier, and she is direct and approachable. Carina is also formally attached to Östersund, just like Daniel and Hanna, but she lives in Mattmar, which is closer to Åre—only fifty miles away.
“Do we know any more about the victim? Do we have a name?”
Daniel shakes his head. “We’ll find out when we get there.”
The dark-brown building housing the chocolate factory appears on the right. It is directly opposite the turning for Copperhill on the road to Sadeln, where Lydia’s impressive home is located.
Hanna knows the route by heart; she has driven this way many, many times, both in darkness and in daylight.
As they leave the E14, the road becomes steep and narrow. It winds up the mountain, more like an Alpine track in Switzerland than something you would expect to find in rural Sweden. On one side there are amazing frozen waterfalls, while on the other, the view is open and dizzying.
When they reach the center of Björnen, Daniel takes a sharp right. A small sign points them in the right direction, withCopperhill Mountain Lodgeprinted in black letters.
After several more twists and turns, the spectacular building appears before them. The hotel is right at the top of Förberget. Hanna has been here for dinner with Lydia and her family, but has never stayed the night. That would be out of the question on a detective’s salary.
The milky morning mist makes her screw up her eyes. The lump in her stomach grows as they approach the crime scene.
Way down below she can just make out Lake Åre like a white strip of ice on the way to the mountains in the west, while on the other side of the lake, the mountain known as Renfjället is in shadow.
Daniel finds a space and quickly reverses in. Two patrol cars are already there, parked a little farther away. The parking lot is almost full; Easter is one of the busiest weekends of the season.
“Crap timing,” Hanna comments. “The first day of the school break—the place must be packed.”
Daniel’s expression is grim as he opens the car door. “It’s a tragedy. For the victim, the hotel, and the whole area.”
Then
December 21, 1973
The black-and-white uniform is laid out on the bed in front of Monica in her bedroom, so clean and freshly starched that she can hardly believe it’s hers. It is three days to Christmas Eve, and time for her first shift at the mountain hotel in Storlien.
She still can’t get her head around the fact that she has secured a job as a waitress in the area’s most sparkling establishment, where the guests look like the movie stars in the magazines she secretly reads.
Even the king comes here sometimes!
Monica gets shivers down her spine at the thought that she might one day catch a glimpse of him. He is twenty-seven years old, unmarried, and the most attractive royal in Europe. It is well known that he often calls in at the hotel when he is staying in his cabin nearby.
With trembling fingers she gets dressed and inspects the result in the mirror. The uniform fits her neat figure to perfection. She is only just over five feet tall, but her new bra works wonders. She has put up her brown hair to make her look older, and she has applied extra eyeliner for the same reason.
When she is ready, she goes downstairs to show her mom, who is listening to the radio in the living room.
“What do you think?” Monica asks nervously.
Her mother is clearly unimpressed. “Are you supposed to wear such a short skirt for work?”
Monica has turned up the hem so that she will look better. More grown up.
“Yes, this is how it’s meant to be,” she says airily, putting on her coat.
It takes twenty minutes to walk to the hotel. Monica is breathless with excitement by the time she arrives. The building is beautifully illuminated, richly decorated with bunches of fir and dark-red velvet rosettes above the entrance. There are tall Christmas trees on either side of the staircase, and burning torches in cast-iron holders line the path to the impressive double doors.
She has dreamed of this for years, as well as the chance to become independent and earn her own money.
This is a way out, a portal to another world.
Maybe she will meet her future husband among the guests? Someone from Stockholm who will take her away from here, offer her a different life.
