Chapter 28
After the conversation with Hanna, Daniel sits down in his office in front of the computer with yet another cup of coffee. His eyes are stinging with tiredness—or maybe it’s the weight of a young life that has been snuffed out too early.
He never gets used to it, in spite of all his years as a police officer.
Alice is with Ida now; it is Ida’s turn to have their daughter for two days, so he’s not in a hurry to get home to the empty apartment. It feels kind of desolate without Alice’s chattering, so he might as well stay at work and carry out the background checks on the five friends.
The interviews have provided a pretty cohesive picture of the course of events yesterday evening. Filippa had gotten very drunk. They all said there was a lot of alcohol. Maybe drugs too, although none of them mentioned that. Daniel is well aware that drug use is very common among today’s students.
No one saw Filippa leave the house and go outside in the middle of the night. No one can provide a reasonable explanation as to why she was found dead in the snow the following morning.
So how did she end up there?
He reads through his interview notes and makes a list of the five students. He also adds the name of Staffan Berg, the property manager who looks after the house when the family are in Stockholm. And ?ke Carlsson, the neighbor who came over on Saturday evening.
Both men must be contacted and questioned as soon as possible, but first he wants to revisit the interviews.
Olivia was the first person he spoke to.
He accompanied her to the cabin, and took the opportunity to check out Filippa’s room.
Olivia was clearly devastated, but she made a good impression on Daniel.
She came across as clever, made an effort to give clear, well-thought-out answers.
According to Olivia, she and Filippa were best friends, and the four boys have confirmed this.
At first glance Daniel finds it hard to believe she had anything to do with Filippa’s death.
Olivia’s grief seemed completely genuine.
He finishes his coffee and turns to the next interview.
William Lowengren grew up in ?stermalm in Stockholm, and it became clear that he had attended prestigious schools in the city center and is used to a high standard of living.
Apart from the showy house in ?re, the family also owns a summer cottage in the Stockholm archipelago, and they often holiday abroad.
His father has a high-ranking position with one of Sweden’s largest merchant banks, and his mother works for an investment company.
William is the oldest of three brothers.
Daniel chews the end of his pen as he thinks about William Lowengren.
Judging by his own description, he saw himself as the informal leader of the group.
It seemed to Daniel that William enjoyed the role and was keen to maintain that position.
He had accompanied the two detectives to the door when they were leaving, and had loudly requested that the police should keep them informed of any developments in the case, as if he were automatically acting as the group’s spokesman.
What would happen if anyone challenged his authority? How would he react?
And what if that someone happened to be a girl?
However, no one has suggested that Filippa was the kind of person who wanted to be the center of attention. Quite the reverse, in fact—according to Olivia, she could be shy and reserved. Yesterday evening had been an exception, when Filippa had had way too much to drink and acted out of character.
What does that mean?
Daniel has no idea.
His third interview was with Amir Ghazemi, who described himself as William’s best friend in Uppsala. Amir’s parents come from Iran. Both are highly educated; his father is a dentist, and his mother works in HR in one of the larger clothing chains. Amir has a younger sister.
Daniel reaches for the mouse and brings up a picture of Amir Ghazemi on Instagram.
The photo seems to have been taken outdoors; he is half lying on a lawn in the sunshine, smiling at the camera.
There is no denying that he looks good, with his dark, longish hair, a charming smile, and brown eyes with a hint of green.
Not the kind of guy who would find it difficult to get the girls.
Olivia had hinted that Amir and Filippa had been making out on the sofa, but she wasn’t sure how it had gone after she left.
Daniel makes a note to follow this up. Hanna’s comment about a jealous boyfriend lingers in the back of his mind.
Although he hadn’t gotten the impression from Amir that Filippa was a particularly important person in his life.
Even though the interview was about her, Amir seemed to want to focus on his friendship with William.
He was clearly impressed by his friend and the Lowengren family, their lifestyle, their houses, their luxury vacations, how cool it was to live like that.
Daniel removes the image of Amir’s face from the screen and types “Pontus Englund” in the search box. The picture matches the young man he met earlier: Pontus looks a little lost and awkward, as if the camera has perfectly captured his lack of self-esteem.
He doesn’t seem to belong in the group, somehow. He is a lot less confident than the others. According to the notes, he comes from a small village in Sk?ne, and grew up on a farm run by his parents—the fourth generation to do so.
Anton, who conducted the interview, described Pontus as nervous and sweaty during their conversation. However, he couldn’t be sure whether this was because Pontus was hungover or simply stressed by the situation.
He got the impression that Pontus was embarrassed to admit that he’d gotten so drunk he’d fallen asleep on the sofa. Pontus couldn’t remember what time he’d last seen Filippa.
Daniel moves on to the last name on the list: Emil Sandstrom.
Born and brought up outside Ume?, with two younger sisters.
Both parents are teachers. Daniel thinks back to the tall, fair-haired twenty-two-year-old he met this morning.
A young man from Norrland who had moved south to study.
Emil had a calm, measured way of speaking.
Daniel has heard this same tone many times north of Sundsvall, where he himself was born and raised.
Emil is the oldest in the group, because he worked for a few years before going to university.
He said he was used to the outdoor life and enjoyed sporting activities.
According to Anton, he came across very well.
Daniel leans back and links his hands behind his head. Thinks for a few seconds.
All the facts on the table give a cohesive picture of a group of students who are generally decent individuals.
There is a clear reason why they know one another, although some seem to be closer friends than others.
They had just completed the final assignment of the semester, and they had a few days free before the beginning of the spring semester.
So they came to the mountains, where one of the group had access to a large, luxurious house where they could stay for free.
They seem to have partied hard since they arrived in ?re, but Daniel can’t really criticize them for that. Who didn’t do the same at their age?
Nothing that emerged during the interviews comes across as suspicious or unreasonable, but if Hanna’s instinct is correct—and unfortunately he has to admit that this has often been the case in the past—then a crime has been committed.
If Filippa’s death wasn’t accidental, then he must assume that one of the five friends he met this morning must have been involved.
It is difficult to find another explanation.
But which one of them?