Chapter 53
The digital meeting with ?stersund is over. Raffe had to leave, but Hanna, Daniel, and Anton are still in the conference room.
Hanna is doodling on her notepad as she ponders the new information from Ylva.
So Filippa had sex the night before she died. But was it voluntary or not?
And what happened next?
Ylva hadn’t found any evidence to prove one or the other, but that isn’t necessarily definitive.
A woman who is raped rarely behaves the way someone does in a movie or on TV, screaming and fighting.
Quite the reverse; the most common reaction is what is known as the freeze response, where the victim enters a state of apathy and becomes paralyzed, simply remaining motionless until the assault is over.
This means there may well be no external physical injuries, if the man is merely threatening rather than physically violent.
Hanna has experienced this herself. She still carries the feelings of guilt and regret because she didn’t fight back.
In addition, Filippa was very drunk—everyone they have spoken to said the same. She might not even have been aware of what was happening, and certainly not in any state to defend herself.
“So one of the boys is lying about what they did on Saturday,” Anton says, leaning back in his chair and linking his hands behind his neck. “Should we conclude that this is because the same person is involved in Filippa’s death? And that it wasn’t an accident?”
“Sounds reasonable,” Daniel says. “Especially bearing in mind what Karin Carlsson saw from her kitchen window: a male figure outside the house next door in the middle of the night.”
“What if it was her son?” Hanna wonders. “Peter Carlsson, the guy with the wandering hands?”
It is a spontaneous comment, she hasn’t had time to digest Raffe’s information yet, nor has she read the original police report.
Daniel has a green elastic band stretched around his thumb and index finger. He pings it in the direction of the wastepaper basket and gives her a skeptical look.
“Wouldn’t Karin have recognized her own son, if that were the case? And if she did, do you really think she would have told us?”
Hanna smiles—the pattern is familiar. She is impulsive; Daniel is reflective. It is usually a good combination when they are sitting around and speculating like this.
“Shall we drop Peter Carlsson for the moment and go back to the four boys?” Daniel adds. He goes over to the whiteboard, picks up a blue marker pen, and writes down the names:
Emil
Pontus
William
Amir
“The big question is which of them it could be. We have a choice of four.”
He gazes at the list, then adds A after Emil’s name.
A for assault. Does this mean that Emil is also a rapist?
Hanna finds this hard to believe of the fair-haired young man she met earlier, but it can’t be ruled out.
At least not at this stage.
Pontus’s online search history has aroused their suspicions. He has googled a series of dubious terms—why would he do that if he isn’t involved in some way?
And worried about being caught?
“If Ylva is able to retrieve any sperm from Filippa, we’d be able to identify the male through a DNA test,” Anton points out. “All we’d have to do is compare the samples.”
“We don’t know if there is any sperm to analyze,” Hanna says. “They might have used a condom.”
“And even if there is, it would take the National Forensic Center months to get back to us,” Daniel says gloomily.
He is right—it is no secret that waiting times for the NFC are a major problem. This has been the case for years, even though Sweden’s entire police service is aware of how bad things are.
“Let’s check it out with Ylva,” Hanna says. “What do we do now?”
“I think we should speak to everyone again,” Daniel replies. “Push them hard, given the new information.”
This is probably the best way forward.
Increase the pressure.
“I’d like to talk to Olivia,” Hanna says. “She must have her own opinion of the boys and their relationship with Filippa. It would be interesting to hear what she has to say.”
When she read the transcript of the initial interview with Olivia, she found it pretty nondescript. Then again, the girl had been upset and shocked; they had just found Filippa’s body in the snow.
That was almost thirty-six hours ago, so hopefully Olivia will be more composed by now.
And nobody had asked targeted questions about Filippa’s relationships with the four boys, which is exactly what Hanna wants to do. She also wants to find out more about Olivia’s role.
Could she be involved in Filippa’s death? Did Filippa do something to make her best friend jealous? Did she sleep with William, for example, who apparently was Olivia’s boyfriend? It is possible that the girls fell out over a boy—it wouldn’t be the first time something like that had happened.
Hanna glances at the clock—it is almost three. At this time of year, the lifts close around now, so the group should be on their way home.
She would really like to talk to Olivia.
“I think we should go back there.”
“Or we bring them into the station,” Anton suggests. “That might have more of an impact? First the house search, then a proper interview. It might frighten them into telling the truth.”
Hanna considers the idea. If they send a patrol car to bring them in, everything is immediately placed on a more formal footing. However, it could also make them clam up.
If the group shuts down, then it could be even more difficult to find out what actually happened on Saturday—not to mention the risk that one or more of them will demand the presence of a lawyer.
That could mean it would take a long time to conduct the interviews; the number of available defense lawyers in ?re is extremely limited.
She turns to Daniel. “What do you think? Should we go up there, or bring them in?”
Daniel’s leg jiggles up and down as he considers the pros and cons.
“It’s easier to separate them if we interview them here.
We have all the facilities.” He is right, of course.
“But we might get more out of them by speaking to them in an environment where they feel secure. It will be easier to build trust, and the most important thing is for them to be able to open up and tell the truth.”
“So we ought to go there,” Hanna says.
It is at moments like this that she knows exactly why she enjoys working with Daniel so much. His ability to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of a course of action, to see both sides of an argument without any hint of self-importance, is invaluable.
“Okay,” she goes on, beginning to gather up her things. “Who’s coming with me to Sadeln?”