Chapter 27
No one on Facebook seems to be missing a long-haired gray-and-white cat.
Hanna is standing at her adjustable desk in the police station. She has checked all the groups in the area, and posted a message of her own saying where Morris is.
He has been with her for only a few days, but she already knows she would be happy for him to stay. The warm feelings have come as a surprise. She hadn’t realized how lonely she was.
She moves the mouse. She has spent the last hour surfing the net, looking for more information about Charlotte Wretlind and her private life.
It is now after two o’clock; she has a meeting with her colleagues in just over twenty minutes.
Before that she wants to see if people have written anything about Storlien online.
She starts searching on Facebook, and immediately gets a hit.
The group is called Preserve Storlien. It has several hundred followers, and the banner shows an image of the hotel complex. The photo seems relatively recent—the buildings look dilapidated and very much the worse for wear.
Hanna scrolls down through the plethora of comments.
It quickly becomes clear that the group is opposed to the plans for a new luxury hotel.
They don’t like the idea of international tourists, or that a well-used area of common land will be taken over in order to extend the complex.
They are also concerned that some of the most popular ski slopes will be reserved for the exclusive use of hotel guests.
The project doesn’t seem to have much support.
The tone of the comments is bitter, and unexpectedly strong language is used.
In several places Hanna reads that the environment is being “raped,” and that the judgment of future generations will be harsh.
The expenditure involved is mocked and derided.
Many ask why the council doesn’t put its foot down and stop the plans before it’s too late.
“We don’t want to become a new ?re!” someone insists.
One post refers to a newspaper article where a former minister for rural affairs, Stefan Forsberg, had only positive things to say.
Apparently he is attached to the project as an adviser, which leads a number of people to complain about superannuated politicians who accept lucrative roles as lobbyists.
Prejudice and swear words abound, the use of language is anything but sophisticated. And the most explicit posts have attracted the highest number of likes.
The nasty comments make Hanna uneasy.
People have become so careless in the way they direct threats and hatred toward their fellow human beings online. It’s as if they think the recipient doesn’t really exist, as if it’s all pretend, even though the words are frightening and hurtful.
Hanna reads a few more posts, then decides she has had enough. Presumably these idiots don’t even realize that the majority of what they write would be punishable by law if anyone chose to take action.
She leaves the Storlien group and searches for an image of Stefan Forsberg instead. A photo of a man with short gray hair appears on the screen. He has a firm chin and is looking straight into the camera. It isn’t hard to picture him in a political debate—or as a convincing and well-paid lobbyist.
He would definitely have connected through the TV screen when he was a minister.
As she carries on googling, the screen is filled with headlines about Forsberg’s time as an active politician, and his new career as a lobbyist. He seems to work for a communication company called Excellence.
According to its home page, the aim is to support businesses that want to “establish and maintain good relations with the community and decision-makers.”
A glance at her watch tells Hanna she has five minutes before the meeting begins.
She opens a new window and goes into Flashback. The site is certainly one of Sweden’s most visited, but it has no responsible publisher and therefore allows wild and sometimes unethical speculation.
She types in Charlotte Wretlind’s name, and is confronted with a number of contributions, all critical of the dead woman.
Then she tries Stefan Forsberg. Most of what is written concerns his political activities, but there is one thread claiming that he is a ladies’ man who regularly cheats on his wife, a high-ranking judge.
Hanna thinks for a moment, then enters both names together. She immediately finds several comments claiming that Charlotte Wretlind and Stefan Forsberg were more than business associates.
They were allegedly in a relationship.