Chapter 103
There are a thousand choices, Daniel thinks. But only one solution.
And he won’t know if he has found the right solution until the drama is over.
Every decision they make from now on could be critical, and could cost lives.
He has just spoken to the duty officer at regional dispatch. Daniel has been made critical incident officer; his experience from Gothenburg makes him best suited to the role.
It isn’t a responsibility he can refuse, but it feels like a heavy burden. As soon as the SWAT team arrives, he will have backup, and he must then decide whether or not they should go in.
There is no sign of movement behind the windows. The hotel appears to be empty and desolate, like a mausoleum to Charlotte’s grandiose plans.
The wind whips up the snow around Daniel’s feet. He is freezing; he is not properly dressed for spending so much time outdoors. He can smell a blizzard in the air, and dark clouds have moved in from the North Atlantic via Norway.
Hanna arrives back and passes on her observations.
“Mogren could be anywhere,” she concludes. “But as he broke into the main building, I’d go for that initially.”
“A UAS is on the way,” Daniel informs her. “With a thermal imaging camera.”
Hanna nods. During the past few years, the police have turned increasingly to the use of drones.
They are known internally as UASs, short for unmanned aerial systems. When they are equipped with infrared cameras, they can be used to search for animals and people in the dark, or inside buildings.
They can also detect very small differences in temperature and convert these to thermal images, which the system displays as colors.
This enables the human eye to interpret what the camera registers.
“How long before it gets here?” Hanna stamps her feet up and down. She isn’t dressed for this kind of weather either.
“The pilot should arrive at any minute.”
To be honest, Daniel wishes Grip were here. Having the boss on the spot would make him feel more secure, but during the morning her cough had worsened. She is now at home, waiting for the result of a COVID test. Meanwhile she must self-isolate.
It can’t be helped. They have gone through the current state of play over the phone.
He turns his head as he hears the sound of a car engine. A blue Audi has been allowed through the cordon and pulls in beside them.
Petter, the UAS pilot, has arrived.
Daniel explains what is going on, and within a very short time, a quadcopter with four propellers is hovering above their heads.
This model is often used in search operations in the mountains to locate people who have been buried in the snow.
Now it is a case of pinning down Mogren and Filip so that the SWAT team will know where to go in.
In seconds it is high in the air, a black insect with artificial eyes.
The hum of its engine is barely audible.
“Start with the main building,” Hanna says.
Her eyes are glued to the double screens showing what the system picks up. She is looking for a sign that someone is in there, a glimpse of Mogren or Filip, an arm or a face.
The mountain hotel is huge—they have thousands of square feet to search.
Daniel pushes that thought aside. He turns to Hanna; her expression is one of grim determination. This time it feels as if they have an almost impossible task before them.
“I think we have one or more individuals directly below the drone,” the pilot says suddenly.
Daniel glances up at the drone, which is hovering motionless in the air.
“That must be the dining room,” Hanna says breathlessly. “Or maybe the old Loft, where we were the other day. The room with the bar and the ceiling paintings.”
She points to one of the short sides of the building and takes a step closer to Petter.
“Fly as close as you can to those windows.”
The quadcopter changes direction and heads toward the section where the Loft is located. Daniel is staring so hard at the screens that his eyes are hurting. Hanna lets out a small cry as a shadow passes by.
“There! I’m sure I saw something!”
The drone has moved on, but Daniel also thought he saw a silhouette that didn’t belong in the room.
“Fly back,” he says quickly. “We need to take another look.”
The pilot moves the joystick. Daniel and Hanna wait as the seconds crawl by. Then the quadcopter is in the correct position, hovering motionless once more.
It is dark inside the window, it is not easy to see through the dirty glass, but the image on the screen appears to show someone sitting on a chair.
“Is that Filip?” Hanna whispers. “Do you think it could be him?”
The figure is not moving, the head is lolling onto the chest.
Hanna inhales sharply. “Is he alive?”