CHAPTER 8
Olof Palme served as prime minister of Sweden for eleven tumultuous years.
He was pivotal and polarizing, steadfast in his non-alignment policy toward China, Russia, and America.
An advocate for Third World countries, he despised imperialist ambitions and authoritarian regimes.
He voiced harsh and emotional criticism of the United States over the Vietnam War.
Expressed vocal opposition to the crushing of the Prague Spring by the Soviet Union.
He campaigned against nuclear weapons proliferation.
He supported the African National Congress, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the Polisario Front.
He openly called the Franco regime in Spain murderers, opposed apartheid and supported economic sanctions against South Africa.
All of that ensured that Palme had plenty of friends and enemies.
His outspokenness led to three cooling-off periods with the United States when diplomatic relations were temporarily suspended.
Domestically, though, he was immensely popular.
By his own admission he considered himself a “revolutionary reformist.” A social progressive.
He favored unions over business, reformed the nation’s childcare and health systems, and revamped public education.
No friend of the wealthy, he supported some of the highest tax rates Sweden ever imposed.
Like nearly all other Swedish officials at the time, Palme went about his day without security or bodyguards.
On February 28, 1986, near midnight, he was walking home with his wife when he was shot in the back at close range.
A local drug addict was convicted of the crime, but was unanimously acquitted on appeal.
Many investigations ensued afterward, none of which ever led to another suspect.
But nine years ago a break came.
A Russian defector provided intel that the KGB had orchestrated Palme’s death. Unfortunately, that defector died before he could offer any further testimony.
Cotton listened as Stephanie explained about Olof Palme.
“That’s where Westlake comes in,” she said.
“We learned from that defector all about Olof Palme and the Soviet involvement with his death. Before he was killed we also learned that the SVR had a source inside the Swedish royal family. No name was provided, but enough was learned that we began to suspect Westlake. So we ran a canary trap.”
He knew about those. A way of exposing an information leak by providing different versions of sensitive information to each of several suspects and seeing which version ultimately was leaked.
He liked the more colloquial description.
Send something stinky up the pole, then wait to see where the scent leads.
“We fabricated some specific intel and made sure only Westlake became aware of it. And sure enough, that information subsequently surfaced in Moscow. Pretty fast, actually.”
“And once you had that connection, you kept exploiting it?”
“We did. And we would have—”
“I stopped it,” the king said. “I stopped it all. The entire matter was unseemly. A disgrace to Sweden and the royal family. An insult to my sister.”
“Washington went along with that,” Stephanie said, “so long as Westlake was cut off from any further contact with the royal family and isolated, making him essentially useless to the Russians.”
“And the Brits?”
“They know nothing.”
“They made the man a knight of the realm,” the king muttered, his distaste evident.
“I’m surprised the SVR didn’t take him out,” Cotton said.
“The only thing that stopped them,” Stephanie said, “was that the whole thing remained secret. Which made it easy for them to walk away. Making a move would have only confirmed our suspicions.”
“Does Princess Lysa know any of this about her husband?” Cotton asked.
“She does not,” the king made clear. “And it will remain that way. It would break her heart. My sister is smart, but she is from the old school. She is deeply religious and fervently believes that it is her duty to support her husband in every manner, no matter the situation. She also loves the man. I have no idea why, but she does.”
“And how does Westlake feel about his wife?” Cotton asked.
“He has stayed with her a long time,” the king said. “Even after all that happened with the SVR. From all appearances he treats her with respect. I have never heard him speak an ill word about her.”
Not exactly an answer. “How have you explained his lack of presence here in Stockholm?”
“My sister knows I do not care for her husband. She thinks it is because he is a commoner. Out of respect for me she kept him away unless it was absolutely necessary that he be here. Thankfully, those situations have been few and far between.”
Made sense, but he wanted to know, “You think the SVR kept Westlake on a leash by allowing him to do business in Russia?”
Stephanie shrugged. “It’s possible. They do play the long game. But he hasn’t turned up on anyone’s radar since the incident. Nothing at all. Of course, Westlake and the Russians know we’re watching him.”
“Herre Malone,” the king said. “My sister chose to marry a British commoner. I was not in favor, but she would not bend, so we had no choice but to accept him. Once we learned of his duplicity, though, we had to act. True, he has been here at the palace from time to time, but always under a careful eye. There was nothing for him to see or report.”
He did the math. Both the king and Stephanie knew Westlake would never admit to a thing.
He’d refused nine years ago, so why would he now?
Which begged the question. Why summon him here?
Easy. “You and the king just jostled the barrel. Right? You don’t want Westlake’s help. You just want to see what spills out.”
Stephanie smiled. “Seemed like a smart play. My guess? He’s going to go straight to a Russian operative.”
“I hope that is correct,” the king said. “I did exactly what you asked. But it was truly difficult for me even to speak to the man.”
“We have until noon tomorrow,” the prime minister said. “After that, this situation will take on a new complexity.”
“What a benign way to say my sister may die.”
Disgust laced the king’s voice.
“Your Majesty, that will not happen,” de Ciutiis said. “We will do all that is necessary to ensure the princess is not harmed. If that means trading the book, then we shall do that. But we would prefer not to be blackmailed or coerced. Let us hope we can make progress before the deadline.”
Cotton weighed his options. This was definitely a tricky problem with equally tricky solutions.
Right up his alley, though he’d never been much of a fixer.
Not his style. He learned long ago that the single worst thing someone could do for someone else was try to fix things.
Instead, he always preferred the scene from Frozen when Anna was in trouble and Kristoff came to her aid.
Instead of trying to fix things he simply asked, What do you need?
Her reply? I need to get to the top of that mountain.
So Kristoff made that happen.
“What do you need me to do?” he asked Stephanie.
“Check it all out,” she said. “See where things lead. Obviously, with what happened on the way here, someone wants me eliminated. I’ll work on that partial license plate and see where it leads.
In the meantime visit where the kidnapping happened.
There’s been no investigating to this point.
There could be people who saw things. And remember, you’re not associated with anything Swedish. ”
He got it. “Just a nosy American.”
“What about Westlake?” the king asked.
“Not to worry,” Stephanie answered, finding her phone. “I have that covered.”