It’s him, Karen thinks twenty minutes later as she climbs back into her car. Gundar Freske can be linked to both Loa Marklund and Anita Kollbar via New Builds Ltd. The former complained about his smoking and the latter signed his eviction notice. And Sandrine Broe knew him from the pub The Pirate.

I’m onto you now, you bastard.

Chapter 35

35

‘Not enough? Seriously, how much do you need?’

Karen stares at Karl Björken. She has pulled him into one of the interview rooms to recount her conversations with Sandrine Broe and Anita Kollbar.

‘To bring him in?’ Björken replies with a shrug. ‘More than this, that’s for sure. I doubt Freske’s the only person in Moerbeck with connections to both Loa Marklund and Anita Kollbar. After all, Marklund was pretty querulous, if I’ve understood it right, and Kollbar must have signed hundreds of unpleasant letters.’

‘And Sandrine Broe? How do you explain that?’

Karl waves his hand dismissively.

‘If that really was Freske she had an argument with. You said she wasn’t even sure herself if it was the man in the picture you showed her.’

‘She said he was older. That’s all. And she’s right about that, given as how the driving licence is from ’07.’

‘Maybe. But there’s also the small detail that Gundar Freske’s in a wheelchair, according to our own guys.’

Karen looks up at the ceiling and groans. She can’t repeat what Loa Marklund wrote in her complaint one more time. Karl already knows. And he knows she knows.

‘What did Greta Hansen say, by the way?’ he says, stifling a yawn.

‘Nothing,’ Karen mutters grumpily. ‘She didn’t recognise the name and hasn’t been in touch about the picture I sent her. Have you found anything?’

‘Not much. The guy is thirty-seven years old. No information about an employer, but also nothing about early retirement or anything like that, so I assume he gets paid under the table.’

‘Or lived off his mother,’ Karen says. ‘That tracks with his rent delinquency after she passed away.’

‘No criminal record. Never seems to have owned a passport and the most recent version of his driving licence was issued just over ten years ago and has expired. Not so much as a speeding ticket on it, so I have no idea why he hasn’t renewed it.’

‘I’ll bet you anything he rides a moped. Probably can’t afford a car. Guy can’t even pay his rent.’

Karl nods.

‘Point. According to the Vehicle Licensing Agency, he doesn’t own a car. But like I said, that’s not enough.’

‘Besides, we don’t even know if the mopeds have anything to do with the attacks,’ Karen grudgingly admits. ‘Unfortunately, I have to side with Johannisen on that: it’s a pretty weak lead. Freske, on the other hand; a bloke his age, still living at home . . .’