The Princess of Burundi - Kjell Eriksson [67]
“How serious were his wounds?”
“He was bleeding profusely, but it’s hard to say how deep the wound was. The man from the waterworks said he had blood all over his face but that he seemed coherent. He was able to walk unassisted.”
“Is he German? With a name like Hahn, I mean.”
“No, he’s a Swedish citizen. His parents have been dead for many years. There was a brother, Wolfgang, but he emigrated to Israel fifteen years ago.”
“Is he Jewish?” Lundin asked.
“On his mother’s side. His mother came here after the war. This is all according to public records.”
Fredriksson stopped talking and looked down at his papers.
“Okay,” Ottosson said. “Good work. We will continue surveillance in Sävja, both the apartment and Gunilla Karlsson’s place. Fredriksson, you’ll continue to look into the matter of whether Hahn has any relatives or friends in the area. He must have gone somewhere. It’s unlikely he would have left town, at least not on public transport. With that head wound he has he would only draw attention to himself.”
“Does he have a car?” Sammy asked.
“Not even a driver’s license,” Fredriksson said.
“Okay,” Ottosson said again. “Let’s hear the part about the knife and the youngster. Sammy, you’re up.”
“Mattias Andersson was arrested after a fight downtown. He was found to be armed with a knife. Bohlin, from the youth patrol, had heard about Little John’s murder, so when he saw the knife he took a closer look at it. It had stains that have been confirmed consistent with Little John’s blood.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Beatrice said. “How old is he?”
“Fifteen.”
The door opened and Berglund stepped in, with the district attorney in tow. They sat down and the briefing continued.
“He claims he pocketed the knife at the Akademiska Hospital parking garage earlier that same day. We’ve checked, but no car break-ins have been reported. This doesn’t necessarily mean anything, because Mattias claims he swiped it from an unlocked pickup truck. Apparently he walked around testing car doors, and when this one opened he found this knife in a black bucket in the back of the truck.”
“Do you believe him?”
“Maybe,” Sammy said. “The guy’s scared shitless. He’s been crying mostly. His mother’s doing the same thing. The tears are just pouring out of her.”
“Did you talk to the security guards?”
“Yes,” Sammy said. “They had no incidents that day, no reports of theft or damage. Normally this happens almost daily. We took Mattias down there last night so he could point out the place for us. The guard thought he recognized him but couldn’t remember a pickup truck in that spot. It’s not unlikely the guard could recognize him, because he regularly patrols the garage.”
“A pickup,” Ottosson said thoughtfully. “What color, and make?”
“Red,” Sammy said, “possibly with a white hood. It could be a Toyota, but he is extremely unsure on this point.”
“If we’re going to take this story at all seriously we’ll have to show this boy some pictures of different models,” Beatrice said.
“Does he have an alibi for the evening John was murdered?” Morenius asked. He was surprised that no one else had thought of this.
“It’s doubtful,” Sammy said. “He says he was hanging out with his friends downtown. We’ve tried to pinpoint where they were and when, but the friends are all vague. ‘That’s years ago, man,’ as one of them put it. Some of them even think it’s cool that Mattias was found with a murder weapon in his possession.”
“Last but not least, I can say that Ann made a guest appearance here yesterday,” Ottosson said. “She sat in on the questioning of Mattias, and helped calm his mother afterward. I even think they had a cup of coffee together.”
“How are things with her?” Beatrice asked.
“She’s bored,” Sammy said. “She’s thinking of selling the baby.”
“Give me a break.”
“She’s already looking through the Yellow Pages,” Sammy said and smiled at Beatrice.
The meeting finished an hour later. Ola Haver felt unusually dispirited. The mention of Ann Lindell made him long for Rebecka. He thought about sneaking home to her