The Ice Child Read online

  Martin had been listening attentively. Now he leaned forward to say, ‘What do you think was the purpose behind the injuries that Victoria suffered? Why would the perpetrator do something like that?’

  ‘As I said, it’s probable that the victims resemble someone who is important to the perpetrator. And in view of the type of injuries, I would say the purpose was to give him a feeling of control. By robbing the victim of all her primary senses, he totally controls her.’

  ‘If that’s the case, wouldn’t it have been enough to keep her prisoner?’ asked Martin.

  ‘For most perpetrators who want to control their victims, I would say yes. But this individual has gone one step further. Just picture it: Victoria was robbed of her ability to see, hear, and taste. She was trapped in a dark, silent room and unable to communicate. Basically the perpetrator created a living doll.’

  Patrik shuddered. What this man was saying was so bizarre and repulsive that it seemed like something straight out of a horror film. But it was real. However, interesting as Struwer’s theories were, he’d yet to hear anything that seemed likely to take their investigation forward.

  ‘Based on what we’ve been talking about here,’ he said, ‘do you have any idea how we should go about finding this person?’

  Struwer paused as if formulating his response.

  ‘I may be sticking my neck out here, but I would say the victim from Göteborg, Minna Wahlberg, is especially interesting. She has a different background from the other girls, and she’s also the only one with whom the perpetrator was careless enough to be seen.’

  ‘We don’t know for sure that it was the perp driving the white car,’ Patrik pointed out.

  ‘No, that’s true. But if we assume it was him, then it’s interesting that she would willingly get into the car. We don’t know how the other girls were taken, but the fact that Minna got into the car indicates that the driver was either someone who seemed harmless, or else she recognized him and was not afraid of him.’

  ‘Are you saying that Minna may have known the perpetrator? That he has some link to her or to the town?’

  What Struwer said matched what Patrik had also been thinking. Minna was different from the others.

  ‘He doesn’t necessarily have to have been acquainted with her personally, but she may have known who he is. The fact that he was seen picking her up, but he wasn’t seen in any of the other instances, may mean that he was on familiar turf and felt a bit more secure.’

  ‘If that’s the case, shouldn’t he have been even more careful? There was a greater risk that he would be recognized,’ Erica objected. Patrik gave her an appreciative look.

  ‘Logically speaking, that may be true,’ Struwer replied. ‘But we humans are usually not entirely logical, and patterns and habits are hard to break. He would feel more relaxed in his own environment, and that means there’s a greater risk of making a mistake. And he did make a mistake.’

  ‘I agree that Minna seems to stand out from the others,’ said Patrik. ‘We just had a talk with her mother, but we didn’t find out anything new.’ Out of the corner of his eye he saw Erica nodding in agreement.

  ‘Well, if I were you, I’d keep following this aspect of the case. Focus on the differences – that’s the general rule of thumb when we do profiles of criminals. Why was the pattern broken? What makes a specific victim so special that the perpetrator changes his behaviour?’

  ‘So we should look at any deviations rather than at common denominators?’ said Patrik, realizing that Struwer was right.

  ‘Yes. That’s my recommendation. Even though your main goal is to solve Victoria’s disappearance, Minna’s case may help you do that.’ Gerhard paused. ‘By the way, have all of you got together?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Patrik.

  ‘All the police districts – have you sat down together and gone over the information you have so far?’

  ‘We keep in contact and share materials.’

  ‘That’s good, but I think it would be beneficial for all of you to meet in person. Sometimes a new lead can be triggered by something that’s not written down, something that’s between the lines in the investigative material. I’m sure you have personal experience of a gut feeling that points you in a certain direction. In many investigations it’s that indefinable something which eventually leads to the capture of the perpetrator. And there’s nothing strange about that. Our subconscious plays a much bigger role than many people think. It’s often said that we use a very small portion of our brain’s capacity, and I think that’s true. So get together with the other investigative teams and listen to each other.’

  Patrik nodded. ‘All right. We should have done that already. We just haven’t got around to it.’

  ‘I’d say it’ll be worth the effort,’ replied Gerhard.

  For a moment no one spoke. They had no more questions as they sat and pondered what Struwer had told them. Patrik had some doubt that it would move the investigation forward, but he was ready to consider anything and everything. Better to do that than to realize in hindsight that Struwer had been right, but they hadn’t taken his remarks seriously.

  ‘Well, thank you for your time,’ said Patrik, standing up.

  ‘The pleasure was all mine.’ Gerhard fixed his blue eyes on Erica, and Patrik took a deep breath. He had an urge to put together a profile of Struwer. It shouldn’t be too hard. The world was full of guys like him.

  Terese always found it a bit odd to come to the stable. The farm was so familiar to her, because she and Jonas had been together for two years. But back then they were terribly young, or at least that was how it felt to her now, and so much had happened since then. Yet it was still strange to be here, especially because Marta was the reason they had split up.

  One day, out of the blue, Jonas had started talking about how he’d met someone else and she was his soul mate. That was exactly how he’d put it. Terese had thought his choice of words seemed a bit pretentious. Later, when she met her own soul mate, she had understood what he meant. Because that was precisely how she felt when Henrik, Tyra’s father, stepped forward to ask her to dance at a celebration on Ingrid Bergman Square. It was clear at once that the two of them belonged together. But then everything had changed in an instant. All their plans, all their dreams were shattered on a dark night when his car hydroplaned on the road, and he was killed. Then she and Tyra were left on their own.

  It had never felt the same with Lasse. Their relationship was merely a way of escaping the loneliness and once again sharing her daily life with someone else. And it had turned out to be a complete disaster. She didn’t know which was worse: all those years when he was drinking and they were constantly worrying about what he might do next; or his new sobriety, which she had initially welcomed, but it had led to other problems.

  She didn’t believe for an instant in Lasse’s newly discovered religious faith, but she understood all too well what he found so enticing about the church and its congregation. It had given him a chance to leave behind all the bad decisions he’d ever made, as well as his old faults, without having to take any responsibility. As soon as he became a member of the church and was forgiven by God – and that happened unreasonably fast in her opinion – he had split himself in two parts. He ascribed everything that she and the children had endured to the old Lasse, who had lived a sinful and selfish life. The new Lasse, on the other hand, was a good and righteous person who couldn’t possibly be blamed for anything the old Lasse had done. If she ever mentioned all the times he had hurt them, he reacted with suppressed anger at her ‘harping on old wounds’. He told her how disappointed he was that she kept focusing on negative things instead of turning to God, as he had, to become a person who spread ‘light and love’.

  Terese snorted. Lasse had no clue what light and love were. He had never even apologized for the way he had treated his family. According to his logic, she was a petty person because she wasn’t as forgiving as God, and every night she continued to t
urn her back on Lasse as they lay in bed.

  Frustrated, she gripped the steering wheel hard as she turned into the stable yard. The situation was becoming unbearable. She could hardly stand the sight of him any more or the sound of him mumbling Bible verses, a sound that had become a constant backdrop in their flat. But she had to take care of practical matters first. They had two children together, and she was so exhausted that she didn’t know whether she even had the energy at the moment to cope with a divorce.

  ‘Okay, kids, stay here and behave yourselves while I go in and fetch Tyra.’ She turned around and cast a stern glance at the two little boys sitting in the back seat. They giggled, and she knew that a battle would undoubtedly break out as soon as she got out of the car. ‘I’ll be right back,’ she warned them. More giggles. She sighed, although she couldn’t help smiling as she closed the car door behind her.

  Shivering in the cold she went inside the stable, which hadn’t existed when she frequented the farm. Marta and Jonas had built it together.

  ‘Hello?’ She looked around for Tyra but didn’t see her with the other girls.

  ‘Is Tyra here?’

  Marta came out of one of the stalls.

  ‘No, she left about an hour ago.’

  ‘Oh.’ Terese frowned. This morning she had promised that for once she would come and fetch Tyra. It seemed strange her daughter had forgotten about it, because she had been so happy that she wouldn’t have to trudge home through the snow.

  ‘Tyra is a very talented rider,’ said Marta, coming over to Terese.

  As always, Terese was struck by how beautiful Marta was. When she saw her for the first time, Terese had immediately realized she would never be able to compete. She felt big and clumsy next to Marta, who was slender and petite.

  ‘That’s nice,’ she said, looking at the ground.

  ‘She has such a natural way with horses. She ought to compete. I think she’d do well. Have you ever considered that?’

  ‘Oh, er, I don’t …’ Terese stumbled over her words and felt even more uncomfortable. They couldn’t afford it, but how could she say that? ‘We’ve had other things to think about, with the boys and all. And Lasse is looking for work … But I’ll give it some thought. It’s nice to hear that you think she’s talented. She’s … well, I’m very proud of her.’

  ‘And you should be,’ said Marta, studying her. ‘From what I understand, she’s extremely upset about what happened to Victoria. We all are.’

  ‘Yes, it’s been hard for her. It will take time for her to get over it.’

  Terese tried to think of some way to put an end to the conversation. She had no desire to stand here and chat. And she was starting to feel anxious. Where had Tyra gone?

  ‘The boys are waiting out in the car, so I’d better get back to them before they kill each other.’

  ‘Of course. And don’t worry about Tyra. She probably just forgot that you were going to fetch her. You know how teenagers are.’

  Marta went back to the stall, and Terese hurried across the yard towards the car. She wanted to get home. Hopefully Tyra was already there.

  Anna sat at the kitchen table talking to Dan’s back. Through his T-shirt she could see his muscles tensing, but he didn’t say a word as he continued to wash the dishes.

  ‘What should we do? We can’t go on like this.’ The mere thought of separation made her panic-stricken, but they needed to talk about the future. Even before the events of the past summer, their life together had been troubled. For a brief period she had livened up but for the wrong reasons, and now their marriage was nothing but chaos, a mass of broken dreams. And it was all her fault. There was no way she could dump part of the blame on Dan or make him shoulder any of the responsibility.

  ‘You know how deeply I regret what I did, and I wish so much that I could go back and make it not happen, but I can’t. So if you want me to move out, I will. Emma and Adrian and I can find a flat for ourselves. I’m sure there’s one available in the block of flats nearby that we could lease on short notice. Because we can’t live like this. It’s just not going to work. It’s tearing us apart. Both of us, and the kids too. Can’t you see that? They don’t dare make any noise, in fact they hardly dare talk because they’re afraid of saying something wrong and making the situation worse than it already is. I can’t stand it any more. I’d rather move out. Please, Dan, say something!’ And with that Anna began to sob. It felt like somebody else was crying, like she was listening to somebody else talking. As if she were hovering overhead, looking down at the fragments of what had once been her life, watching her husband who was her great love, and yet she had hurt him so badly.

  Slowly Dan turned around. He leaned against the worktop and stared at his feet. She felt a stab in her heart when she noticed the deep furrows on his face, which was pale with hopelessness. She had fundamentally changed him, and she couldn’t forgive herself for that. He had believed in the goodness of others, assuming that everyone was as honest as he was. She had shown him otherwise, shaking his faith in her and in the world.

  ‘I don’t know, Anna. I don’t know what I want. The months just keep slipping by, and we take care of all the practical things while we tiptoe around each other.’

  ‘But we need to try to solve this problem. Or else split up. I can’t stand living in this limbo any more. And the children deserve better. We need to decide.’

  She could feel her nose running as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks. She wiped her face on the sleeve of her shirt. She didn’t feel like getting up to find a tissue, and the kitchen roll was on the worktop behind Dan. She needed to keep a safe distance from him in order to have this conversation. Getting close enough to breathe in his scent and feel the warmth of his body would make everything fall apart. They hadn’t even slept in the same room since the summer. He slept on a mattress in the den while she slept in their double bed. She had offered to change places with him, realizing she was the one who ought to be sleeping on the uncomfortable thin mattress and wake up with an aching back. But he merely shook his head at the idea, and every night he lay down to sleep on the mattress.

  ‘I want to try.’ She was whispering now. ‘But only if you do. Only if you think there’s even a small possibility. Otherwise the kids and I might as well move out. I can ring the Tanum estate agent this afternoon and see what’s available. We don’t need a big place to start with. We’ve lived in cramped quarters before. We’ll be fine.’

  Dan grimaced. Then he covered his face with his hands and his shoulders began to shake. Ever since summer he had worn a mask of bitter disappointment and anger, but now the tears poured out, falling from his chin and soaking his grey T-shirt. Anna couldn’t just sit there. She went over to put her arms around him. She noticed that he flinched, but he didn’t pull away. She felt the warmth of his body and the way he was trembling as he sobbed even harder. She pulled him closer, as if trying to keep him from falling to pieces.

  When the tears finally stopped, he reached out and put his arms around her.

  Lasse felt rage smouldering inside of him as he turned left past the mill and headed towards Kville. Why couldn’t Terese ever come with him? Was it too much to ask that they should spend some time together, that she should show some interest in what had totally changed his life and made him a new person? Both he and the church had so much to teach her, but she chose to live in darkness instead of allowing God’s love to shine upon her, as it shone upon him.

  He stomped on the accelerator. He had wasted so much time pleading with her that he was going to be late for the leadership meeting. He’d also been forced to explain to her why he didn’t want her to go to that stable, or be anywhere near Jonas. She had sinned with Jonas, she’d had sex with him even though they weren’t married, and it made no difference that it had happened years ago. God wanted human beings to live a pure and true life, without any wicked deeds from the past sullying their soul. For his part, he had confessed and purged all such things from his life,
cleansing his own soul.

  It hadn’t always been easy. Sin was all around him. There were so many shameless women offering themselves and not respecting God’s will and commandments, women who tried to lead all men astray. Such sinners deserved to be punished, and he was convinced he was meant to carry out this task. God had spoken to him, and no one should doubt that he had become a new person.

  At the church they saw and understood this. They showered him with love, affirming that God had forgiven him and that he was now a blank slate. He thought about how close he had come to falling back into old habits. But God had miraculously saved him from the weakness of the flesh and made him a strong and brave disciple. Yet Terese refused to see that he had changed.

  He was still feeling annoyed when he arrived. Then he was filled with peace, as always, when he stepped through the doors of the modern church building which had been financed by generous members. Despite the church’s remote location, the congregation was surprisingly large, thanks to the leader, Jan-Fred, who had taken over ten years ago after an internal struggle for control. Back then it was called the Kville Pentecostal Church, but he had re-christened it the Christian Faith, or simply the Faith, as it was commonly known.

  ‘Hi, Lasse. Great to see you.’ Jan-Fred’s wife Leonora came to greet him. She was a gorgeous blonde in her forties who co-chaired the leadership group along with her husband.

  ‘It’s always wonderful to be here,’ he said, kissing her on the cheek. He breathed in the scent of her shampoo, and with it a whiff of sin. But it lasted only a moment, and he knew that with God’s help he would eventually succeed in driving out all the old demons. He had conquered his weakness for alcohol, but his weakness for women had turned out to be a much bigger trial.

  ‘Jan-Fred and I were talking about you this morning.’ Leonora linked her arm in his and ushered him towards one of the conference rooms where the leadership course was being held.