Without a Trace Read Online Free PDF Page B

wrists
.
    ‘I thought you were in Washington,’ she said.
    Annika Bengtzon laughed – unless it was a sigh? ‘The paper can’t afford that sort of thing any more. I’m back on the shop-floor, these days. A news reporter for the print and online editions. The police at the scene said that Lerberg might not survive. Do you know what the situation is?’
    Nina didn’t answer.
    She started the car. ‘Now isn’t a good time,’ she said.
    ‘When did you start at National Crime?’ Annika asked.
    Nina put the car into reverse and turned to look out of the rear windscreen. It was smeared with wet and grime. ‘Goodbye, Annika,’ she said.
    ‘I’ve still got the same mobile number, so if you ever want to get in touch you only have to—’
    Nina clicked to end the call.
    What did Ingemar Lerberg know that he shouldn’t have known?
    Why hadn’t he revealed it?
    And why had he been left alive?
     
    It was afternoon by the time Annika got back to the newsroom. The southern link road had been blocked and traffic on the Essinge motorway had ground to a halt, as usual. She had spent the time stuck in traffic researching Ingemar Lerberg and putting the material together in her head. She took out her laptop, downloaded the recordings from the video-camera to the server, logged them in slightly haphazardly, then emailed the picture editor to give him the time-codes where he could find usable stills for the print edition. She stood up to fetch a cup of coffee from the machine, then put together a piece for the online news channel, one minute and twenty-five seconds, about Ingemar Lerberg. The pictures weren’t particularly good. Too dark and grainy, just as they had been throughout this miserable spring. The wind meant that the frame swayed during her to-camera piece, and she looked greasy and hollow-eyed, but there was nothing unusual about that. The angle she was putting on the story was a bit tenuous, but she thought it just about held together.
    ‘The police are facing a total mystery after the attempted murder of former MP Ingemar Lerberg,’ she began. ‘There are currently no credible motives for the brutal assault. No threats had been received, and it isn’t clear how the perpetrator got into the house. According to the
Evening Post
’s sources, police haven’t found any signs of a break-in at the scene, which is located in the fashionable suburb of Solsidan in Saltsjöbaden …’
    ‘He’s still alive, then?’ Nilsson said above her.
    ‘Sorry,’ Annika said. ‘Shall we send someone to the hospital to finish him off?’
    He sat down on her desk. ‘We’ve had a call from the Christian Democrats. They’re going to be making a statement about their colleague at their headquarters in half an hour. Can you take it?’
    She looked at her watch. ‘Sure.’
    ‘Has the prosecutor confirmed that the crime’s being classified as attempted murder?’
    ‘I called her from the car.’
    ‘Are you dealing with the dog?’
    She looked at him uncomprehendingly.
    ‘Stefan, four years old,’ Nilsson said. ‘Found dead in the hall, according to the main news agency. Can you do an overview of his background as well?’
    ‘The dog’s?’
    ‘Was Lerberg controversial? Any threats? Maybe a list of possible motives? And check out why he was forced to resign, even if we’ll probably have to wait and see if he’s going to survive before we publish it.’
    Annika did a quick search for ingemar lerberg politician .
    Nilsson leaned in front of her screen. ‘And call him a leading politician throughout. After all, he was in the running to be party leader at one point.’
    ‘Yes,’ Annika said. ‘For a whole afternoon, long enough to warrant a leader column in the
Evening Post
…’
    ‘Don’t be like that,’ Nilsson said, and stalked back to the newsdesk.
    She glanced through the list of headings on the screen. How quickly things were forgotten. She knew she’d read about Ingemar Lerberg in the days when he was