The Malmö Mysteries Books 1-3: Books 1-3

THE MALMÖ MYSTERIES

The first three Inspector Anita Sundström Mysteries

Meet me in Malmö

Murder in Malmö

Missing in Malmö

Copyright © Torquil MacLeod

2010, 2013

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without express written permission of the Publisher.

Published by Torquil MacLeod Books Ltd

New compilation ebook edition: 2022

ISBN: 978-1-9162889-2-8

www.torquilmacleodbooks.com

eBook conversion by eBookPartnership.com

CONTENTS

Book 1: Meet me in Malmö

Book 2: Murder in Malmö

Book 3: Missing in Malmö

Book 1

MEET ME IN MALMÖ

The first Inspector Anita Sundström mystery

by

Torquil MacLeod

Copyright © Torquil MacLeod

2010, 2013

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without express written permission of the Publisher.

Published by Torquil MacLeod Books Ltd

eBook edition: 2013

www.torquilmacleodbooks.com

eBook conversion by eBookPartnership.com

CONTENTS

MAP OF SKÅNE

MAP OF MALMÖ

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DEDICATION

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER 34

CHAPTER 35

CHAPTER 36

Dedication

To Susan – and my special family

PROLOGUE

It was the sound of the sickening thud that he would never be able to erase from his memory. And Alison vomiting straight afterwards.

The evening had started out so well. John Wilson had thought that this was his lucky night. Ever since Freshers’ Week he’d been trying to get close to the gorgeous Alison French and then, quite by chance, he had run into her at a crowded end-of-term party in the Bailey. The willowy blonde with the easy laugh had, at long last, turned her winning smile on him. The fact that she had been full of the alcoholic spirit of pre-Christmas probably helped. But there had been no sign of the rugby-playing boyfriend, so the field was clear.

He had been astonished to find himself standing with his arm round Alison’s shoulder in front of the brooding expanse of Durham’s medieval cathedral. In the darkness of the early December evening, the illuminated western towers and the even larger central one appeared to commune with the night sky.

Alison had shivered and John had clenched her closer. She’d responded and raised her head to his. They kissed, just as they had done when they had staggered out of the party fifteen minutes earlier after he had gallantly offered to see her back to her college across the river. He hoped that this spark of affection hadn’t been ignited solely by the drink. She had certainly downed a lot of fancy-looking concoctions and she’d swayed slightly as he’d manoeuvred her along the Bailey and up towards the cathedral.

John knew the lights would be going out soon, so he had begun to move Alison away from the main door of the cathedral. As he did so he glimpsed the lion-like beast that was the famous sanctuary knocker. He suddenly got an overwhelming sense of history. Perhaps it was the alcohol, but he could almost feel the presence of all the souls who’d sought safety in the cathedral over the centuries. He drew the obvious parallel – he felt he’d found refuge with Alison and life could only get better.

They had made their way unsteadily across the grass and round a couple of old tombstones until they were close to the cathedral wall, the central tower looming above. There were some muted sounds of a party going on somewhere nearby, but Palace Green, opposite the cathedral, was quiet. John glanced round and saw that all was deserted. This was his moment. He took Alison’s face in his hands and stared into those twinkling, if slightly inebriated, eyes.

‘I’ve waited so long for this moment.’

She blinked before smiling back. ‘Do you want to come back to my room tonight? Claudia won’t be there. She’s round at Andy’s.’ John could hardly contain his excitement. Alison grabbed his hand, ‘Come on!’

But they only managed to take a couple of steps nearer the promised delights of Alison’s room. A piercing scream startled them and broke the evening’s calm serenity. They hardly had time to look up when the body of a woman hurtled past their heads and landed in front of them; half-bouncing off the grass before slumping back down like a rag doll, its limbs all distorted. Alison was yelling in fright. The lights on the cathedral snapped off.

Twenty-five years later...

CHAPTER 1

She was sitting in front of the mirror. The reflection staring back was beautiful. In her early forties, she could pass for someone far younger. The natural blonde hair was shoulder length, framing a face with high cheekbones that gave it a sculpted look. Yet the deep blue eyes ensured that the overall effect was not that of marble, but full of life. The mouth was wide – a slash of exotic red across cool Scandinavian features. The black dress plunged invitingly, but it was the necklace that caught her attention. The amber glinted in the discreet mirror light. She played with it thoughtfully. A half-smile crossed her lips. Then a noise disturbed her, and her expression changed. She looked round. The sound of someone in the next room perhaps? Her hand went to her throat and her face creased into puzzlement. Yes, there was definitely a person moving around in the next room.

‘Rune?’ she called out cautiously. There was no reply.

She stood up slowly. This was a woman who was ready to go out to somewhere smart. The dress was short enough to show that she still possessed head-turning legs but long enough to hint that not all was on show – well, not yet. With a certain amount of trepidation, she crossed the bedroom to the door, which was slightly ajar. The room was decorated and furnished in understated Scandinavian elegance. No clutter, no extravagant adornments, nothing that wasn’t of some use. She stopped and gingerly opened the bedroom door.

‘Ru... oh, it’s you.’ She sounded disappointed, but the nervousness was gone. The object of her disappointment was just out of sight, behind the now open door. ‘What are you doing here?’

She jerked back instinctively as male hands made a grab for her throat. She gurgled helplessly as the fingers pressed around her neck. For a few seconds she tried hopelessly to break the vice-like grip, but she hadn’t the strength. The powerful hands were pushing her down onto her knees, her skirt riding up as she went. The unequal struggle ended with her slipping slowly to the floor, all the elegance draining away as fast as her life. The unseen assailant released his grip – then the door closed and the body was left in a still heap.

Ewan Strachan shifted in his seat. He could never sit still, however riveting a film was, but this one didn’t come into that category. Was it really that easy to strangle someone? He was sure it wasn’t, but that was the magic of the movies. And Christina had it coming to her because she had been starting to annoy him. Even he would have been tempted to do her in, but, he presumed, he wouldn’t find out whodunit until the final reel. Yes, she was very beautiful, but some of the lines she had come out with were cringe-making. Of course, that could be down to the translation. You were never sure with subtitles.

Ewan cast his eye round the small but packed cinema. Most of the audience was concentrating fully on the action – or lack of action – until the moment when Christina had copped it. But these were fans of Swedish cinema – and particularly of the director, who was sitting in the front row watching his wife, Malin Lovgren, die dramatically on screen. He was surrounded by disciples. In the question and answer session that followed the screening, there would be no dissenting voices. Not even Ewan’s. He wouldn’t get an interview with Mick Roslyn by being critical beforehand.

Sitting five rows in front of Ewan, he still had that familiar long, dark, swept-back hair and the neatly barbered stubble. Not a grey hair in sight, despite his forty-five years. He has certainly aged far better than I have, thought Ewan, who had now lost interest in Gässen or The Geese. Ewan still hadn’t worked out how geese fitted into the story, though maybe they were some obscure Swedish metaphor for...strangulation? Long necks, easy to wring. Or pecking? The Christina character had henpecked her poor husband, who was perfectly justified in murdering her. She hadn’t been very nice to her lover either. Then again it might be something to do with flight. He would have to come up with something to put in his review. He had to justify his train fare from Newcastle to Edinburgh for the Northern Stars Film Festival. But if he could grab Roslyn for a quick interview afterwards, then even his pain-in-the-arse editor might get off his back for a while. It was a matter of getting Roslyn alone for five minutes. It might help if Mick remembered him.

The chance of visiting a prestigious film festival had seemed fanciful only two weeks before. ‘You’ve got to get off your arse and do something interesting,’ Brian Fletcher had said as he tried to remove some wax from his ear with his finger. Ewan couldn’t look. What would he do with it if he got the wax out? The operation was unsuccessful and Brian sat down behind his desk in his cramped office. All the offices assigned to the Novocastrian News – or Novo News as it had become because management felt the name was snappier – were small. It was a small operation run by a big local Newcastle-based newspaper group. They had created the bi-monthly Novo News magazine as a vehicle for attracting extra advertising revenue. It was also a good place to hide away their journalists who could no longer do the business – or who had never really been able to in the first place. Ewan often wondered for which group he qualified. He hoped it was as a hack who could no longer hack it. At least that meant he hadn’t always been useless. Brian, on the other hand, always had. But that didn’t stop him thinking that he was a born editor, and that any day soon his genius would be recognized and a really good job offer would come along.

‘Your arts reviews lack punch. Sometimes I wonder if you actually go and see the things you’re meant to be reviewing. And when was the last time you got a decent interview?’ Ewan could have answered, if he had been arsed, by pointing out that the group’s morning and evening papers got first dibs on anybody in the arts world who was of the remotest interest – leading theatricals, controversial artists, top dancers, even the occasional film star. He was left with all the obscure wood carvers, pretentious potters and loopy candlemakers who seemed to emerge every summer in the touristy bits of the North East. It hadn’t always been like this, even though Ewan’s own career hadn’t been much more glorious than Brian’s.

‘The boys upstairs have been moaning. They think Novo should be more dynamic. And Arts and Social is an important ingredient in our mix. Don’t let me down again. Get something fascinating enough to fucking print, or I’ll have to find someone else who can!’

After leaving Durham University with high hopes of a stunning journalistic career, Ewan hadn’t returned to his native Edinburgh. Too parochial, he had pronounced grandly. He did what he saw as his apprenticeship at a couple of very local newspapers, both of which turned into freesheets and were more interested in advertising revenue than news-gathering. Yet when he did have the chance to move south, he opted for Newcastle. On the evening paper, he did general reporting, before a move to the more prestigious regional morning. He wanted to specialize in crime; nitty-gritty stories. There was certainly enough villainy around Tyneside and its environs to justify a crime correspondent. But the editor, under pressure from the Managing Director, vetoed the idea. It would send out the wrong signals about the region. So he was attached to the sports desk instead. Funnily enough, he quite enjoyed it for a while. As a huge proportion of the Geordie population was far more interested in sport than in anything else, it proved quite lively at first. But then he got bored, got sloppy and got shoved onto Novo News. Now he rejoiced in the title of Arts & Social Correspondent. He found it difficult to muster the required enthusiasm as he wasn’t very interested in the arts and he wasn’t very social. But it was a living of sorts.

‘I hear what you’re saying, Brian. I’ll dig up something that will please upstairs.’ Ewan stood up and put his hand on the door handle. ‘And you.’

Had he managed to keep the sarcasm out of his voice? he wondered. Brian gave him a sceptical look before nodding. Yes, he had.

Ewan went out into the main open-plan office. It was only open-plan in as much as there were five desks squashed into the one room. He sat down at his computer and stared at it blankly. Opposite, Mary grinned at him. Her hair was a funny off-orange at the moment and she never looked right without a cigarette hanging out of the side of her mouth. In this no-smoking building it meant frequent trips to the back door where she and Ewan used to put the world to rights – well, Novo News to rights.

‘Another bollocking?’ she asked. Her lined face was creased up in amusement. Fortunately for her, retirement was only a year away.

‘Not dynamic enough, apparently.’ Then he burst out laughing. ‘Come on, time for a fag break.’

They made their way along a series of drab corridors. How have I ended up here? Ewan thought for the thousandth time. How come my great dreams have turned into a feckless career? Why have I never escaped the north-east of England? Many people had asked him that. He had made various excuses, most of which weren’t believed. Yet, if he was honest with himself – and that had rarely happened in his forty-five years – he knew he could never give them the real answer.

Ewan walked through the large wooden doors and up the wide stone steps of the Newcastle Literary & Philosophical Society. Ahead of him was a large white statue of James Losh, recorder and eminent businessman of Newcastle in the 1800s, though he actually hailed from Cumberland. High on the imposing walls, classical grand relief figures showed that appropriate homage had been paid to the mathematical and philosophical influences that had been taken from ancient Greece. There were portraits, too. Robert Stephenson was there as one of the many important scientific-industrial figures who had been members. Lord Armstrong (warships), Sir Joseph Swan (the electric light) and Sir Charles Parsons (turbine engines) were all to be found on the wooden honours board proudly proclaiming past presidents. When he reached the first floor, swing doors opened into a huge L-shaped room. Tightly packed books rose up from the floor to a gallery with a brass handrail all the way round; then from the gallery floor almost to the ceiling of this huge space. Beyond the reception desk, there were leather armchairs, a round table near the coffee hatch and then, round the corner, long tables and assorted chairs in between further stand-alone wooden bookcases. It was Dickensian. It was unhurried. It was charmingly decrepit. It was Ewan’s sanctuary.

In the Lit & Phil he could escape Brian, the Novo News and the other aspects of his life that he wanted to forget about. Here, over a paid-for coffee and one free biscuit, he could read the national newspapers, delve into obscure ancient books or plan the novel he knew he’d never write. No mobile phones were allowed. No phones of any kind could be heard. However, quiet talking was tolerated, so conversations could be struck up with some of the more eccentric members, which often proved entertaining and enlightening.

One newspaper he always made a beeline for was The Scotsman. Why the library stocked it he had no idea, but it was good to catch up with happenings in Edinburgh. Though only an hour and a half away by train, he rarely returned home. Both his parents were now dead and his brother, a successful lawyer, just annoyed him. Most of his old schoolfriends had either moved on or he had lost touch with them. However, the odd one cropped up in the pages of The Scotsman. Archie Drymen was the last – he had been arrested for downloading child porn. Ewan hadn’t seen that one coming. When they had been in the rugby team together, Archie had always had a ‘thing’ about other boys’ mums. Shows you could never tell.

With The Scotsman tucked under his arm, Ewan waited at the coffee hatch. On the other side was Frida, the coffee lady. Though Norwegian, she had lived in England long enough to intersperse her lilting accent with more guttural Geordie phrases. She enjoyed his self-deprecating humour in which he managed to make every episode in his life sound like an amusing disaster.

‘Time for coffee?’ Frida asked.

‘Yes. And I think I’ll treat myself to a Bakewell tart, too, please.’

Frida eyed him closely. ‘That sounds like you’ve had a bad day.’

Ewan gave a grimace to confirm her observation. Frida continued to talk as she poured the coffee from the pot. ‘You need a break. Go away and forget about your magazine.’

‘Still trying to get me to Norway?’

‘Norway is good. The air is clean.’ She pushed the cup and saucer towards him, ‘The mountains are fantastic. Might even find a wife,’ she added with a mischievous smile.

‘But you had to come over here to find a husband.’

‘My second one. My first was Norwegian.’

Ewan settled down to read The Scotsman at one of the long tables. As he munched his way through his cake, he caught up on the comings and goings of Hearts, his boyhood football team. By the time he had finished his coffee, he was onto the newspaper’s arts section. Over the years it had proved useful for pinching ideas to use in his Novo News column. He had been known to use reviews from The Scotsman, virtually word for word, of films he didn’t fancy, virtually word for word, so he didn’t have to see the movies himself. He was about to turn the page over when a small article hidden away at the bottom caught his eye. To be more precise, a name in the first paragraph. He stared at it long and hard. It couldn’t be – yet it obviously was. He pushed away his cup and glanced up at the gallery above. A librarian was sorting some books. When Ewan looked back at the newspaper, the name was still there. It was another minute or so before he actually read the piece. The article was little more than a straightforward announcement of the events schedule for the Northern Stars Film Festival, which was starting in a week’s time. Yet it unsettled him. Then it gave him an idea.

The wind whipped up a discarded crisp packet and tossed it around under the flickering light from the lamps strung across the street. It was cold, and the flurry of snow could soon turn into something heavier. The winter hadn’t been as bad as last year, but there was still plenty of time. The crisp packet landed briefly before corkscrewing away into the dark. The man turned his attention to the window on the fourth floor of the building on the other side of the street. He could see the light was still on, though the curtains were drawn. And he knew that she was behind those curtains. What would she be doing at this moment? Watching TV? Having a late meal? Maybe she was painting? He knew she did that. Quite good. He had seen some of her watercolours at that little arty-farty gallery off Lilla Torg in the centre of town.

He adjusted his baseball cap and pulled his coat collar up against the bitter winter chill. He stamped his feet, but it didn’t seem to warm them up. He felt in his pocket for his pack of cigarettes. With gloved hands he found it difficult to extract one. He accomplished the manoeuvre and even managed to light it after the second attempt. He took a puff and exhaled slowly, the smoke curling its way through the sodium light into the snow.

CHAPTER 2

Brian Fletcher hadn’t been enthusiastic when Ewan first mentioned his idea. He naturally assumed that Ewan wanted to skive off to Edinburgh for the day on company expenses. Didn’t the Tyneside Cinema show enough obscure foreign films without his having to swan off to Scotland?

‘Look, Brian, this is different.’ After seeing the article in The Scotsman, Ewan had spent the next hour on the Internet finding out as much as he could. And yes, it had been that Mick Roslyn. And yes, he was what the article had claimed – the modern Bergman, even if he wasn’t Swedish. ‘Mick Roslyn is huge in Sweden. Like...’ and Ewan tried to think of a film director whom Brian might have heard of. ‘Like a... Spielberg.’

‘Now if he was a Hollywood director...’ Brian began as he half-suppressed a burp, confirmation that he had just had a very large pub lunch.

‘No, the point is that it’s a big local success story. Geordie-made-good-in-foreign-land approach.’

‘Ah, you didn’t say he was a Geordie.’ Brian’s interest was now piqued.

Ewan had already mentioned that Roslyn was from the Heaton area of the city, but Brian hadn’t been paying attention at that stage of the conversation. ‘Yes, he’s a Geordie who has conquered Swedish cinema. And he happens to be married to one of their top actresses. Malin Lovgren.’

Now Brian really started to look interested. ‘Blonde?’

‘Of course.’ And very attractive, too, judging by the photos he had managed to find on the web. Typical of Mick, thought Ewan.

‘And you say this Roslyn bloke is going to be at the Northern Thingamajig?’

‘Yes. He’s introducing his latest film, and there’s a question and answer session with him afterwards.’

‘And will his wife be there?’ Brian was already imagining putting a glamorous photo of a sexy Swedish film star on the front page of his magazine. That would impress upstairs.

‘I don’t think so. There’s nothing in the article about Malin Lovgren being in Edinburgh, though she stars in the movie.’ Brian looked disappointed, but he could still legitimately use her photo if she was involved.

‘But we’d want more than a review of his film.’

‘Of course. I could do a big piece on him. The works. Local background. How he ended up in Sweden and how he became a celebrity over there and part of a glamorous couple.’

‘Sort of Posh and Becks.’

‘More Madonna and Guy Ritchie.’

Even Brian had heard of Madonna. His face lit up. He could see the possibilities. And he could scoop the editors of the group’s two big local newspapers. He loathed them as much as they despised him. Then doubt crossed over his ample features. ‘What makes you think you’ll get an interview with him? He might not be keen on being associated with such a sma....’ – he managed to correct himself – ‘a publication of our size.’

‘I think he’ll speak to me. We were at university together.’

Of course, doubts set in the moment he boarded the train to Edinburgh. When he arrived at Waverley Station, he nearly jumped on the first train back. Mick might not want to see him. He was a big deal now. That was obvious from the way he adroitly handled the question and answer session after the film had finished. It helped that most of the questions were sycophantic, but he retained that enormous charm he had exercised at Durham. There was no doubting his charisma. Still handsome, still remarkably lean, and still with that arrogant swish of thick black hair, he commanded a room. Always had. The winning smile, the polite way he answered questions, the flashes of humour – but he was good at concealing his ego when it mattered from his public.

As Mick held his audience spellbound, Ewan was amused to note that he had lost all traces of his Geordie accent. He had been proud of it once upon a time. In fact, it had been a badge of honour in a university that was awash with ‘public school ponces’, as he called them. He made great play of being a Geordie. He even gave the impression of being a working-class hero, even though his family were reasonably well off. That’s why the Michael who had turned up at Freshers’ Week had become Mick three weeks later. His chosen persona went down well with posh girls from down south – their bit of northern rough. He had always been surrounded by attractive women.

Sadly, in this case, there was no Malin Lovgren, but he did have a stylish PR woman sitting with him, alongside a young actress who had appeared in a small role in the film as the murdering husband’s bit on the side. Ewan didn’t catch her full name in the credits: Tilda something – but she was not your archetypal Swedish blonde; quite dark in fact. But undeniably attractive. And appreciably taller than the older Lovgren. Mick didn’t introduce her during his talk, so she wasn’t there for the publicity. Maybe she was the producer’s girlfriend; the producer being an earnest young man with very trendy red-rimmed spectacles who had taken the stage with Mick, but wasn’t asked any questions and whose only contribution to the discussion was to say that Mick Roslyn was a brilliant visionary. It was an observation with which Mick seemed entirely in agreement.

After a gushing thank you from the festival organizer, the audience started to filter out of the cinema. The organizer was ushering the VIP party out through a side door. The producer attached himself to the young actress. A gentle hand in the small of her back as he guided her out hinted that they were in a relationship. Ewan moved towards the retreating group. Mick was talking to the PR woman when Ewan tried to attract their attention.

‘Mick. Can I have a word?’

The PR woman turned and with an icy smile said,’ Sorry, Mr Roslyn isn’t doing any extra interviews at the moment.’

Ewan ignored her. ‘Mick. It’s me.’ Mick Roslyn turned round and looked at Ewan blankly. ‘Ewan. Ewan Strachan from uni. Durham.’

The PR woman tried to spirit Mick away, but Mick hesitated. He stared hard at the man in front of him. Slowly it began to dawn on him that he recognized the person who was shifting awkwardly from one foot to another. Though standing at six foot like himself, the Ewan Strachan he remembered was much thinner, had a lot more reddish hair (certainly not greying and fraying around the temples) and a boyish face. That was gone, though there was still the same twinkle in the deep blue eyes.

‘My God,’ Mick said slowly. ‘Ewan bloody Strachan. I don’t believe it.’

‘Sorry, Mr Roslyn, we must get on. The Scotsman want their interview, then we have to get you to the airport,’ said the PR woman insistently.

Mick held up his hand. ‘Isobelle, just give me a minute.’

His smile part-placated Isobelle, who wasn’t happy that her timetable was being disrupted, but she didn’t want to upset her client. ‘Only a minute.’

Mick held out his hand for Ewan to shake. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Trying to get an interview with the great Swedish-based film director.’

‘Journalist?’ His surprise was obvious. ‘Thought you’d end up as a teacher.’

‘I wouldn’t have known what to do with all the holidays.’

‘So what rag are you working for? A Scottish one, I presume.’

‘No. In Newcastle actually.’

Mick gave him a quizzical look. ‘So you’ve never escaped. And your newspaper?’

‘Magazine. You wouldn’t have heard of it. After your time.’

‘Course I would. My folks still live there.’

‘Novo News.’

He pursed his lips. ‘No, I haven’t heard of it.’

‘Mr Roslyn, they’re waiting for you,’ said a still-hovering Isobelle.

‘Sorry, Ewan. Looks like I must dash. But we must catch up.’ He paused for a moment as a thought struck him. ‘Tell you what; get your rag to send you across to Sweden. I’ll give you the works. The whole Mick Roslyn story. And, off the record, my new hush-hush project,’ he said with a conspiratorial wink. He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and fished out a card. ‘Ring this number. It’s our production company. Ask for Agnes. She’ll sort out a convenient time. Fly across. Meet me in Malmö.’

He knew she was alone. Where the man had gone, he wasn’t sure, but there had been no sign of him yesterday or the day before. He would have to make his move when he wasn’t there. Not tonight. But he was going to have to do something soon. As far as he was concerned, it had gone on too long like this. A group of youngsters sidled past him, noisily making their way homeward – or maybe they were going to call in for a carry-out at that place he sometimes frequented round the corner. They were enjoying their own company too much to notice him. A couple of drunks, mumbling incoherently to themselves, huddled under the shelter of the small terracotta-coloured Skånetrafiken bus station on the opposite side of the road. The youngsters disappeared in the direction of the falafel shop. As he turned back, he noticed a police car moving slowly towards him, coming from the city centre. He slipped into the shadows.

The police car turned left at the lights and was well out of sight as he took up his former position. He noticed that the light on the fourth floor was no longer on. ‘Shit,’ he whispered to himself.

CHAPTER 3

Ewan hated aeroplanes. They were frighteningly claustrophobic. When the plane door slammed shut, he always got that panicky urge to rush up the narrow aisle and try and force his way off. And the Cimber Air flight from Newcastle to Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport was particularly enclosed as it was a small aeroplane. But it was still a better way to spend a Monday morning than in the office. That he was on the flight in the first place amazed him. Brian hadn’t been very happy when he returned without his interview. ‘All that expense to go to Edinburgh to see some bloody Norwegian film...’

‘Swedish.’

‘As if there’s a bloody difference!’

It had taken a couple of days to persuade Brian that this was quite a story – and would be a real feather in his cap. Roslyn might have only made Swedish-based films, but he had quite an international reputation, as Ewan had discovered on further Internet research after his return from Edinburgh. One of his films had even been nominated for a BAFTA – Film Not in the English Language – a few years before. Though that had completely passed Ewan by at the time, the information brought a smile to Brian’s chubby cheeks. What was more, Ewan promised (but doubted it would happen) he would try and get an interview with Malin Lovgren as well. He had produced a photocopy of a near-naked shot of Lovgren from one of Mick Roslyn’s earlier films as confirmation that she was worth it. The fact that Brian stopped eating his sausage roll in mid-bite was a good sign. His ‘Can I hang onto that?’ rubber-stamped the decision. A return flight abroad and two nights at a hotel – booked by Brian’s sulky secretary Val – was almost unheard of in the annals of Novo News’s expenses.

‘Watch the spending. And I want receipts for everything, mind,’ were Brian’s parting words.

The weather was dull when the plane took off. Would there be snow at the other end? Ewan wondered. Pity he couldn’t have done this in the summer but buggers like him couldn’t be choosers. He had to admit that he was surprised that he wasn’t going to Stockholm. It was the obvious place for celebrity Swedes. And the star-studded duo did have a flat in the Swedish capital to make sure they were at the hub of all things artistic. However, further reading had revealed that Malin Lovgren was from Malmö and that she was happier living in her home town. Hence Mick’s invitation. Of course, when Mick had said ‘Meet me in Malmö’ he had pronounced the umlaut so it sounded like ‘Malma’. So Swedish, so Mick. In the three weeks it had taken to set up the meeting with Mick, Ewan had delved deep into his chosen subject. He had lost touch with Mick’s movements after university.

According to his web autobiography, Mick Roslyn had gone into advertising in London. From copywriting jobs in a couple of the top agencies, he had moved on to directing commercials. It was while filming one of these in Sweden that he had fallen in love with the country – and with an up-and-coming actress called Malin Lovgren. He decided to stay, and from Swedish commercials he moved onto movies. The rest was history. It all sounded so easy. Whether Malin had made Mick, or Mick had made Malin, it was difficult to tell from the sketchy details. One thing seemed certain – their fates and subsequent success were inextricably linked.

Ewan had seen as many of Mick’s movies as he could get his hands on. He had also canvassed Frida’s opinion. She had heard of Roslyn and Lovgren though, being Norwegian, she was scathing about the Swedes. And the Danes. And the Finns. ‘Not my kind of thing,’ was her verdict. She could never understand how Roslyn could film his own wife naked – and sometimes making love to other men – in front of all those viewers. ‘That should stay in the bedroom is what I have to say on the subject.’

Ewan mulled over this less-than-in-depth critique of Mick Roslyn’s body of work as the plane began to bank over flat fields and squat hamlets. Then there was a great expanse of sea with land further to the left, which he took to be Sweden. Why did the plane have to lean so alarmingly? During his rather nervous flight he had buried himself in the flight magazine, which carried a feature on the Scandinavians who had made it in Hollywood. Of course, there was no Mick Roslyn or Malin Lovgren. They seemed content to make their names in the domestic market. Were they happy to be little fish? Surely they must have thought about dipping their toes in the bigger waters across the pond. Or was it fear of failure? Mick never liked to fail. Rejection wasn’t his thing either, unless he had changed in the last twenty-odd years and there had certainly been no evidence of that in Edinburgh. Maybe Malin really was a home bird who didn’t want to spread her wings. Mick had never been short of ambition, so was she holding him back? It would be interesting to find out, but first he had to cope with the landing.

At the top of the aeroplane steps he stood for a moment and took in deep gulps of air. He didn’t feel comfortable in the old, black woollen coat he had come in. He had bought it for his father’s funeral years ago. It was too formal. It wasn’t him, but it was the only warm outer garment he possessed, and he had assumed that Sweden would be bloody freezing at this time of year. Though it was chilly, it wasn’t as cold as the Newcastle he had left an hour and a half ago. However, he was grateful for the shelter of the warm bus which ferried them to the terminal. Kastrup was Ewan’s first experience of Scandinavia. It met his preconceived ideas of Scandinavian cleanliness, efficiency (the bags emerged very quickly) and sleek modern design. He made his way straight through to the airport railway station, which was underneath the terminal and reached by a horizontal escalator. As the Malmö train was arriving, lights in the platform floor lit up to show where it would stop. This fascinated Ewan.

The train was fairly crowded, so he was happy enough to stand. Within a few minutes of setting off, the train emerged from a tunnel under the sea into the daylight and onto the elegantly curving Öresund Bridge, which linked Denmark and Sweden by both rail and road. Over seven kilometres of modern engineering had bonded two disparate cities in two separate countries into one metropolitan area. Through the girders of the railway section, which ran under the elevated road, Ewan could see Malmö’s latest landmark and Scandinavia’s highest building, the huge fifty-four-storey Turning Torso. This massive, slender, white skyscraper, twisting ninety degrees from top to bottom, seemed far too big for its surroundings – an awkward, gangling Gulliver in a Lilliputian landscape. In any other modern city it would be lost among a mass of gigantic towers but here, on flat terrain either side of the seaway, its only rival was the bridge itself. On the Swedish side, the train arced its way in a semicircle through the outskirts of Malmö.

The concrete buildings became more interesting and less boxlike as the train came nearer Malmö Central. As the line approached the station, a canal appeared on the left-hand side, and tall, elegant apartments in a variety of colours overlooked the water. The austere station platforms gave way to a lively and pleasant tiled terminal with shops, food outlets and a tourist information area. A cosy tunnel of a building. Here Ewan picked up a Welcome to Malmö map. He decided to find his hotel first before he planned his movements and discovered where Mick Roslyn’s flat was situated; the venue for the following morning’s interview.

The Hotel Comfort was less than five minutes’ walk from the station. Situated in the old docks area behind the station, Ewan’s heart sank when he saw the solid red façade of the four-storey building. It had all the appeal of a Travelodge, but inside it was better than the exterior suggested. The large atrium, tiled floor and comfortable mock-tartan-clad chairs were more promising. The woman on reception was very friendly and spoke immaculate English. She informed him that the hotel had a no-smoking policy for which he quietly cursed sulky Val. She would have done it on purpose. The receptionist also told him that the establishment was allergy adjusted. He hadn’t a clue what that meant. His room was small, functional and noisy – they were in the process of building the City Tunnel project, an underground railway connecting Malmö Central directly to the Öresund Bridge.

It was still light enough to go for a wander to gain his bearings. Map in hand and his new Rough Guide to Sweden under his arm, Ewan made for the centre of the city. He crossed over the canal by the elegant station exterior, with its Italianate clock tower, and headed into Stortorget, Malmö’s oldest square. Impressive buildings surrounded the square in the middle of which sat a statue of King Karl X Gustav on his horse, flanked on three sides by trees. One of the buildings, the surprisingly flamboyant town hall, built in 1546 in the Dutch Renaissance style (according to the book), took up one sizeable chunk. Behind it towered the spire of Sankt Petri Kyrka, one of the city’s main churches and oldest building. In a gap in the corner of Stortorget was the entrance to its smaller companion square, Lilla Torg. Here among the cobbles and old, colourful 16th-century buildings were the bars and restaurants which the young and trendy of Malmö made a beeline for at the end of the day. Being neither young nor trendy, Ewan settled for a drink in a bar called the Moosehead to watch the Swedish world go by. He wasn’t sure whether the beer was expensive as he hadn’t got his head round the exchange rate yet.

It was true that the streets of Sweden were paved with golden-haired beauties. And many other different hues, too. It really wasn’t fair that a country with such a small population should have such a high percentage of attractive people. Ewan started to count the ugly ones just to make himself feel better. His attention returned to the map. The address that Mick’s PA, Agnes, had given was on Östra Förstadsgatan. Based at Mick’s production headquarters in Stockholm, she had arranged the eleven o’clock meeting in Malmö, and for a photographer to come at 11.30. Apparently, Mick was coming down from Stockholm first thing as he had some engagement that night, but promised to be there on time. Malin would be in residence, and he might get the chance to have a word with her. The hint Agnes gave was that it could depend on what sort of mood Miss Lovgren was in at the time. She wasn’t as keen on meeting journalists as Mick. According to the map, Östra Förstadsgatan could only be about twenty minutes’ walk from his hotel. Agnes had said that it was opposite the Systembolag, the state-owned off-licence.

Ewan also cast around for a few sights to visit in the afternoon after his interview. He had promised the deputy editor of the morning paper that he would do a travelogue piece on Malmö for the Saturday Lifestyle section. That way he could split the cost of the flight, so Brian didn’t have to fork out for the full trip. That had placated the editor who found it impossible to exclude budget constraints from any decision he made. He would visit the Malmöhus castle, which now incorporated a museum. He would also take in one of the many parks, for Malmö was a city of large green spaces.

After finishing his beer, Ewan sauntered back to his hotel. It was dusk now. The neatly laid-out shops were all aglow, if not very busy; the restaurants looked inviting; the bars were starting to fill while commuters were beginning to gravitate towards Malmö Central. He would go back and have a shower, and then come out again for something to eat and try and savour the city’s night-time atmosphere. But he took a wrong turning out of Lilla Torg and found himself walking along a darkened street behind the Rica Hotel Malmö. It was only by chance that he caught a fleeting glimpse of someone whom he thought he vaguely recognized. But then the woman, along with a companion, disappeared into a doorway of a modern apartment building at the end of the street. Ewan shook his head. No, he was mistaken. Definitely.

CHAPTER 4

The chatter in the bar was loud and lively. It was extraordinary to be in Sweden: the bar could have been in any town in Britain. Which probably explained why The Pickwick had a large expatriate clientele. He struck up a conversation with two of the regulars. Alex and David were both British, both lured to the country by Swedish women and both were now separated from their sirens. But they had stayed. Alex now had another woman in tow, David was between girlfriends. Ewan had found the bar by accident and had almost beaten an immediate retreat when he had seen the British decor and ye olde traditional bric-a-brac and wooden-framed pictures that cluttered the walls and window sills. There were photos of the Queen and Prince Philip, and a model of a Spitfire hanging from the ceiling. And then the final British touch – a dartboard, which was in noisy use. The only concession to Swedishness was the tealights on every table. It was the Bombardier pump that had persuaded Ewan to give it a go. He was pleased he had stayed because the atmosphere was congenial, the company interesting. As they sat on a low-slung, thick leather sofa opposite the bar, he was also picking up pointers as to what to see during his limited time in Malmö.

Alex seemed to be a perpetual student, having gone back to university as the only way of being able to find a job in Sweden, while David was running his own export business. Both were members of the Malmöhus cricket club. It had never occurred to Ewan that they would play cricket in Sweden. Eventually, Ewan managed to steer the conversation round to the subject of Mick Roslyn. Mick certainly didn’t mix with the expat set and they assumed he spent most of his time in Stockholm. Many of his films were set there. ‘He’s big over here,’ said Alex in a strong Glaswegian accent.

‘The Swedes reckon Roslyn understands them. The way they think,’ put in David, who certainly hadn’t lost his estuary twang despite having spent twenty years in Scandinavia.

‘The Swedes seem very normal. Like us really.’ Ewan’s assessment was based on exchanges in the restaurant round the corner where he had an evening meal, the barman in Lilla Torg earlier and the hotel receptionist.

Alex and David exchanged smiles. ‘They may seem the same on the surface but they are very different, believe you me,’ said David.

‘But you reckon Roslyn has got under the cultural skin of the nation?’

‘So they say,’ Alex nodded. ‘But I still don’t understand a lot of his films. Sometimes he tries to out-Bergman Bergman.’

‘But with more tits,’ David smirked.

‘Yes, he’s not afraid of exposing a lot of flesh.’ Ewan was all for a bit of gratuitous nudity, but it helped if it seemed to fit in vaguely with the plot. With Mick’s films, much of it seemed to be there for shock value.

‘Are you meeting Malin Lovgren? She’s a bit tasty,’ Alex pronounced, and David nodded agreement.

‘Maybe. If I’m lucky.’ Ewan’s accompanying leery grin won him some laughter and another pint.

His vigil continued. She had gone out earlier in the evening. It was the first time he had glimpsed her for twenty-four hours. He knew she was at the TV station, but there had been no point in following her there. She had returned at about half nine. Now she was in the same corner room. What was she doing? And where was the man? Why did he leave her so often?

At this time of night, it was bitterly cold, but he didn’t feel it. Not tonight. He was well wrapped up and his baseball cap kept his head warm. Excitement was starting to mount. Adrenaline, he supposed. This was the night. He had decided to make his move. He took one last drag of his cigarette then flicked it away. It landed next to the hardly touched kebab he’d regretted buying twenty minutes before. He didn’t know what the outcome would be, but he had to stop all the tension that was building up inexorably inside him. He would explode if he didn’t do something positive. The only thing that troubled him was that the man might have returned while he had been buying his kebab. But the chances of that were slim. He’d only taken ten minutes.

He glanced around to make sure no one would see him. A couple of taxis passed and a local green bus came into the station opposite and waited under the neon-lit Skånetrafiken sign. Once the bus had pulled out, there were only the two drunks left. They seemed too caught up in a world of their own to notice him. He glanced at the turning clock face on its tall pedestal at the end of the bus station – 12.03. Then he saw a couple coming out of the Broderstugan bar just down the road. They wandered hand-in-hand towards the apartment block entrance. He cursed and slipped out of sight into the shop doorway. They stopped to kiss, before the cold drove them off. No one else. This was it. He kept in the shadows for as long as possible until he crossed over the road to the main door of the apartments. He knew the combination, so he would have no trouble getting in.

CHAPTER 5

Ewan woke early. He eased himself out of bed and went over to the window. Parting the curtains revealed another dull, grey day. Before he could gather his thoughts, the workmen on the underground began in earnest. He felt a bit queasy. It was nothing to do with anything he had eaten or drunk the night before but more a nervous tension as to how the morning would play out. He needed a cigarette. Like a naughty teenager, he sat in the en-suite bathroom to have a smoke as though no one was going to be able to smell it in there. After flushing the offending cigarette stub down the toilet, he showered and shaved. Even after his best efforts, the bathroom mirror didn’t offer much encouragement. The boyish looks, which had given him a certain cheeky charm, had disappeared into his more swollen middle age. Only the eyes showed there was still some life left in the carcass. He put on his black shirt in an effort to disguise the weight he was becoming increasingly conscious of but lacked the willpower to do anything about.

He decided to skip breakfast. Cheese and cold meats weren’t his idea of starting the day the proper way. Computer bag slung over his shoulder, he walked past the station out of which were emerging the day’s first commuters, wearing the blank, zombie-like expressions fellow office workers anywhere in the world would recognize. He still felt sick, so he was quite happy to walk the tension off. About fifteen minutes later, he reached Triangeln, a large modern glass and white-pillared temple to shopping, pinned into place by a skyscraping Hilton Hotel.

Though it was too early for shoppers, he was able to buy himself a coffee on the first floor. The café court was situated in the middle of the complex on a podium that floated between the shopping floors, which swooped up on either side. Ewan sat down on a chair with a ridiculously high back, turned on his laptop, and took a gulp of coffee as he waited for the computer to spring into life. He spluttered, and the coffee nearly came back up. After it had stripped his stomach lining, it would threaten to shred his intestines once it got that far. None of the guidebooks had warned him about the dangers of Swedish coffee.

Ewan tapped idly at the keys in an attempt to get started on his travelogue article, but he didn’t feel inspired. To take away the taste of the coffee, he bought himself an ice cream. Full fat. What would Mick be like? Ewan’s thoughts drifted back to Durham. Through the prism of time he couldn’t even recognize himself, physically at least. That was another person. Yet the man he had become was shaped in Durham. Distorted, more like. But the Mick of all those years ago was sharply defined in his mind. Mick was someone a timid first-year student like himself happily latched onto. As his friend, you could take shelter within Mick’s aura of confidence. Mick was always at the centre of things, which meant that Ewan was always there too. The tolerated guest, even if he hadn’t been invited. Often Mick hadn’t been invited either, but he still turned up to be welcomed with open arms.

And yet Ewan couldn’t help feeling slightly uneasy at Mick’s magnanimous summons to Malmö. He hadn’t expected it. And he knew the nagging at the back of his mind was a natural consequence of past experiences. There had always been a reason behind everything that Mick did: a subtext that couldn’t be read at the time. The ulterior motives would only be comprehended later. Maybe success had negated the need to be duplicitous. A great career, ravishing wife and enviable lifestyle. And yet?

Ewan made sure he turned up on time. He was surprised that the apartments weren’t more prestigious, on the outside at least. He had seen plenty of elegant blocks on the way from the hotel. The Systembolag opposite had some seedy-looking customers at that time in the morning. Värnhem didn’t strike Ewan as the city’s most salubrious area.

The apartment stood at the end of the busy Östra Förstadsgatan where it opened out into yet another square, Värnhemstorget, which had a small interchange bus station. The block curved pleasingly round into the next street, which was the beginning of the wide-avenued Kungsgatan. Number 35B must have been a very smart building when it was on the edge of Malmö, but time hadn’t been kind to it. Light beige in colour, the rendered concrete was surprisingly appealing. Mick and Malin lived on the fourth floor. A wire mesh grille covered the entrance with what looked like a cage door in the middle of it, barring his way to the formal wooden and glass-panelled front door. He looked at the list of occupants on the wall and pressed the buzzer for the flat marked M Lovgren. There was no answer. He tried again. No response. It would be typical of Mick to drag him all the way over to Sweden and then not turn up. Maybe his flight was delayed.

The wind whipped up. Ewan shivered. A third press of the buzzer was as fruitless as the first two. Then he saw a woman in her twenties coming out of the main entrance and approaching the grille. The cage door opened. Ewan smiled at her, but got no response. However, he managed to step inside before the door clanged shut. Once through the front door, he was at the bottom of the block’s stairwell. The staircase was wide and had once been elegant. Now it needed a lick of paint. The lift, to Ewan’s right, beckoned. He was tempted to save the climb, but his fear of enclosed spaces got the better of him – and this lift was particularly narrow.

Ewan was panting heavily by the time he reached the top floor. The Roslyn apartment was straight in front of him. As he regained his breath, he looked at his watch: 11.08. He didn’t like being late himself – he hated it even more in others. And it appeared that if Mick was going to turn up, he would be fashionably late. He pressed the doorbell. He could hear it ringing inside. If someone didn’t come to the door soon, he was going to lose his nerve. A second attempt didn’t stir any occupants. Mick should be here, must be here. Ewan tried the door handle. It opened. Now he was left with a dilemma. Should he go in or wait outside? Do nothing and he could be standing here for ever. No interview and he would have to face the wrath of Brian, brandishing his P45. He half-opened the door and knocked on it loudly. Silence. ‘Mick?’ he called out. Then he tried ‘Miss Lovgren?’

Ewan stepped into a narrow lobby. Some coats hung from a line of hooks. To his left, there was a toilet. Ahead of him, the door was open. Through it was a reception room with only a small table and two chairs of the very minimalist Scandinavian style. A large, unused fireplace took up one corner. The high ceiling was impressive. These apartments had been built for the wealthy citizens of Malmö, possibly in the 1920s, Ewan concluded. The wooden floor was beautifully polished – there wasn’t a carpet or rug in sight. Ewan began to panic. He didn’t want to be caught here. He thought of turning tail but found himself rooted to the spot. Ahead of him was a door leading into a further hall with what looked like a bathroom beyond. To his right, elegant wooden double doors were slightly ajar, through which shone a finger of artificial light.

Three slowly taken paces got Ewan to the door. Opposite must be two very large picture windows if the still-drawn curtains were anything to go by. The light came from two ultra-modern, squat table lamps flanking a buff leather sofa. It looked expensive. This wasn’t IKEA territory. Where the hell was Mick? It was at that moment that he saw the slumped figure on the floor next to the sofa. In that strange light, he wasn’t even sure it was a figure at first until he made out the thick blonde strands of hair that covered her face. She was wearing a long, black skirt, which had ridden up her legs. Her jumper was a deep blue. Ewan just stared. Was this a drunken repose? He took a step nearer. He couldn’t hear her breathing. As he peered closer, he noticed how stiff the body appeared.

Ewan began to tremble. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t meant to happen. He must phone for help. But he had better make sure. Carefully, he got down on his haunches so that he was hovering just over the corpse. With a quivering hand he gently brushed back her hair. Then, without knowing why he did it, he slipped a hand under her rigid body and cradled her. He found he was stroking her hair. Malin Lovgren was a truly gorgeous woman. She was beautiful in life, now beautiful in death, despite the blueish-purple hue of her face, which gave her a ghostly look. His hand was still on her hair when he heard someone cry out, ‘What the fuck are you...?’

Then there was a flash of blinding light.

CHAPTER 6

She looked hurriedly around. Where the hell had she put her bag? It had the car keys in it. She was going to be late again. She knew she shouldn’t have gone for that run in Pildammsparken. But it had cleared her head, which she needed now that she had two days off work. She couldn’t see