the woman when he decided to continue along the old road, underneath the highway that roared right alongside. After barely half a mile he reached an intersection and turned right into a combined parking lot and bus stop. He stopped the car and turned off the engine, got out and lit a Corps, and leaned against the side of the car.
The policeman with the video camera could be an opening. Hadn’t the traffic department been sending out night patrols for a while? Early mornings? Cameras that could see in the dark? Testing out heat-sensitive cameras?
And wasn’t this test supposed to be concentrating specifically on the eastern districts and arteries?
Winter grabbed the phone from its cradle on the dashboard and called traffic. He introduced himself to the watch commander and asked to be connected to the department chief.
“Walter’s busy.”
“For how long?”
Winter could see the shoulder shrug, could almost hear the sigh from the other end: why can’t this guy call somebody else?
“I asked for how long.”
“Who are you, did you say?”
“Inspector Erik Winter. I’m the deputy chief of homicide.”
“You can’t speak to somebody else?”
“We’re involved in a murder investigation, and it’s very important that I speak to Walter Kronvall.”
“Okay, okay, hang on,” the manly voice said, and Winter waited.
“Yeah, this is Kronvall.”
“Erik Winter here.”
“I was busy.”
“You still are.”
“What?”
“You’re busy with this conversation with me now, Walter. And I’ll get straight to the point. I need to know if you had any cameras out around Boråsleden last night, by the Delsjö junction, or anywhere in the vicinity. Early in the morning. While it was still dark.”
“Speed check?”
“You’d know that better than I would.”
“What’s this about?”
“Haven’t you heard about the murder yet? We got a strangled woman this morn—”
“Oh sure, I know about it. Despite the communications in this place, I might add.”
Winter waited for him to continue. He could feel the sweat around his eyes and where the telephone pressed against his cheek. He sat on the car seat in the shade and wiped his forehead with the back of his right hand.
“You want to know if we were filming in the vicinity, when it was dark. Well, it’s possible. Normally we don’t have that kind of equipment, but we got some in on loan from the boys in the copter unit to test it out a bit. Heat-sensitive cameras. I’ll have to check with the local precinct in Härlanda.”
“Can you do that now?”
“Well, I guess I’d better if you’re going to have any chance of seeing the footage. If they’ve been there, that is.”
“How do you mean?”
“Don’t you know how it works, Chief Inspector? The officers in the video cars peruse the tapes and then rewind them, and then somebody else takes over.”
“The tapes are usually recorded over?”
“Sure. We don’t exactly have infinite resources over here in the traffic department.”
“Then call them, please.”
“Where can I reach you?”
Winter told him and hung up, then rose from his seat and walked across the asphalt to the bus timetable. The first departure of the day was at 0500 hours. The final one left at 2343. Yet another lead to add to all the others in the investigation. An investigation is a great big vacuum cleaner that sucks in everything: witness statements and forensic evidence, sound ideas and crazy hunches, most of it completely irrelevant to the case. Eventually you find things that fit together. Then you can formulate a hypothesis.
The phone in his breast pocket rang. He answered with his name.
“It’s Walter here again. That was good thinking, Winter. It turns out that they were out last night and this morning in the video cars in the eastern part of town.”
“Okay,” Winter said. “Were they set up along the Boråsleden?”
“You bet. And a couple of the cameras that were used last night haven’t been
The policeman with the video camera could be an opening. Hadn’t the traffic department been sending out night patrols for a while? Early mornings? Cameras that could see in the dark? Testing out heat-sensitive cameras?
And wasn’t this test supposed to be concentrating specifically on the eastern districts and arteries?
Winter grabbed the phone from its cradle on the dashboard and called traffic. He introduced himself to the watch commander and asked to be connected to the department chief.
“Walter’s busy.”
“For how long?”
Winter could see the shoulder shrug, could almost hear the sigh from the other end: why can’t this guy call somebody else?
“I asked for how long.”
“Who are you, did you say?”
“Inspector Erik Winter. I’m the deputy chief of homicide.”
“You can’t speak to somebody else?”
“We’re involved in a murder investigation, and it’s very important that I speak to Walter Kronvall.”
“Okay, okay, hang on,” the manly voice said, and Winter waited.
“Yeah, this is Kronvall.”
“Erik Winter here.”
“I was busy.”
“You still are.”
“What?”
“You’re busy with this conversation with me now, Walter. And I’ll get straight to the point. I need to know if you had any cameras out around Boråsleden last night, by the Delsjö junction, or anywhere in the vicinity. Early in the morning. While it was still dark.”
“Speed check?”
“You’d know that better than I would.”
“What’s this about?”
“Haven’t you heard about the murder yet? We got a strangled woman this morn—”
“Oh sure, I know about it. Despite the communications in this place, I might add.”
Winter waited for him to continue. He could feel the sweat around his eyes and where the telephone pressed against his cheek. He sat on the car seat in the shade and wiped his forehead with the back of his right hand.
“You want to know if we were filming in the vicinity, when it was dark. Well, it’s possible. Normally we don’t have that kind of equipment, but we got some in on loan from the boys in the copter unit to test it out a bit. Heat-sensitive cameras. I’ll have to check with the local precinct in Härlanda.”
“Can you do that now?”
“Well, I guess I’d better if you’re going to have any chance of seeing the footage. If they’ve been there, that is.”
“How do you mean?”
“Don’t you know how it works, Chief Inspector? The officers in the video cars peruse the tapes and then rewind them, and then somebody else takes over.”
“The tapes are usually recorded over?”
“Sure. We don’t exactly have infinite resources over here in the traffic department.”
“Then call them, please.”
“Where can I reach you?”
Winter told him and hung up, then rose from his seat and walked across the asphalt to the bus timetable. The first departure of the day was at 0500 hours. The final one left at 2343. Yet another lead to add to all the others in the investigation. An investigation is a great big vacuum cleaner that sucks in everything: witness statements and forensic evidence, sound ideas and crazy hunches, most of it completely irrelevant to the case. Eventually you find things that fit together. Then you can formulate a hypothesis.
The phone in his breast pocket rang. He answered with his name.
“It’s Walter here again. That was good thinking, Winter. It turns out that they were out last night and this morning in the video cars in the eastern part of town.”
“Okay,” Winter said. “Were they set up along the Boråsleden?”
“You bet. And a couple of the cameras that were used last night haven’t been
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