”Gather in the conference room in two seconds”, Carlos shouted when he came out of his office. Thoughtfully he lit a cigarette in the reception and continued out to the shade in the backyard.
Two murders in just a few days. We haven’t bloody had a murder for I don’t know how long. Why right here and now?
Carlos inhaled a final time dropped the cigarette and put it out with the heel of his high, black boot. He left the butt as usual in the grey dusty gravel before going in to the reception again.
”Will you bring in coffee, tea and something to go with it”, he said making it sound more like an order than a request. ”We need new energy in there.” The Chief took out his old embroidered handkerchief and wiped off the sweat from his forehead for the umpteenth time before realizing he had actually blown his nose in it by the dam. Disgustedly he put the handkerchief back in the pocket of his trousers and made a mental note to change it as soon as he got home.
The Chief of Police groaned when he felt the sweat pouring down his fat back. He pulled at the blue uniform shirt to get in some air, but it was so tight it didn’t make any difference. With heavy steps he went into the conference room.
”What the hell, has nobody put on the air conditioning?” Angrily he grabbed the remote control which was hanging on the bare wall inside the door, put it on fifteen degrees and pulled the door shut with a bang.
”Has something happened, or what?”
Carlos furiously stared at Sam and Daphne. ”You can damn say that. This bloody heat is killing me and none of you had sense enough to put on the air conditioning in there either.” Carlos opened his uniform shirt at the neck and grunted loudly.
”Maybe you could have thought of that yourself since it’s you making the rules about how we should use electricity in this house. I quote: The air conditioner can only be on when we are in the conference room.” Ostentatiously they opened the brown stained laminate door and went in to sit down by the oval conference table.
”If I decide to save on electricity it will be valid until I say something else. Understood?” Drenched with sweat Carlos went up to the new white board shining clean and white on the greyish wall. ”OK, let’s focus. Two bodies the same week. Some spontaneous thoughts, Daphne?”
”Apart from the eyes both bodies seem to have been tortured. Sten Arvidsson was filled with concrete, had some fingers broken and was also missing a finger. Today’s victim had a rope around his feet and some broken fingers. I think the missing eyes and the burn-marks on the bodies indicate the same offender.” Daphne poured some tea in her mug and put a ripe grape in her mouth.
”What else do we have then?” Carlos turned to Sam with the pen raised.
Sam thought about the question and shook his head before answering:
”I actually can’t think of anything else they have in common. We know that Sten Arvidsson was from Sweden, maybe today’s victim is also Swedish.” He took a sip from his coffee mug and continued thinking.
Carlos took off the lid on the red felt-pen, put up a picture of Sten Arvidsson, wrote his name on the left side and victim unknown to the right. He continued stacking cause of death, relations, professions, next of kin and known facts under each name. Then he took a step back and looked at the board.
”What other known facts have we got?” Carlos scratched his ear, analyzed the bright yellow piece of wax on his nail before flicking it away with the thumb and index finger.
”The tracks, have you checked them, Sam?”
”Of course. The tracks Forensics made casts of belong to the king of four-wheelers, the Can-Am. Unfortunately this brand is common on the island and many rentals have it. But the tracks belong to the largest model, the Can-Am Outlander Max, which might not be that common.”
Carlos wrote Can-Am under known facts. ”Well done, and what about you Daphne? Have you found something regarding the key we found in Sten Arvidsson’s clothes?”
”Sorry. I’ve been to three lock-smiths and none of them have seen anything similar. I also went passed the bus station and the airport but their storage lockers have a completely different key. The banks also use another kind of key for their safety deposits so at the moment I’m groping in the dark. But of course I’ll continue my search.”
”Good.”
Daphne was rubbing her tired neck and continued with a calm voice: ”We’ll have to wait for what Neo has to say after the autopsy and see if he finds any other connection except for the eyes and burns. But it does look as though we are dealing with the same offender, doesn’t it? Then we’ll have to try and identify our latest victim.” She scratched her skull with a pen, put it behind her ear while looking out through the gridded window. The sky was blue and a few patches of clouds were passing by. According to the weather forecast the extreme heat would stay for at least another week.
”And as usual we have to wait forever for the report from Forensics”, Carlos added and went for the juicy honey cake.
”Is it OK if I take the last one?”
Nobody answered and Carlos put the cake in his mouth.
”Maria and Stavros always give their reports really fast so stop picking on them.”
”Have we finished?” Sam got up and quickly pushed the chair behind him.
”Yes, I think so unless somebody wants to add something?” The Chief said while leaning over the conference table. After a moment of silence he continued.” Well, as soon as you find something, give a shout so the rest of us will know.” He finished his coffee, pinched the last cheese sandwich and dragged his feet to his own little den.
Katerina was sneaking a bite of the puff pastry and opened the Coke Light she’d brought in front of the computer. Her eyes were still on the screen while she stuck the straw in the narrow opening with her hand. She had a sip of the sweet drink and happily looked around the room to make sure nobody would know what she was up to. Although Katerina could feel the tight trousers digging into her waist she couldn’t help having another bite of the cake. Her chubby fingers automatically went down to the button on her trousers, opening it so her pale fat stomach welled over the waistband like an unbaked loaf of bread. With a sigh of relief she pulled down the burly edge of her lacy vest trying to hide it all.
”So, here you are sitting indulging yourself”, Daphne said with a twisted smile.
”Not at all, it’s not mine”, Katerina lied in terror. Fast as lightning she put back the puff pastry in the paper bag and put it aside on the desk.
”If it’s not yours then why are you eating it?”
”Mind your own business and not that of others”, Katerina hissed angrily.
”I was just wondering since you’re always complaining about being overweight. How many points does that pastry actually contain?”
Katerina groaned and irritated fumbled with her hair clip. ”What do you want?”
”Do you have the list of those reported missing?”
”As a matter of fact I do”, she muttered and gave Daphne a darting look. She picked up the paper from the printer. ”Here you are.”
”Thanks, and by the way everybody knows you are indulging yourself with cookies and sweets so you can stop it. Eating in secret that is.”
”Didn’t I tell you to mind your own business?” Katerina hissed once again while sitting down. ”I’m going to show you that I can become slimmer than you.”
”I gladly accept that challenge. You see, I think you are using your body as a rubbish bin at the moment and I’d like to see a change. What date should we choose?”
”Eh, date?”
”Yes, what date are you going to be slimmer than me?” Daphne said and stroked the front of her neat little body with her hands.
”Let’s say Christmas Eve. By Christmas Eve I will be as slim, or slimmer, than you. How much do you weigh, by the way?”
”Deal” Daphne said and smiled. I’m fifty-five kilos to my 165 centimetres. You and I are more or less the same height, so there’s your point of reference.” Daphne happily turned around, went to the kitchen and made herself a cup of green tea. She studied the whirls made by the spoon in the mug, leaned against the cupboard and let her shoulders sink a bit. She was tired. Her daughter didn’t sleep the nights through yet and it made her feel perpetually exhausted. Carefully she closed her eyes and let the sunbeams coming in through the window caress her face for a moment. When she dropped the documents on the floor, she jerked and surprised opened her eyes. She had almost fallen asleep. Embarrassed Daphne bent down, picked up the paper and started reading. There were only two people who had been reported missing. A 27-year old man from Nicosia and a 71-year old woman from Tala, both of them Cypriots. She sipped the hot tea and was just about to go in to Carlos’ when she heard Katerina and Sam talking in the corridor with their voices raised.
”Carlos actually had a hysterical woman here yesterday who was reporting her husband missing. I think she was a foreigner”, Katerina said with flushing apple-shaped cheeks. ”How could I forget it?”
”Carlos!” Sam shouted strained.”Come here!”
Carlos heard his name echoing in the corridor and tiredly got up from the office chair. Damn it, couldn’t they just leave him alone for a while, he thought quietly to himself and went out to the reception.
”What do you want now?”
”Didn’t you receive a report from a crying woman yesterday? You know that elderly woman who was so elegantly dressed.”
”Eh, well yes”, Carlos hesitated and pulled up a handwritten note from the breast pocket of his light blue uniform shirt. ”Well I’ll be damn” he exclaimed.
Sam turned around and looked at Carlos with irritation. ”Let me see.” Sam read what was written on the note and sighed loud. ”Why isn’t he on the list of missing people?”
”Eh, I didn’t think of putting him in the damn system. I’m bloody in the middle of a murder investigation. Two as a matter of fact.”
”What? You’re joking, right?” Sam gave Carlos a toxic glance with his black eyes while his boss turned his back on him. ”You are always bothering us to be careful and update the system as soon as there are any changes, and then you don’t do it yourself? And you’re supposed to be the Chief….”
Daphne who had also heard the shouting in the corridor joined the others by the reception.
”What’s going on?” She asked curiously and felt the tension in the air.
”Did you know that Carlos got a report yesterday about a missing man who might be the victim we found today?” Katerina sarcastically spat out the words before folding her arms and giving Carlos a challenging look.
”Yesterday?” Daphne asked surprised.
”Yes, and besides he didn’t put the report in the system? Sam
”How come you are surprised?” Daphne said with irritation. ”Unfortunately our complaining doesn’t help since Carlos will never change anyway. But I agree with you, to work against the wind is not that bloody fun.”
”Damn it, how much you are complaining. I bloody have the note here.” Carlos was waving the paper in his hand and really looked surprised. ”What is there to talk about or get excited about? I bloody have the note here in my hand, I haven’t thrown it away. It’s here and we can continue our work.”
Everybody kept quiet and looked at each-other until the sound of the fax machine broke the silence. Katerina as usual wobbled to the ancient fax on her too high, narrow heels and picked up the paper.
”OK, listen to this, we’ve got new information from the police in Gothenburg. It’s about Sten Arvidsson.” Katerina, embarrassed, pulled down her jumper which had gone up over her stomach and cleared her throat before starting to read.
”Give it to me”, Carlos brusquely interrupted. ”It’s not your duty to deliver news at my station.
”If you ask me nicely.”
”Hey, that’s not my style. I take what I want”, Carlos said and went up to her, snatching the fax from her hand.
”That was really brazen, you…” Katerina turned around and offended wobbled back to her seat.
Carlos quickly glanced through the document. ”Let’s go into the conference room again.” He nodded specifically at Daphne and Sam.
”Detective Hogstrom informs us that Sten Arvidsson has had his mail forwarded to an address in Coral Bay since the beginning of April” he said and nodded at Daphne. ”You and Sam go there and make some enquiries. Don’t forget to speak to the neighbours, too. Detective Hogstrom has also found that Sten Arvidsson is not in the police register in Sweden. You can read more in this fax.”
Carlos put the document on the conference table, went up to the white-board and wrote down Sten Arvidsson’s Cypriot address under known facts.
The next second Katerina carefully knocked at the closed conference door and came in with yet another document for Carlos.
”This fax just came from CSCP, I thought you might want it.”
”Good.” Carlos was quickly glancing through the document and displeased raised his bushy eye-brows. ”Unfortunately it seems like the offender has used gloves, so in other words he is still unknown.”
”Let me see.” Daphne stretched out her hand, took the paper and read it through before sighing loudly. ”But...they did find your DNA on several cigarette butts, Carlos. Why am I not surprised?”
”What? Are you no longer allowed to smoke?”
”Can’t you learn how to behave at a murder scene and here at the police station for our sakes? Don’t you get it that you are not only making a fool of yourself but you put all of us in difficulty because of your behaviour.” Sam violently got up from the simple chair and nodded at Daphne. ” Let’s go, I’m suffocating in here.”