Free Exposed by Liza Marklund Page A

Hanna Josefin Liljeberg was murdered in Kronoberg Park in Stockholm. Evidence from her body indicates that she was raped.’
    He looked around his audience, his eyes settling on Annika. She gulped.
    ‘We’re interested in contacting everyone, I repeat, everyone, who was in the vicinity of Kronoberg Park, Parkgatan, Hantverkargatan or Sankt Göransgatan between five o’clock and seven o’clock this morning. We are happy to receive any information that might be of use. We have set up special phone-lines for the public to call. People can either talk to an operator or leave a message. Even if people think that their information isn’t important, it could be highly relevant to the broader picture of events. Which is why we are asking everyone who saw anything at all unusual at the time in question to contact us …’
    He fell silent. Dust was hanging in the air. The dryness was irritating Annika’s throat.
    The reporter from one of the morning broadsheets cleared his throat.
    ‘Do you have a suspect?’ he asked in an assured tone of voice.
    Annika looked at him in surprise. Hadn’t he understood a thing?
    ‘No,’ the press spokesman replied amiably. ‘That’s why it’s so important that we hear from members of the public.’
    The reporter took some notes.
    ‘What sort of forensic evidence do you have thatindicates that the murder was committed where the body was found?’ Arne Påhlson asked.
    ‘We can’t go into that at this point,’ the spokesman said.
    The reporters asked several more semi-idiotic questions, but the press spokesman was unwilling to say anything more. Eventually the radio reporter asked if he could ask some questions by himself. The press conference broke up. It had lasted almost twenty minutes. Bertil Strand was leaning against a large black-and-white partition at the back of the room.
    ‘Do you want to wait until radio have finished with him, then talk to him afterwards?’ Annika asked.
    ‘I think we should split up,’ Berit said. ‘One of us can stay and talk to him while the other tries to find pictures of the girl.’
    Annika nodded; that made sense.
    ‘I can go round to the duty desk of the crime unit and check the passport register,’ Berit said, ‘if you want to stay and talk to Gösta.’
    ‘Gösta?’
    ‘That’s his name. Are you staying, Bertil? I can get a taxi …’
    After radio had finished Arne Påhlson took over. The second reporter from the other evening paper had vanished. Annika was willing to bet that Berit would bump into him when she was checking the passport register.
    Arne Påhlson took his time, at least as much time as the press conference itself. At quarter to eleven everyone apart from Annika and Bertil had given up. The press spokesman was tired when Annika finally sat down with him in one corner of the empty room.
    ‘Do you find this difficult?’ Annika asked.
    Gösta looked at her in surprise. ‘How do you mean?’
    ‘You must get to see so much crap. How do you do it?’
    ‘It’s not so bad. Did you have any questions?’
    Annika leafed back a few pages in her notebook.
    ‘I saw the girl up in the park,’ she said calmly, almost in passing. ‘She wasn’t wearing any clothes, and I couldn’t see any clothes nearby. Either she climbed into the cemetery naked or else her clothes are somewhere else. Have you found them?’
    She looked directly at the press spokesman’s eyes. He blinked in surprise.
    ‘No, just her underwear,’ he said. ‘But you can’t write that!’
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘It could jeopardize the investigation,’ he said quickly.
    ‘Come on!’ Annika said. ‘How?’
    The man thought for a moment.
    ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I suppose we could make that public, I don’t suppose it will make much difference.’
    ‘Where did you find her underwear? What state was it in? How do you know it was hers?’
    ‘Her pants were hanging on a nearby bush, pink polyester. We’ve had them identified.’
    ‘Ah, yes,’ Annika said.