Christer Tholin [Tholin - Murder?

MURDER?

A Swedish Crime Novel

Stockholm Sleuth Series
(Book 3)

Christer Tholin

Copyright 2019 Christer Tholin

Stockholm, Sweden

www.christertholin.one

Translated by Maiwenn Kafka

Title of the original German edition:

MORD?

Published 2018

Editing: Charlotte Kliemann

Cover design by Anne Gebhardt

All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication or any parts of it without the prior written permission of the author. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

ISBN of the pocketbook:

ISBN: 1-72869-190-7

ISBN-13: 978-1728691909

This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the authors imagination or are use fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental

For my son, Alexander

Content

Prologue

July 2016

H er hand felt so good in his. He was always amazed how soft and delicate her hands were. He was entranced, watching her run along beside him. She was the very picture of loveliness, with her thick blond hair, green eyes and high cheekbones. But this morning hed had the impression that something was bothering her. Shed disappeared into the bathroom right after breakfast and hadnt been the same since somehow not as happy and lively as usual. Hed asked her what was going on, but shed said, No, nothing, Im fine.

He was simply crazy about her. Hed never imagined that such a gorgeous young woman could ever be interested in him, much less fall for him. And now here they were beginning a new life together; sometimes he felt like he was dreaming. During the three days since theyd moved into the cabin, the harmony between them had been simply idyllic. And the sex was amazing too just the love-making hed been craving, a craving she knew exactly how to slake.

They were approaching the end of the forest path and the highlight of the walk. The path led to the site of a landslide that had occurred a few years back. The landslide had created a long steep downhill slope that afforded a magnificent view of a large forest meadow dotted with rocks and bushes and oftentimes animals, which took no notice if you stood there watching them. During a walk theyd taken here a couple of days ago theyd spotted reindeer, which she was very excited about as shed never seen a reindeer in the wild.

At the end of the slope they stopped, and he turned toward her. She was staring over the edge of the steep cliff, but she wasnt as radiant today as shed been during their previous walk.

Is anything the matter? Did I say something wrong?

No, no, nothing like that...I really dont know. She let go of his hand, took a step away from him, and gazed at him. What did the look in her eyes mean? He couldnt tell for sure. He saw a lot of sadness there, but also anxiety. She averted her gaze. What was eating her?

As he was about to again ask her what the matter was, he became aware of a movement behind him. He figured it must be an animal and turned around. A huge muscular man was heading straight for him, was upon him in a flash, with a violent shock that shook him to the core. He staggered and stepped sideways, into what he realized too late was an abyss. He lost his balance and the last thing he heard was Natalia screaming. His hands clawed the air, as he plummeted downward, almost head first. He managed to grab onto a bush whose thorns dug into his hands; but the bush was too small to break his fall. The branch hed grabbed broke, and he continued falling.

His last thought before crashing into the ground below was of Natalia.

PART I

August 2016

L iv opened the large front door.

Hi, Christina, great to see you. Come on in, she said.

Hej! Nice to see you too. Your place is really awesome, Christina said, looking around in wonderment.

Liv gave her former coworker a furtive look. Somethings not right, she thought to herself. Those rings under her eyes, she looks so tired, and kind of down. Liv couldnt remember Christina ever looking this way before.

But Liv kept all this to herself. Yeah, well, I inherited all this from my folks, she said, laughing. Frankly, she felt embarrassed to be living in such resplendent surroundings. The house, which was located in a housing tract in the Stockholm archipelago, had its own beach and a long docking pier where a large motorboat was docked.

Its really a shame that we spend so little time here; most of the time it just stands empty. But I must say its great to have a vacation home near Stockholm. This was the first time Liv had spent time here since January, when shed moved to Berlin with her kids.

Hej, Christina. Im Martin. Nice to meet you, Martin said as he emerged from the bedroom.

Hi Martin. You speak really good Swedish.

Yeah well, Im getting there. Though I often have to ask if Im using the right word. Martin was German, but hed been attending Swedish classes ever since he and Liv had gotten together. Plus, they spoke Swedish at home more and more.

Suddenly three kids came barreling into the house from the back yard.

Here come the offspring, Liv said. How about giving Christina a nice hello? This here is my oldest, Saga, and her brother Hampus. Sagas 11 and Hampus is almost nine. The two children shook Christinas hand. Behind them was a little girl who was looking on anxiously.

And thats Martins daughter Lara. Shes five and isnt fluent in Swedish yet, but she understands just about everything. Laughing shyly, Lara shook hands with Christina.

Kids, do you want to have coffee with us, or would you rather have ice cream? said Liv.

Ice cream, ice cream! the kids shouted in unison.

Okay great, so go get yourselves an ice cream from the freezer, which we pretty much filled to the brim yesterday. The ice cream truck from Hemglass made its weekly rounds on the neighboring island, and yesterday theyd waited for it to come by. The kids ran into the kitchen, jostling each other.

The verandas the best place for quiet conversation, so lets go out there, shall we? Liv led Christina through the large living room to the terrace door, which opened out onto a magnificent view. The property sloped down gently to the water, with expanses dotted with large rocks, and bordered by pine and oak trees and as a backdrop to all this, an unimpeded and stunning view of the sea. The water glistened in the sun; the islands, with their trees and meadows, were bathed in a green, luminescent glow; and scattered around this idyllic scene were houses, most of which were painted red, and a few boats sailing past.

What an awesome view. It doesnt get much better than this. For all Christinas apparent excitement at taking all this in, Liv couldnt help but notice, once again, the fatigue her friend exuded, and her drooping shoulders.

Yeah, we never get tired of it, Martin said. Its really great for me, as this is the first time Ive been here. When I took a cruise through our archipelago last year, I couldnt have imagined that one day Id be spending my vacation in a house like this one.

Liv recalled that back then, Martin had come to Stockholm in the hope of finding her. Theyd originally met in southern Sweden, where Martin had rented a vacation home. Theyd arranged to meet up again, but then Liv had been kidnapped an event that had plunged Martin into a state of extreme distress. Hed found out that Liv was living in Stockholm with her family and had decided to go there to find her. Which hed eventually managed to do, with the aid of two private detectives. But this was by no means the end of the story.

The three of them sat down on the veranda, where there was a large wooden table under a pergola, and around which comfortable, thickly upholstered lawn chairs were arrayed. Martin served the coffee, while Liv cut the cake that shed baked in the morning with Saga and Lara. As they drank coffee and ate the delicious cake, they chatted about the weather and their vacation plans.