do with that Lisbeth Salander everyone was talking about. Not least since Nils Bjurman was a part of the investigation. She took action on three fronts. She requisitioned the only remaining police van and drove directly to Stallarholmen. She called her colleagues in Sodertalje and asked for assistance. The Sodertalje force was also spread thin since part of their manpower had been sent to dig up bodies around a burned-out warehouse south of Nykvarn, but the possible connection between Nykvarn and Stallarholmen prompted another duty officer in Sodertalje to dispatch two cruisers to Stallarholmen to assist. In the end the duty officer from Strangnas called Inspector Bublanski in Stockholm. She reached him on his mobile.
Bublanski was at Milton Security in a meeting with its CEO, Armansky, and two of his staff, Fraklund and Bohman. Hedstrom was conspicuous by his absence.
Bublanski immediately sent Andersson out to Bjurman's summer cabin and told him to take Faste if he could get hold of him. After thinking for a moment, Bublanski also called Holmberg, who was near Nykvarn and therefore considerably closer to Stallarholmen.
Holmberg had some news for him too. "We've identified the body in the pit."
"That's impossible. How so fast?"
"Everything's simple when the corpse considerately has himself buried with his wallet and laminated ID."
"Who is it?"
"A bit of a celebrity. Kenneth Gustafsson, known as the Vagabond. Does it ring a bell?"
"Are you kidding? Downtown hooligan, pusher, petty thief, and addict? He's lying in a hole in Nykvarn?"
"Yes, that's the man. At least that's the ID in the wallet. Identification will have to be confirmed by forensics, and it's going to be like putting a puzzle together. The Vagabond was chopped into five or six pieces."
"Interesting. Paolo Roberto said that the super heavyweight he was fighting threatened Miriam Wu with a chain saw."
"Could very well have been a chain saw, but I haven't looked that closely. We've just started digging up the second site. They're busy setting up the tent."
"That's good. Jerker - it's been a long day, I know, but can you stay on this evening?"
"Sure, OK. I'll let them get on with it here and head on to Stallarholmen."
Bublanski disconnected and rubbed his eyes.
The armed response team hastily assembled from Strangnas arrived at Bjurman's summer cabin at 3:44 p.m. On the access road they literally collided with a man on a Harley-Davidson, who was wobbling along until he steered right into the oncoming van. It was not a serious collision. The police climbed out and identified Sonny Nieminen, thirty-seven years old and a known killer from the mid-nineties. Nieminen seemed to be in bad shape. When they put the cuffs on him, they were surprised to find that the back of his vest was slashed. A piece of leather about eight inches square was missing. It looked peculiar. Nieminen was unwilling to discuss the matter.
They locked him in the van and drove on two hundred yards to the cabin. They found a retired harbour worker by the name of oberg putting a splint on the foot of one Carl-Magnus Lundin, thirty-six years old and president of the gang that called itself Svavelsjo MC.
The leader of the police team was Inspector Nils-Henrik Johansson. He climbed out, straightened his shoulder belt, and looked at the sorry creature on the ground.
oberg stopped bandaging Lundin's foot and gave Johansson a wry look.
"I'm the one who called."
"You reported shots being fired."
"I reported that I heard a single shot and came over to investigate and found these guys. This one has been shot in the foot and beaten up pretty badly. I think he needs an ambulance."
oberg glanced towards the police van.
"I see you got the other guy. He was out cold when I arrived, but he didn't seem to be wounded. He came to after a while, but he didn't stick around to help his buddy."
Holmberg arrived at the same time as the police from Sodertalje, just as the ambulance was driving away. He was given a brief rundown of the team's observations. Neither Lundin nor Nieminen had been willing to explain how he came to be there. Lundin was hardly in any condition to talk at all.
"So - two bikers in leathers, one Harley-Davidson, one gunshot victim, and no weapon. Have I got it right?" Holmberg said.
Johansson nodded.
"Should we discount that one of these macho heroes rode bitch?"
"I think that would be considered unmanly in their circles," Johansson said.
"In that case, we're missing one motorcycle. Since the weapon is missing too, we may conclude that a