Ларс Кеплер - Stalker

‘Linda? I’m Margot Silverman,’ Margot says, shaking the woman’s hand.

‘You didn’t say what this was about, and I can honestly say that I have absolutely no idea,’ she says.

They walk along the pavement in the direction of Norra Bantorget while Margot tries to get Linda to relax by asking about Bikram yoga.

‘It’s a form of Hatha yoga, but takes place in a room with high humidity, at a temperature of forty degrees,’ Linda explains.

They enter the former playground in front of the old Norra Latin School. The spherical fountain shimmers silvery white, and the wind keeps scattering showers of tiny droplets.

‘The founder’s name is Bikram Choudhury... he created a series of twenty-six positions that are actually the best I’ve ever tried,’ she goes on.

‘Let’s sit down,’ Margot says, patting her stomach.

They sit down on an empty park bench beside the fence facing Olof Palmes gata.

‘You used to be friends with Maria Carlsson on Facebook,’ Joona says, drawing a deep vertical line in the path, raising a little cloud of dust.

‘What’s happened?’ she asks warily.

‘Why did you unfriend her?’

‘Because we no longer have anything to do with each other.’

‘But you seem to have been in very close contact for several months,’ Margot says.

‘She came to a few classes, and we started talking, and...’

Linda tails off and her gaze flits anxiously from Margot to Joona.

‘What did you talk about?’ Margot asks.

‘Can I ask if I’m suspected of having done something?’

‘You’re not,’ Joona says.

‘You knew that Maria had a piercing, that she had a tongue-stud?’ Margot goes on.

‘Yes,’ Linda says, and gives a slightly embarrassed smile.

‘Did she have several different studs?’

‘No.’

‘Do you remember what hers looked like?’

‘Yes.’

Linda stares at the old school building and the play of the shadows under the trees for a moment before replying:

‘It had a tiny model of Saturn at the top.’

‘A tiny model of Saturn,’ Margot repeats, very gently. ‘What does that mean?’

‘I don’t know,’ Linda says blankly.

‘Is it to do with astrology?’

Linda looks over at the trees again, and kicks the ground with her trainers.

‘Do you know where she got it from? It doesn’t seem to be for sale anywhere, not from any of the usual Internet sites, anyway.’

‘I don’t understand where this is going,’ Linda says. ‘I’ve got another class soon, and—’

‘Maria Carlsson’s dead,’ Margot interrupts, with quiet seriousness. ‘She was murdered last week.’

‘Murdered? She was murdered?’

‘Yes, she was found on—’

‘Why are you telling me?’ Linda interrupts and stands up.

‘Please, sit down,’ Margot says.

‘Maria’s dead?’

Linda sits down, her eyes drift off towards the fountain, and she starts to cry.

‘But I... I...’

She shakes her head and hides her face in her hands.

‘Did you give her the stud?’ Joona asks.

‘Why the hell do you keep going on about that tongue-stud?’ she snaps. ‘Find the killer instead. This is completely sick!’

‘Did you give her the stud?’ Joona repeats, drawing a short line across the first one.

‘No, I didn’t,’ she replies, wiping the tears from her cheeks. ‘She got it from a guy.’

‘Do you know the name of the guy?’ Margot asks.

‘I don’t want to get involved,’ she whispers.

‘We respect that,’ Margot nods.

Linda looks at her with bloodshot eyes, and purses her lips.

‘His name is Filip Cronstedt,’ she says quietly.

‘Do you know where he lives?’

‘No.’

‘Was Maria going out with him?’

Linda doesn’t answer, just stares down at the ground as the tears begin to fall again. Joona adds the last curve to the symbol with his stick and leans back.

‘Why did she have a model of Saturn on her tongue-stud?’ Margot asks carefully. ‘What does it mean?’

‘I don’t know. Because it looked nice,’ she says weakly.

‘In Maria’s diary there’s a symbol written in ten different places — it’s the old symbol for Saturn,’ Margot says, and points to the ground.

Linda’s cheeks turn red as she looks at the symbol drawn in the grit in front of Joona’s feet. The stylised scythe has already begun to be erased by the wind. She says nothing, but her forehead is shiny with sweat.

‘Sorry, but I’m expecting a phone call,’ Joona says, and stands up with the help of his stick.

Margot watches him limp off towards the steps of the Norra Latin School and pull out his mobile. She understands that he’s left them alone to give her a chance to create a more intimate atmosphere between her and Linda Bergman.

‘Linda,’ she says, ‘I’m going to find out what all this is about sooner or later, but I’d rather you told me.’

The young woman has dark-grey sweat marks under her arms now, as she slowly brushes the hair from her face.

‘It’s just a bit personal,’ she says, licking her lips again.

‘I appreciate that.’

‘They call it saturnalia,’ Linda says, looking down at the ground.

‘Is that some sort of role-play?’ Margot asks gently.

‘No, it’s an orgy,’ Linda replies as steadily as she can.

‘Group sex?’

‘Yes, although group sex sounds like... I don’t know, it’s not like some sort of tragic old swingers’ club.’ She smiles, embarrassed.

‘You seem to know what you’re talking about,’ Margot goes on.

‘I went with Maria a few times,’ she replies, shaking her head almost imperceptibly. ‘I’m single, it was nothing funny, you didn’t have to sleep with everyone just because you were there.’

‘But isn’t that the point?’

‘I don’t have any regrets about trying it... but it’s not exactly something I’m proud of either.’

‘Tell me about the saturnalias,’ Margot asks quietly.

‘I don’t know what to say,’ Linda says, crossing her legs. ‘I was carried along by Maria’s... I don’t know, completely open attitude about sex. Well, I thought I was, anyway...’

‘Were you in love with her?’

‘I did it for my own sake,’ Linda said, without answering the question. ‘To try something new, no obligation, to just let go and allow it to mean nothing but sex.’

‘I can understand that.’ Margot smiles gently.

‘The first time,’ Linda says, giving Margot a dark look, ‘your whole body just shakes... You think, I can’t be doing this. Several men at the same time... and there are loads of drugs, and you have sex with other girls and it goes on for hours... it’s mad.’

She looks over towards Joona and brushes the sweat from her top lip with her forefinger.

‘But you stopped going,’ Margot says.

‘I’m not like Maria, I wanted to be with her, and I tried doing it her way... and after a while I felt different, and brave and everything... But after the third time I started to think a whole load of things, it wasn’t like I regretted it... more like: OK, why am I doing this? I don’t have to feel ashamed, I’m allowed to do it... but why?’

‘That’s a good question.’

‘It was my decision to go, but it sort of wasn’t on my terms... I think I felt a bit exploited, in spite of all that.’

‘Was that why you stopped?’

Linda rubs the end of her nose and says quietly:

‘I’d had enough when it turned out that someone had filmed one of the saturnalias. You’re not supposed to do that, no mobiles... Maria called and told me, she was really angry, but it just made me worried, I felt like I was going to be sick... The film clip was on a porn site for amateur films, it was shaky and dark, but I could still see myself, and that wasn’t exactly a great feeling, I can tell you.’