Life Deluxe (52 page)
Authors: Jens Lapidus
The same look in her eyes as when Natalie’d followed her home.
Sascha closed the door behind them.
Melissa didn’t show them into the apartment. Natalie tried to scope out the place. A small one-bedroom with a separate kitchen. She saw a couch and a coffee table. She saw a laptop and DVDs on the coffee table.
They remained standing in the hall.
“I know everything about you,” Natalie said. “I know what you do. I know what you did with my father in the apartment on Björngårdsgatan. I know what you’re doing with the politician Bengt Svelander. I know you’re filming everything.”
Melissa stared down at the floor.
“I don’t mind what you do.” Natalie went on. “But Martina’s told you not to give any of the material to Stefanovic, right? Listen to me.”
Natalie took a breath, then continued, “I’m not going to be involved in the kind of business you work in. I’ve told my men that Stefanovic can continue if he wants, but we’re not going to be selling escort services anymore. You can also do whatever you want, but personally, I don’t like that business. Do you understand?”
Melissa continued to stare down into the floor.
“But the material belongs to me. You are going to give it to me and not to Stefanovic.”
Melissa didn’t move.
“So,” Natalie said. “Have you given anything to Stefanovic?”
Melissa’s voice was even weaker than before, “No, not yet. But he wants it.”
“Who’s he going to give it to?”
“I have no idea.”
“I understand. But in that case, you can give me the material now.”
Melissa pointed at the computer. “I have to transfer the material to a DVD or USB in order for you to get it. It’ll take an hour.”
Natalie liked what she was hearing. But she didn’t want to stand here waiting for a whole hour.
“In that case, we’ll take your computer with us. I’ll give it back soon.”
“But you don’t know which files they are,” Melissa said. “There are hundreds, and many of them are blurry.”
Natalie nodded. “Okay, this is what we’ll do: you transfer the material and get in touch with me as soon as it’s ready.”
Back in the Stockholm night. She and Adam were walking along Humlegården Park.
Melissa hadn’t been in touch. Natalie was starting to get impatient, but she had a lot of other stuff to deal with right now.
Two hundred yards farther down, she saw the white mushroom sculpture on Stureplan. The lights were bouncing up toward the park. Shouts from sloshed sluts sauntering to Sturecompagniet. Dudes desperate to party yelling at one another. The sound of cabs swishing by.
She was wondering what to do about Viktor.
At that moment: one of the cabs stopped right behind Natalie. The brakes screeched.
The back door flew open.
A man hurled himself out.
She turned around in the same instant that he caught up with her. He grabbed hold of her arm.
She heard Adam yell something.
She sucked in cool air.
One single thought:
Is this it?
What was happening?
* * *
REPORT
STOCKHOLM COUNTY POLICE
Report processed by:
Stockholm County Police
Dossier number:
2010-K30304-10
Date of report:
October 2
Received by:
Officer David Carlsson
Entered by:
Officer David Carlsson
Report given by:
Officer on duty
Crime Scene Area Code: 21A3049034900
STUREGATAN, HUMLEGÅRDEN PARK, STOCKHOLM
TIME OF CRIME
Saturday, September 29 at 23.00-23.10
CRIME/INCIDENT
Aggravated assault
SUMMARY
PLAINTIFF
Axel Jolie
WITNESSES
Saman Kurdo
Fredric Vik
SUSPECTS
Unknown
Description
Susp1: Middle-age man, large build, around 6’2”, light brown hair in a side part, long black overcoat, dark jeans.
Susp2: Young woman, ca 5’9”, long dark hair, dark clothes.
Description of Events
Dispatch received a call from Saman Kurdo. Police vehicles 2039 and 2048 arrived on the scene.
EVENT
The man in the bushes has regained consciousness when Officer David Carlsson and Officer Emma Skogsgren first arrive on the
scene. The person in question is Axel Jolie. He is intoxicated. He has sustained injuries to the face and head. He claims that he was attacked when he stopped in a taxi in order to speak with a woman he thought he knew. At this time, the suspected man (Susp1) threw himself forward and tore Jolie out of the cab. After that, Susp1 delivered blows to Jolie’s face so that he lost his balance. Then Susp1 pulled out what he perceived as a firearm and forced Jolie into the park. The woman (Susp 2) remains by the men’s side throughout and is yelling at Jolie. They walk about ten yards into the park.
Susp1 then pushes Jolie into some bushes. Jolie loses his balance once again. Susp1 kicks him in the stomach as well as several times in the head. After that, Susp2 enters the bushes. She strikes Jolie in the face several times with her open palm and yells. Then Jolie is forced to get on his knees and apologize. At that point, Susp2 kicks Jolie’s penis. This causes terrible pain and Jolie loses consciousness.
INJURIES
Axel Jolie has swelling on the forehead and over the eyes as well as on his cheeks, as well as blood over his right eyebrow. He is bleeding on the inside of his cheek. He has a superficial wound on his left ear. He also has redness on his right arm as well as on his left thigh. He is in a state of shock. He did not want to show his penis.
WITNESS REPORTS
The taxi driver Saman Kurdo states that Axel Jolie got into the taxi by Linnégatan. He asked him to drive slowly and then to turn down on Sturegatan beside the Humlegården Park. It seemed as though he was looking for someone. When they saw the woman in question near the park, he asked Kurdo to pull up beside her and make a quick stop. Jolie threw himself out of the car and tried to talk to and grab hold of the woman. It did not seem to Kurdo as though the woman knew Jolie particularly well. She resisted. After a few seconds, a man jumped out and struck Jolie in the head. Jolie ended up on the pavement. Then they all ran into the park. Kurdo heard screams coming from the park. At that point, he called the police and tried to call for help from a man on the other side of the street.
Fredric Vik was called over by Saman Kurdo, who was standing beside his taxi on Sturegatan. At first, he did not understand what was happening. He walked over and asked Kurdo. Kurdo said there was an assault going on a ways into the park. Vik walked
in toward the park, he heard sounds in there. Farther off, he saw two people walking away from the scene at a rapid pace. He did not see what they looked like. He looked around. He saw Jolie lying in some bushes. It appeared as though he was unconscious.
OTHER INFORMATION
Jolie is being driven to the Karolinska University Hospital to receive medical care and to document his injuries.
Jolie does not want to cooperate or give a closer description of Susp1 and Susp2. He claims that doing so might be dangerous for him. The descriptions are therefore only based on the information provided by the witness Saman Kurdo.