Farewell to Freedom by Sara Blædel Read Free Book Online Page B

plenty of our own cases to keep us busy.”

6
    â€œH OMICIDE SQUAD , L OUISE R ICK SPEAKING .”
    She stifled a yawn. She and Lars had been out until one the night before, working with Mikkelsen and a couple of his people. As darkness slowly fell over the city, they had made contact with every living thing in the vicinity of the murder that could crawl or walk.
    â€œThis is the duty desk. Are you working on that murder down in Kødbyen?”
    â€œYeah, me and several other detectives,” Louise said, leaning back in her chair.
    â€œThere’s a man down here who’d like to talk to you. He says he has information that might pertain to the murder.”
    Louise was on her feet before she’d hung up the phone. The new security procedures at Copenhagen Police Headquarters meant that no one was allowed to walk around freely in the building without identification. They were so strict about it that even the chief superintendent had been asked to show ID, because the desk clerk didn’t recognize him—or maybe he recognized him, but didn’t think he should be given any special treatment.
    Louise opted for taking the stairs down and took a shortcut through the memorial garden for fallen officers before crossing the round courtyard that led to the front of the building.
    The man who was waiting for her had his hands in his pockets. She quickly estimated him to be somewhere in his mid-thirties. He was leaning against the wall, but when he saw her approaching, he started over to meet her. He had his red visitor’s badge clipped to the pocket of his light blue, short-sleeved shirt under his leather jacket. His dark hair was neatly combed back.
    Louise noted that his eyes wandered a bit as she approached.
    â€œYou had something you wanted to tell me?” she prompted after she had introduced herself and they were walking back across the courtyard.
    He nodded in silence and only now did it occur to her that she wasn’t sure he spoke Danish, but when she asked he smiled.
    â€œSome,” he said. He had a distinct accent, but they wouldn’t need an interpreter.
    Lars had been making a fresh pot of coffee when the front desk called, and so he cocked his head with a puzzled look when they came into the office they shared, and Louise asked the visitor to take a seat.
    â€œWould you like a cup of coffee?” she offered, gesturing to the coffee pot. “Or some water?”
    The man politely declined both.
    Louise briefly explained to her partner that their visitor was here because he might have information about the woman in Kødbyen.
    Lars eyed the man with curiosity.
    â€œSounds good.” He turned and looked back at Louise. “Would you like some privacy?”
    She shook her head. It was fine if he stayed.
    â€œThen I’ll take notes,” he offered and turned to his computer screen.
    To put it mildly, Willumsen had not been particularly thrilled with the lack of progress in the case at the morning briefing. Louise had caught Lars’s eyes during Willumsen’s rant, and she could tell that Lars agreed with her. Willumsen could shout and scream. They’d figured out a long time ago why his cases always got off to such a good start. It was quite simply because he selfishly dragged detectives in from the other groups without asking for permission, so his team had triple the usual manpower or more for the first few days. In this case, however, he had not commandeered people, which was obviously a sign that a prostitute’s murder didn’t rank very high on his priority list.
    She put aside her thoughts of Willumsen and looked at her visitor, who was sitting with his hands folded in his lap.
    â€œLet’s start by getting your name and address,” Louise said. She was eager to find out what had brought him in. You didn’t get many freebies in cases like these, and so far they hadn’t had a single one.
    â€œMiloÅ¡ Vituk,” he