Frozen Moment by Camilla Ceder Read Free Book Online

well thought out, without making a fuss about
it. He sneezed loudly and wiped his nose with the back of his hand in some
embarrassment.
        Leaning
against the door frame stood Chief Inspector Ann- Christine Ostergren, dressed
as always in black: velvet trousers and a polo-neck sweater, contrasting
sharply with her instantly recognisable white frizzy hair, which stood out like
a curly halo around her lined face.
        She
was a good boss; the squad were in agreement on that, even if they all had
different views on what made a good boss. She knew what she was doing and had
plenty of experience after spending almost her entire working life as a female
police officer in a male-dominated world. During the six or seven years she had
been in her current post she had built up a strong sense of trust among her
colleagues, despite the fact that in the beginning there had been gossip that
she had moved because of irreconcilable differences in her previous job.
        What Tell appreciated most was her clear readiness to rely
on her team, the ability to delegate tasks and responsibilities without
constantly feeling the need to check up and make adjustments according to her
own views. There was an unspoken agreement between Tell and Ostergren: as long
as he did his job and made sound decisions, he didn't need to keep running to
her to check every step he took during an investigation. And that was just the
way he liked it.
        Ostergren
cleared her throat, and just before she began to speak Tell caught sight of
Beckman discreetly raising her eyebrows in the direction of Renée Gunnarsson.
Renée sat in on the initial meetings so that she would know the direction the
investigation was going to take; this was because part of her job involved
dealing with telephone calls from the press and anxious members of the public.
It would be Christian Tell's decision as to how much should be revealed and
which questions should be passed on to the investigating team.
        Gunnarsson
rolled her eyes at Beckman in return. Tell suspected that this silent exchange
of views was to do with the fact that Ostergren was standing in the doorway
rather than sitting down at the table like the rest of the group. Tell was
annoyed with Beckman and Gunnarsson's attitude. Instead of being so ready to
criticise her, surely they ought to be supporting their female colleague? But
wasn't it often the case that women were most critical of other women?
        'OK,
listen up. As you all know a man has been found dead, in all probability
murdered, on one of the minor roads between Olofstorp and Hjällbo, in Björsared
to be precise. I say in all probability because we're still waiting for the
report from the pathologist, but given the fact that he had been shot in the
head, we can assume that was the cause of death. He was also - probably after
death, but we're also waiting for confirmation on that - run over several times
by a vehicle. Most likely a car.'
        Ostergren
took off her glasses and held them in front of her for a moment before rubbing
off a mark with the sleeve of her sweater.
        'The
location is under the jurisdiction of the Angered police force, and I have
already been in touch with their chief. He's promised to give us as much
support as he can in the form of manpower and local
knowledge. Unfortunately it's obvious they've got their hands full at the
moment - a whole load of arson attacks and some kind of burglary boom over the
past few weeks. We have therefore agreed that they will step in as and when
they are needed rather than giving us an officer on a permanent basis. To begin
with we will work together on the routine matters: door-to-door enquiries,
checking for any similar crimes, anyone on release from psychiatric care - I'm
sure you get the idea.'
        She
nodded in Tell's direction.
        'Christian
Tell will be coordinating the operation. The whole team will get together for a
follow-up meeting next Monday, or