He quickly closed the door behind him and then put his eye to the spyhole, but his new neighbour must have had a change of heart because nothing happened.
Oh well, sooner or later they were bound to bump into each other. Right now he had other things to think about. Considerably more important things …
The cops evidently hadnt found the USB memory stick he had hidden in a jar of coffee in the kitchen, but otherwise the flat looked pretty much as he had expected. Every drawer had been emptied, the shelves cleared and the stained mattress on the bed turned upside down.
Some of his things were missing, he knew that already. He had been given a copy of the list of items they had seized before he was turfed out of the police station. The only question was how much wiser the cops would be after examining a few dog-eared paperbacks and a collection of action films. Not to mention his extensive collection of adult movies …
As luck would have it, he hadnt had any dope in the flat for months, he could hardly even remember the last time he had smoked a joint. Must have been in Dubai after that fake Frenchman-slash-hitman had given him a bad trip and then tried to frame him for the murder of sex goddess Anna Argos.
These days he steered clear of dope – he was paranoid enough as it was.
He spent ten minutes clearing up the worst of the mess, then threw himself down on the bed.
Oh, a letter came for you … Micke said when they had almost finished eating. Something about a safe deposit box.
She started, but he seemed to misinterpret her reaction.
Sorry, I didnt mean to open your post. I just saw the SEB bank logo on the envelope and assumed it must be for me. Ive just got a bit too much on my mind right now …
Dont worry, she muttered. Ive got no secrets from you …
… any more, a little voice inside her head added, and to judge by Mickes reaction he must have heard it as well.
He stood up quickly and came back with the torn-open envelope.
Dear Rebecca Normén,
The contract regarding safe deposit box 0679406948, listing you as one of the key-holders, is about to expire.
Please contact our branch at 6 Sveavägen in Stockholm to discuss the extension of the contract.
If we fail to hear from you within thirty (30) days from the date of this letter, the box will be opened in the presence of a public notary and the contents stored by the bank for a further sixty (60) days. After that the contents will be disposed of at auction and any eventual profit, minus a handling charge, will be placed in a bank account in the names of the key-holders.
Yours faithfully,
L. Helander
SEB
I thought safe deposit boxes disappeared years ago, Micke said in an exaggeratedly amused voice. A tin box hidden in an underground vault feels like a pretty old-fashioned way to store valuables. More the sort of thing my parents or grandparents would do. I didnt know you had one … ?
Nor did I, she returned blandly.
He opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to change his mind.
So what do you want to do? he asked a few seconds later.
W-what? She looked up from the letter.
Its Friday evening, and just for once were both off at the same time. How about the cinema?
Dont you want to work? I thought you were up to your neck … ?
I am, but it can wait till tomorrow. The new Clooney looks interesting.
He was still acting with exaggerated cheerfulness, but neither his tone of voice nor his smile convinced her. Okay, so they had talked through everything. She had told him the least hurtful details about her affair with her colleague, Tobbe Lundh, and Micke had said that he forgave her. That he believed her assurance that the whole thing had been a stupid mistake and that he was the one she loved.
But even though six months had passed since her confession, and even though he had never raised the subject again – not even during one of their rare quarrels – she had no trouble at all picking up the emotion that was bubbling beneath his urbane exterior.
He didnt trust her …
And he was hardly alone in that …
He picked up the paper from one of the kitchen chairs and leafed through until he found the right page.
Its on at Filmstaden on Södermalm, we could aim for the nine oclock screening and grab a beer afterwards …
Her first instinct was to say no. Her computer was full of work she needed to do, things that couldnt really wait. But a film and a few beers might manage to reinforce the illusion that their relationship was still working. It might even get her brain to skip the usual nightmare and make it easier for her to sleep.
She could always hope.
Sure, great! Lets go for it! She tried to sound as though she meant it. Do you want to get the tickets now?
Yep!
He got up to fetch his laptop and she took the chance to read the letter once more.
A tin box hidden in an underground vault …
For some reason she couldnt help shivering.
4
Knowledge is power
Hello, my names Rebecca Normén. Apparently Ive got a safe deposit box here?
She held out the letter and her driving licence to the man behind the counter.
She was in a small reception area behind an anonymous door right next to Sergels torg in the centre of the city. She must have walked past it a thousand times without ever noticing it. A buzzer and an entry-phone, a reception desk and one solitary man in a suit. Behind him a short flight of steps led down to a dark steel door. It would all have looked perfectly innocent if it hadnt been for the unobtrusive little round cameras in the ceiling. Five of them, exactly the same sort as in Police Headquarters, which had to be at least three more than necessary. Every point in the room was covered from at least two angles.
You need to use your card …
Sorry?
Your passcard … To get into the vault you need to use your passcard, the man explained, gesturing backwards with his thumb at the metal door behind him.
It also opens the right section of the vault. Then you use the key to open the box itself. You have got a key?
She shook her head.
Ive havent got a passcard or a key. To be honest, I didnt even know I had a deposit box until I received this letter from you. I was hoping you might be able to give me a bit more information … She nodded at the sheet of paper in front of him.
I see. Just one moment …
He began tapping at his keyboard, and she noticed a little screen set discreetly into the counter.
When the man turned slightly to one side she noticed another detail. On one of his shoulders there was a slight but very familiar bulge, a thicker garment under his shirt and well-tailored suit. Shed seen it a thousand times in her work, on herself and other people. The man was wearing a bulletproof vest. She wondered if he was armed as well.
She took a cautious step closer and leaned carefully over the counter. Her eyes slid down the line of the jacket towards the mans hips.
That particular deposit box has two key-holders. His voice made her jump and she straightened up unconsciously.
Sorry?
You and a Henrik Pettersson. Do you know him?
She nodded. Hes my brother.
Maybe hes the one whos got the key and passcard?
The idea of Henke having a deposit box seemed very odd. He didnt exactly own anything that was valuable enough to need this sort of protection. But, on the other hand, the bill for the box hadnt been paid, and that sounded just like him. And given the way hed been behaving over the past few months, maybe it wasnt impossible that he had secrets he needed to keep hidden.
She shrugged her shoulders.
Maybe …
Well, the cards no problem, he went on. Because youre one of the account holders, I can order you a new one. That would cost two hundred kronor. And youll also have to pay the overdue fee if you dont want us to drill the box open?
Of course, no problem, just send me the bill.
He nodded and typed something into the computer. She guessed it was a request for a new card.
There, the card will be sent to you within the next few days. But Im afraid I cant help you with the key.
How do you mean?
The person who set up the contract receives all the keys. Then its up to him or her to distribute them. The keys are copy protected, so we cant actually have new ones made, even if we wanted to. Thats why we have to drill boxes open if people dont contact us.
B-but … If Im listed as a key-holder … ?
Its not unusual for the person who sets up the agreement to list several other people under the same account, as a form of insurance. In case anything should happen to them …
PayTag – they were the ones behind it all. Even if he was having trouble getting the pieces of the puzzle to fit together, that fact was still bombproof. PayTag had owned ACME Telecom Services, who in turn had hosted the server farm out in Kista that he had blown sky high two years before.
The same PayTag that had wanted to buy up ArgosEye and make multi-millionaires of all its conspiring directors up in their Hötorget skyscraper office, until he had pulled the plug and sent that particular ship to the bottom with all hands.
But PayTag seemed to have just moved on, still swallowing up smaller companies at a feverish pace as its empire grew ever larger.
He had scraped together all manner of facts about PayTag that were sloshing around the deeper recesses of cyberspace. He had saved most of it on the USB stick that the cops had failed to find.
But losing it wouldnt have been a total disaster, he had memorized most of it.