The Laughing Policeman. Джонатан Франзен

      Q: Are there any traces or clues that point to one particular person?

      A: No.

      Q: Were the murders committed by one and the same person?

      A: Don't know.

      Q: Is there anything to indicate that more than one person killed these eight people?

      A: No.

      Q: How could one single person kill eight people in a bus before anyone had time to resist?

      A: Don't know.

      Q: Were the shots fired by someone inside the bus or did they come from outside?

      A: They did not come from outside.

      Q: How do you know?

      A: The windowpanes that were damaged had been fired at from inside.

      Q: What kind of weapon had the murderer used?

      A: Don't know.

      Q: It must surely have been a machine gun or a submachine gun?

      A: No comment.

      Q: Was the bus standing still when the murders were committed or was it moving?

      A: Don't know.

      Q: Doesn't the position in which the bus was found indicate that the shooting took place while it was in movement and that it then mounted the pavement?

      A: Yes.

      Q: Did the police dogs get a scent?

      A: It was raining.

      Q: It was a doubledecker bus, wasn't it?

      A: Yes.

      Q: Where were the bodies found? On the upper or lower deck?

      A: On the lower one.

      Q: All eight?

      A: Yes.

      Q: Have the victims been identified?

      A: No.

      Q: Has any of them been identified?

      A: Yes.

      Q: Who? The driver?

      A: No. A policeman.

      Q: A policeman? Can we have his name?

      A: Yes. Detective Sub-inspector Åke Stenström.

      Q: Stenström? From the homicide squad?

      A: Yes.

      A couple of the reporters tried to push towards the door, but Gunvald Larsson again put up his hand.

      ‘No running back and forth, if you don't mind,’ he said. ‘Any more questions?’

      Q: Was Inspector Strenström one of the passengers in the bus?

      A: He wasn't driving at any rate.

      Q: Do you consider he was there just by chance?

      A: Don't know.

      Q: The question was put to you personally. Do you consider it a mere chance that one of the victims is a man from the CID?

      A: I have not come here to answer personal questions.

      Q: Was Inspector Stenström working on any special investigation when this happened?

      A: Don't know.

      Q: Was he on duty last night?

      A: No.

      Q: He was off duty?

      A: Yes.

      Q: Then he must have been there by chance. Can you name any of the other victims?

      A: No.

      Q: This is the first time a real mass murder has occurred in Sweden. On the other hand there have been several similar crimes abroad in recent years. Do you think that this maniacal act was inspired by what happened in America, for instance?

      A: Don't know.

      Q: Is it the opinion of the police that the murderer is a madman who wants to draw sensational attention to himself?

      A: That is one theory.

      Q: Yes, but it doesn't answer my question. Are the police working on the lines of that theory?

      A: All clues and suggestions are being followed.

      Q: How many of the victims are women?

      A: Two.

      Q: So six of the victims are men?

      A: Yes.

      Q: Including the bus driver and Inspector Stenström?

      A: Yes.

      Q: Just a minute, now. We've been told that one of the people in the bus survived and was taken away in an ambulance that arrived on the scene before the police had had time to cordon off the area.

      A: Oh?

      Q: Is this true?

      A: Next question.

      Q: Apparently you were one of the first policemen to arrive on the scene?

      A: Yes.

      Q: What time did you get there?

      A: At eleven twenty-five.

      Q: What did it look like inside the bus just then?

      A: What do you think?

      Q: Can you say it was the most ghastly sight you've ever seen in your life?

      Gunvald Larsson stared vacantly at the questioner, who was quite a young man with round, steel-rimmed glasses and a somewhat unkempt red beard. At last he said, ‘No. I can't.’

      The reply caused some bewilderment. One of the woman journalists frowned and said lamely and incredulously, ‘What do you mean by that?’

      ‘Exactly what I say.’

      Before joining the police force Gunvald Larsson had been a regular seaman in the navy. In August, 1943, he had been one of those to go through the submarine Ulven, which had struck a mine and had been salvaged after having lain on the seabed for three months. Several of the thirty-three killed had been on the same courses with him. After the war, one of his duties had been to help with the extradition of the Baltic collaborators from the camp at Ränneslätt. He had also seen the arrival of thousands of victims who had been repatriated from the German concentration camps. Most of these had been women and many of them had not survived.

      However, he saw no reason to explain himself to this youthful assembly but said laconically, ‘Any more questions?’

      ‘Have the police been in touch with any witnesses of the actual event?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘In other words, a mass murder has been committed in the middle of Stockholm. Eight people have been killed, and that's all the police have to say?’

      ‘Yes.’

      With that, the press conference was concluded.

       9

      It was some time before anyone noticed that Rönn had come in with the list. Martin Beck, Kollberg, Melander and Gunvald Larsson stood leaning over one of the tables, which was littered with photographs from the scene of the crime, when Rönn suddenly stood next to them and said, ‘It's ready now, the list.’

      He was born and raised in Arjeplog and although he had lived in Stockholm for more than twenty years he had still kept his north-Swedish dialect.

      He laid the list on a corner of the table, drew up a chair and sat down.

      ‘Don't go around frightening people,’ Kollberg said.