He searched for the right words. ‘We are in an extremely unusual situation. Unfortunately, I am unable to share all the details with you, because I don’t have them. And I realise I am asking the impossible when I say that you must continue to be patient, but I’m afraid that’s all I can do right now.’
People shuffled anxiously.
‘Why are you locked out?’ the man at the back wanted to know.
Erik swallowed. ‘Because Captain Sassi is unable to open the door from the inside at the moment, but we’ll soon sort it out.’
Anything else would be a disaster, although he didn’t say that.
He needed help. His one-man show was over. He would start by going back to the bar and telling Lydia what had happened.
But the woman who had spoken earlier wasn’t satisfied with Erik’s response.
She pointed to the man on the floor. ‘Who’s he?’ she said.
Erik looked at the man he had just knocked out.
That’s exactly what I’d like to know, he thought.
56 STOCKHOLM, 20:35
Time would soon run out. The plane would have used up all its fuel within just a few hours, and Fredrika Bergman felt nothing but sheer despair.
They had called Jerker Gustavsson, who was one of the people who had been in contact with Zakaria’s phone both before and after the date on which he claimed he had acquired it, and luck had been on their side. Jerker was actually at a restaurant in Södermalm, celebrating his mother’s seventy-fifth birthday, rather than at home in Västerhaninge. Like everyone else, he was nervous when he heard that the police wanted to speak to him, but he certainly wasn’t uncooperative.
‘You’re welcome to come to the restaurant,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to leave my family.’
‘Someone will be with you in twenty minutes,’ Fredrika replied.
And they were. A patrol car was dispatched immediately with its blue light flashing, and time moved on inexorably.
Eden and Sebastian had been given new information by their German colleagues, who had received another email. The pilot was going to crash the plane into the Capitol building, regardless of whether the hijackers’ demands were met. No reason was given.
Fredrika felt something like physical pain when Eden told her what the Germans had said. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Alex. His son would be dead within just a few hours, and there was nothing anyone could do for him. Unless Erik could save himself by putting Karim Sassi out of action.
‘What’s our assessment with regard to the reliability of the German intelligence?’ the head of the investigation unit asked when Eden had finished speaking.
‘As we established earlier, it’s not possible to make any kind of assessment. The only thing we know for sure is that the original information about a hijacking taking place turned out to be correct, and it also seems likely that the captain is involved, as the first email stated. To put it briefly, we have to take this new intelligence seriously.’
Alex was sitting at the table listening, pale and exhausted. Erik still hadn’t been in touch, and they were now considering calling Karim, just to get some sign of life from the plane.
‘Is that our next step?’ Dennis asked. ‘Calling Karim Sassi?’
‘Later,’ Eden said curtly.
Later? There was no later.
‘Have the Germans managed to identify the person who sent these emails?’ Dennis wanted to know.
‘They’ve tried everything they can, but without success. It’s as if the messages were sent from outer space.’
It was obvious that everyone in the group was seething with impatience. Hour after hour had passed, and the plane was still heading for destruction.
We have to have a breakthrough, Fredrika thought. Otherwise we are going to lose both our judgement and our morale.
‘Surely, the person who sent the emails has to be someone who was involved?’ Alex said.
‘Not necessarily,’ Eden replied. ‘After all, we don’t know exactly who’s behind the hijacking, apart from Karim of course. It’s not impossible that someone else who is mixed up in all this couldn’t help boasting about what’s going to happen.’
‘Why would someone who’s involved in the hijacking talk about it several weeks in advance?’ Sebastian said.‘It doesn’t make sense.’
A fleeting thought, impossible to catch. They were missing something, Fredrika could feel it in her whole body. The answer to Sebastian’s question was right there in front of them – they just couldn’t see it.
Why would someone who’s involved in the hijacking talk about it several weeks in advance?
Fredrika came up with two possible answers.
‘Either because he or she wants to appear innocent,’ she said slowly, ‘or the emails were sent to the Germans to make sure we don’t miss what’s happening.’
Eden stared at her incredulously.
‘I’m sorry? So that we don’t miss the fact that someone is threatening to blow up a jumbo jet?’
Alex met Fredrika’s gaze; he straightened up and nodded slowly. He understood what she was saying.
‘That’s not what she means,’ he said. ‘Think about what was actually in the emails. Details that we would never have found out otherwise.’
The room fell silent.
‘Go on,’ Sebastian said.
‘I can’t explain it,’ Fredrika said. ‘But… these messages. Aren’t they just like the book of Tennyson’s poetry that we found on Karim’s bookshelf? Way too obvious, yet with an attempt at vagueness. The book clearly points to Tennyson, so that we won’t miss the fact that Karim has something to do with Tennyson Cottage – and yet we can’t find anything else pointing in that direction. Not one single thing.’
Eden shook her head crossly. ‘Where are you going with this?’
Another idea began to form in Fredrika’s mind, and this time she managed to hold onto it.
‘I don’t know,’ she said eventually. ‘It’s just that this entire business is littered with completely bizarre elements. And I don’t like these weird arrows that keep on popping up, as if someone is doing everything in their power to make sure we don’t miss Karim Sassi’s involvement.’
‘But Fredrika, he is involved,’ Eden said. ‘Erik said that he happened to mention Washington instead of New York. And he refuses to move away from the US border, refuses to seek an alternative place to land.’
‘I know that,’ Fredrika said. ‘And I’m not saying he isn’t involved. I’m just saying that someone is so determined to point us in his direction that we’re forgetting to look for anyone else. I get the same feeling about this new information, telling us that the pilot has instructions that weren’t mentioned in the original note found in the toilet.’
Alex joined in eagerly: ‘Exactly. They’re reinforcing an already threatening message, keeping us on track so that we don’t imagine we can deviate from the original instructions.’
Seconds passed, and Eden said nothing.
‘So what’s the aim of the person who sent the emails to the Germans?’
‘To remind us that we are facing an unbeatable opponent,’ Fredrika said.
‘Not even if we accede to the demands?’
‘The hijackers know that’s not going to happen.’
‘And why send the emails to the Germans and not to us?’ Dennis wondered.
‘I’ve asked myself the same question,’ Fredrika said. ‘First of all, I think there’s a German connection that we don’t yet understand. And secondly, if the first message had been sent to us, the effect would have been far too dramatic, since the plane was actually due to take off from Arlanda. The sender merely wanted to ensure that when the hijacking took place, the right information was already out there.’
A German connection. But what could it be?
The only link they had seen so far was a number of calls to and from Germany on Zakaria’s phone. But that was hardly a link at all, more of a vague coincidence.