Missing in Malmö: The third Inspector Anita Sundström mystery (Inspector Anita Sundström mysteries) by Torquil MacLeod
Authors: Torquil MacLeod
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children of her own, she wasn’t comfortable relating to the young any more. That was another thing she envied Anita.
The train slowed down. They had reached Oxie. Wallen picked up a discarded copy of the
Metro
, which she read until they reached Ystad.
‘Detective Sergeant Kevin Ash here,’ said a bright voice at the other end of the phone. Anita had been kept waiting a while after she had first rung the Cumbrian Constabulary headquarters at Penrith to explain the Graeme Todd situation.
‘Inspector Anita Sundström from the Skåne County Police.’
‘And where’s that when it’s at home?’
‘Southern Sweden. Malmo.’ She dropped the umlaut so that it came out as the English pronunciation of the city’s name.
‘Malmo. Now don’t tell me.’ There was a momentary silence at the other end of the line. ‘1979. The European Cup Final. Nottingham Forest beat Malmo with a Trevor Francis goal. Brian Clough’s team. The Swedes had an English manager, though.’ She could hear him purse his lips. ‘No, it’s gone.’
‘Bob Houghton.’
‘Heavens, you’re right!’ Anita recognized the Estuary English in the voice from her time at the Met. She hadn’t expected to hear it in an officer somewhere as far north as Cumbria.
‘Now you’ve established where I’m ringing from, can we talk about Graeme Todd.’
‘Sorry.’ She heard the rustle of paper. ‘I’ve been given a note here. There was a call logged at 9.14am on Friday, October 5th. Jennifer Todd said she thought that her husband had gone missing and that she had already been in contact with the police in Sweden. So, I assume from your call that he’s turned up.’
‘Yes. Unfortunately, dead.’
‘Oh dear! Accident?’
‘No, murder.’
‘Are you sure?’ There was a hint of disbelief in his tone.
‘Someone chopped his hand off.’
She heard a sharp intake of breath. ‘Shit!’
Anita waited for him to take in the information. ‘We dragged him out of the sea early this morning. We don’t yet know where he died.’
‘Does Mrs Todd know?’
‘I’ve just spoken to her.’
‘Do you have any idea who might have killed him?’
‘None at all. He’s what his wife calls an “heir hunter”.’
‘I know the sort of thing.’
‘He came over to Malmö, or Skåne anyway – that’s like your county – to meet someone. According to his wife, he thought he was going to make a lot of money out of the visit.’
‘So there must have been a big inheritance.’
‘No. That wasn’t the case. That’s the strange thing. It was to do with some elderly woman who died in Carlisle a few years ago. Mrs Todd thinks the estate wasn’t worth much at all. But he was secretive about the details, so his wife doesn’t know that much.’
There was a pause. ‘Blimey, your English is good.’
‘I’ve spent time in England,’ Anita said with a hint of annoyance. ‘The point is,’ she continued more forcefully than she meant to, ‘that until we know why he came over here to Sweden, we have virtually nothing to go on. At the moment, we’re trying to trace his movements.’
‘If he’s an accredited probate researcher, presumably he’ll have a file on the case here in Cumbria.’
‘It’s not there. Jennifer Todd had a break-in on Saturday night.’
‘We’ve got no record of a break-in.’
‘That’s because she didn’t think that anything had been taken. But there was no sign of the file, and she’s sure he would have had one. He may have brought it with him, of course, but Mrs Todd reckons that’s unlikely. But if he didn’t...’
‘Then whoever killed Todd has someone over here,’ Ash said, completing the thought process.
‘That’s only speculation.’
‘Will you be coming over?’ Ash asked. There was a hint of enthusiasm in his voice.
‘Probably. The murderer or murderers may be here, but I think we’ll find the answers in England.’
‘Anything we can do this end?’
‘Yes.’ Anita was at her most
The train slowed down. They had reached Oxie. Wallen picked up a discarded copy of the
Metro
, which she read until they reached Ystad.
‘Detective Sergeant Kevin Ash here,’ said a bright voice at the other end of the phone. Anita had been kept waiting a while after she had first rung the Cumbrian Constabulary headquarters at Penrith to explain the Graeme Todd situation.
‘Inspector Anita Sundström from the Skåne County Police.’
‘And where’s that when it’s at home?’
‘Southern Sweden. Malmo.’ She dropped the umlaut so that it came out as the English pronunciation of the city’s name.
‘Malmo. Now don’t tell me.’ There was a momentary silence at the other end of the line. ‘1979. The European Cup Final. Nottingham Forest beat Malmo with a Trevor Francis goal. Brian Clough’s team. The Swedes had an English manager, though.’ She could hear him purse his lips. ‘No, it’s gone.’
‘Bob Houghton.’
‘Heavens, you’re right!’ Anita recognized the Estuary English in the voice from her time at the Met. She hadn’t expected to hear it in an officer somewhere as far north as Cumbria.
‘Now you’ve established where I’m ringing from, can we talk about Graeme Todd.’
‘Sorry.’ She heard the rustle of paper. ‘I’ve been given a note here. There was a call logged at 9.14am on Friday, October 5th. Jennifer Todd said she thought that her husband had gone missing and that she had already been in contact with the police in Sweden. So, I assume from your call that he’s turned up.’
‘Yes. Unfortunately, dead.’
‘Oh dear! Accident?’
‘No, murder.’
‘Are you sure?’ There was a hint of disbelief in his tone.
‘Someone chopped his hand off.’
She heard a sharp intake of breath. ‘Shit!’
Anita waited for him to take in the information. ‘We dragged him out of the sea early this morning. We don’t yet know where he died.’
‘Does Mrs Todd know?’
‘I’ve just spoken to her.’
‘Do you have any idea who might have killed him?’
‘None at all. He’s what his wife calls an “heir hunter”.’
‘I know the sort of thing.’
‘He came over to Malmö, or Skåne anyway – that’s like your county – to meet someone. According to his wife, he thought he was going to make a lot of money out of the visit.’
‘So there must have been a big inheritance.’
‘No. That wasn’t the case. That’s the strange thing. It was to do with some elderly woman who died in Carlisle a few years ago. Mrs Todd thinks the estate wasn’t worth much at all. But he was secretive about the details, so his wife doesn’t know that much.’
There was a pause. ‘Blimey, your English is good.’
‘I’ve spent time in England,’ Anita said with a hint of annoyance. ‘The point is,’ she continued more forcefully than she meant to, ‘that until we know why he came over here to Sweden, we have virtually nothing to go on. At the moment, we’re trying to trace his movements.’
‘If he’s an accredited probate researcher, presumably he’ll have a file on the case here in Cumbria.’
‘It’s not there. Jennifer Todd had a break-in on Saturday night.’
‘We’ve got no record of a break-in.’
‘That’s because she didn’t think that anything had been taken. But there was no sign of the file, and she’s sure he would have had one. He may have brought it with him, of course, but Mrs Todd reckons that’s unlikely. But if he didn’t...’
‘Then whoever killed Todd has someone over here,’ Ash said, completing the thought process.
‘That’s only speculation.’
‘Will you be coming over?’ Ash asked. There was a hint of enthusiasm in his voice.
‘Probably. The murderer or murderers may be here, but I think we’ll find the answers in England.’
‘Anything we can do this end?’
‘Yes.’ Anita was at her most
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