disturbed.
Masseri smiled as he walked into the shadows.
18
Eklund was confused and more than a little frustrated. He was standing in the middle of
his
crime scene at the charred laboratory in Stockholm, and yet he was waiting for Dial to tell him what to do, even though Dial had no authority at the scene. He was merely there as an official observer – an observer who was technically Eklund’s boss at Interpol.
Well, not really his boss. More like his superior.
No, that wasn’t quite right either.
The truth was, Eklund didn’t really know what their relationship was, which was why he was confused and frustrated to begin with. Eventually, he decided the best way to rectify the situation was to simply voice what was on his mind.
‘Nick, may I ask you a question?’
‘Of course,’ Dial replied.
‘What’s your role here?’ he blurted.
Twenty years ago, Eklund wouldn’t have even thought about challenging one of the division heads at Interpol. Ten years ago, he would have considered it for a few, fleeting moments before pushing it to the back of his mind and keeping his mouth shut.
But today was a different story.
Eklund had reached the point in his career where nothing mattered more than solving crimes, and if someone wanted to challenge his authority, he would deal with it then and there. It didn’t matter if it was a colleague at his local station, the chief of an elite unit, or the Interpol secretary general himself. One way or another, Eklund needed to know that everyone was on the same page – even if it put his career in jeopardy.
As it turned out, Dial was more impressed than insulted. To him, one of the things that separated good cops from bad was the willingness to ask the questions that needed to be asked, regardless of the person being questioned. Dial had seen far too many good leads go to shit because the investigator’s priority was to
keep
his job rather than
do
his job.
‘You want me to get out of your way?’ Dial asked.
‘Not at all. If you want to stay, then stay. I just want to clear the air before anyone starts stepping on anyone else’s toes.’
Dial smiled to lighten the mood. ‘As you know, Interpol can’t run a crime scene. It’s in our charter. I’m here for the sole purpose of making sure the right information gets distributed to all the nations involved. The investigation itself must be conducted by local law enforcement. That’s you, not me.’
Eklund stared at him. He was usually good at reading people, but right then he had no idea if Dial was testing him. ‘You’re staying out of it?’
‘I never said
that
,’ Dial teased. ‘But it’s your show. I’m just along for the ride.’
‘In that case, I’d like to shift our focus to something else.’
‘To what?’
‘The science.’
‘You think we can learn anything from this equipment?’
Eklund nodded. ‘I think the equipment, the specimens and whatever else remains from their experiments gives us a very good place to start.’
‘I completely agree. Where do you want to begin?’
Eklund checked the equipment list he had been given by the forensics team. It was like reading a foreign language. ‘Do you know anything about science?’
‘Not a damn thing.’
‘Me neither,’ Eklund admitted with a laugh. ‘Let’s find someone who does.’
The Karolinska Institute was located in the Stockholm suburb of Solna, just north of the city. It was one of the most highly regarded medical schools in Europe, and its work in the fields of clinical medicine and pharmacology was regularly lauded by academics around the world. The Karolinska Institute was responsible – through its facility or its graduates – for a full third of all the medical research being carried out in Sweden.
This wasn’t the first time Eklund had visited the campus in search of help. Years earlier he had spent an entire week working in a cadaver lab in order to better understand a case. Back then, he had been attempting to
Masseri smiled as he walked into the shadows.
18
Eklund was confused and more than a little frustrated. He was standing in the middle of
his
crime scene at the charred laboratory in Stockholm, and yet he was waiting for Dial to tell him what to do, even though Dial had no authority at the scene. He was merely there as an official observer – an observer who was technically Eklund’s boss at Interpol.
Well, not really his boss. More like his superior.
No, that wasn’t quite right either.
The truth was, Eklund didn’t really know what their relationship was, which was why he was confused and frustrated to begin with. Eventually, he decided the best way to rectify the situation was to simply voice what was on his mind.
‘Nick, may I ask you a question?’
‘Of course,’ Dial replied.
‘What’s your role here?’ he blurted.
Twenty years ago, Eklund wouldn’t have even thought about challenging one of the division heads at Interpol. Ten years ago, he would have considered it for a few, fleeting moments before pushing it to the back of his mind and keeping his mouth shut.
But today was a different story.
Eklund had reached the point in his career where nothing mattered more than solving crimes, and if someone wanted to challenge his authority, he would deal with it then and there. It didn’t matter if it was a colleague at his local station, the chief of an elite unit, or the Interpol secretary general himself. One way or another, Eklund needed to know that everyone was on the same page – even if it put his career in jeopardy.
As it turned out, Dial was more impressed than insulted. To him, one of the things that separated good cops from bad was the willingness to ask the questions that needed to be asked, regardless of the person being questioned. Dial had seen far too many good leads go to shit because the investigator’s priority was to
keep
his job rather than
do
his job.
‘You want me to get out of your way?’ Dial asked.
‘Not at all. If you want to stay, then stay. I just want to clear the air before anyone starts stepping on anyone else’s toes.’
Dial smiled to lighten the mood. ‘As you know, Interpol can’t run a crime scene. It’s in our charter. I’m here for the sole purpose of making sure the right information gets distributed to all the nations involved. The investigation itself must be conducted by local law enforcement. That’s you, not me.’
Eklund stared at him. He was usually good at reading people, but right then he had no idea if Dial was testing him. ‘You’re staying out of it?’
‘I never said
that
,’ Dial teased. ‘But it’s your show. I’m just along for the ride.’
‘In that case, I’d like to shift our focus to something else.’
‘To what?’
‘The science.’
‘You think we can learn anything from this equipment?’
Eklund nodded. ‘I think the equipment, the specimens and whatever else remains from their experiments gives us a very good place to start.’
‘I completely agree. Where do you want to begin?’
Eklund checked the equipment list he had been given by the forensics team. It was like reading a foreign language. ‘Do you know anything about science?’
‘Not a damn thing.’
‘Me neither,’ Eklund admitted with a laugh. ‘Let’s find someone who does.’
The Karolinska Institute was located in the Stockholm suburb of Solna, just north of the city. It was one of the most highly regarded medical schools in Europe, and its work in the fields of clinical medicine and pharmacology was regularly lauded by academics around the world. The Karolinska Institute was responsible – through its facility or its graduates – for a full third of all the medical research being carried out in Sweden.
This wasn’t the first time Eklund had visited the campus in search of help. Years earlier he had spent an entire week working in a cadaver lab in order to better understand a case. Back then, he had been attempting to
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