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participated in the investigative meetings as often as he could.
    “As you all know, twenty-one-year-old Martina Flochten from Rotterdam in the Netherlands was found murdered out at Vivesholm,” Knutas began. “She was found around five thirty this morning by the owner of one of the summer houses in the area. A man named Kalle Östlund. There is no doubt that she was murdered. Erik will describe the injuries in a moment. The ME is on his way from Stockholm and will be examining the body at the scene later today. The fenced-in area has been cordoned off and is now being searched by the canine patrol. We’re also searching for clues around Warfsholm, as best we can. We can’t very well demand that they close up the whole place. I think that’s where I’ll stop for the time being.”
    He nodded to Sohlman, who got up and went over to the computer. He clicked on a key and an aerial view of the area appeared on the white screen at the front of the room.
    “This is Vivesholm. The land is privately owned by a farmer who lets his cows graze out here, but the area is open to the public. Lots of people come here to watch the birds or to see the view.”
    “It’s also popular with windsurfers,” interjected Thomas Wittberg. “I’ve been out there to surf several times. A hell of a great place.”
    “Out on the promontory there’s a small wooded area surrounded by a fence. There’s also an old birdwatching tower.”
    Sohlman changed pictures.
    “This was where the body of Martina Flochten was found, hanging from a tree. Generally only the farmer or someone who might want to get a better view from the bird tower would enter this area at all. That’s why it’s not so strange that it took several days for the body to be found. Let’s take a look at the injuries. This isn’t exactly your usual sort of murder.”
    Several of the detectives began to fidget as soon as the pictures of Martina appeared.
    “What’s significant is that she seems to have been killed in more than one way,” Sohlman went on pensively. “The victim was both strangled and knifed. One qualified guess is that she was first hanged from the noose, and afterward the perpetrator slashed her with a knife. The appearance of the incision indicates that it was probably done after death. Since she has no other injuries, it looks as if the perpetrator was able to cut her open in peace and quiet, so to speak. She didn’t offer any resistance. But there’s another issue.”
    Sohlman paused for effect and looked at his colleagues pointedly.
    “We’re not positive that she died from hanging. There are several indications that she was already dead when she was hung up in that tree.”
    “What sort of indications?” asked Knutas, looking startled.
    “As I said, this is just a hunch—I’ll gladly leave the confirming analysis to the ME—but I’ve seen quite a few hanging deaths when people committed suicide by kicking away the chair or whatever they were standing on and then were strangled by the noose. The deceased typically has specific types of injuries. These include bruises along the groove on the neck where the rope dug in, as well as hemorrhaging at the base of the neck muscles along the collarbone. These signs of vitality, as they’re called, are easy to detect. You notice them at once if you’ve been at that type of death scene before. Martina doesn’t have any of them. Something doesn’t add up.”
    Jacobsson looked in surprise at the crime tech.
    “So that means the murderer might have used several methods to kill Martina instead of settling for just one—and the hanging and stab wound in the abdomen were two of the methods. But what actually killed her?”
    A tense silence followed. Wittberg was the first to speak.
    “It’s one thing when a killer stages an assault by using a knife, for example, to stab the victim and then continues to hack away even though the person is already dead. Or he keeps firing unnecessary shots at the victim. That’s something that occurs in a fit of rage or because the killer is under the influence of drugs or has simply gone berserk. But this seems to be a different story.”
    “The murder feels ritualistic,” murmured Knutas as he looked at the pictures.
    “Yes,” agreed Smittenberg. “The perpetrator would have had time to stop and think between the various steps; he should have calmed down.”
    “What about the motive?” said Jacobsson meditatively. “He had a definite reason for