Read Online The Shadow Woman by Åke Edwardson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Åke Edwardson
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remote. The light of the first film sequence was dim and grainy, and he tried to use the contrast button on the remote to compensate.
The film looked like a photo negative, with the darkness cast in a false silvery hue by the camera’s night vision. You could see everything, but the subject took on a surreal quality.
Two cars drove past in the foreground. They came along the road and had not pulled out from the Kallebäck recreation area. The time was displayed in the lower corner of the screen: 2:03 a.m. Another car passed in the foreground, moving toward town. No motion on the other side. The officer who was holding the camera was standing near the top of the hill, hidden from the sparse traffic, with the lens pointing east. Winter could see the side road that led down toward the Delsjö Lake area, but the visibility was poor. The tape kept rolling but no vehicles appeared heading east. Then suddenly a car emerged at the extreme right of the screen, but as soon as he registered the movement, the screen went blank.
He backed up the tape and watched the sequence again. There a car appeared, driving along. There he saw the outline of it. There it went blank.
Winter watched the clip four more times without really seeing anything more than he had to begin with. He removed the tape and inserted the other one into the VCR. Four seconds in, two cars came driving along at high speed from Mölnlycke. He wondered if the drivers were about to be pulled over.
Now he saw a car drive by on the other side and continue beyond the turnoff. Ten minutes had passed since the first time code on the previous cassette.
The camera moved and then stabilized again. The road was empty in both directions. There was a flicker in the right-hand corner of the screen, and a car passed by driving east. Winter saw a turn signal come on, and the car turned off toward Delsjö Lake. He couldn’t make out what the make was. He waited and another car appeared on the highway and also turned off to the right. It looked like one of the smaller Ford models, but he was far from certain.
The time ticked away at the bottom of the screen. Several cars passed by from the left, heading toward the city. The camera was steady. Maybe he had a tripod, thought Winter.
Another flash of movement at the bottom of the screen and a car came out from the recreation area. Winter waited until the road was clear again and then rewound the tape.
The car had driven past at three minutes to three, in the direction of town. He studied the sequence again. It could be the same car he had seen coming in toward Delsjö Lake earlier. That was fourteen minutes before. It didn’t take more than a minute to drive from the turnoff to the parking lot, one and a half, tops. Just as long to drive back, maybe a little less. That would give someone at least eleven minutes down by the lake: to open the car door, walk to the back of the car, haul out the body, carry it fifty yards, lay it in the ditch, look around, and go back the way he came.
He watched the whole tape through to the end but saw nothing more of interest, so he returned to the sequences where the same car seemed to drive off the highway and back on within the space of fourteen minutes.
“You’re still here?” Ringmar had opened the door.
“Come here for a minute, Bertil.”
Ringmar walked up to Winter, who pointed at the TV.
“Look at this. Wait a minute. See the car across the road?”
“Is this the tape from Kallebäck?”
“Yes. See the car driving up the hill?”
“I’m not blind. Despite this light.”
“Now. See how it turns off toward Delsjö Lake? I’ll back it up.”
Neither of them said anything while Winter fiddled with the remote. The car came back into view.
“Can you make out what kind of car it is?”
“Well . . . Can you freeze-frame it?”
Winter pressed pause, and the car stopped and jiggled on the highway.
“It could be a Ford. Maybe,” Ringmar said.
“That’s what I was
The film looked like a photo negative, with the darkness cast in a false silvery hue by the camera’s night vision. You could see everything, but the subject took on a surreal quality.
Two cars drove past in the foreground. They came along the road and had not pulled out from the Kallebäck recreation area. The time was displayed in the lower corner of the screen: 2:03 a.m. Another car passed in the foreground, moving toward town. No motion on the other side. The officer who was holding the camera was standing near the top of the hill, hidden from the sparse traffic, with the lens pointing east. Winter could see the side road that led down toward the Delsjö Lake area, but the visibility was poor. The tape kept rolling but no vehicles appeared heading east. Then suddenly a car emerged at the extreme right of the screen, but as soon as he registered the movement, the screen went blank.
He backed up the tape and watched the sequence again. There a car appeared, driving along. There he saw the outline of it. There it went blank.
Winter watched the clip four more times without really seeing anything more than he had to begin with. He removed the tape and inserted the other one into the VCR. Four seconds in, two cars came driving along at high speed from Mölnlycke. He wondered if the drivers were about to be pulled over.
Now he saw a car drive by on the other side and continue beyond the turnoff. Ten minutes had passed since the first time code on the previous cassette.
The camera moved and then stabilized again. The road was empty in both directions. There was a flicker in the right-hand corner of the screen, and a car passed by driving east. Winter saw a turn signal come on, and the car turned off toward Delsjö Lake. He couldn’t make out what the make was. He waited and another car appeared on the highway and also turned off to the right. It looked like one of the smaller Ford models, but he was far from certain.
The time ticked away at the bottom of the screen. Several cars passed by from the left, heading toward the city. The camera was steady. Maybe he had a tripod, thought Winter.
Another flash of movement at the bottom of the screen and a car came out from the recreation area. Winter waited until the road was clear again and then rewound the tape.
The car had driven past at three minutes to three, in the direction of town. He studied the sequence again. It could be the same car he had seen coming in toward Delsjö Lake earlier. That was fourteen minutes before. It didn’t take more than a minute to drive from the turnoff to the parking lot, one and a half, tops. Just as long to drive back, maybe a little less. That would give someone at least eleven minutes down by the lake: to open the car door, walk to the back of the car, haul out the body, carry it fifty yards, lay it in the ditch, look around, and go back the way he came.
He watched the whole tape through to the end but saw nothing more of interest, so he returned to the sequences where the same car seemed to drive off the highway and back on within the space of fourteen minutes.
“You’re still here?” Ringmar had opened the door.
“Come here for a minute, Bertil.”
Ringmar walked up to Winter, who pointed at the TV.
“Look at this. Wait a minute. See the car across the road?”
“Is this the tape from Kallebäck?”
“Yes. See the car driving up the hill?”
“I’m not blind. Despite this light.”
“Now. See how it turns off toward Delsjö Lake? I’ll back it up.”
Neither of them said anything while Winter fiddled with the remote. The car came back into view.
“Can you make out what kind of car it is?”
“Well . . . Can you freeze-frame it?”
Winter pressed pause, and the car stopped and jiggled on the highway.
“It could be a Ford. Maybe,” Ringmar said.
“That’s what I was
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