The Forest Lake Mystery Read online

  Holst was very conscious of his turmoil and he understood the reason for it. This put Holst in a strong position that brought exactly the result he had wished for.

  “Remember to forward the letter the old lady gave you,” said Holst as they were saying their farewells.

  The magistrate twitched.

  “Does the lieutenant want me to give it to the district governor or perhaps…”

  “No,” Holst said calmly, “you must send it to Captain Ankerkrone and remain silent about Annie until you hear from me.”

  The magistrate looked startled.

  Holst repeated, “Yes, indeed – send it to him.”

  He hesitated a little, then took a piece of paper off the desk and wrote with firm strokes:

  Dear friend, my greetings with this letter from beyond the grave – we two will no doubt meet soon, but farewell for now.

  Your friend,

  Eigil Holst.

  He handed the letter to the magistrate, who read it and stood staring at the scrap of paper with an uncomprehending look. Holst smiled and asked for an official envelope, on which he wrote Captain Ankerkrone’s address in bold letters.

  “Send the letter to this address and thank you for your hospitality on this occasion,” said Holst cheerfully.

  The carriage was brought to the door and shortly afterwards it was bumping its way over the heath towards Ljungby.

  But the magistrate stood for a long time looking in the direction the carriage had gone and then went indoors shaking his head. The letter was put in the post, but the magistrate didn’t say a word to anyone about the detective and Annie.

  X

  The lawyer, Karlkvist, lived in Kristianstad and was what the Swedes call a ‘schnapps lawyer’. He hadn’t passed any exams, but he was a sly and clever man who had a large clientele of farmers and tradesmen, whose cases he conducted successfully and he recovered their money. The lawyers in town looked down on him, but he earnt well and since he was said to be a rather talented man, there was nothing to be done about him running his business openly as a ‘self-proclaimed lawyer’.

  Holst caught him in his office, which looked more like a type of registration office than a lawyer’s office, and the man’s completely unauthorised position meant that Holst was somewhat in doubt as to how to deal with him.

  They sat opposite each other a while. Karlkvist was a man in his forties, smoothly shaven, with small blinking eyes, small of stature and looked like a wealthy farmer dressed in his town clothes.

  “I’d like to talk to you about a Miss Annie Cederlund,” said Holst.

  The lawyer’s eyes narrowed.

  “Annie Cederlund?” he repeated. “I’m not familiar with the name.”

  “Annie Bengtson,” continued Holst calmly, “perhaps Mr Karlkvist knows her by that name.”

  The lawyer shook his head.

  Holst didn’t allow himself to be put off, but continued in the same courteous manner.

  “If Mr Karlkvist would rather call her Mrs Annie Sjöström, that’s fine by me.”

  “I don’t know any lady by that name either,” said the lawyer, but there was a subtle change in his voice that revealed to Holst that the man was lying.

  “Yes, well, since Mr Karlkvist doesn’t recognise her,” continued Holst equably, “it’s possibly because the lady has had more names than these three, but since I know her, and know from her that Mr Karlkvist knows her, it doesn’t really matter about names.”

  Karlkvist looked at both sides of the card Holst had given him.

  “The gentlemen’s name is Lieutenant Holst and he’s from Copenhagen. May I ask what the gentleman wants with me?”

  Holst smiled.

  “I’ve already told you that – to talk to you about the young lady whose name I have mentioned and whose money you are managing.”

  The lawyer started.

  “There now,” Holst smiled, “you do know her after all.”

  The lawyer shifted uncertainly, then got to his feet.

  “Even if that were true,” he said very politely, “there is nothing that entitles you to ask me about her affairs, and nothing that justifies me answering, even more so since I don’t know who you are.”

  “You may be right in that,” replied Holst, maintaining his calm, “but I have important reasons to hide the purpose of my visit to you, because I don’t know you and don’t know how much I may confide in you.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have looked me up,” said the lawyer drily. “I didn’t ask you to come. Well, if that was all, there are people waiting in reception.”

  Holst looked sharply at the little man, then smiled.

  “You mustn’t be angry, sir,” he said softly, “but it was possible that what I wanted ask you about was no more than you felt able to answer.”

  “Not until I know who you are,” said the other determinedly.

  “Yes, then you had better not answer.”

  “Exactly,” answered the lawyer and bowed.

  Holst stood uncertainly.

  “Old Mrs Bengtson died yesterday. I was with her in her last moments,” he said in a friendly tone.

  The little man grabbed him by the arm.

  “What are you saying – old Mrs Bengtson dead, and Annie, where is she then?”

  Holst thought for a moment, then slowly said, “Annie’s dead too.”

  The little man went deathly pale.

  “What do you mean – dead – is Annie Cederlund dead?”

  Holst noticed the name – so Annie wasn’t married, otherwise the lawyer would have called her by her husband’s name.

  The lawyer pulled himself together before asking,

  “When?”

  “The 27th of March this year.”

  “The very day I spoke to her in Helsingborg – and you don’t say this until now. Who on earth are you? In the name of Jesus, tell me, since you know all this!”

  “Calm down a little and I’ll tell you everything,” replied Holst with a friendly smile.

  The lawyer sipped at a glass of water standing on the table and sank down in his chair.

  Holst sat down again opposite him.

  “My my, that was a bit of a shock, Mr Karlkvist, wasn’t it just? Ah well, it’s not as bad as all that. Annie is still alive and is in the best of health in Paris. But Sjöström has had a small difference of opinion with the Danish police, which is why I’ve come to you.”

  The lawyer looked Holst up and down; his teeth were clenched and his eyes were glaring peevishly.

  “The gentleman is having a bit of fun, I gather?”

  “Not at all,” said Holst kindly. “If Mr Karlkvist wants to see my credentials, go ahead – here they are.” He unfolded his papers for the lawyer. “We could of course negotiate at the office of the chief constable, but I thought Mr Karlkvist would find it more comfortable if we could converse here in a friendly fashion.”

  Karlkvist’s jaw clenched once again and he glanced irritatedly up at Holst. He knew he had been outwitted.

  “What does the detective wish to know?” he asked reluctantly.

  “Very little in fact,” said Holst. “When did you last receive a payment from Mrs Cederlund? Yes, now you know you can postpone the answer to another time, but you are going to answer.”

  The lawyer scowled.

  “I’ll have to look it up in my records.”

  He went over to the cabinet. Holst followed his movements acutely; he had a sense he might try to escape. Holst stood up.

  “Mr Karlkvist,” he said, “you must tread carefully – this doesn’t work with me. Your conscience is not clear, I can see that, and there’s only one way for you – full openness with me and I will cover you where I can. If you don’t do that, we will have to go to the chief constable. I have been so prudent as to call in there and I have the right to arrest you on the spot.”

  This was, to put it mildly, not true, but Holst’s tone was very convincing and he had already injected a considerable fear into the sc
hnapps lawyer through the surprise attack whereby he had forced him to show his true colours. However, it was possible that Karlkvist was colluding with Sjöström and it was therefore necessary for Holst to be very careful.

  Karlkvist eventually produced his records. It turned out that Annie had been making deposits for a long time at Enskilda Bank, albeit directly, but had always informed Karlkvist about them and that Karlkvist had assisted her in buying a house in Kristianstad, on which occasion it looked like her legal counsel had cheated her significantly, though this was forgivable. There was however undeniably more interest in the relationship with the bank and the visit to Helsingborg.

  Karlkvist’s account, forced out of him by a very sharp interrogation, was to the effect that Sjöström, whom he had known well and, in his lieutenant days, had often advanced money, had created a legal document with Annie, according to which he was to have ten thousand kroner and vanish, and the furniture and fittings which the couple owned in Cannes would likewise be allotted to Sjöström. They hadn’t been married, but Annie apparently wanted to marry someone else who was already married and Karlkvist was to have taken care of this person’s divorce the following day. However, he hadn’t heard anything more about this. On the other hand, he had received an enquiry from the bank as to whether he could come in there the next day as a gentleman had wanted to withdraw a large amount and the bank wanted to know if he knew anything about the matter. The gentleman had been Sjöström, whom the bank staff knew well, but whose reputation had of course been poor. He was in possession of a cheque issued by Annie for 90,000 kroner. Karlkvist had been surprised by the large amount, but since he knew that Annie had 130,000 kroner in money and papers at the bank, he thought the couple might have made another agreement and, based on his testimony, Sjöström had been paid the amount.

  He hadn’t heard from Annie since. He presumed that she had changed her plans and gone back to France. He was, besides, a sort of cousin of Annie and this strange coincidence meant that he and a sister living in Vislanda were probably Annie’s heirs. Although Holst had retracted the truth about Annie’s death, he decided to keep an eye on Karlkvist, even more so as he had a strong suspicion that Sjöström had paid him generously for his so-called testimony. It turned into a long conversation and the lawyer had surrendered unconditionally. Holst treated him kindly and promised to hold a protective hand over him if Annie should demand that he account for himself; he even gave a definite promise in this regard, which he was able to do with great peace of mind and would never be tempted to break.

  He didn’t want to say anything about Annie’s present place of residence, but told the lawyer that Sjöström was under arrest in Hamburg and would be brought to Copenhagen. He had falsified the cheque and Annie’s new husband had reported the falsification. Holst was equally silent regarding this person’s name.

  It became clear to him, however, that there could be no question of complicity from the lawyer’s side in anything other than the falsification, which strangely enough would probably affect himself, and since it was primarily a question of getting hold of Sjöström and Karlkvist would no doubt keep quiet about what he knew, Holst left him with his kind regards and a promise to visit him again soon.

  Karlkvist was not exactly delighted at the thought, and the good people of Kristianstad became aware that something very unpleasant must have happened to Mr Karlkvist, because it was evident how seriously thin he had become in the space of a few days. He was not particularly comfortable with the situation either, because there were things that could interrupt the operation of his business in an unfortunate way if people were inclined to investigate them. That damned Danish devil of a detective!

  Holst didn’t visit anyone in Kristianstad, but took the train directly to Helsingborg, very satisfied with the relocation of Enskilda Bank from Kristianstad to Helsingborg, which in 1898 had so directly saddened the former town.

  XI

  Holst was received with great courtesy in the bank in Helsingborg. He didn’t go into his suppositions in great depth but restricted himself to disclosing the suspicions of the Copenhagen police that an international swindler, whose numerous frauds had affected several Danish citizens, had made a big coup in the bank at the end of March 1902.

  The investigation showed that Karlkvist’s confession had been essentially true. On 28th March, by instructions to the bank’s Berlin and Paris correspondents, Lieutenant Hugold Sjöström was paid 90,000 kroner for the account of Annie Cederlund of Kristianstad, following an instruction dated 27th March 1902 in Elsinore.

  There was nothing unusual about the cheque. Now that falsification was suspected, it appeared that ten thousand had been changed to ninety thousand, a formal change, the likes of which at one time in Stockholm had cost the National Bank a round sum, but on a normal consideration, everything had seemed to be as it should be.

  After a good deal of formality, Holst succeeded in borrowing the original cheque, in particular using the fact that the falsification had probably been committed in Elsinore, where the cheque had been issued. At the same time, Holst achieved the great benefit that his investigation had produced a factually-based charge of falsification, which offered several advantages over a dubious assassination for murder and was far less sensational, a point that, for a policeman who works in an age in which a public thirsty for news from its press is constantly at his heels, was of the utmost importance.

  In addition, Holst conducted enquiries in Helsingborg, which could lead to further information about the actual murder case. Sjöström had lived under his own name at the Hotel Mollberg from 25th to 28th March. He had been alone on the first day, but on the second had been visited by an officer well-known in the town, Lieutenant Claes Ankerkrone, who had stayed at the hotel from the 26th to the 27th, but after that had sailed with the ferry to Elsinore along with Sjöström. On the 28th, Sjöström had returned and had left Helsingborg via Lund, probably heading for Copenhagen via Malmö, since he had told the concierge that letters should be forwarded to the Hotel Kongen af Danmark, Copenhagen. However, the concierge didn’t recall that any letters had been sent, but the day after Sjöström had left, his brother, Equerry Bror Sjöström, also well-known in Helsingborg, had turned up and asked for him.

  It turned out that a rumour about the money Hugold had withdrawn had leaked out and that some aggrieved creditors had decided to act against him, which had manifested itself in a referral to the local police who had immediately advised the brother about the matter, with the result that the worthy man had immediately presented himself at the hotel. However, the case had died down. Some people believed that the equerry had had to scatter some crumbs to the hungry creditors.

  That was everything that was known in Helsingborg and Holst thus had to follow the trail, partly by contacting Bror Sjöström – a very delicate matter – and partly by seeking further information in Elsinore. He decided to visit Hamlet’s town first and took the ferry across the Sound, where he found himself once more on Danish soil after his eventful foreign travels.

  Sjöström wasn’t known in Elsinore and it turned out from examining the guest books at the local hotels that he hadn’t stayed there, at least not under his own name. On the other hand, something else of the utmost importance emerged.

  At the railway hotel by the harbour, diagonally opposite the beautiful new railway station, a lady whose description matched that of the deceased had stayed from 25th to 27th March. This hadn’t come to light during the first investigation because the hotel’s concierge had gone away on other business, but had now been engaged at the large Marienlyst establishment and it therefore became possible to obtain more accurate information. The current waiter and maid were new in their jobs and the hotel-keeper had been on a trip to Copenhagen.

  In the hotel’s guest book, the person in question was listed as Mrs Gorin, Nice, and it was determined that her luggage had been sent to the Hotel Kongen af Danmark, Copenhagen, as express goods. She had been in the company of two gentl
emen, at least for one day, but the concierge had no information about who these gentlemen had been. She had also been visited by a young lady, who however had immediately returned to Copenhagen.

  However, the concierge was certain that one of the waiters, now employed at the Marienlyst and married and living in Elsinore, personally knew one of the gentlemen. In the hotel guest book, he was listed under the name Lundkvist, rentier, but it was certainly an assumed name – the young gentleman was a Swedish officer from a noble family. The waiter couldn’t reveal his real name to the concierge. He had probably received a generous tip for remaining silent.

  Holst wasted no time in giving the waiter a good talking to and, by questioning him appropriately, he succeeded in discovering that the young gentleman was a lieutenant in the Crown Prince’s Hussars, probably a landowner, immensely rich and very handsome – his name was Claes Ankerkrone.

  That information startled Holst. There was no doubt about it; Claes Ankerkrone was strongly implicated in the whole matter and it struck Holst how carelessly he had behaved in sending Annie’s letter to Captain Ankerkrone. He had to admit that he had acted very unwisely. Demonstrating his trust in the Captain was understandable and natural. But Bror Sjöström’s story should have alerted his vigilance earlier and, after the conversation with Kurk, he ought to have been even more suspicious of his friend, the Captain.

  Annie’s correspondence had further revealed to him that the Captain had hardly been completely honest with him, and now it could certainly be said that Claes Ankerkrone, the Captain’s son, was severely compromised by the whole case, even though there was no justification for assuming that he was an accomplice in, or even aware of, the murder.

  Even so, the unexplained fact remained that, in his conversation with Holst, Captain Ankerkrone had dropped a hint about helping and that Holst might come to need him.