The Joona Linna Thrillers 3-Book Bundle Read online

  By Lars Kepler

  The Hypnotist

  The Nightmare

  The Fire Witness

  McClelland & Stewart E-Omnibus, 2013

  Copyright © 2013 by Lars Kepler

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

  The Hypnotist

  Published in Canada by McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company, Toronto, in 2011. All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 2009 by Lars Kepler

  Translation copyright © 2011 by Ann Long

  e-ISBN: 9780771095740

  The Nightmare

  Published in Canada by McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company, Toronto, in 2012. All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 2010 by Lars Kepler

  Translation copyright © 2012 by Laura A. Wideburg

  e-ISBN: 9780771095825

  The Fire Witness

  Published in Canada by McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company, Toronto, in 2013. All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 2011 by Lars Kepler

  Translation copyright © 2013 by Laura A. Wideburg

  e-ISBN: 9780771095917

  E-omnibus edition published in Canada by McClelland & Stewart, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, a Penguin Random House Company, Toronto, in 2013.

  McClelland & Stewart with colophon is a registered trademark.

  www.randomhouse.ca

  These are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  The Joona Linna Thrillers

  e-ISBN: 9780771030086

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication available upon request.

  v3.1

  Contents

  Cover

  Other Books by This Author

  Title Page

  Copyright

  The Hypnotist

  The Nightmare

  The Fire Witness

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2009 by Lars Kepler

  Translation copyright © 2011 by Ann Long

  All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher – or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an infringement of the copyright law.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Kepler, Lars

  The hypnotist / Lars Kepler; translated from the Swedish by Ann Long.

  Translation of: Hypnotisören.

  eISBN: 978-0-7710-9574-0

  I. Long, Ann II. Title.

  PT9877.21.E65H9613 2011 839.73’8 C2010-908081-5

  We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.

  Originally published in 2009 by Albert Bonniers Förlag, Sweden, as Hypnotisören.

  McClelland & Stewart Ltd.

  75 Sherbourne Street

  Toronto, Ontario

  M5A 2P9

  www.randomhouse.ca

  v3.1

  Contents

  Master - Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Prologue

  Chapter 1 - Tuesday, December 8: Early Morning

  Chapter 2 - Tuesday, December 8: Early Morning

  Chapter 3 - Tuesday, December 8: Early Morning

  Chapter 4 - Tuesday, December 8: Early Morning

  Chapter 5 - Monday, December 7: Evening

  Chapter 6 - Monday, December 7: Evening

  Chapter 7 - Monday, December 7: Evening

  Chapter 8 - Monday, December 7: Night

  Chapter 9 - Tuesday, December 8: Morning

  Chapter 10 - Tuesday, December 8: Morning

  Chapter 11 - Tuesday, December 8: Morning

  Chapter 12 - Tuesday, December 8: Morning

  Chapter 13 - Tuesday, December 8: Morning

  Chapter 14 - Tuesday, December 8: Morning

  Chapter 15 - Tuesday, December 8: Morning

  Chapter 16 - Tuesday, December 8: Morning

  Chapter 17 - Tuesday, December 8: Morning

  Chapter 18 - Tuesday, December 8: Early Morning

  Chapter 19 - Tuesday, December 8: Morning

  Chapter 20 - Tuesday, December 8: Lunchtime

  Chapter 21 - Tuesday, December 8: Afternoon

  Chapter 22 - Tuesday, December 8: Afternoon

  Chapter 23 - Tuesday, December 8: Evening

  Chapter 24 - Tuesday, December 8: Evening

  Chapter 25 - Wednesday, December 9: Afternoon

  Chapter 26 - Wednesday, December 9: Afternoon

  Chapter 27 - Thursday, December 10: Evening

  Chapter 28 - Thursday, December 10: Evening

  Chapter 29 - Friday, December 11: Morning

  Chapter 30 - Friday, December 11: Morning

  Chapter 31 - Friday, December 11: Morning

  Chapter 32 - Friday, December 11: Afternoon

  Chapter 33 - Friday, December 11: Afternoon

  Chapter 34 - Friday, December 11: Afternoon

  Chapter 35 - Friday, December 11: Evening

  Chapter 36 - Friday, December 11: Evening

  Chapter 37 - Friday, December 11: Evening

  Chapter 38 - Friday, December 11: Evening

  Chapter 39 - Friday, December 11: Evening

  Chapter 40 - Friday, December 11: Evening

  Chapter 41 - Saturday, December 12: Morning

  Chapter 42 - Saturday, December 12: Morning

  Chapter 43 - Saturday, December 12: Morning

  Chapter 44 - Saturday, December 12: Evening

  Chapter 45 - Saturday, December 12: Evening

  Chapter 46 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Morning

  Chapter 47 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Morning

  Chapter 48 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Morning

  Chapter 49 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Morning

  Chapter 50 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Morning

  Chapter 51 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Morning

  Chapter 52 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Morning

  Chapter 53 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Morning

  Chapter 54 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Midday

  Chapter 55 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Midday

  Chapter 56 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Midday

  Chapter 57 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Afternoon

  Chapter 58 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Afternoon

  Chapter 59 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Afternoon

  Chapter 60 - Sunday, December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia): Afternoon

&nb
sp; Chapter 61 - Monday, December 14: Morning

  Chapter 62 - Monday, December 14: Morning

  Chapter 63 - Monday, December 14: Afternoon

  Chapter 64 - Monday, December 14: Afternoon

  Chapter 65 - Monday, December 14: Afternoon

  Chapter 66 - Monday, December 14: Night

  Chapter 67 - Monday, December 14: Night

  Chapter 68 - Monday, December 14: Night

  Chapter 69 - Tuesday, December 15: Morning

  Chapter 70 - Tuesday, December 15: Morning

  Chapter 71 - Tuesday, December 15: Morning

  Chapter 72 - Tuesday, December 15: Morning

  Chapter 73 - Tuesday, December 15: Morning

  Chapter 74 - Wednesday, December 16: Morning

  Ten Years Ago

  Chapter 75 - Wednesday, December 16: Morning

  Chapter 76 - Wednesday, December 16: Morning

  Chapter 77 - Wednesday, December 16: Afternoon

  Chapter 78 - Wednesday, December 16: Afternoon

  Chapter 79 - Wednesday, December 16: Afternoon

  Chapter 80 - Thursday, December 17: Morning

  Chapter 81 - Thursday, December 17: Morning

  Chapter 82 - Thursday, December 17: Afternoon

  Chapter 83 - Thursday, December 17: Afternoon

  Chapter 84 - Thursday, December 17: Evening

  Chapter 85 - Thursday, December 17: Evening

  Chapter 86 - Thursday, December 17: Night

  Chapter 87 - Friday, December 18: Early Morning

  Chapter 88 - Friday, December 18: Morning

  Chapter 89 - Friday, December 18: Morning

  Chapter 90 - Saturday, December 19: Morning

  Chapter 91 - Saturday, December 19: Afternoon

  Chapter 92 - Saturday, December 19: Afternoon

  Chapter 93 - Saturday, December 19: Afternoon

  Chapter 94 - Saturday, December 19: Afternoon

  Chapter 95 - Saturday, December 19: Afternoon

  Chapter 96 - Saturday, December 19: Evening

  Chapter 97 - Saturday, December 19: Evening

  Chapter 98 - Sunday, December 20 (Fourth Sunday of Advent): Morning

  Chapter 99 - Thursday, December 17: Evening

  Chapter 100 - Sunday, December 20 (Fourth Sunday of Advent): Morning

  Chapter 101 - Sunday, December 20 (Fourth Sunday of Advent): Morning

  Chapter 102 - Sunday, December 20 (Fourth Sunday of Advent): Morning

  Chapter 103 - Sunday, December 20 (Fourth Sunday of Advent): Afternoon

  Chapter 104 - Sunday, December 20 (Fourth Sunday of Advent): Afternoon

  Chapter 105 - Sunday, December 20 (Fourth Sunday of Advent): Afternoon

  Chapter 106 - Sunday, December 20 (Fourth Sunday of Advent): Afternoon

  Chapter 107 - Sunday, December 20 (Fourth Sunday of Advent): Afternoon

  Chapter 108 - Thursday, December 24: Afternoon

  Chapter 109 - Sunday, December 20 (Fourth Sunday of Advent): Afternoon

  Chapter 110 - Thursday, December 24: Afternoon

  In Greek mythology, the god Hypnos is a winged boy with poppy seeds in his hand. His name means “sleep.” He is the twin brother of Thanatos, death, and the son of night and darkness.

  The term hypnosis was first used in its modern sense in 1843 by the Scottish surgeon James Braid. He used this term to describe a sleeplike state of both acute awareness and great receptiveness.

  Even today, opinions vary with regard to the usefulness, reliability, and dangers of hypnosis. This lingering ambivalence is presumably owing to the fact that the techniques of hypnosis have been exploited by con men, stage performers, and secret services all over the world.

  From a purely technical point of view, it is easy to place a person in a hypnotic state. The difficulty lies in controlling the course of events, guiding the patient, and interpreting and making use of the results. Only through considerable experience and skill is it possible to master deep hypnosis fully. There are only a handful of recognized doctors in the world who have truly mastered deep hypnosis.

  Like fire, just like fire. Those were the first words the boy uttered under hypnosis. Despite life-threatening injuries—innumerable knife wounds to his face, legs, torso, back, the soles of his feet, the back of his neck, and his head—the boy had been put into a state of deep hypnosis in an attempt to see what had happened with his own eyes.

  “I’m trying to blink,” he mumbled. “I go into the kitchen, but it isn’t right; there’s a crackling noise between the chairs and a bright red fire is spreading across the floor.”

  They’d thought he was dead when they found him among the other bodies in the terraced house. He’d lost a great deal of blood, gone into a state of shock, and hadn’t regained consciousness until seven hours later. He was the only surviving witness.

  Detective Joona Linna was certain that the boy would be able to provide valuable information, possibly even identify the killer.

  But if the other circumstances had not been so exceptional, it would never even have occurred to anyone to turn to a hypnotist.

  tuesday, december 8: early morning

  Erik Maria Bark is yanked reluctantly from his dream when the telephone rings. Before he is fully awake, he hears himself say with a smile, “Balloons and streamers.”

  His heart is pounding from the sudden awakening. Erik has no idea what he meant by these words. The dream is completely gone, as if he had never had it.

  He fumbles to find the ringing phone, creeping out of the bedroom with it and closing the door behind him to avoid waking Simone. A detective named Joona Linna asks if he is sufficiently awake to absorb important information. His thoughts are still tumbling down into the dark empty space after his dream as he listens.

  “I’ve heard you’re very skilled in the treatment of acute trauma,” says Linna.

  “Yes,” says Erik.

  He swallows a painkiller as he listens. The detective explains that he needs to question a fifteen-year-old boy who has witnessed a double murder and been seriously injured himself. During the night he was moved from the neurological unit in Huddinge to the neurosurgical unit at Karolinska University Hospital in Solna.

  “What’s his condition?” Erik asks.

  The detective rapidly summarizes the patient’s status, concluding, “He hasn’t been stabilized. He’s in circulatory shock and unconscious.”

  “Who’s the doctor in charge?” asks Erik.

  “Daniella Richards.”

  “She’s extremely capable. I’m sure she can—”

  “She was the one who asked me to call you. She needs your help. It’s urgent.”

  When Erik returns to the bedroom to get his clothes, Simone is lying on her back, looking at him with a strange, empty expression. A strip of light from the streetlamp is shining in between the blinds.

  “I didn’t mean to wake you,” he says softly.

  “Who was that?” she asks.

  “Police … a detective … I didn’t catch his name.”

  “What’s it about?”

  “I have to go to the hospital,” he replies. “They need some help with a boy.”

  “What time is it, anyway?” She looks at the alarm clock and closes her eyes. He notices the stripes on her freckled shoulders from the creased sheets.

  “Sleep now, Sixan,” he whispers, calling her by her nickname.

  Carrying his clothes from the room, Erik dresses quickly in the hall. He catches the flash of a shining blade of steel behind him and turns to see that his son has hung his ice skates on the handle of the front door so he won’t forget them. Despite his hurry, Erik finds the protectors in the closet and slides them over the sharp blades.

  It’s three o’clock in the morning when Erik gets into his car. Snow falls slowly from the black sky. There is not a breath of wind, and the heavy flakes settle sleepily on the empty street. He turns the key in the ignition, and the music pours in like a soft wave: Miles Davis, “Kind of Blue.”


  He drives the short distance through the sleeping city, out of Luntma-kargatan, along Sveavägen to Norrtull. He catches a glimpse of the waters of Brunnsviken, a large, dark opening behind the snowfall. He slows as he enters the enormous medical complex, maneuvering between Astrid Lindgren’s understaffed hospital and maternity unit, past the radiology and psychiatry departments, to park in his usual place outside the neurosurgical unit. There are only a few cars in the visitors’ lot. The glow of the streetlamps is reflected in the windows of the tall buildings, and blackbirds rustle through the branches of the trees in the darkness. Usually you hear the roar of the superhighway from here, Erik thinks, but not at this time of night.

  He inserts his pass card, keys in the six-digit code, enters the lobby, takes the elevator to the fifth floor, and walks down the hall. The blue vinyl floors shine like ice, and the corridor smells of antiseptic. Only now does he become aware of his fatigue, following the sudden surge of adrenaline brought on by the call. It had been such a good sleep, he still feels a pleasant aftertaste.

  He thinks over what the detective told him on the telephone: a boy is admitted to the hospital, bleeding from cuts all over his body, sweating; he doesn’t want to lie down, is restless and extremely thirsty. An attempt is made to question him, but his condition rapidly deteriorates. His level of consciousness declines while at the same time his heart begins to race, and Daniella Richards, the doctor in charge, makes the correct decision not to let the police speak to the patient.

  Two uniformed cops are standing outside the door of ward N18; Erik senses a certain unease flit across their faces as he approaches. Maybe they’re just tired, he thinks, as he stops in front of them and identifies himself. They glance at his ID, press a button, and the door swings open with a hum.

  Daniella Richards is making notes on a chart when Erik walks in. As he greets her, he notices the tense lines around her mouth, the muted stress in her movements.

  “Have some coffee,” she says.

  “Do we have time?” asks Erik.

  “I’ve got the bleed in the liver under control,” she replies.

  A man of about forty-five, dressed in jeans and a black jacket, is thumping the coffee machine. He has tousled blond hair, and his lips are serious, clamped firmly together. Erik thinks maybe this is Daniella’s husband, Magnus. He has never met him; he has only seen a photograph in her office.