The Glass Devil Read Online Free Page A

almost felt warm and cozy. They climbed the stairs and entered an open room off the landing which was surprisingly modern, containing brown leather sofas and a large TV. With expressionless eyes of glass, three stuffed moose heads stared down at the visitors from the walls.
    “The TV room,” Jonas Burman said superfluously.
    They split up. Irene went to the left half of the second floor, and the men took the right. To her surprise, the first room Irene entered was a billiard room. The central table dominated the space. Stuffed animal heads and birds also adorned these walls. Some chairs stood at one end. The next surprise was that there was a well-stocked bar cart next to the chairs. Irene took a closer look at the cart and determined that the liquor bottles were foreign brands. Apparently, the Schytteliuses traveled quite a bit and returned with souvenirs.
    Irene crossed to the door on the opposite side of the room. There was a key in the lock but the door was unlocked. She used the flashlight handle again to push it open and to turn on the light switch. The ceiling fixture held a weak bulb behind cracked frosted glass. The room was remarkably cold. Some modern office cabinets and a large desk were the only furniture. There was an open computer on the desk so Irene circled it to look at the screen.. At first, her brain refused to register what she saw. She started backing away. A star in a ring appeared to have been smeared onto the screen in blood.

Chapter 3
    “PASTOR JONAS BURMAN AND I found Sten and Elsa Schyttelius in their bedroom. I tried to keep him from seeing anything, but unfortunately he’s tall and managed to peer over my shoulder. He collapsed on the spot. It was a bloodbath,” said Fredrik Stridh.
    He paused and looked around the conference room. In addition to himself and Irene, Superintendent Andersson, Tommy Persson, and Hannu Rauhala sat around the table. Jonny Blom had already gone home when the call about the double murder at the rectory reached the police station. Hannu had just been on his way to baby swimming but when he heard what the call was about he decided to stay put.
    “When I pushed Burman down on the couch, Irene appeared. She had found a computer with one of those star symbols painted on the monitor, like the one she and Sven had seen at Jacob Schyttelius’s,” Fredrik said.
    “Did the star look exactly the same?” Andersson interrupted.
    She nodded. “Exactly.”
    Fredrik cleared his throat. “Sten and Elsa Schyttelius were shot at close range with a large-caliber firearm. Sten Schyttelius hunts.”
    “How do you know that?” the superintendent interrupted again.
    “Jonas Burman said so. And the walls of the rectory are covered with stuffed animal corpses. Burman has worked in Slättared parish for two years, so he knew quite a bit about the family. They also have a daughter whose name is Rebecka; she lives in London. He’s only met her once. It was at a Christmas dinner or something like that.”
    “We have to give her protection right away!” Irene burst out.
    “Why?” said Andersson.
    “Because of what’s happened to her family. She’s the only one still alive. We don’t know the motive for the murders yet, but it seems as if someone wants to wipe out the Schyttelius family.”
    “But she lives in London—” the superintendent began. He was interrupted by Tommy Persson.
    “The Schytteliuses seem to have died at about the same time as their son. The murderer has more than a day’s lead on us. He could be in London right now.”
    The superintendent muttered something inaudible, but then nodded. “Okay. You’re right, we’ll have to find her address and get in touch with our colleagues in London. Can you do it, Hannu?” This was clearly an order, not a question. Superintendent Andersson nodded at Fredrik to continue.
    “There were no signs of a struggle in the bedroom. Both Irene and I believe that they were shot in their sleep. Each body lay with its head