Relieved that Lund had not hung up immediately, Brix went on to explain the situation.
He was in the UK, in the city of Bath. He related how a number of ageing popstars had been working at the recording studios at Box, near Bath, on some sort of Nordic Revival Band project. It involved all four members of Swedish supergroup ABBA, Morten Harket from top Norway pop-combo A-ha, plus the avant-garde Icelandic pop pixie Björk. Relations had been strained from the start, as beneath their cool Northern European exteriors there simmered cores of Viking passion and rivalry. Then it all apparently kicked off during some debate over whether to call themselves Nordic or Scandinavian, and Björk had gone missing without a trace.
Brix resumed his briefing:
"Bath and Wiltshire police were called to investigate the disappearance of Björk but they were out of their depth. There were cultural and language barriers, so they called over the No.1 Scandinavian Detective Agency to pick up the investigation."
"Why can’t Wallander handle it all?"
"He made a start, but then he got depressed again and wandered off towards the hills. We haven't seen him for days and his notes are all over the place."
"Send his notes to me."
"They're on their way now."
As I arrived at the recording studio, there were five parking bays in a straight row, labelled 1-5 from left to right. Each parking bay contained a single car; each car was of a different make and was owned by a different suspect. I subsequently discovered that each suspect had a favourite song, a preferred item of clothing, and some flatpack furniture.
Agnetha (A) is rarely seen without her lamé Hotpants (H).
The singer who always chooses Mamma Mia (M) at karaoke drives a BMW (B).
Frida (F) chose a Saab (S) for the practicality of carrying large cardboard boxes.
The lover of Nordic knitwear (N) parked immediately to the left of the wearer of the spangly Flares (F).
Benny (B) parked in bay 1.
The fan of Super Trouper (S) parked next to the purchaser of a Liatrop (L) bookcase with glass doors.
Take a Chance on Me (T) sounds all the better when wearing a spandex Jumpsuit (J).
Knowing Me, Knowing You (K) was on endless loop while the ubiquitous Billy (B) shelves were erected.
The Volvo (V) was parked next to the fan of Take a Chance on Me (T).
Björn (J) is quite a Dancing Queen (D).
Benny (B) parked next to the wearer of platform Boots (B).
The singer who parked in the central bay found the configurability of Ivar (I) irresistible.
Morten (M) likes the simplicity of Vittsjö's (V) glass and metal finish.
The singer who dreams of being a Super Trouper (S) parked next to the Audi (A).
A strand of Nordic knitwear (N) was found snagged in the Hemnes (H) shelving unit.
Brix continued:
"I told you Wallander's notes were all over the place. I know things must be difficult for you since Series III, but is there any way you could get over here to help us?"
"I don't know if that's possible right now. But Wallander's notes are not as random as you think. First you must discover who drives the Koenigsegg (K). Then construct a 30-character string as follows:
1-----2-----3-----4-----5----- where 1-5 correspond to the five parking bays. Each gap (-) is a single uppercase letter code as defined in Wallander's notes. The letter codes for each parking bay should be ordered strictly according to: Name, Car, Song, Clothing, Furniture. Salander's website should confirm your deductions."
Residential Geocoin (December 2014)
Amberel kindly made one of his Top Cache geocoins for this cache. It is called Øverste Detektiv. I have chosen to hide it as a RESIDENTIAL geocoin, attached to the logbook. Feel free to discover it, but please do not remove it. Thanks.