Relieved once more that Lund had not hung up immediately, Brix went on to explain the situation.
He was again in the UK, near the city of Bath. And again, incredibly, the case revolved around Swedish supergroup ABBA. This time, three years after the Mangler case, there was no Nordic Revival Band project; the whole fiasco surrounding the disappearance of Björk had effectively killed that idea, much to the disappointment of music lovers worldwide. No, this time ABBA's members had been lured to Bath by a mystery "super-fan" who had offered to entertain them at Bath's latest 5-star spa hotel, no expense spared. But while Benny and Björn had been acquainting themselves with the restaurant's extensive wine list, Agnetha and Frida, who were supposed to be "taking the waters" in the hotel's private bath house, had vanished. An anonymous perpetrator, known only as The Piper, had demanded a ransom: Agnetha and Frida would be released on condition that ABBA reformed for one more concert tour.
Brix resumed his briefing:
"Given the nature of the incident, the UK police authorities have once again called upon the investigative services of the No.1 Scandinavian Detective Agency."
"OK."
"But this time there is an added complication. The Piper has left a clue on the boundary between two jurisdictions. The Wiltshire authorities have commissioned us, the Danish division of the No.1 Scandinavian Detective Agency, but the South Gloucestershire authorities have called in their own specialists, the Swedish division of the No.1 Scandinavian Detective Agency."
"Who is that?"
"Saga Norén of the Malmö County Police Department. You will have to work with her."
"Martin Rohde told me about her when I was last in Copenhagen. She is brilliant but …"
"Yes, she has a reputation for being a somewhat unusual character. We think The Piper may even have engineered your pairing on this case, given a composite picture we found in one of the bath house's lockers. Anyway, if you fly in to the coordinates above then you and Norén can meet and work the case together."
"How will we know where to start?"
"All we know is that The Piper has left a clue on or very near the border, and that you are looking for a small bro. It's almost as if The Piper is trying to recreate the Øresund case. I am hoping that we don't find two joined body halves there, but Norén seems to be relishing the prospect. Salander reckons that she has an approximate location based on a message sent from The Piper's smartphone; you should check with her."
"OK."
"Will you be wearing your customary knitwear?"
"Of course."
"Good. Do you have any leather trousers too?"
The line went dead.
Residential Geocoin (April 2018)
Amberel kindly made one of his Top Cache geocoins for this cache. It is called Kende mig|Känner dig. 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.