Thomas Lindblad

Lennart listened attentively when Lars translated the recent harvest of messages in the residents’ chat group. Darn it, you just about stumble over the mice in the courtyard garden, Rosa K. complained. Live mice or more corpses in our midst? Rob V. jested. Mind you, the mice are good at climbing up walls, Danny texted ominously. And there is also not much progress in the crime investigation, Hugo S. asserted. The good Swedes are doing their very best, Maurits W. recipr

Lars and Lennart did not yet probe into that matter, so it remains speculative. Still, there are subtle signs. In the beginning of their relationship, Joyce said not to mind that Danny did not have much (heterosexual) experience; perhaps she doesn't expect much from him in that vein because she has got Rob within easy reach. The separate sleeping arrangement of Joyce and Danny can be construed as a way of tacitly granting Danny opportunities of which Joyce need not know the details.

Tim's calming down depends on both Hugo's willingness to accept his son's sexual orientation and Lennart's warm support. We'll see how that works out.

Thank you!

Lars waited patiently on the Tuesday morning until Lennart had finished breakfast and joined him on the balcony. The newest information from Joyce had brought a slight correction of his memory from the murder night. He had not heard Danny coming home twice as he all the time had thought. The first time it was Joyce returning from Rob, the second time Danny coming back from the courtyard garden. Lennart put his steaming cup of coffee on the balcony table. ‘There are two possibilities,’ he

An interesting thought. Can Tom's coming out and his father's vehement reaction somehow be connectedto the murder case?

Thanks!

Lars woke up early. It was Monday morning and very quiet all around him. He went to the hallway and was surprised to see the bathroom door standing ajar. It was unusual for somebody of Lennart’s generation to be up at such an early hour, he figured. He remained at the doorstep, looking straight at Tim’s surprised face in the mirror above the washstand. They were both in their underwear, Lars in his boxer briefs, Tim in white briefs. ‘What are you doing here?’ Lars knew it sounded sha

Very true!

Good points! Tim was already inside the building, but the shooter must have had an access card, unless he rang a random bell and some resident unthinkingly opened the front door. Once you get as far as to the elevators and the stairs, no access card is needed. There is a surveillance camera in the hallway before getting to the elevators, but not at the elevators. Lars an Lennart need to get hold of the footage from the surveillance camera.

Lennart was the first one to wake up, earlier than he wanted. He listened to Lars’s calm breathing next to him and grabbed his mobile phone from the bedside table. A fair number of messages had arrived in the course of the night. Sleeping? Sweet dreams? Weird things are happening here. Tell you tomorrow. Tim was evidently assuming they were going to meet as soon as Lennart was back in Leiden. The other messages were in the residents’ chat group, all in Dutch. He had to wait for Lars t

It was the side window nearest to the glove compartment that was broken. So, it might have locked a bit strange on the highway, but the sight for the driver was not impaired. No, they definitely did not have permission to drive the vicitim's car, but they knew the brother who was supposed to pick it up would be away that weekend. It is not stated explicity. but i it may readily be assumed they filled up the tank before parking the car in the same same place and putting the car keys and the parking access card back in the victim's mailbox. From Leiden to Groningen and back is a drive of 440 kilometers.

Thanks for your very helpful suggestion that I could incorporate at the last minute! The ploy could also have backfired for the author with the identity of the culprit becoming known too early.

Lars got up before Lennart and took ample time for morning coffee on the balcony. A warm and sunny Saturday lay ahead, well suited for the scheduled get-together of all residents in the courtyard garden. He and Lennart wanted to seize the opportunity to obtain information from potential suspects while making casual conversation. He looked back on the previous evening. Tim had visited Lennart and they had obviously had sex. When Lennart came to the bathroom to shower, Lars had even spotted

Good point! Our detectives did get the time of entrance of a car, but may not have realized they could also get the time of entrance by access card holders in person (a different walk-in entrance at street level, whereas the car entrance is on basement level). Good idea to try out the number of the missing phone at the forthcoming get-together in the courtyard garden.

Lars felt something in his armpits, a little too hard to be comfortable. He opened his eyes and saw Lennart sitting on the edge of the bed in his black boxer briefs. ‘How very ticklish you are!’ Lennart said with a merry smile. Lars sat up in bed. ‘Is this the correct way of waking up your boss?’ ‘I think so. Seriously Lars, in my sleep I remembered there was after all something to be seen on the surveillance footage from the night of the murder. A shadow at our entrance downsta

An unconventional potential murder weapon, I admit. Incidentally, the checkmate position cited in the text was from an actual victory by Argentinian wonderkid Faustino Oro, who qualified for the title of Grandmaster at the age of 12.

Lennart took it easy on the quiet Thursday morning. He browsed through messages in the app group of the residents of the condominium, especially those in English. ‘You’ve got to hear this,’ he said to Lars, who was reading today’s paper. ‘One bloke complains about his neighbour smoking on the balcony above him so that ashes fall on his wife’s hair. Another says the neighbour above him is clomping so hard on the floor that he can’t sleep.’ ‘That’s how things go here. I’m not surprised

Food for thought! Among the 3 fire watchers, Kees was the first one to arrive in the garden after having been to the fire; he obviously didn't see somebody alive in the garden. Danny spotted Kees when coming home from the fire and standing at his front door overlooking the garden. Rob upon his return from the fire also stood at his front door overlooking the garden and saw some 'men' (= 'the old man and somebody else') in the garden before going down there. As you may infer from the picture, two sides of the rectangular complex have galleries overlooking the courtyard, the west side (Danny) and the south side (Rob). This is a story of fiction, but the physical location is not a result of my imagination. It's also worth noting that none of them remembered having seen the other two at the fire. Admittedly, the condominium is very large (almost 400 apartments) and these three men did not know each other very well, as Lars correctly pointed out. Still, you do come across other residents in the elevator or garden all the time and might knew people by sight, if not by name.

They surely will ...

Lars woke up too early. He first turned towards the window, then towards the door in the master bedroom. It was not that they were at a dead-end, rather that they had no traces to follow. No murder weapon, no documentation about the victim, no suspect evidence. The door of Lennart’s room stood ajar, he noticed. The young sleepy-head ought to wake up and join him in devising their next move. Lennart was sleeping with open mouth on the sofa bed and opened his eyes as Lars sat down at his fo

Anybody could have locked the balcony door from the inside. A murderer, the police, the victim's sister. The politie did not think about fingerprints, assuming from the start it was an accident. The apartment had been vacated; therefore no heavy objects around anymore. The behaviour of young Tim may appear a riddle. Very shy in certain situations, yet unexpectedly enterprising under other conditions. It is tempting here to think in terms of typical coming-of-age behaviour. The standard age of Holden Caulfields in that genre is sixteen or seventeen. Tim is a few years older, perhaps a late bloomer.

Precisely, emphasizing how distant she was to her brother but knowing perfectly well how he was likely to behave. Sounds like a bit of a contradictory personality.

Encouraging to hear!

Lars was having coffee on the balcony on Tuesday morning when Lennart appeared in the open door, wearing only his black boxer briefs. ‘Okay with you if I have breakfast before I get dressed?’ ‘Sure, as long as you are not completely naked.’ Lars threw an appreciative glance at Lennart’s smooth hairless chest and belly. ‘I get it. Otherwise, you’ll be distracted in your deep thinking,’ Lennart smiled and sat down with his steaming cup of coffee. ‘So you had a nice talk wit