The Sandman. Ларс Кеплер

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       15

      Detective Inspector Joona Linna is in a small room whose walls and floor are made of bare concrete. He is on his knees while a man in camouflage is aiming a pistol at his head, a black SIG Sauer. The door is being guarded by a man who keeps his Belgian assault rifle trained on Joona the whole time.

      On the floor next to the wall is a bottle of Coca-Cola. The light is coming from a ceiling lamp with a buckled aluminium shade.

      A mobile phone buzzes. Before the man with the pistol answers he yells at Joona to lower his head.

      The other man puts his finger on the trigger and moves a step closer.

      The man with the pistol talks into the mobile phone, then listens, without taking his eyes off Joona. Grit crunches under his boots. He nods, says something else, then listens again.

      After a while the man with the assault rifle sighs and sits down on the chair just inside the door.

      Joona kneels there completely still. He is wearing jogging trousers and a white T-shirt that’s wet with sweat. The sleeves are tight across the muscles of his upper arms. He raises his head slightly. His eyes are as grey as polished granite.

      The man with the pistol is talking excitedly into the phone, then he ends the call and seems to think for a few seconds before taking four quick steps forward and pressing the barrel of the pistol to Joona’s forehead.

      ‘I’m about to overpower you,’ Joona says amiably.

      ‘What?’

      ‘I had to wait,’ he explains. ‘Until I got the chance of direct physical contact.’

      ‘I’ve just received orders to execute you.’

      ‘Yes, the situation’s fairly acute, seeing as I have to get the pistol away from my face, and ideally use it within five seconds.’

      ‘How?’ the man by the door asks.

      ‘In order to catch him by surprise, I mustn’t react to any of his movements,’ Joona explains. ‘That’s why I’ve let him walk up, stop and take precisely two breaths. So I wait until he breathes out the second time before I—’

      ‘Why?’ the man with the pistol asks.

      ‘I gain a few hundredths of a second, because it’s practically impossible to do anything without first breathing in.’

      ‘But why the second breath in particular?’

      ‘Because it’s unexpectedly early and right at the middle of the most common countdown in the world: one, two, three …’

      ‘I get it.’ The man smiles, revealing a brown front tooth.

      ‘The first thing that’s going to move is my left hand,’ Joona explains to the surveillance camera up by the ceiling. ‘It’ll move up towards the barrel of the pistol and away from my face in one fluid movement. I need to grasp it, twist upwards and get to my feet, using his body as a shield. In a single movement. My hands need to prioritise the gun, but at the same time I need to observe the man with the assault rifle. Because as soon as I’ve got control of the pistol he’s the primary threat. I use my elbow against his chin and neck as many times as it takes to get control of the pistol, then I fire three shots and spin round and fire another three shots.’

      The men in the room start again. The situation repeats. The man with the pistol gets his orders over the phone, hesitates, then walks up to Joona and pushes the barrel to his forehead. The man breathes out a second time and is just about to breathe in again to say something when Joona grabs the barrel of the pistol with his left hand.

      The whole thing is remarkably surprising and quick, even though it was expected.

      Joona knocks the gun aside, twisting it towards the ceiling in the same movement, and getting to his feet. He jabs his elbow into the man’s neck four times, takes the pistol and shoots the other man in the torso.

      The three blank shots echo off the walls.

      The first opponent is still staggering backwards when Joona spins round and shoots him in the chest.

      He falls against the wall.

      Joona walks over to the door, grabs the assault rifle and extra cartridge, then leaves the room.