A CRIMINAL HISTORY OF MANKIND

from a certain amount of nervous stress - he had even seen a doctor about it - but she could think of
no reason why anyone should wish him dead. The police could not find a single clue to the murder.
During the next two years there was an unusual number of crimes in the Sala area, including three
burglaries and two car thefts. Either the criminal was incredibly careful or he had incredible luck,
for again the police could find no leads.
In the early hours of the morning of 15 September 1933, firemen were called to a house near the
centre of Sala. It belonged to a wealthy mining official, Axel Kjellberg. The flames were already
too fierce for any attempt at rescue. Two charred bodies - that of Kjellberg and his housekeeper -
were recovered. Both had been shot in the head. The motive was robbery. Kjellberg had collected
the wages for his mine on the previous day and had kept them in his safe overnight. Evidently the
intruder, or intruders, had forced him to open the safe. A forced strongbox was found in the ruins.
During the next year there were a few more burglaries, but no serious crimes. Citizens formed
vigilante groups to patrol the town at night. And on 12 October 1934, such a group observed that
the house of Mrs Tilda Blomqvist was on fire. The vigilantes raised the alarm, as a result of which
Mrs Blomqvist’s chauffeur and his wife escaped from the burning house. This time, it was possible
to enter the house before it was seriously damaged. Mrs Blomqvist’s body was in her bedroom. She
was dead, but there were no marks of violence. Medical examination failed to reveal cause of
death. She had not inhaled smoke so it seemed conceivable that she had been suffocated before the
fire began. Again, the motive was robbery. Mrs Blomqvist was a rich widow of sixty, and her cash
and jewellery had vanished. Friends of the dead woman said she had been in poor health, and had
been interested mainly in spiritualism and yoga. Once again, the police found themselves facing a
blank wall.
Their luck began to change on 19 June 1936, when a quarry-worker named Elon Petterson was shot
on the outskirts of Sala. He was bicycling back to the quarry with the week’s payroll. This time,
there had been a witness. An elderly man was sunning himself on his lawn as Petterson rode past,
and a few moments later, he heard the sound of shots. He walked to the road and saw two men
dragging Petterson towards the ditch. They then climbed into a black American car and drove
away. The man noted down the car’s number. A few hours later, Petterson died without recovering
consciousness; he had been shot in the chest and stomach.
It soon became clear that the car’s number was not going to provide an easy solution. The car of
that number was not American, and it had been in a garage all day; the owner had an unshakable
alibi. But an American sedan with a very similar number had been stolen recently from another
town. It was conceivable its licence plate had been altered. The police decided to attempt to alarm
the thieves. They told the newspapers that they were looking for a black Chevrolet whose licence
plate had recently been altered - giving the number - and announced that they intended to search all
garages. The next day, the missing car was found parked by the roadside near Sala. The licence
plate had been skilfully changed, obviously by a man who knew his job. That seemed to argue that
he was not a professional criminal, since few criminals spend years becoming expert metal
workers. The police began a slow, thorough check of all garages and metal-working shops. Finally,
they discovered what they were looking for. A young worker admitted that it was he who had
altered the plate. At the time, he had been working for a garage owner named Erik Hedstrom, who
had a business in the nearby town of Köping. According to this witness, he had only been working
for Hedstrom for a few days when he was asked to alter the plate. He did it without question. But
shortly after that Hedstrom had asked him whether he was willing to take part in the robbery of a