Europa Blues - Part 2 Arne Dahl

This programme contains prolonged violent scenes and some strong language.

CHEERING AND SHOUTING

GUNFIRE AND SCREAMING

GUNSHOT

JAUNTY EASY-LISTENING MUSIC PLAYS

IN ITALIAN:

OK? Si.

SHE BREATHES RAPIDLY

Please tell me, Reina.

-SOBBING:

-They're dead.

-Who?

-Anna, Vita, all of them.

It's all my fault!

Of course it's not your fault.

Why should it be your fault?

Welcome.

IN ITALIAN:

-Your Italian is good, but perhaps we should talk in English.

-OK.

Nikos Voultsos was a top man in Ghiottone,

their operation chief in Europe,

so they are not going to be happy about this murder.

Yes, I was wondering, this old man in the picture

with Nikos Voultsos, who is he?

Marco di Spinelli, a 91-year-old banker, politically active

and outwardly has a very respectable front.

But behind the front?

He runs Ghiottone.

Unfortunately, we don't have enough on him to arrest him just yet.

He has very powerful friends.

What exactly does Ghiottone mean?

Wolverine, the predator.

Er...Nikos Voultsos's body

was half eaten by wolverines in a zoo in Stockholm.

Intriguing.

Yes, but hardly a coincidence.

-Hardly.

-No.

I...

I would very much like to meet this Spinelli.

I thought we were only supposed to go through our investigations.

Yes, I'm a little bit curious.

Please, can you arrange a meeting?

I would rather not.

-Why?

-We try to disturb him as little as possible

in the hope he will lower his guard.

Yes, but a...a brief meeting?

Please?

NILSSON SIGHS

Uh-huh?

How the hell did Nilsson know about us?

He knows everything that goes on.

He peeks through keyholes and sneaks around.

-How many degrees on this?

-40.

-So what are you going to do?

-I don't know.

-Has he said anything about us to the police?

-No.

Why do they want to talk to you?

Cos...

Cos of something to do with the girls, with the murders.

They must know that I live there too. I don't know. How many?

One.

Are you going to disappear?

You come with me.

No.

Come on, we talked about this.

-I don't want to leave Sweden.

-And I don't want to leave you.

So what do we do?

IN ITALIAN:

'Si.'

Em, arms.

Enjoy this fantastic view. Look how beautiful it is. Sit down.

There was an Italian writer, Cesare Pavese,

who was at this very same place

when he wrote his famous book - La Luna E I Falo.

-Grappa?

-Yes.

This grappa is made from the skins of the Amarone grapes.

Rondinella, Corvina and Molinara.

Yes! You're a connoisseur! I like that!

Very good. You know...

I must admit I was a little bit surprised when you first came in.

You were? Why is that?

Because you remind me very much of a man I met a long time ago,

-during the war.

-Did you know many men with blond hair during the war?

One or two. You know, I was living in Switzerland.

I fled from the fascists. But enough about that.

Now, what can I do for the Swedish police?

Well, erm, there was a Greek named Nikos Voultsos.

He was murdered in Stockholm. His body was half eaten by wolverines.

You mean in Stockholm you have wolverines? How exotic!

No, er, his body was found in their cage at the zoo.

-What a strange fate.

-Hmm, yes.

I have a... Oh!

-Here, help yourself.

-Thank you, I'm sorry.

I have here a...a photo of you sitting with this murdered Voultsos.

SPINELLI SIGHS

-Who took this picture?

-I take it that you know each other?

You mean that this is, what's his name, this Greek name?

-What's the name?

-Voultsos, yes.

-He was a pimp to some prostitutes outside Stockholm.

-Oh.

-They are also dead now. Murdered.

-That's very sad.

Listen, I am very sorry to disappoint you, but I didn't know him, sorry.

I understand, but what do you think about his peculiar death,

eaten by wolverines, "ghiottone" in Italian?

Any thoughts on that?

You've been speaking to Signor Marconi, I hear, right?

-Yes.

-You know...he's very fond of grappa too.

Tell me, are you perhaps familiar with this man?

-Is it the same man?

-Yes. His name was Leonard Sheinkman.

-He was a famous brain researcher.

-Was?

-Yes, he was murdered too.

In fact, he was tortured to death, a metal needle was driven

through his brain while he was hanging upside down from a tree.

Oh, my God. How terrible.

I mean, I always thought that Sweden was such a safe country to live in.

-Everything changes.

-I'm sorry.

-Well, farewell, Mr Soderstedt. Please.

-Farewell.

HE SIGHS

HE CLICKS HIS FINGERS

I'm glad to see you're alive in one piece.

-I don't think I'm any kind of threat to Spinelli.

-You never know.

I recommend baccala alla vicentina if you like fish.

A dish from Vicenza, very special, made from dried cod from Norway.

Norway?

-OK, I'll... I'll try that.

-Gigi!

-So how did the meeting go?

-Er, well, he refused to recognise Voultsos,

-but I guess that was only to be expected.

-Yes.

But, you know, I think he might have known another

victim of a murder case we are investigating - Leonard Sheinkman.

And what makes you think that?

The way he reacted when I mentioned how this Sheinkman was murdered.

-And how was he murdered?

-With a metal needle through the head.

Very unpleasant.

And how would this Spinelli have known this man, Sheinkman?

I don't know. Er, maybe, em...

Sheinkman was a brain researcher.

Maybe he did some research on Spinelli's brain, I don't know.

HE LAUGHS Quite possible.

Marco di Spinelli has a very vivid mind for a 91-year-old.

-Yes. What's your relationship, exactly?

-With Spinelli?

-Yes.

-Buon appetito.

-Grazie.

Cin cin.

Yes, mail me everything. Email me. Yes, OK, bye.

SHE EXHALES

-Vresta Motel?

-Yeah, is it far?

-45 minutes.

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

-'Go home.'

-LINE GOES DEAD

MOBILE PHONE RINGS

SHE SIGHS

DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES

IN ENGLISH: Can I help you with anything?

Yes.

Please. Just give me her address.

Fuck you.

Please.

NILSSON SOBS AND PANTS

REINA CHUCKLES

-Blackberries.

-Mm.

-Don't you like them?

-I love them.

What then?

-We used to pick them every summer.

-At home?

-Me and my sister. Yhazhenika we call it.

-Yhazhenika?

REINA LAUGHS

Yhazhenika.

They grew behind the house.

You never talk about your family.

I don't have any family.

My mum died of cancer when we were young. My dad was an alcoholic.

We grew up in foster homes.

What happened to your sister?

She was strong, a survivor.

She started to study and became a researcher.

I started to take drugs.

I became a whore.

Come on, Reina.

You didn't become a whore.

You were abused by men who used you to make money.

You were on drugs, right?

Do you have any contact with your sister?

-We call each other sometimes.

-What happened to your dad?

I don't know. He disappeared when I was nine.

And you haven't talked to him since then?

-No.

-Haven't you tried?

Shouldn't you go to work?

Oh, shit!

THEY LAUGH

Spinelli claims that he was in Switzerland during World War II,

in exile. Is that right?

Why do you ask?

I'm just wondering where he could have met Sheinkman.

-You think he did?

-Well, I got the impression that he did, yes.

-Sheinkman was Jewish?

-Yes. And he was in Buchenwald.

-It sounds really likely they met there.

-No.

Unless Spinelli was a Nazi.

Are there any official papers or documents that he was

actually in Switzerland?

-No, so it's just his version of the story?

-Hmm, yes.

-Do you think he's lying about it?

-I don't know.

-It might be worth looking into.

-What are you planning to do now?

I mean, we could make a photocopy of the entire investigation

if you want to return home.

-What do you think?

-I think it would be wise.

-To go home?

-Yes. I think you've irritated this Spinelli enough.

Next time he won't be content with

just turning your hotel room upside down.

-What is it?

-Nilsson has been attacked and is beaten up.

It must be them.

-What? The guys who murdered the girls?

-Nikos worked for them.

-They're looking for me.

-You?!

-Yes, I've got to go. I'll call you later.

SIRENS WAIL

DOOR CLOSES IN DISTANCE

WATER LAPS GENTLY

OK.

-I'll tell you everything as soon as...

-'But where are you?'

-In town. I must hide for a while.

-Why?

Because... Dyta, I can't explain anything right now.

Has it something to do with the murder of your pimp?

-Yes.

-And you were mixed up in that?

-No!

-Yes, come on, Reina, I'm not stupid!

-Dyta!

PHONE RINGS

PHONE RINGS

PHONE CONTINUES TO RING

Where is Reina?

Where is Reina?

Who is Reina?

OK.

Yes, my name is Kerstin Holm and I'm calling from the Swedish police.

RECORDING OF BELLS CHIMING PLAYS

OK. Thank you. Bye.

OK.

MOBILE PHONE RINGS

OK.

TYRES SCREECH

MUSIC PLAYS QUIETLY ON RADIO

FLOORBOARD CREAKS

REINA GASPS

SIRENS WAIL

SIRENS WAIL

DOOR OPENS

REINA BREATHES SHAKILY

REINA SOBS

Mr Soderstedt?

-Yes.

-Yes? Welcome.

-So, what's a Swedish policeman doing here?

-I don't know, actually.

Possibly getting some information on a murder

we're investigating in Stockholm.

-Which has connections all the way here?

-Possibly.

BELLS PEAL TUNEFULLY

It's Jakobskirche.

Beautiful.

Mr Soderstedt? Very welcome. My name is Peter Herschel.

Nice to meet you.

I must say I was very disturbed when I heard about the murder

of Leonard Sheinkman and the method that was used.

It feels extremely unpleasant.

We've been keeping a very low profile with our research here

and I don't understand how anyone could know about it.

You probably don't know what this building is.

An old Nazi administrative building?

Yes, a so-called Gauforum, the only that was ever built.

The Nazis also had their pain research centre in this building.

-Pain research?

-That was their name for it, and not without reason.

This way.

During the renovation of this place,

we suddenly realised that the prisoners who were kept here

must have been tortured inside this building, so we knocked

down a bit of a stone wall and found the actual torture chamber.

Everything in there is completely intact since the war.

I advise you not to touch anything.

This is where the actual experiments took place,

if one can call torture an experiment.

And here is where they hung the victims upside down,

just like your victim in Stockholm.

-Why did they do that?

-So the blood would flow to the brain.

The Nazis conducted experiments on the brain's pain centre,

the cerebral cortex, hence the name of this place.

The idea was to create the maximum effect of pain

in the human...Versuchskaninchen.

This was pierced through the victims' brains.

That is the exact same kind of needle

that was used on Leonard Sheinkman.

He must have suffered terribly before he died.

But, er, if Leonard Sheinkman was a human guinea pig here,

how come he didn't die if they conducted experiments on him?

I don't know.

Maybe he managed to escape when the Third Reich collapsed.

-Perhaps he was lucky.

-Who ran the experiments here?

Three men, three butchers if you like.

Horrid people.

Part of their salary came from dental gold fillings

taken from Jews.

-That's terrible.

-Very much so.

-Do you know who they were?

-Two of them. One is still unidentified.

One was called Hans von Heilberg.

He was of German-Italian origin.

-The third was a Swedish SS doctor, Anton Eriksson.

-Swedish?

-Yes.

I'm sorry.

-Do you have proof that he was Swedish?

-Yes.

Two of them tried to destroy all the records about themselves

and made quite a good job of it too -

the unknown man and Hans von Heilberg.

We discovered his identity by chance in a medical record.

-We had noticed a purple birthmark on his neck.

-Wait, wait.

Hans von Heilberg had a birthmark?

What did it look like, the birthmark, do you know?

It was in the shape of a small heart. Why do you ask?

-Do you have a picture of him?

-No, I'm sorry.

-If he would still be alive today, how old would he be?

-91.

-And nobody knows what happened with him after the war?

-No. What is it?

No, no, it's... It's nothing.

Could you please tell me more about this Swedish person, Anton Eriksson?

He's hardly removed any traces about himself.

I have an entire file on him from his days here.

But how come he didn't cover up his tracks?

Probably because he planned a safe escape,

certain that no-one ever would find him.

-But if it's possible, could you please send me his file to me in Stockholm?

-Of course.

IN GERMAN:

So, please follow me.

This is where the prisoners they experimented on were kept

and this is where Leonard Sheinkman was kept.

DOOR CREAKS LOUDLY

So, er, when are you going to publish all this?

-When we are ready, but it might take a couple of years.

-I see.

-The third butcher, you have nothing on him?

-No, all we found is...

Here, an old photo of him.

We go.

-Did you get the help that you wanted?

-Yes.

-You don't seem very happy about it.

-Well, yes and no.

-I believe that one of the three butchers is still alive.

-Is it true?

Yes, Hans von Heilberg, except now he calls himself Marco di Spinelli.

He lives in Italy, outside of Torino.

He's the leader of a crime syndicate called Ghiottone.

-But how do you know that?

-Because I've met him.

-And you're sure it's him?

-I believe so, yes.

MAGDA WHISPERS

I just checked on Spinelli and you were right.

He never was in Switzerland during the war.

No, he was in Germany, in Weimar, as an SS officer.

-He ran a torture chamber.

-Are you certain?

-Almost.

There's a birthmark that ties him to the place, among other things.

If what you say is right,

this could end up in the International Court in The Hague!

Well, at least we have enough to warrant a preliminary investigation.

Excellent. Call me when you reach Turin.

I will pick you up. OK, bye, Arto.

MOBILE PHONE RINGS

Come on.

DOOR OPENS

OK.

Exactly.

-Fine. Yes. How long will it take?

-I'll be there in ten minutes. Bye.

MOBILE PHONE RINGS

-I was wondering if Arto Soderstedt had contacted you?

-No, why?

I was supposed to pick him up at the train station, but he's not here.

-But he's in Weimar.

-No, no, he came here.

-Why?

-We are thinking of arresting Marco di Spinelli.

-You what?!

IN SWEDISH:

We'll keep in touch, OK?

Come on.

SODERSTEDT BREATHES HEAVILY

-You have been to Weimar?

-Yes. To a pain research centre.

-I see.

So does Marconi. He was very happy with my information about you.

The birthmark on your throat is noted in the records at Weimar.

-Marconi mentioned International Court in Hague.

-Did he?!

You know, sooner or later, our past catches up with us.

Did Bertie Lindrott work at the pain research centre?

-Is it a relation?

-Yes.

-Oh, that explains the resemblance. Yes, yes.

-The eyes, the cheekbones, yes.

-Did he work there?!

Yes, he worked there. He was a very efficient doctor,

a fantastic doctor with an enormous capacity for work.

But kind of a weak character though, you know what I mean,

but very, very efficient.

You know that he made a fortune during the short time he was there?

Was he paid in Jewish dental gold?

Well, of course, like all the other doctors. What do you think?

Mr Soderstedt, now... how are we going to solve this?

Actually, you ought to be hanging upside down in the trees, you know.

The pain is more efficient that way.

But I think this will be more than sufficient.

SIRENS WAIL

HEARTBEAT

HEARTBEAT SLOWS

SCREAMING

DISTANT SIRENS WAIL

Yes?

Thank you.

How did it... How did it all start?

My sister came to visit me.

In Stockholm.

She was working on some research project in Weimar to find out

what happened to our father.

There, she discovered what happened.

What they'd done to him there.

She found out that one of the men had stolen his identity.

One of those who had tortured and killed him.

And that he was still alive and living in Stockholm now.

She wanted revenge for all the hell that...

I can understand that.

Why did your father come to Sweden?

I think that he found out that there was

a Leonard Sheinkman in Stockholm the same age as grandfather.

And that he thought that he was our grandfather,

that somehow had survived the war and had gone there.

So he went to meet with his father,

but instead he met his father's murderer.

Yes.

What about Spinelli?

-Was that also revenge for your father and grandfather?

-Yes.

But there were other reasons too.

You know I'm a police officer?

Yes.

And you've committed murder.

Something like that.

OK.

-I wanted to ask you something.

-What's that?

That my father would have a proper grave,

a stone with "Franz Sheinkman" on it.

-Instead of Shtayf?

-Yes.

Take care.

Reina?

You take care too.

# It's 3am

# In the morning

# I fall asleep

# With the dawning

# Sunlight finds

# The crack in the curtains

# I lie awake

# For how long, I'm uncertain

# Get out of bed

# Clear my head

# Try and make sense of the whirlings

# It's deep inside

# The knots they tied

# I try and make sense of the pain. #

Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing by Red Bee Media Ltd