Strange
What the hell...
The Bridge
Episode 1
It's over there.
The phone's ringing.
Don't take it.
- It's Saga. - It's her or me.
Hans Pettersson. I can't answer right now, but leave a message. Thanks.
It's 7:37. According to our agreement, I can call after 7:00.
I'm at a crime scene. Call as soon as you can.
Saga. I have the pictures from the murder scene.
It's probably just a crime scene. She was killed somewhere else.
Okay. I have the pictures.
Have you gotten the surveillance videos?
They're on the way. What I will say is that I've identified her.
Helle Anker. Danish citizen.
Reported missing in Copenhagen yesterday by Natalie Anker.
- Her sister? - Her wife.
How do you know it's her?
I found this picture on the internet.
It's from a charity event. Can you see her wrist?
Yes.
This is from the technicians. It's the same tattoo.
Hi. Sorry I'm late.
Where were you? You didn't answer at 7:37 and you didn't call back.
I was home, but I overslept. I got your message.
We've identifed the victim.
Give me just two minutes.
- What are you going to do? - Give me two minutes.
Print everything we have about her. Also the pictures.
Absolutely.
Helle Anker. Founder of Ankerfert, an insemination clinic.
It was sold in 2000. Entrepreneur and debater.
Has a son with Natalie Anker as well as a son from a previous marriage.
Morten Anker. The father is Villy Bartram, dead.
She left a meeting in Malmo yesterday at 3PM, but never came home.
Did she drive back over the bridge?
We haven't found anything yet.
She was probably abducted in Sweden. I'm going to see the wife in Copenhagen now.
Saga, it doesn't matter where she was abducted. She was a Danish citizen.
You must have a Danish colleague with you.
Saga Norgén?
I've heard that she's unfit to be a police officer.
Where did you hear that? She's very competent.
- A special personality, but... - You can't like her.
The address.
Isn't there someone else you can give this to?
I'm giving it to you.
It was she who turned Martin in, wasn't it?
- Rikard? - I'm here.
- Have you been in the bedroom? - Yes.
Have you seen my necklace? You know, that silver chain that looks like a bracelet.
Yes, I know which one you mean, but unfortunately not.
(sighs) It falls off when I sleep.
I'll keep an eye out for it.
Lise Friise Andersen.
If your colleagues threw your coat in the toilet
- would you also just regret that it happened?
- They are adults in a workplace. - This is my daughter's workplace.
That they are children does not excuse this behavior.
No, of course not.
So what are you going to do?
I will talk to the teachers and remind the students about our zero tolerance...
Why should you talk to all of the students?
- We don't know who it was. - Yeah, we do.
I know that Molly has behavioral issues and has participated in such things
- but we can't accuse her of everything that happens at the school.
Make sure that it doesn't happen again.
Of course.
I will personally take care of it. Karen is fortunate.
She has a stable family environment and parents who love her.
Should she just fish out her jacket and be happy that she has it good?
- That wasn't what I meant. - I hope not. Come, Sweetie.
- Hanne Thomsen, Copenhagen police. - Saga Norén, Malmo police.
- Shall we go? - Are you going to leave the car there?
- Is it a problem? - Yes, you're blocking the lane.
- I mean for you, personally?
No.
- Ok, so let's go.
You know that Helle Anker was a bit of a celebrity.
- Yeah?
She was very active in the debate about gender/LGBT questions.
You know, "there is no sex, just people". She is such a little Swede.
Do you mean the perception that Swedes are a little more politically correct?
A little more?
- Did she receive threats? - Certainly.
She was regarded as extremely provocative in some circles.
I met her eight years ago.
She was so brave.
But she was also unpopular, no?
Yes, so are all brave people.
Your wife's body was placed in a special way. I have pictures.
She sat at a table with three mannequins.
A man and two children. Like a family.
- Unlike us, you mean? - No, I didn't mean that.
There was toy food and cutlery on the table. A fire truck and a robot.
- That means nothing to me. - Has she received any threats?
Yes, quite a lot, actually.
She had just started a gender-neutral kindergarten here in Copenhagen.
Sorry?
The first in Denmark.
- Were the threats written? - Most were.
Some called, others shouted at her on the street.
Do you have some of the written ones?
Thanks. They'll come to take your fingerprints.
[background] Mom?
Can you go now?
There's one more thing. Morten. Was he close to his mother?
He isn't close to anyone. He isolated himself after Afghanistan.
- Where does he live? - In the woods in Værløse.
- In a trailer. - [background] Come on, Mom!
- I'm coming now, sweetie. - Come now, Mom!
How am I going to tell him?
- How old is he? - Four.
Most four-year-olds don't understand abstract things like death.
They react more strongly to the survivors' grief than the loss itself.
Just go back to your child. We're finished. Thank you.
- May I ask some questions? - Not now.
You don't like gender-neutral kindergartens. You snorted up there.
Does that make me a bad officer?
No, how is that?
You would have shown pictures of her wife with that terrible smile.
Yeah. Did you think that was a bad idea?
I think you showed extremely poor judgement.
Saga Norén, Malmo police.
Thanks.
That was Forensics. Helle Anker was missing her heart.
- What did she do? - She's missing her heart.
We're delivering Aleksander Dover to the apartment at Lundbergsgatan 7.
Good luck. I hope we don't meet again.
On the other side.
That's the door. First on the left with the white curtains.
Hi, sweetie. Did it go well?
What happened?
Karen...come on. Sit up and tell me what happened.
She waited outside. I should have never told on her.
Come.
We shouldn't go there. It will only make it worse.
- We're not going there. Come. - No!
Come with me. Now.
This is Molly's face. I want you to hit it as hard as you can.
Near the eyes or the nose. Not the mouth. Teeth can hurt your knuckles.
My teacher says that one shouldn't hit back.
- So she must turn the other cheek. - She says that it doesn't solve anything.
That depends on how hard you hit the first time.
Come on.
Harder.
Come on.
Make a fist and keep yourwrist straight. Put all your weight into it. Come.
That's better, but you must hit a lot harder.
Harder. Better.
Like that. Much better.
Good! That's good, Karen.
Why do you think they took her heart?
To merge with the victim, maintain control, or remember it.
Or also just to show that she was heartless.
That kind of symbolism is extremely unusual.
- Do you have any hobbies? - Hobbies? No.
- Where do you live? - Copenhagen.
- Which area? - Frederiksberg. Do you know where it is?
Yes, I know it well. Are you happy there?
How is your family life?
- What are you doing? - Small talk.
We will only work together. Nothing else. OK?
Exchanging personal information can improve...
If you want a colleague you can be friends with -
- maybe you shouldn't have put Martin in prison, eh?
- Morten Anker? - Maybe. Who are you?
Saga Norén, Malmo police. This is my colleague, Hanne Thomsen.
And what do you want?
We have very bad news.
Your mother is dead.
Killed.
Okay. Thanks.
Now I know. Thanks.
When did you see her last?
- Why do you want to know that? - Because I'm leading the investigation.
I don't know.
She came here. It was ... It was spring or summer.
- Did you like her? - She was my mother.
It doesn't say anything about your relationship. I don't like my mother.
- Why the questions? Can't you leave me be? - Where were you last night?
I am always here.
- There isn't anyone who can confirm that. - I know what you believe.
And you ... you're trying ... I didn't touch her.
- I'm not talking to you any more. - Would you rather do it at the police station?
Then you might want to try being a little more cooperative.
I can't remember when I saw her.
Can you think of anyone who would do her harm? If you do.
- I don't have a phone. - Take it anyway.
- May we see inside your trailer? - No. It's mine.
- I'll get a search warrant. - Yeah.
So, I think I'll have to get going.
I'm going now.
Hope it's nice.
It will be.
Oh boy. Hi.
Hi.
Do you like it? M. M. Brandt.
I don't know. It...
- Do you? - I know nothing about art.
- Do you? - Yeah. A little bit.
I hear you're talking about Brandt.
Mads Michael, that's what M.M. stands for. Born in Copenhagen in 1923.
He wasn't a sculptor, but a furniture designer, architect and scenographer.
He studied astronomy in Copenhagen.
Many works are about universal truth with earthy metaphors.
This work, 'Character', was made some years before his death -
- when he had met his second wife.
She was a lot younger than him. She was only 27, and he was over 60.
May I interrupt you, Emil?
There's something I've thought about.
Does the museum have a bar or restaurant where one can sit more quietly?
- Down the stairs and to the right. - Down there?
Thanks so much. Or?
Sure, why not?
Thanks.
Now let's see...
Helle Anker is dead. You know who she was.
She, who didn't believe in boys and girls -
- because sex is not something biologically certain, but socially constructed.
We are what we are born to be.
But according to Helle Anker we were heading straight for disaster.
- if our children didn't grow up as some non-biological nothings.
Helle Anker was a modern, lesbian woman -
- who would destroy the nuclear family and blacken traditional values.
I have said it before. I say it again.
She was a threat to our society.
There were many who listened when she scattered her anarchist propaganda in the media.
Now she is gone -
- and I hope that her death also means -
- that her crazy ideas and experimental school for children are buried with her.
John, have you gotten the videos from the site?
- Yes, but they gave us nothing. - I want to see them.
Won't you introduce me?
- Yep. Hanne Thomsen from Copenhagen police. - Hi. John. Welcome.
A laser pointer, and then the camera dies. It's the same with the other.
- So 'Hen' knows the area. - The cameras weren't hidden.
Sorry. 'Hen'. What does it mean?
It's a gender-neutral personal pronoun.
'Hen' is a practical word when one doesn't know the gender.
It is certainly politically correct.
- Do we have anything from the bridge? - We've seen everything after 3:00 yesterday.
Helle Anker's car never passed the tollbooth. It's gone.
So she was abducted in Sweden. We must search for the car.
It's done. Hi.
Hans Pettersson. I'm the boss here. Good to meet you.
Lillian has spoken highly of you.
We may have found the murder scene.
Lars Andersen. Director of Andersen Transport and Logistics.
Tell us what happened.
This had to be loaded for a run early tomorrow.
My staff were checking it, and then they found blood.
- Are they locked? - Not always.
They should be locked, but sometimes we slip up.
Do you have alarms? Surveillance cameras?
No cameras. We have an alarm in here, but not out there.
There's a security firm that comes during the night.
- How many have keys? - All staff have keys.
- And how many is that? - Here in Malmo we are 17.
Do you know if the gate was locked when the first person came to work?
I don't know even know who was here first.
Find out.
- Do you think you'll be finished soon? - I don't know.
I have customers waiting. Can you hurry a little?
No.
This place is not randomly selected.
It could just as well have been done there, where she was found.
I'm going in to work. You don't need to come along.
Because it's late, or because you don't want me to come?
Both.
- Thanks ever so much for today. - You're welcome. See you tomorrow.
- Thanks.
- That was nice. - Yeah. Do you want a lift?
Yeah. We can also continue somewhere else.
Unfortunately I have to get up early tomorrow. But I want to.
So long as I get 3-5 hours of sleep.
- How can you handle that? - I take drugs.
What were you thinking?
- Where do you live? - You live closer.
How do you know that?
Everyone is closer, unless you live in Jylland. So let's go to your place.
John, I need a map.
- Of what? - The site and its surroundings.
Andersen T and L. It was there that she was killed.
She was found here.
The shortest route.
Nobelvägen, Trelleborgsvägen. There are cameras near both.
We know when he turned off the cameras.
The car must have come past ten minutes before it.
I'll look into it tomorrow.
- Why not now? - Because most people have gone home for today.
He is newly divorced, and the wife has the children every other week.
Just go home.
Saga, that meeting that Helle Anker went to in Malmo, what was it about?
It was a meeting with other gender-neutral kindergartens.
- How many knew about it? - She wrote about it on Twitter.
- So everyone. - No, only those who followed her on Twitter.
- How is it going with Hanne? - I don't think she likes me.
- Is that a problem? - Not for me.
Goddamn it, Alex. Come here.
- How good it is to see you again. - I'm here to pick up the money.
It was gone.
- Is it gone to this here? - What do you mean?
The house, the car ... Where did you get the money from?
Do you think I've taken it? I didn't even know where it was.
How would I know that?
We robbed an armored car. Two years ago.
Do you want to see the newspaper?
Hell, Alex. How can you believe that?
Come on. Stay here. Come in and have a beer.
I don't want to have a beer. I want the money.
What are you doing here? The girls have gone to bed. You mustn't be here.
Give me a minute to explain, Samira, and then I'll go.
Okay. Wait.
I'm going to run away. I'm going to leave Sweden.
Otherwise they'll kill me.
- Who? - Those I put in jail.
That cop, Hans Pettersson, said that I had a choice.
I had to turn them in, otherwise they would charge you and take the girls from us.
I had no choice.
I thought that you wouldn't need for anything, but now the money is gone.
- It doesn't matter. - I'm going to fix it.
- I have a plan - Alex...
Take care of the girls. Tell them that I love them.
I'm slipping out too. It's kind of a special day today.
That's the reason I came late this morning.
Today Lillian and I have been married for three months.
Martin has been in prison for six months.
He has nine and a half years to go.
Do you regret that you don't visit him?
- Why would I do that? - You think about him.
That doesn't mean that I can see him.
- You were friends, after all. - I can't visit a convicted murderer.
- Don't you miss him? - That's not relevant.
We can see each other when he has served his sentence.
That's ten years away, Saga.
Nine and a half.
- Don't stay too long. - I won't.
Morten?
What are you doing here?
- Was it you who sent them? - The police? No. They know who you are.
I didn't do anything to her.
Everyone thinks that it was me, but I...
I didn't do anything to her. It was someone else.
Not me.
What are you really doing here? What do you want?
I want something of hers.
- I have nothing at all of hers. - You can take what you want.
Take this. She bought it when you and her and Villy were in Barcelona.
Take it.
Does my father know? That Mom is dead?
Morten, Villy has been gone for many years now.
- What is this? - Happy anniversary.
- Three months. - It's a quarter paper anniversary.
I bumped it up.
How did it go with Hanne and Saga today?
I don't know.
I met her only briefly.
Hanne is clever.
I don't know if she understands Saga.
- Who does? - I do. Don't you?
I appreciate her as an investigator.
But?
It's hard to get close to her -
Does it have anything to do with Martin?
I was this close to losing my job.
- That wasn't Saga's fault. - No, it was Martin's fault.
Saga did what was right.
She's always right. That's why I admire her as an investigator.
Should we let the talk about Saga go for tonight?
I only mean that it hasn't been easy for Saga.
- Are you worried about her? - No.
Well, yes. Maybe a little.
- It's Natalie Anker, Helle's wife. - I know. What do you want?
It's maybe nothing, but Morten was just here.
He said that he never touched her, but that someone else did it.
- We'll go see him tomorrow.
Good. Is there anything new?
- Andersen T and L, does it mean anything to you? - What is it?
A transport company. Danish, but with a branch in Malmo.
- No, why? - It was there that Helle was killed.
Did Morten or anyone else ever call her heartless?
- Why do you ask? - Just answer the question.
- Why do you ask? - Just answer.
Did someone take her heart?
So Andersen T and L means nothing to you.
- Answer me! - You have never heard of it.
- Was her heart gone? - Well then.
Thanks for calling.
Are you sleeping?
Her name is Line. Møller.
She's a store manager or works in an office.
I can't remember which. 30-35 years old.
She lived in Valby in a three-room.
I think there were three rooms. We never went all the way into the apartment.
Shh. Be quiet.
- See if you can get a little sleep. - Yeah.
- Good morning. Did you not go home yesterday? - No.
- You must not work all night. - I'll go home after midnight. Today.
- Where is Hanne? - She hasn't come in yet. Look.
Helle got this on Friday. Typed.
It doesn't look like the other threats. It's very articulate.
It contains no obscene words, profanity or threats about rape.
"You don't know what a family is or should be."
"I can only provide information and guidance. Otherwise, you must face the consequences."
- She was found in a staged ... - I know that. What else?
There's no apparent connection between the transport company and Helle Anker.
Lipstick, mannequins, toys. Is there nothing else?
Not yet. The technicians are working on it.
Helle Anker's car is still missing.
The victim, the method and the places can be important.
If the motive is hatred or revenge, it's important that the body is found.
- Saga Norén, Malmo police. - It's Hanne.
- Where are you? - I'm not coming in.
I've asked to be taken off the case. Why is that?
We've been authorized to search Morten Anker's trailer.
You've requested a transfer, but it's not approved yet.
- I don't want to wait to be approved to work alone in Denmark.
See you there. I'm leaving now.
Okay, so we're doing this.
Why do you want to be taken off the case?
I don't think it's a good idea for us to work together.
- Is it because of Martin? - No.
I'm one of those who believe that Martin got exactly what he'd deserved.
This only has to do with you and me.
Ah.
It's locked.
We have permission to go in. Open it.
Wait!
This is Saga Norén, Malmo police. Send an ambulance.
Yeah. Good. Hurry up!
Hi.
He's a war veteran.
You couldn't have known that he would place a bomb in the trailer.
- I should have thought about it. - She's going to survive.
She wanted to be taken off the case. She didn't want to work with me.
I'm going to drive you home now, and someone else will drive your car home.
- No, I'm driving. I'm going to work. - You drive, but you drive home.
See you tomorrow. Saga, that is an order!
Hey, Saga.
What happened to you? You're covered in blood.
Stop, Saga! I know that you don't want to speak to me.
Dad is dying.
Wait, Saga.
He would so like to see you. Stop now.
Saga, we have to get closure.
Your crime is past the statute of limitations. You risk nothing.
Saga, Dad is dying. Jennifer is gone. It's only us two left.
Open up, Saga.
Would you please open up?
I didn't touch her!
What the hell are you doing, man?
Can you let her go?
Lillian. Hi.
I heard about Hanne. How is she doing?
They're fighting to save her leg, but it doesn't look good.
- She was in Sweden, no? - Yes, she assisted the Swedes.
So now you need someone else over there. So take me.
- Why? - Because I'm good.
Okay. Read up on the case and contact Saga Norén.
- Saga Norén? ... Good.
English subtitles by S.E. kyckling@protonmail.com