Who Shat On The Floor At My Wedding? And Other Crimes - S2 E2 The Case Of The Tiny Suit/Case - ‘Meatballs at IKEA’

Episode Date: May 30, 2024

In this episode, the team officially kick off the investigation and introduce Black Lake - the remote hamlet in Sweden where the crime took place. Initial evidence is assessed and some calls with suspects reveal some worrying contradictions in their stories. Who is lying and why? The trio consult Professor Mike Berry to understand the psychology and possible motives behind these two serious incidents of reverse theft. Was this just a harmless prank, or was the motive more sinister?Follow us on instagram for the case evidence and behind the scenes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previously on the case of the tiny suitcase. We've all got individual reputations and spending, you know... Do you have a reputation still? It's gone out the window, hasn't it? Well, I think spending one year on faecal matter is enough and we can claw back that reputation if we move on to something a bit... classier. A crime. A classy Swedish crime.

A tiny three-piece corduroy suit and a suitcase containing nine questionable items were on separate occasions planted on the veranda of our victim's house in the middle of nowhere. The victim, Christina, not to be confused with Christina Aguilera, is technically my mother-in-law, and although this presents a significant conflict of interest, I will not be giving up my position as lead detective.

Christina has stated that we must solve this case before she dies, in order for her to literally rest in peace. Sweden, the land of joy and opportunity. Ebba, Volvo, Bjorn Borg, Swedish Scandi Noir, i.e. this podcast. Meatballs, IKEA, and my personal favourite, meatballs at IKEA. But beneath its shiny, meatball-covered surface, something sinister is bubbling away. The emergence of a disturbing concept. The concept of reverse theft. And only in a place like sinister Sweden

would this concept manifest itself in the form of a three-piece tiny corduroy suit in a not-so-tiny suitcase. And that's where we come in. I am Detective Lauren Kilby, and together with my assistant, Karen Whitehouse, and her assistant, Helen McLaughlin, we will be investigating two incredibly serious cases of reverse theft. This is The Case

of the Tiny Suitcase, episode two. In today's episode, we will be officially kicking off the investigation. We will review some initial evidence and we'll hear from a couple of our dodgy Swedish suspects. Not that we need help, but we will consult a person who actually knows what he's doing to understand the psychology behind reverse theft. And we will find out why Black Lake is the perfect setting for a crime. Have you been to her house? Yes. And so can you describe the house? Okay, the house is in the middle of nowhere, basically in the woods. It's definitely the kind of place where you'd film a horror film.

Yep. And in fact, there have been numerous horror films shot in that area. And there aren't many houses around, so a lot of them are actually relatives of Yuval's family. So it's like cousins, friends. It's like a weird commune or something. No, it's not a commune. It's like a village.

So like a farming community. No, they're not farming. They're not all farming. There's a lake. Yeah, there's a massive. Well, it's a lake area. There are lakes everywhere and there's a lot of land. So you can go like mushroom hunting.

I've been blueberry picking there. You're a blueberry. So not a lot of people around. Maybe goblins and... My question is, is it like a gated house so someone would have to be in a gig to, like, break in and get into a house? Or is it the kind of place that you'd leave your back door open and, like, you know, it would be easy to get in?

There are no gates. There's a lot of trust. There have been moments where she's left her door unlocked if we went down to the lake or something. That's very casual in some places. Some places still leave their back door open. It's like she's asking for a reverse theft. Yeah, it's like she's asking for a tiny suitcase.

Wow. for a reverse theft. Yeah, it's like she's asking for a tiny suitcase. Wow. Black Lake is home to approximately 10 old Swedish-style houses that are surrounded by a lot of lakes and a lot of forest. One of those houses belongs to our victim, Christina,

and was previously her parents' summer house. The neighbour to her left is a cousin called Klaas. On her right lives another cousin called Pad, and down the road, the third cousin, whose name is Jan. And on the other side of Black Lake lives her best friend Vanya, who she regularly brews beer with, and I can personally vouch for the taste of that beer. It is an incredibly beautiful part of the world,

but let's not forget that it is also the kind of place where tiny suits and suitcases are casually deposited. Black Lake is an incredibly remote area. You do not casually pass by when travelling somewhere. You need to make a conscious decision to go there. Was this an inside job by a potential family member or friend? Or did someone travel a long way to plant these items? Let's talk to Christina. Christina. Yeah. Hi.

Hi. Thank you very much for talking to us. I'm here with Helen and Karen. Hi there. Hello. Hello. We're very excited to talk to you. I'm very excited too.

And especially because it says that I'm going to testify Christina's testifying Yes, this is not officially court yet but when it does go to court you will have to testify as will I, as will actually everyone that's involved

I think I have to take a whiskey or something. Do you have, or did you have, and we'll obviously get into this more down the line, but did you have any enemies at the time? No, I don't think so. I can't remember I had that then. But you have them now. No, I don't think I have it now either.

I don't think so. You're not the type of person to have an enemy, I don't think. No. But then again, I've got to remain impartial. So, yeah, I've got to remain impartial, so you've got to ask these tough questions, you know. When I told my mother about the suitcase, and she's not easy to worry, but she was worried. She didn't

like that I was living alone when she heard about the suitcase. We'll definitely have to explore the more sinister angle that it could be, you know, some sort of message. I don't know. I just don't like it. The more I angle that it could be, you know, some sort of message. I don't know. I just don't like it. The more I think about it, to me, it seems quite a nasty thing to do.

I'm Professor Mike Berry. I'm a chartered clinical forensic psychologist. Some of you might have had the misfortune of recognising me from the first podcast, Who on my wedding what are the potential motives for this crime could it have been a message of love or hate either wanting to express love devotion or revenge and hatred could it have been an act of revenge from a stalker? And it's often a punishment of, well, I'll teach you to ignore me or to reject me or whatever. They can then start off simple things like, I know where you live, and they start intimidating you. Then it starts creating

problems because the victim starts to question everybody they have a relationship with. Or could it have been a good old fashioned prank? Because my issue with the joke angle is that I understand if that is a prank played, like well done, good idea. The thing that is suspicious to me is why have they kept it a secret for 12 years unless you're embarrassed by what you've done i i can see the the joke element of getting rid of stuff and let's dump it on on christine's doorstep but then i would have thought there comes a time when the joke has got to be told, you know? And if it isn't, then you've got to say, well, why? It could have been causing Christine a lot of psychological problems.

She could have been quite paranoid about it, thinking, well, people are stalking her, people are watching her. What's going to come next? I don't know how funny it ends up being when it's left for that long. It's not funny. It becomes quite almost sadistic. You've just caused me a problem. I've been outside this morning pointing slabs on my drive, which is yesterday and today, and I was in an old pair of shirts

and I came in and I thought, oh, I'll put on my orange Netherlands football shirt. Then I read it said you're going to take clips and I was in an old pair of shirts and I came in and I thought, oh, I'll put on my orange Netherlands football shirt. Then I read it said, you're going to take clips and I thought, oh, you're going to take photographs. So I've just gone off and put a suit on

and I'm sweating. You're wearing a suit. You've put a suit on for us. Yeah. You've got a suit on for us. I'm a professional. Can I ask, is it a tweed suit? How dare you? Yeah. What's so time for us? I'm a professional. Can I ask, is it a tweed suit?

Oh, dear. No, it's a modern one. No, it's not a tweed suit. And I don't have a pipe and a deer stalker hat. Is it a tiny three-piece corduroy suit, maybe? No. May I ask a question? You said that each time these incidents happened, you went away with a group of friends like the first time you're away with a group of friends you came back and you saw

the corduroy suit hanging up and then the same thing you went away with a group of friends and you saw the suitcase was it the same group of friends you went away with it wasn't a group of friends I was staying away with a friend I think it was a guy that I dated at the time. Interesting. And do you still have a positive relationship with that man? Yeah. Yeah. What's his name? First name? Mikael. Michael. Michael. Okay. We'll need to speak to Michael. Do you think he'll be up for that? Absolutely. We're going to have to really start talking to some people in your life and things are going to get pretty intense. Did he ever want to move in to your house? Was this perhaps a message of, can I move in?

Yeah, here's my pillow. Yeah, that's what I wrote in my Facebook update that day when the bag came. Then I wrote, where is he? Have I missed him? Is it too late? came. Then I wrote, where is he? Have I missed him? Is it too late? Christina posted about both crimes on Facebook straight after they happened. Let's have a listen to what those posts said. Side note, quite a lot of the evidence from this case is in Swedish, but we are not ones to shy away from the use of technological equipment. But we are not ones to shy away from the use of technological equipment. No, but I can scan the image with my Translate app.

Got it for the podcast. What the heck? That's awesome. I didn't actually, but... I didn't even know that was possible. Yeah, they scan images and then it reads the text. They can do anything now. They can, Helen. Literally.

Possibilities are endless. I feel like there's probably six copies of me walking around and I'm oblivious. What, someone cloned you? Yeah, literally, like, they just, like, scan it, produce it. She's out there trotting around the world. Unlikely. Oh, my shit. Oh, God. Swedish.

Okay. Okay. Come on. Okay, the post was on the 7th of December 2009. 7th of December 2009. What day was that again, Helen? A Wednesday or... I don't guess.

OK, and I think this app speaks, so we'll just get it to say it. Wondering why a suit with a vest size 140 in blue, narrow gauge cuff suddenly hangs on my porch. What comes next? That was the post. From Christina. She's asking Fred again what comes next. From Christina.

She said, yes, that was on the 7th of December 2009, the Friday. Wondering why a suit with a vest size 140 in blue, narrow gauge cuffs, suddenly hangs on my porch. What comes next? So she's asking for a follow up. She's saying what comes next as in please give me something next. Yeah. So the next post is on the... 2011.

2011, 1st of April, which is obviously suspicious. 18 months later. That was when she was coming back from her boyfriend's house, right? This is when she posted this, and I will read it out again via the app. Info to you who followed the events, King My Porch. Now it has happened and I was not home. She needs to work on her accent. Tonight when I got home, it was there.

An exquisite leather suitcase filled with life's necessities. Pillow, towel, goggles, toiletries, underwear, shirt, cap, newspaper and a pair of nylon socks. Yes, I'm not the one. Where is he? Did I miss him? Is it too late? Do I dare to leave home again? Does she?

Well, is the question. I like that. Brilliant. Well, if you hadn't butted in in the halfway through, then it would be great. Can't use it. It's unuseful. Can't record it again either. Why not? It's just not possible. Is there any option? You've ruined Christmas. But obviously obviously let's get a real swedish person to actually translate it because i don't think king my porch is a sentence but she's asking do i dare leave home again

no potentially not ever again Potentially not. Ever again. We have no idea what was going through the minds of these Swedish suspects back then. So to formally kick off the investigation, we conducted some video interviews with our initial suspects. And let me tell you right now, these Swedes are problematic to say the least. Have a listen. I knew that the things has happened and I knew that Christina is confused. I think everybody has been thinking about it. We started with Christina's cousin Klaas

because he lives dangerously close to the victim. Your house is very close to Christina's, is that correct? Yeah. Can you see Christina's porch from where you live or not? Not the porch. The corner of the house are in the way. I can see her car, not the whole car, but I can see sometimes that the car is home.

Klaas can see when Christina is at home, but more importantly, when she is not at home. And then it transpired that Christina's ex-boyfriend Mikkel was actually doing business with Cousin Klaas. He was installing solar panels on Klaas' roof when the suitcase appeared. I really suspected him together with my cousin, so I confronted him, but he denied it really, really, and I really confronted him hard. But then, what's even weirder is out of

nowhere cousin class sends us an email and he cc's his brother in christina's other cousin pair and he writes sorry to involve you but the truth must emerge then of course we went and reached out to pair thinking that he knows some information because that's a pretty leading thing to say. So emailed Per and said what do you know about this what is class talking about and he replied to us saying we didn't do it we weren't there we didn't plant it we wouldn't dare we've only lived in Black Lake since 2017 so whatever took place on the dates in question did not occur under our watch. So then, of course, we had to get this dodgy

and rather defensive cousin, Cousin Per, in for questioning. Per, I want to introduce you. You've obviously been speaking to Karen over email. Karen is my detective colleague. She likes to say that I'm her assistant. I think by the end of this investigation I will become lead

detective and Lauren will be my assistant but for now I'm her assistant. Alright. Yeah, that won't be happening. I'll be remaining the lead detective throughout this case until I solve it and then into the next case.

And what do you know, Per, about the crime that was committed? Not so much. Only heard from Christine and others about it. We did not live here at the time. We certainly didn't live here. We didn't live in Sweden at the time. He seems pretty keen to keep reminding us that he wasn't in Sweden at the time. Where did you live at the time in 2009 to 2011 where were you? And we lived in Houston Texas. Obviously we were like okay so he's not guilty as much as he's

defensive he seems like a nice guy not he wasn't in town so clearly couldn't have had anything to do with it unless he orchestrated this from a distance which is very unlikely so then we had to speak to class again and be like what is this whole rabbit hole you've sent us down this is really bizarre then what does class have what do you have you see my diary? Is that the diary from 2009? Yeah. Oh, wow.

And then it says in my notification, P plus E. Klaas is now holding his diary up to his camera and pointing to the 7th of December 2009, which is the date the tiny suit appeared. And it says P plus E. 2009, which is the date the tiny suit appeared, and it says P plus E. And that must be my brother Per and his daughter Erika. Because I used to write like that when we were meeting,

where were we and who were there. So he was there. So I saw the mail Per was writing to you and he said he wasn't leaving here. Did you tell him you were going to give us this copy of your diary? Nope. That is cousin Klaas throwing his own brother under the bus and revealing to us that Per actually was in town when the tiny suit was delivered. You can see a photo of this diary entry

on our Instagram page, Who shat on the floor at my wedding? Also, who keeps their diaries from over 13 years ago? That's suspicious in itself. And is class just being a little bit too helpful? And how funny is it? Honestly, if you're a woman living on your own and you live in the middle of nowhere

and someone that you don't know who it is has broken in pretty much to your premises and is leaving really creepy items, like a tiny three-piece suit and a suitcase with a pair of male underpants in it. You're kind of aligning with Christina's mother now because she found it a little bit creepy and upsetting. Yeah, it is upsetting.

I'm having another outburst, aren't I? Yeah, it's okay. Don't shush me, Lauren. As we started to branch out from the suspects who lived in Black Lake, we found it increasingly difficult to force people to speak to us.

And on top of that, there was a theory that I wanted to try out relating to the coat hanger that the suit was hanging on. Do you still have the same coat hanger that it was hanging on? I think so. I don't think I have moved it.

Okay good, because we are going to have to raid every single house, ambush every house, because we are obviously coming to to raid every single house, ambush every house, because we're obviously coming to Sweden to investigate the crime, and we will have to match all of the coat hangers in the area to see who has a matching coat hanger. Could be a good lead. It's a fantastic lead. You cannot strap someone to a lie detector from another country.

You cannot trespass or force your way into someone's home over Zoom. You cannot examine coat hangers, perform smell tests on evidence, review the intricate details of corduroy if you are not in the same place as these items. You cannot eat authentic IKEA meatballs if you are not in the land of IKEA. We have no choice. We need to go to Sweden. Let's do this. Let's do this! It's going to be fine.

Just commit. Let's commit. Are we going to do it? Yeah. I actually have a horrible, like, sick feeling settling into me right now. I honestly feel physically ill. I don't know where Karen's feeling ill. I understand why Lauren is, like, sick feeling settling into me right now. I honestly feel physically ill. That's, I don't know where Karen's feeling ill. I understand why Lauren is feeling ill.

Are we going? Are we going to do it? What kind of accommodation have we got here? Is there a five-star hotel or, like, what's the... No, oh, my... Guys, this is not five-star accommodation. Normally, I would stay with Ewell's mother, but in this case, because it's a business trip,

I think I'm not going to stay anywhere near that house it would compromise the investigation I'm a bit nervous about this I'm like just realizing that we're like Helen and I are turning up as much as it's unnerving for you Lauren we're going to be turning up in the middle of nowhere in Sweden and having to interrogate people that we don't have a clue who they are and it's not like season one where we'll be interrogating really good mates uh who are the same age of us and really understand our banter instead we'll be barging into the homes of 60 or 70 year old people and they speak another language that's the other thing we don't speak swedish yeah but they speak pretty good english we're

gonna have fun as well though it's not gonna be though. It's not going to be all work, work, work. No, it's going to be all work, work, work, if I'm planning it. It's not a holiday, Helen. Are Swedes all actually nice? They all sound, I think it's the accent that makes them sound all nice. No, but I think it might just be the accent. Well, I don't think we're going to be nice once we're finished with them. Are the Smurfs from there, or am I making that up?

No, they're not from the Smurfs. Fuck, Helen. Sorry, but what do the Smurfs, like, am I making that up? No, they're not from Sweden. The Smurfs? Fuck, Helen. Sorry, but what do the Smurfs, like if they were from Sweden, the Smurfs, what would that have to do with our case? They're pretty chill. I'm actually really stressed because we have to solve this case.

We cannot walk away having not solved another crime. It's pretty expensive if you have to go back again. We don't have the money to go back, so it's fuck, we're going to have 10 days on the ground to solve this case. It's very intense, actually. It's like succeed or fail. We absolutely have

to solve the crime this season. I cannot handle going through those bad reviews again. Do you remember the shit we got for not solving the crime in season one? They never found out who'd done it. They solved nothing. 13 episodes and there is no resolution.

One out of five stars. This is the epitome of just because you can does not mean you should. This podcast is a tremendous waste of time. The ending was not worth waiting for. The listeners are not wrong. We need to solve this crime. Coming up next on The Case of the Tiny Suitcase. Question.

Do you know who owned the suit that was left on your mother's veranda? I don't know if I showed it in another way, that I appreciated his friendship, but there was nothing more for me. And then Lars reveals something entirely new to us, something we were absolutely not expecting.