It may be coincidence but in the space of a few weeks, high-ranking individuals from two seemingly idyllic, pleasant societies. In Canada, an elite military pilot who was close to his country's defence staff and has flown prime ministers and Queen Elizabeth II, has been charged with not only killing two women, sexually assualting two more and committing dozens of break-ins to wear the underwear of females as young as 11. In Sweden, the top cop who was allegedly the inspiration behind Wallander, who had been a passionate promoter of women rights and the country's leading law enforcement officer for liasing with women, is accused of having been a senior member of a prostitute ring with all manner of illegality committed, as if he was a villain out of Red Riding or, indeed, Wallander. A lot of Swedish fiction now revolves about the dark undercurrents benath the placid surface, even before the allegations came to light. Switzerland had its stolen Jewish gold, Iceland has had its banks. Vancouver is still the best place in the world to live and many countries envy the Swedish welfare model, but complacency cannot set in among these near-perfect nations.