by Willow Rose
“I…I…Where…Who told you he was killed?” I asked.
“Dr. Sonnichsen. She said yesterday that she couldn’t believe anyone would do such a cruel thing to a poor little dog. She also said he was killed.”
I stared at my daughter, baffled. Then I looked at Morten, who put his hands up, resigned. “Don’t look at me. I haven’t told anyone.”
“So, it is true?” Maya said. “Why didn’t you tell me? Who killed him? I want to know, Mom!”
The coffeepot finished and made a sound to let me know. I didn’t react. I stared at my daughter, not knowing what to say or do. Something was fishy here. How did Dr. Sonnichsen know about this?
“I wanted to protect you,” I said. “I didn’t think there was any reason for you to know.”
Maya scoffed. “That’s so typical of you. Why can’t you ever make a right decision in your life? I bet he was killed because of those things you’ve done, those things that everyone is talking about. Why is it that my life has to be so miserable just because of you? Everything bad in my life has something to do with you. It’s not fair. I’m not the one who should be punished.”
“I’m sorry, Maya. But we’ve all been victims here of this person harassing us. Morten has been suspended, I am facing some real serious charges, and you lost your dog.”
“Why do I have to be dragged into all of this?” Maya said, tearing up. “Why did Kenneth? He never hurt anyone. Why does everybody around you have to suffer?”
Her remarks hit me right in solar plexus, and I felt tears welling up. I bit my lip to keep them back.
“I’m sorry, Maya. I really am.”
Maya got up and pushed her chair backwards. “No, you’re not. You don’t care about anyone but yourself!” she said, grabbed her backpack, and stormed out.
I exhaled and leaned back. Morten poured me some coffee and put a hand on my shoulder. Victor had, as usual, not reacted to any of this. He was in his own little world while finishing his toast.
“So, this Dr. Sonnichsen, huh?” Morten said. “How well do we know her?”
55
July 1965
“YOU KILLED HIM! You killed him! Oh, God. Oh, dear God. You killed him! You really killed him!”
Jonna was still screaming when Ulrik finally came back to being himself. He looked at her terrified face, then at the lifeless faceless body on the carpet in front of him.
“Oh, my God,” Peter said. He was sitting up on the bed. His body and face were badly bruised. “What are we going to do?”
Behind Ulrik, Per and Erling were whimpering and crying loudly, holding onto each other. Ulrik let the rifle fall to the ground, while feeling the urgency of the situation overwhelm him. If anyone found out he had killed the man, they would all be sent away. Ulrik, Peter, and Jonna were all old enough to be prosecuted. They would go to juvenile prison. Their lives would be ruined. They all knew, and now their eyes met as they understood the gravity of the situation.
“We need to get rid of him,” Peter said.
Jonna nodded. “Peter’s right.”
Ulrik looked at both of them, then turned to look at the two young ones. “You two. You can help too,” he said. “Get buckets of soap and water and help Jonna clean off the blood. Peter and I will get rid of the body.”
He looked at his younger brother. Peter was shivering. When he moved, he was in pain. Still, he managed to get dressed and help Ulrik carry the remains of old Hansen out of the bedroom and down the hallway. They avoided each other’s eyes as they carried him out into the yard. They put him on the grass. One of the dogs came running over and sniffed the body, but Peter shooed it away.
Ulrik found shovels, and they started to dig. It was getting darker out and the twilight soon covered them. They dug without sharing a word of even a look. Ulrik focused solely on the task of removing the traces of their deed, of his deed, and even though he wanted to, he never asked Peter a single question about how this had happened, or if this was something that had been reoccurring. He did, however, wonder for how long his brother had been a victim of this abuse from the old man. He wondered about the bruises he had seen on his brother’s arms and back earlier this year that he had claimed had happened while working. But he never asked. The embarrassment on Peter’s face told him he shouldn’t.
When the hole was deep enough, they threw the body in, covered it in gasoline, and lit it on fire. They threw branches on top of it and let the fire burn out. It smelled awful. Once the fire died out, and the body was nothing but charcoal and bones, they covered it all with dirt. Ulrik’s hands were shaking heavily as he put the final shovel full of dirt on top.
Lastly, they moved an old huge oil barrel from further down the yard, rolled it across the grass, and placed it on top of the grave. It seemed to cover the fresh dirt nicely.
They walked back inside and found Jonna and the boys finishing up. They had scrubbed the walls and floors down and managed to get rid of every trace. It looked so good, Ulrik almost felt like they were going to get away with this.
They had to. They simply had to.
Ulrik gathered everyone in a circle and looked into theirs eyes, one at a time. “This will be the last time any one of us ever speaks of this, do you hear me? It is never to be mentioned again. Not to anyone, not even each other!”
There was a short pause before everyone nodded. Ulrik stared particularly at Erling and Per to make sure they understood what he had said. He wasn’t worried about Erling, since he was a troublemaker and used to keeping secrets from his parents to not get in trouble. But Per, he wasn’t so sure of. Per shared everything with his mother. Ulrik had never known him to tell a lie in his life. Would he be able to keep this secret? Would he keep that big mouth of his shut?
The five of them rode their bikes back to the farm in silence, and when Ulrik asked Jonna if he should escort her home, she turned him down. She drove off, while his mother scolded him in the background for coming back so late with Per and Erling, whose parents were worried sick. He kept staring after Jonna, even long after she was gone, wondering if he would ever see her again.
56
November 2014
I CALLED DR. FAABORG immediately. He was the one who had referred Dr. Sonnichsen to me to help out Maya.
“Well, hello, Emma, dearest. How are things?” he said cheerfully, as usual. “You’ve certainly put yourself in the eye of the storm this time, huh? Well, I, for one don’t care if you hacked anyone. I don’t even care if you hacked the Queen. I love your books anyway. Any new ones on their way?”
“Yes, if I could just get my computer back,” I said. “It’s almost done, but I can’t finish it, since the police confiscated my laptop.”
“That’s too bad. I’m sorry to hear that. I had hoped to get a signed copy.”
I chuckled. Dr. Faaborg was my biggest fan. It warmed me. “You will. But that’s not why I’m calling. I wanted to know a little more about this Dr. Sonnichsen you sent to me to work with Maya…”
“I’m gonna stop you right there. A doctor? I didn’t refer any doctor, as far as I recall,” he said.
Uh-oh.
“Dr. Sonnichsen,” I continued, with a strange feeling inside of me. “You sent her to me to work on Maya getting her memory back?”
The doctor went quiet for a little while before he answered. “I’ve never heard that name before. This is very strange. You say he’s a doctor?”
“She. She is an occupational therapist. She specializes in children with amnesia.”
“Never heard of her. Sorry. You say I referred her to you?” Dr. Faaborg said, sounding very puzzled.
“That’s what she told me,” I said, getting more and more angry. This woman had been in my house every day for months now. I let her close to my daughter. I let her into my life. I couldn’t believe this.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“No. I’m the one who’s sorry,” I said. “Sorry for being so incredibly naïve.”
We hung up and I looked a
t Morten.
“Never heard of her, huh?” he said.
“Nope.”
“Then who the hell is she?” he asked.
I shrugged and sipped my coffee. “Your guess is as good as mine. But now it all makes sense. If she’s been spying on us in order to hurt us, that’s why she was outside my house in the middle of the night on the night of the fire. I always thought I owed her for catching that crazy woman, but now I’m rethinking it. I always wondered what she was doing there at that time of night. It was strange.”
“What about the hacking? Had you told her about that?”
“I never tell anyone. Except for you, of course. But she might have seen it on my computer or something.”
“So, you think she sent me that email as well?” Morten asked. “The one with the link in it?”
“She must have. To frame you. And she killed Kenneth. Oh, I hate her for doing that. But that explains why none of the dogs reacted to her being here in the house. I bet she went in from the patio. She knows where I keep the spare key. I told her once, in case she arrived and we weren’t home yet or something. I said she could always just walk in from the back and wait for us.”
Morten exhaled. “How many times have I told you it’s stupid to leave that key out there?”
“I know,” I said. “It’s just such a great help when Maya loses her keys, which she does constantly, or for Victor in case I get stuck in town and don’t make it home in time. It’s convenient for all of us.”
“And for burglars and people like Dr. Sonnichsen who want to hurt you as well,” Morten said sarcastically.
I drew in a deep breath. He was right. I shouldn’t leave the key out there. Maybe if I put it in a different place?
I tried to gather my thoughts and wrap my mind around this discovery. If Dr. Sonnichsen didn’t exist, if she hadn’t been sent by Dr. Faaborg, then who was she? And why on earth did she want to hurt me so badly?
It was time I found out. I was done being a victim.
57
November 2014
LISA’S HEAD WAS SPINNING with numbers and headlines from today’s paper. She couldn’t believe they could be so degrading towards her. How could they not agree with her on this important subject? She didn’t understand it.
She grabbed a cart and stormed into SuperBrugsen. She had a few minutes to pick up some things for tonight’s dinner before she had to be back at the office for another meeting. She hated grocery shopping on her lunch break, but it was the only chance she had in today’s busy schedule. She was planning on making Goulash tonight.
She was going to make it the real Hungarian way with potatoes, so she hurried to the vegetables, found a bag of potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, and onions, and threw it in the cart before she hurried to the aisle with spices. She didn’t have time to read the labels, but simply pulled down all the paprika she could find, then rushed to the next aisle to get some cereal for tomorrow morning, along with some milk and cheese. All that was left on the list now was canned tomatoes.
“Aisle six, by the canned vegetables,” she mumbled to herself and looked at her watch. It was quarter past one. She had fifteen minutes to finish up here, drive all the way home with the groceries, and back to city hall to make it to her meeting. She had to hurry. It was the most important meeting of the month. This was the City Council’s budget meeting. This was when they discussed how to spend the money. She had to be there. Especially now that there was no mayor. She would be able to get some of her most pressing matters pushed through. This was the time for her to show them she was capable of being in charge. Show them how it was going to be. Being late for a meeting like that showed a lack of character. It showed weakness. She couldn’t do that. They hardly respected her as it was at city hall. But they were going to. Oh, yes, they were.
As soon as she won.
Lisa speculated like a crazy person, while pushing the cart through the aisles. She had to figure out a way to change people’s opinion about her. She had to regain their sympathy, their trust. But how? She had only a few days left before the election. How was she going to turn it all around in that short of a time?
Well, she’d have to think about that later. Now, it was time to focus on making it to that stupid meeting. Oh, how she wished she didn’t have to deal with all these amateurs in city council. They could drag out any matter for what seemed like eternity. All the paperwork just because she wanted to put up more trash cans in the city. She would have to change that in the future.
Lisa found aisle six and turned the corner, then she stopped. There she was again. In the middle of the aisle stood that Asian woman, her cart blocking the aisle. She was looking at some can, reading the label very thoroughly. Lisa sighed. Her canned tomatoes were on the other side. She had to get past this woman in order to get to them.
Maybe she’ll move the cart once you get closer.
Lisa felt disgust as she walked with determined steps towards the Asian and her cart. The woman didn’t react; she kept reading like it was the most important matter in the world. Lisa came closer, then stopped when she couldn’t get past her. She cleared her throat. The woman still didn’t react. She had that rat sitting on her shoulder. Lisa could have sworn it was mocking her, the way it looked at her. How was she even allowed to bring that thing in the store with her?
“Excuse me,” Lisa said. “I’m kind of in a hurry here.”
“Just a second,” the Asian woman said. She turned her head and looked at Lisa with a huge smile. “Gotta read those labels. You never know what they put in those cans, do you? Gotta be careful these days. Can’t have that gluten, and especially not wheat, now can we?”
Lisa sighed. She looked at her watch. “Well, no we can’t,” she said, trying to be polite. “I’m all into eating right and organic too, but I really can’t be late either. So, could you please?”
“Now, eating organic isn’t everything,” the woman said. “You have to be careful with that as well. Read the labels, I always say.”
“That’s great, but could you maybe move your CART so I can get to my meeting?” Lisa said.
The Asian woman smiled again. “Always in a rush, are we?” she asked and finally moved her cart out of the way so Lisa could get past her. She growled and ran for the canned tomatoes. “Stupid Asians,” she mumbled and pulled two cans down.
“Today’s number is five; you do realize that, don’t you?” The Asian woman yelled after her. “Gotta be careful on days that are five. Five can mean death or bad accidents.”
Lisa froze with the can in her hand, and turned to look at the Asian woman. Then she smiled widely. Not her forced election smile, no, but a smile coming from deep within; a genuine smile, indicating that she was very very pleased at this moment. Pleased with the idea that had just popped into her mind, inspired by what the Asian woman had said.
A smile stating that she now knew exactly what to do to win this election.
58
November 2014
WE KNOCKED ON THE door to Dr. Sonnichsen’s apartment, and rang the doorbell several times, but no one answered. I felt so furious, I could have exploded. Morten looked at me.
“She’s not home. Do you want to wait for her to get back? Or should we come back later?”
I shook my head. “Neither. I want inside of her apartment. I want to invade her privacy the way she has invaded mine.” I pulled out a screwdriver I had brought, just in case we ended up in this exact situation.
“No, Emma. Don’t,” Morten said when he saw it.
I didn’t listen. I worked the lock and opened it with one smooth movement.
“Wow. Where did you learn to do that?” Morten asked.
“Same place I learned all the other criminal stuff,” I said. “It comes in handy when you forget your key every now and then.”
“Your ex-boyfriend? He sounds more and more sympathetic,” Morten said, lifting his eyebrows.
“I know. He was bad company, but the sex was great,” I said with
a smile. Morten went pale.
“No, just kidding,” I said. “He was awful, as a matter of fact. I was young. I liked the bad guys back then, but I knew I had to get out of there if I didn’t want to live a life where I would only see my husband on Wednesdays during visiting hours, if you know what I mean.”
Morten chuckled. I pushed the door open. He grabbed my shoulder. “Are you sure you want to do this? It is a serious offense. Breaking and entering. You know that. I can’t protect you if you get caught. I’ll go down with you. If anyone finds out, I’ll never work as a policeman again. It’s really bad.”
“I know. But it’s something I have to do. I have to find out who this woman really is, and I have a feeling she’s not going to tell me willingly.”
Morten closed his eyes and sighed. “That’s probably right, but…”
“I’m already being charged with serious offenses. It can hardly get any worse, the way I see it,” I said.
“But it can, Emma. It can get much worse.”
“You stay here then. I’m going in,” I said, and walked inside the apartment. Morten waited outside the door for a little while before he finally decided to follow me in. We walked into the living room and stopped.
“Wow,” Morten said.
“I know.”
The walls were plastered with articles and pictures of me. Some of the pictures had a red circle around my face and the words DIE written above it. It was really creepy. The number five was written everywhere, painted in big letters on the wall with red paint.
“Well, at least we’re not wrong about this woman, huh?” I said, and walked over to the computer. I opened the lid and turned it on.
“I know I’m not allowed to be anywhere near a computer, but I crossed the line into being a criminal when entering this apartment anyway, so…” The screen opened and a picture of a big rat appeared as the background. I gasped and cupped my mouth. I had seen that rat before.