by Willow Rose
Allan shrugged. “I don’t believe there is any connection. The two brothers have a clear connection, of course, but the mayor?”
“Wasn’t there a third brother?” I asked.
“What?” Allan said.
“Yes, there was. I’ve been reading Helle Larsen’s letters to my grandmother. Helle Larsen was her sister. She was also Peter and Ulrik Larsen’s mother. She had three sons, not two.”
63
November 1965
“WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING.”
Ulrik looked at Peter. His hands were shivering when he bit his nails. He had been a wreck the last couple of months. They all had. Ulrik couldn’t eat anything, nor could he sleep. He was constantly afraid of what Per might say. So, he had asked Peter, Erling, and Jonna to meet him for a walk on the beach. He hadn’t seen Jonna since the day of the incident. It hurt to see her again, especially seeing how she looked at him now. So differently. Like she was disgusted by both him and Peter.
“Per will tell if we don’t do something,” Ulrik continued.
It was drizzling, and Jonna’s hair was getting soaked. She was still beautiful beyond anything he had ever seen, but she had gotten older, he thought. It seemed like years had been added to her face since the last time they saw each other.
“I heard him last night with our mother,” Ulrik said. “He asked if God knew everything. He asked if God could forgive murder. I don’t think he can keep his mouth shut. That’s why I have asked all of you to come here.”
Ulrik looked at Erling. He was the same age as Per, but seemed so much older, so much more mature. Ulrik never worried about him telling anything. He was as scared as any of them. Plus, he was used to keeping secrets.
“So, what do you suggest we do?” Erling said.
“I think we need to scare him a little. Just enough to keep his mouth shut. Let him know we mean business. I mean, if he tells anyone about this, then it’s all over. It’s not just my life that get’s ruined. It’s all of our lives. Forget all your dreams for the future. Forget everything.”
Erling and Jonna both looked serious.
“Do you really mean to tell me you want to hurt your own brother to shut him up?” Jonna asked. “You really have changed, Ulrik. Or maybe I just never really knew you.”
“Shut up!” Ulrik yelled. “Do you think I enjoy this, huh? You think I’m happy about how everything has turned out? I did it for my brother, for crying out loud. The man was hurting him. I tried to protect him. I tried to protect any children he might come across in the future. The world is a better place without him.”
“But he’s our brother,” Peter said. “Per is our brother.”
“So what?” Ulrik said. “I’m not talking anything bad. Just a little scare, that’s all. Make sure he doesn’t speak about it ever again. I tried talking to him. I’ve tried everything, but he doesn’t want to listen to me anymore. I’m afraid of what he might do. I’m so scared he’ll get angry at me and rat me out. I don’t think he fully understands how serious this is, how serious it will be if he tells.”
Jonna and Peter looked at each other. Erling looked at Ulrik. “I’m with Ulrik on this,” he said. “I can’t have my life destroyed. I have big plans for my future. My dad was just elected to Folketinget. He’s a very important politician. I want to follow in his footsteps when I grow up. I want to go into politics. I can’t have a criminal record. My dad tells me every day. Keep your path clean, he says. Even just a minor misconduct, and they’ll be able to dig it out. That’s what he tells me.”
Ulrik listened to the young kid talk about his future, and wondered how he could be the same age as his younger brother. To be this clear about his future plans was truly amazing.
“Who else is with me on this?” Ulrik asked, looking at his brother and Jonna. “All of our futures depend on it. Remember that when you make your decision.”
Jonna bit her lip. “Can you promise me he won’t get hurt?”
“No one is getting hurt,” Ulrik said. “Just scared a little.”
She nodded. He could tell she was still debating within. Finally, she looked into his eyes. “I’m not happy about it, but okay. I’m in.”
Ulrik turned to face his brother. His poor pale brother who had gotten really skinny lately. “Peter?”
“I don’t like this, Ulrik. I really don’t.”
“We’re all in the same boat here, brother. I just can’t stay awake one more night wondering if Per is going to tell soon, wondering if I’m going to jail the next day. You know what I mean. I’ve heard you up at night as well. We need to have assurance here. We need to be able to move on with our lives.”
Peter nodded. “Alright then. Count me in.”
64
November 2014
“YOU’RE TELLING ME THERE’S a third brother?” Allan said. “I haven’t heard anything about a third brother. Where is he now?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t read all the letters yet. But I’m sure you can find him somewhere in the system.”
Allan tapped in the computer. I felt so jealous. I missed my computer so badly.
“I think you’re right,” he said. “I’ll have to go and talk to him right away. Looks like he’s in a home somewhere here on the island. He needs to know about his brothers. I’ll go right away.”
“And what about Dr. R.V. Devulapallianbbhasskar?” I asked. “Could you take her in for questioning?”
Allan sighed. “I don’t know. You say she’s not Dr. Sonnichsen? That she had her face changed. I…I need to think about it a little. She’s Asian now, you say?”
“I know it’s a little much to take in, but yes. As I told you, and as you can see by the emails, she had her face changed in Korea. I don’t know if they’d tell you if you called down there and asked, but…”
“You know what? You’ve been so nice and helped me out a little here, so I’ll do you that favor and look into it, okay? But now I really should go and talk to this Per Larsen and tell him what happened to his brothers.”
We left the police station feeling down. Here, we had all this knowledge, and still we couldn’t really get anyone to believe us. What were we supposed to do? What was this woman’s plan anyway? To destroy us?
“Let’s just go home,” I said, as soon as we were back in the car. “I need to feed Brutus anyway. He’s been home alone all day without a bite to eat. I completely forgot to give him food this morning. Poor creature.”
Morten started the car. “He’s probably found something else to gnaw on, like a chair or something.”
“Well, that’s not really his style,” I said.
We drove back in silence. It wasn’t until we drove onto my street that I broke it. “So, what do you make of this case, huh? I can’t seem to figure out how it is all linked. But I feel like I’m so close.”
“Well, maybe Allan will get something useful from the third brother,” he said.
“Yeah, maybe.”
As he parked the car, I immediately heard barking. I got out and slammed the door.
“Is that Brutus?” Morten asked.
“It sounds like him, but he never barks. Something has to be wrong.” I started running towards the house, and went through the front door. In my kitchen, I found Dr. Sonnichsen sitting on the kitchen table, yelling at the dog, who seemed to have her cornered. When she saw me, she gasped.
“Well, well,” I said. “If it isn’t Dr. Sonnichsen, or should I say Dr. R.V. Devulapallianbbhasskar?”
“So, you know. What else is new? You can’t prove anything anyway. Get the stupid dog to let me go.”
“No, no,” I said. “First, you tell me everything you did. Every little detail. I would like to know how you did it.”
Dr. R.V. Devulapallianbbhasskar smiled. Suddenly, I recognized the old doctor behind the new face. It was creepy. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it before. Her eyes gave her away.
“You mean how I changed my face? You mean how I planned to destroy you? How
I made the Facebook page, how I sent the email with the dirty link to your little boyfriend, how I killed that little ugly dog of yours that wouldn’t stop barking, how I paid two men to beat up your ex-husband and make them say were sent by Morten? Oh, it was so easy, Emma. You made it so easy for me.”
Brutus growled like he had understood what she said. I wanted to yell at her as well. I felt so angry, but not as angry as Brutus, who looked like he would attack her at any moment. Morten picked up the phone and called Allan.
“Yes, she’s here now. Okay.” He hung up. “Allan is on his way back from the home. He’ll be here in a few minutes.”
Dr. Sonnichsen tried to move, but Brutus growled again. A few minutes later, Allan stood in the doorway. I pulled Brutus back, and Allan approached her. “So, this is the lady you’ve been talking about?”
Dr. Sonnichsen looked at Allan. “Thank you, dear Officer, for coming. These two have held me captive for several hours now. The dog there is crazy, and they’re even crazier. Thank you for coming and saving me.”
“Tell Officer Allan what you told us,” I said.
“Tell him what? That your dog attacked me? That you rambled on about how I was out to get you, to frame you. I have to say, Officer, these two have lost their minds. As a doctor, I know these things. I should have seen it coming.”
“They claim you’re really Dr. R.V. Devulapallianbbhasskar, who is wanted by the police. Is that true?” Allan asked.
“Dr. what? That’s a strange name. Never heard of anyone by that name. No, you have it all mistaken, Officer. My name is Dr. Sonnichsen. No one would have such a crazy name. Everybody knows you never put an R before a V.”
“Come on!” I yelled. “You just admitted everything to us. Now you’re lying?”
Allan pulled me aside. “Emma. I can’t really arrest her. I don’t have anything plausible here. You have to give me something.”
I was about to scream. The woman had just admitted everything, and now this? I couldn’t believe it! She was really playing with us all, wasn’t she?
“But the things from her computer?” I said, but I never finished the thought before Dr. Sonnichsen exploited the few seconds of us not paying proper attention. She jumped down from the kitchen table, reached over for a kitchen knife, and grabbed Brutus by the neck, holding the knife to his throat. Brutus growled, but she held him tight.
“One step closer, and the dog dies,” she said, pressing the knife against his throat.
Knowing how much my son loved the dog, I felt my heart stop. Morten made a move.
“Don’t,” I said. “She’s killed one dog before in this house. She will kill it. She’s not kidding.”
Allan pulled out his gun and pointed it at her. “Step away from the dog,” he said. But Dr. Sonnichsen had another plan. She lifted the knife and threw it towards Allan. He pulled to the side to not get hit, and while he had the gun turned away, the doctor let go of the dog and ran. I screamed and yelled for someone to stop her, then ran after her, but she was faster than me. When I reached the back porch, she was long gone.
“Crap,” I said.
Allan and Morten were right behind me. “It’s okay,” Allan said. “She won’t get far. It’s an island, remember?”
“So, you finally believe us?” Morten asked.
“I believe she’s worth taking in for questioning,” Allan said. “But I’m gonna need more proof eventually to keep her there. Do you think you can get that?”
“I think I might know how we can get that,” I said.
“You do?” Morten looked at me, puzzled.
“Yes. I do. The cameras. Remember, she planted cameras in my house? Well, my bet is they also recorded her confession just before Allan arrived.”
“Oh, my God, I hope you’re right,” Morten said.
65
December 1965
ALL HE WANTED WAS to get his kitten. It was getting dark on this day in December not long before Christmas, and Per was worried about his kittens. His favorite cat on the farm, old Martha had given birth to five of them just a week ago, and they gave the boy so much joy. He played with them every afternoon when he returned from school. They crawled on his body, and when he tried to walk away, they would hang on to his legs with their little tiny claws and make the cutest sounds. He simply adored them.
But Per had always been that way with animals. He liked them a whole lot better than he liked people. Especially lately. Especially after that day at old Hansen’s farm. That was when Per had realized he really didn’t like people a whole lot. Not even his own two brothers. He understood why Ulrik had been so angry. He understood why he felt like killing the old man, but he didn’t understand why he insisted on keeping it all a secret. Why didn’t anyone tell their father that it wasn’t Peter’s fault that he had lost the job? Per didn’t like the way their father talked to Peter and told him he was good for nothing and that he would never amount to anything. That’s why he wanted so badly to tell his parents the truth. To clear Peter, to make their father like Peter again. That, and to finally tell someone what had happened. Per couldn’t bear to have to keep this secret. It was so hard, and it tore at him every day. It was almost painful. His mother had begun to suspect that something was going on. She could see it in his baby boy’s eyes. She asked him often if everything was okay between him and his brothers. Especially after that night when Ulrik had attacked Per during dinner. That was when Per had stopped trusting his oldest brother. And he had a feeling that Ulrik didn’t trust him either. Per was afraid of what he might end up doing to all of them.
So, he had finally decided to tell his mother. He would do it tonight when she had him come inside. He would tell her everything. Just get it off his chest. He didn’t like keeping secrets. It gave him a bad feeling in his stomach and made him not want to laugh and play.
All this was on Per’s mind when he saw the smallest of the five kittens had run off towards the big road. It looked like it was going for the forest on the other side. Per got to his feet and walked after it. But the small kitten was faster than he had expected, and he had to run a little to get it. It managed to run way into the road before he finally grabbed it. He checked for cars before he ran out there and grabbed it in his hands. He held it for a second and petted it on the back.
“Don’t do that again,” he whispered. “It’s dangerous out here.”
That was when the car hit him. It came from his right side. That was all he could tell. It hit him with a huge force and threw him into the air before he landed on his head on the asphalt. He didn’t lose consciousness, but no one could tell. He heard the tires screech on the car that had hit him, then he heard it back up before he heard car doors opening and steps approaching. He saw their faces, but they didn’t know he could see them.
“Is he dead?” Jonna asked, terrified.
A cold finger was placed on his throat. His brother Peter’s face was close to his. “No,” he said, relieved. “There’s a pulse.”
Then, his brother waved a hand in front of his face. “He’s not blinking,” he said.
“He looks dead,” Erling said.
“Oh, my God, we killed him,” Jonna cried.
Ulrik slapped her across the face. “He’s not dead,” he yelled at her. “Didn’t you hear that he had a pulse?”
Jonna cried. So did Erling. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to go,” Erling whined.
Ulrik slapped him as well. “Pull yourself together!”
“You said he wouldn’t get hurt!” Peter yelled at Ulrik.
“How was I supposed to know that he would run onto the road?” Ulrik yelled back, his voice cracking. “How? The plan was to get him in the car and take him to the forest, then beat him up and leave him there, remember? This wasn’t part of the plan. It was an accident, goddammit.”
“Well, you finally silenced him,” Peter said, with tears in his eyes. His voice was trembling in anger and frustration. “Are you happy now? Are you?”
66
/> November 2014
MAYA AND VICTOR BOTH CAME home shortly after officer Allan had left. He promised they would catch Dr. Sonnichsen some way or another.
“There aren’t that many places she can hide on the island. We’ll get her,” he said to assure them, right before he drove off.
I wasn’t all that convinced that he was right. She had managed to vanish before, and had tricked the police more than once.
“I’m going to my room. Dr. Sonnichsen will be here any minute,” Maya said, as she came into the kitchen and threw her backpack on the floor.
“About that…” I looked at her backpack on the ground, and Maya saw it. She picked it up with a sigh.
“Dr. Sonnichsen won’t be coming anymore,” I continued, as the backpack was picked up.
“What? Why?” Maya said annoyed. “What did you do?”
“Why do you always assume that I am the one destroying everything?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Because you usually are. It’s always your fault. You’re ruining my life!” Her voice was breaking as she spoke. I could tell everything had been a little much for her lately, and decided she didn’t need to know the truth about Dr. Sonnichsen, the only person she had trusted the last several months. It would simply break her heart to know that Dr. Sonnichsen had been the one to kill her dog. She didn’t need that right now.
“So, why isn’t she coming anymore?” Maya asked with a frown.
I looked at my beautiful almost-grown daughter, tilting my head to the side. “I guess she felt you’re done. You’ve regained most of your memory, and she told me you needed to get on with your life.”