by Samuel Bjork
‘Quite.’ Mia smiled.
‘Where the hell is Curry?’ Munch said as they reached Asker and found the exit to road 167.
He clearly wanted to change the topic, and Mia was happy to indulge him. She knew that he still carried a torch for Marianne, but that he would take it so badly, after ten years, had surprised her, and she felt for him.
‘No idea,’ Mia replied. ‘He’s not answering his phone.’
‘He’d better get himself back to work soon. He knows how pushed we are,’ Munch grunted over the steering wheel.
‘I know, but, like I said, I can’t get hold of him. I left a message with Sunniva yesterday, but she isn’t answering her phone either.’
‘We can’t afford to lose another one,’ Munch muttered grimly.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Haven’t you heard?’
‘Heard what?’
Munch looked at her.
‘Kim.’
‘What about Kim?’
‘He might be leaving us,’ Munch said with a sigh.
‘Oh?’ Mia was taken aback. ‘Why?’
‘He has requested a transfer to Hønefoss.’
‘Kim? Move to the countryside?’ Mia laughed. ‘Why on earth would he want to do that?’
‘I think he’s getting married,’ Munch grumbled. ‘Seems very fashionable these days.’
‘Getting married? Who to?’
‘Do you remember that teacher who lived out there? And the two brothers?’
‘Of course,’ Mia said. ‘The ones who found the little girl in the tree?’
Munch nodded.
‘Emilie Isaksen. She and Kim are an item, a couple, and I believe they hope to adopt the two boys.’
‘But that’s great.’ Mia smiled.
Munch laughed mirthlessly. ‘Yes, yes, I suppose so, for them, but not for us, is it? I can’t imagine how we’ll manage without Kim, and if that moron Curry can’t be bothered to turn up for work …’
‘You’ll find a skilled replacement. You’re good at that.’
‘He won’t be allowed to quit until this case is over. I’ve made that perfectly clear,’ Munch grunted.
‘So what do you think?’ Mia said, as the front beams caught the sign ahead of them.
Hurumlandet Nurseries. 500 m.
‘About this case?’ Munch said.
‘Yes.’ Mia nodded.
‘Just between us?’
‘Yes.’
‘I have a really bad feeling. I recognize something about it. Do you know what I mean?’
‘Darkness,’ Mia said quietly.
Munch nodded softly, turned off the main road and drove down a tree-lined avenue towards the glow from the greenhouses further ahead.
Chapter 17
The air in Helene Eriksen’s small office was thick with grief. Mia was grateful to Munch for giving the manager and the other residents time to digest the sad news. The tall woman sitting in front of them was so distraught she was almost incapable of stringing a sentence together.
‘First, I would like to thank you for seeing us at such short notice.’ Munch cleared his throat and unbuttoned his coat. ‘And then, of course, for your help last night. I understand that this has come as a shock to you, and I’m sorry that we now have to trouble you with questions you might consider irrelevant in the light of the tragedy that has occurred. For us, it is obviously important to start the investigation as quickly as possible, and I know that it won’t bring Camilla back, that it can’t cancel out the grief you all now feel, but whoever did this must be found.’
‘Yes, of course.’ Helene Eriksen gave a slight nod.
It was clear to Mia that this woman was in charge here. Even the way she sat at her desk showed authority.
‘Good.’ Holger nodded. ‘We’ve already had lists of all staff and clients out here from your assistant …’
‘Paulus.’
‘Yes, Paulus. Thank you.’ Munch smiled. ‘What we also need is more detailed information about the patients—’
‘Residents,’ Helene Eriksen corrected.
‘Yes, of course, sorry. More details about, well, the residents here. Right now, we only have their names, but we also need access to medical records, case histories, more details about who they are, what they’ve been through, why they ended up out here, if you know what I mean?’
Helene Eriksen looked as if she was debating this for a moment, but at length she nodded.
She’s protecting her girls.
Mia Krüger felt a growing respect for the woman.
‘Good.’ Munch smiled and flicked through his notepad. ‘So, let’s just get this out of the way. You reported Camilla missing on 19 July, but a few days later you contacted us and retracted the report. Why?’
‘I feel like an idiot now, of course I do. But Camilla has always been like that. I mean … she was like that.’
Helene Eriksen sat very still for a moment, and Mia could see her struggle at having to talk about Camilla Green in the past tense.
‘What was she like?’ Munch said, coming to her rescue.
‘Unstable.’
‘In what way was she unstable?’ Munch said kindly, to help her back on track.
‘No, not unstable. I’m sorry, that’s not the right word. Special. Camilla was special,’ Helene Eriksen continued. ‘She hated rules and authority. She would often run away, but she always came back when she was ready. Everything had to be on her terms, that was just the way she was, if you know what I’m saying?’
‘I do.’ Munch nodded. ‘So, she was reported missing, but then …?’
‘The rules here are quite strict,’ Helene Eriksen said. ‘Some people like it, others don’t, but it’s just the way it is, it’s how we live here. In order to get something you have to give something, you understand?’
Helene gave them a faint smile.
‘So … she …?’ Munch said.
‘Camilla failed to turn up for the late shift on 18 July, and she wasn’t in her room when we checked the following morning, and then I reported her missing.’
‘And the reason you withdrew the report was?’
‘A few days later she sent me a text message.’
‘What did it say?’ Munch asked.
Helene Eriksen sighed and shook her head. ‘That we shouldn’t look for her. That she was fine. That she had gone to France to see her father.’
‘And you believed her?’ Mia spoke now, realizing immediately that she might have come across as rather brusque. ‘I mean … was there anything about the message which made you suspect that something might be wrong?’
Helene Eriksen looked to Munch now, wavering for a moment. ‘No, I …’
‘No one is accusing you of anything. That goes without saying,’ Munch said.
‘Perhaps I should have known,’ Helene Eriksen said, shifting her gaze to the desk in front of her. ‘But she tended to be a little …’
‘Unstable?’ Munch said.
‘No, no … Like I said, I used the wrong word … wilful,’ the blonde woman said, looking up at them again. ‘“Wilful” is better. Camilla didn’t like people telling her what to do.’
‘So the message felt genuine?’ Mia said.
‘Yes.’
‘Do you have any idea who might have done this?’ Mia went on.
‘No, absolutely not,’ Helene Eriksen stammered, looking towards Munch again.
‘None of the residents here, or the staff, no one with a traumatic background? Someone who has had such a difficult childhood that they might take pleasure in posing Camilla on a bed of feathers and putting a flower in her mouth?’
‘No … I mean, how would I be able to …?’ She had a frightened expression in her eyes now.
‘No gut reaction?’ Mia pushed on, ignoring the look Munch was giving her.
Helene Eriksen fell silent for a moment and glanced swiftly at Munch before fixing her gaze on the desk again.
‘No,’ she said softly, then raised her hea
d and looked up at them. ‘No, of course not.’
Munch glared at Mia again, and looked as if he was about to say something when they were interrupted by a knock on the door and a curly-haired young man popped his head in.
‘Helene, we need to—’
The young man stopped halfway through the sentence when he realized that Helene Eriksen was not alone.
‘Oh, I’m sorry, I …’
‘That’s quite all right, Paulus.’ Helene Eriksen smiled. ‘What is it?’
‘Some of the girls, they … well, I didn’t know that …’ the young man began, taking another look at Mia and Holger.
‘Can we do it later?’
‘Yes, of course we can, but …’
‘We can wait.’ Munch nodded. ‘It’s not a problem.’
The young man in the doorway looked at Helene, and glanced anxiously at Mia and Munch again before turning his attention back to his boss.
‘It would be good if … well, now would be good. If that’s all right?’
‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’ Helene Eriksen said, looking at both Mia and Munch.
‘Of course not,’ Munch said. ‘We have all the time in the world.’
‘Great, thank you.’ She smiled and rose from her chair. ‘I won’t be long.’
There was the sound of the door closing behind her, and suddenly they were alone in the small office.
Munch looked at Mia and shook his head.
‘What?’ Mia said with a shrug.
‘Don’t you think you were a little harsh?’ Munch said.
‘She knows something.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’m sorry about that. Where were we?’ Helene Eriksen said as she came through the door and sat down in her chair again.
‘Patient records?’ Munch said, a little embarrassed.
‘Residents,’ Helene Eriksen corrected him again.
‘Yes, of course, sorry,’ Munch said. ‘When do you think we can access them?’
‘I just need to talk to our lawyer first,’ Helene Eriksen said. ‘Just to make sure that we’re doing everything right, that we don’t reveal any information we shouldn’t.’ She smiled at them, her eyes brighter now.
‘Good.’ Munch nodded, flashing Mia a short, sharp look before scratching his beard and turning to the next page in his notepad.
Chapter 18
Gabriel Mørk sat in front of the monitors in his office in Mariboesgate feeling quietly pleased with himself. The young hacker had nothing but respect for Holger Munch but, as always, something had been missed during the briefing. Age. Perhaps that explained it. Munch would turn fifty-five soon, which did not make him a relic, but, at times, their boss forgot that they were living in a different age to when he first joined the force.
A seventeen-year-old girl, Camilla Green, found dead in Hurumlandet with a flower in her mouth, and no one had thought to mention social media. Gabriel had wanted to raise his hand and suggest it but had decided against doing so. Munch had been in a weird mood and Gabriel had felt that it was not the best time to lecture his boss on the modern world.
He was better off checking it out for himself, and perhaps he’d earn some praise in the process. Gabriel took a swig from the Coke can beside his keyboard and popped a fresh piece of chewing gum into his mouth. Gabriel had found several Facebook accounts under the name Camilla Green, but none of them belonged to the girl in the pictures they had seen. There was a girl from South Carolina in a bikini, an elderly woman from Florida with a picture of her cat, someone from Sweden, a girl from Hungary, but not one of them was the Camilla Green he was looking for. Strange, really, he thought to begin with, strange that she was not on Facebook, but then he had started playing with her name and, after trying several different combinations, he had finally found her.
cgreen
A Facebook account, and one on Instagram. That was all. He flicked through the Instagram pictures once again, trying to reconnect with his inner police officer, analyse what he had discovered. Because something was odd. He had noticed that immediately. There were very few postings. Very few status updates on Facebook. Not all that many pictures on Instagram. Unusual for a seventeen-year-old girl. Some selfies; ‘Bored’, was the caption under a picture which Camilla had posted of what he presumed to be her bedroom at Hurumlandet Nurseries; ‘Am riding Whirlwind tomorrow!’ below a picture of her smiling and with her thumb up, in the same bed, with the same background. Several pictures of horses. A few likes. A few comments: ‘Happy birthday!’ ‘Miss you, babe!’ But apart from that, there was very little content, and that was what had caught Gabriel’s eye, right until he scrolled down to see the dates the accounts were opened.
30 June.
The accounts were recent. Both opened on the same date. The thirtieth of June. Just three weeks before she disappeared.
Gabriel took another swig of his Coke and tried to think like Munch. Had she really only just joined social media? Or had Camilla Green deleted her old accounts and created new ones three weeks before she disappeared? Why?
Gabriel reviewed the pictures again. He was startled by a sudden knock on the door, then Mia Krüger popped her head round.
‘Are you busy? Have I caught you in the act?’
‘What?’ Gabriel was confused.
‘Secrets?’ Mia smiled.
‘What?’
‘You’re not watching porn, are you?’
‘Oh, yes, totally.’ Gabriel nodded vigorously. ‘I’m looking for pictures for Curry.’
‘Of course you are.’ Mia laughed as she unzipped her jacket. ‘So what does he want this time?’
‘Asian babes in Norwegian national costumes riding camels,’ Gabriel said, feeling the heat in his face starting to subside.
Mia laughed. ‘He’s capable of most things, isn’t he?’
‘Yeah, probably,’ Gabriel said, a little flustered as Mia looked him right in the eye.
‘So have you found her?’
Mia nodded at the pictures on the screen.
‘Yes,’ Gabriel said.
‘Munch is not exactly an Internet whizz, is he?’
‘No.’ He smiled.
‘Just as well that we have you.’ Mia smiled, too, and punched his shoulder lightly.
‘Indeed,’ Gabriel mumbled, hoping the colour would not flare up in his cheeks again.
‘So what have we got?’ Mia said, looking at the screen again.
‘One Facebook and one Instagram account.’ Gabriel brought up the two Internet pages so she could look at them side by side.
‘I can’t boast of much expertise myself,’ Mia said. ‘So, what are we looking at?’
‘New accounts.’ Gabriel cleared his throat.
‘Oh?’ Mia’s eyes widened for a moment. ‘How new?’
‘Three weeks before she disappeared.’
‘You’re kidding me?’
‘Nope.’
‘And what does that mean? I mean, to you, who’s into this?’
‘Into the Internet, you mean?’
Gabriel was starting to relax. The warmth in his cheeks had stayed away.
‘Well, I’m not a teenage girl on social media, so I wouldn’t know. Can she not just be new to the whole thing?’
Gabriel made a face. ‘Not likely.’
‘OK. How about if someone deletes their accounts and opens new ones? Why would they do that, in your opinion?’
‘There could be several reasons. It could be a coincidence, I guess. It doesn’t have to mean anything,’ Gabriel went on. ‘You might have Facebook friends you can’t be bothered to keep in touch with, but it’s awkward to unfriend them, because then you would have to explain yourself, so it’s simpler to create a new profile.’
Mia raised her eyebrows and gave a light shrug.
‘But, most of the time, it means that something has happened.’
‘Like what?’
‘Could be anything. You’ve broken up with your boyfriend and you don’t want him to
know about the people you’re hanging out with now, say.’
‘“Hang out with”?’ Mia smiled. ‘Is that what you do?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Hang out with each other? Is that what people do on the Internet?’
Mia’s question belonged to someone Munch’s age. But Gabriel knew that she did not participate in social media. She was in the public eye. She valued her privacy. Years ago, there used to be Mia Krüger fan pages on Facebook.
‘Yes, when we’re not looking for Asian babes in Norwegian national costume.’ Gabriel laughed.
Mia smiled, without taking her eyes off the screen. ‘Horses?’ she said, indicating one of the pictures.
‘Yes, it looks as if she was into horse-riding.’
‘Whirlwind,’ Mia said quietly, pointing to the Facebook message.
‘Yes, got to be a horse, don’t you think?’
‘Very likely. Unless it’s a camel.’
Gabriel smiled and felt the heat return to his cheeks.
Mia got up, but remained in front of the monitors for a moment, as if pondering something. ‘OK.’ She nodded after a while. ‘Are you coming, or what?’
‘Where?’
‘We’ve received her things from the Nurseries. They back up what you have here.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Horses. I think that’s where we should start.’
Mia paused in front of the monitors again, but her mind appeared to be elsewhere.
‘So, are you coming?’ she said, after a pause.
‘Sure.’ Gabriel nodded, and followed her down the corridor to the incident room.
Chapter 19
Skunk found himself in a dilemma he had never had to consider before.
The young hacker pulled his beanie further down over his coarse, black hair with the fat, white stripe down the middle that had given rise to his nickname and crossed the street in order to stay in the shadows.
Under normal circumstances, the thought of going to the police would never even have crossed his mind. Out of the question. It went without saying. In his world, helping the authorities was a mortal sin. But now? After the film he had seen last night? He did not see that he had any other choice.
Shit.
He pulled up his hood, lit a cigarette and chose a route different from the one he usually took, on the rare occasions he left his house. Skunk did not spend much time outdoors. He saw no reason for it. He had everything he needed in his basement in Tøyen. His very own bunker. Where no one could find him. But he needed to clear his head now.