Sohlberg and the Missing Schoolboy: an Inspector Sohlberg mystery (Inspector Sohlberg Mysteries)

by Amundsen, Jens

  “How much was it?”

  “Six months of my old salary . . . I had saved so much over the years.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want to file a criminal complaint against Frøken Knutsen for taking your money under false pretenses?”

  “No. No. I still love her. I’d never do that.”

  “Then why did you come here?”

  “To let you know that Danica would never ever harm a little boy like Karl Haugen . . . no matter what you think Danica did or might have done in the disappearance of Karl Haugen.

  “You see . . . Danica Knutsen is smart but very gullible when it comes to other people manipulating her. She once had a boyfriend who made her buy him a motorcycle and tons of other things a few days before he left her for another woman.

  “I just cannot emphasis strongly enough that Danica would never harm Karl Haugen.”

  “I appreciate you coming here to put in a good word for Frøken Knutsen.”

  “Are you going to charge her in the kidnaping of Karl Haugen?”

  “It’s too early to tell . . . but you helped put a lot into context.”

  A call came through to Wangelin’s cell phone. She turned to Sohlberg and whispered in his ear:

  “They just drove in . . . Danica Knutsen is down in the basement. They want to know if you want her brought up to interrogation room number one.”

  “Yes . . . put her in there.” Sohlberg turned to Olav Tveit and made a short bow that showed the policeman’s respect and appreciation for the informant. “Thank you so much for coming in Herr Tveit. We have to go now. I will see how I can help Danica Knutsen.”

  “I knew you would . . . I just knew it the minute I walked in and saw you . . . you’re a good man.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Sohlberg and Wangelin turned down the hallway just as Danica Knutsen was ushered into a special interview room that Sohlberg had requested. The room had a one-way mirror that looked out into the hallway so that the police in the room could observe the reaction of witnesses and suspects inside the room to those witnesses or suspects who were made to walk past the room’s window without the walking witness or suspect knowing that they were being seen from inside the interview room.

  Constable Wangelin turned on the video and microphone and made the obligatory statements.

  Frumpy and arrogant Danica Knutsen did not present a pleasant picture. She did not acknowledge Sohlberg when he walked into the claustrophobic room. He noticed that Danica Knutsen cast a lustful if not lewd look at Wangelin.

  Sohlberg sat down and looked straight into Danica Knutsen’s eyes and said:

  “Frøken Knutsen . . . the game is over. We know what you did.”

  “What?”

  “We know what you did. Let’s start off with what you did three days ago when Gunnar Haugen got arrested.”

  “It was high time you arrested him. He’s responsible you know.”

  Sohlberg kept a bored look that said, “I know everything there’s to know about this case but I have to go through the motions and tell you this stuff because of police bureaucracy.”

  Danica Knutsen shook her head in disgust. “That monster Gunnar Haugen. He’s done so many horrible things. . . . I’m glad you brought me here . . . I want to help as much as I can to put him in prison.”

  The interrogation was progressing far better than Sohlberg had hoped for in his wildest dreams. Danica Knutsen was opening doors as soon as he offered them. She was the opposite of the recalcitrant father and stepmother of Karl Haugen.

  “What has Karl’s father done that’s so monstrous?” said Sohlberg. “What horrible things has he done?”

  “Uhhh! . . . You name it,” yelled Danica Knutsen. “He’s verbally and physically abusive to Agnes. He ignored her and treated Karl as if he didn’t exist. He’s a controlling manipulative man.”

  Sohlberg noticed that even while Danica Knutsen cast aspersions on Karl’s father she was sneaking appreciative glances at Constable Wangelin. He wondered how badly Agnes Haugen had lied to Danica Knutsen about the so-called monstrous behavior of Gunnar Haugen. He also wondered how Agnes Haugen had taken advantage of Danica Knutsen’s obvious preference for women.

  “Frøken Knutsen . . . please be more specific about the horrible things Gunnar Haugen has done . . . especially as to Karl’s disappearance.”

  “For starters he’s the one who made Karl switch his science fair project from icebergs to red-eye tree frogs . . . that’s the kind of insensitive beast that he is.”

  “What else?”

  “He’s the one who suggested that Agnes drive his pickup truck that day . . . he’s the one who insisted on staying home from work that day . . . he’s the one who wanted Agnes to take Karl to the doctor on a Friday . . . he’s the one who told Agnes not to pack Karl’s lunch for that Friday . . . he’s the one who asked Agnes to drive around town for the baby’s medicines . . . he’s the one who suggested she take the baby on a long drive to calm the baby down. . . . He planned everything that happened that Friday . . . don’t you see?”

  “No. Please explain.”

  “He did all of that just so he could stay home and spy on Agnes. He wanted to find out if men would come to the house if they saw that his pickup truck was gone and her red car was in the driveway.”

  “That’s very clever of him,” said Sohlberg who knew that the opposite had to be true because Danica Knutsen was merely repeating what Agnes Haugen wanted the world to believe about her husband. He admired the intricate and cunning plan of Agnes Haugen to frame Gunnar Haugen for his son’s disappearance. “But . . . Frøken Knutsen . . . I need you to explain one small matter.”

  “What matter?”

  “You say that Gunnar Haugen planned and carried out a very complicated plan that would allow him to stay at home and spy on his wife . . . yes?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then when did Gunnar Haugen have time to kidnap his son and make him disappear?”

  “That was the diabolical brilliance of the plan . . . Gunnar Haugen had his brother the pervert pick Karl up at school so that he and the brother could molest Karl . . . just the same way that their grandfather had molested them as kids.”

  “But,” said Sohlberg patiently, “Gunnar Haugen’s brother was not even near Oslo or Holmenkollen that Friday.”

  “Oh he was . . . you just haven’t looked into it.”

  “We have. That’s why we know for a fact that Gunnar’s brother was working down south in Kristiansand . . . that’s over two hundred forty miles away. We have several credible witnesses who saw him or met with him that day between seven in the morning and four in the afternoon.”

  “Hah! . . . Mister Detective you are so gullible. These people are lying for him. These so-called credible witnesses are friends of Gunnar and his brother. They’re all in cahoots. They’re lying!”

  “What about a bank’s ATM camera . . . do they lie? An ATM took a picture of Gunnar’s brother getting cash at seven-fifteen in the morning in downtown Kristiansand.”

  “Bah. You are so gullible. But then again . . . you’re a man . . . always controlling women.”

  Sohlberg pounded the desk and yelled:

  “Frøken Knutsen . . . are you a parrot? . . . Why do you have to repeat everything Agnes Haugen tells you or puts inside your head? . . . Don’t you understand that you’re going to go to prison for a long long time?”

  “Why?”

  “Because you did her bidding . . . you obeyed her orders . . . you believed her lies. Don’t you understand that Agnes Haugen used you to help kidnap and murder the boy and frame her husband? . . . Are you really that gullible?”

  Sohlberg noticed that for the first time in her interactions with the police Danica Knutsen grew somber. He was glad that the seriousness of her situation was starting to dawn on her. He felt sorry for the naive woman. But he still had to deliver the first of two punches designed to knock down Danica Knutsen’s relationship with Agnes Haugen.

  “Frø
ken Knutsen. How many cell phones do you have?”

  “One. Why do you want to know?”

  “Because I just caught you in a lie. Three days ago we followed you after you received a telephone call from Agnes Haugen. We know where you went. We know what you did.”

  “What?”

  Sohlberg moved closer to observe her ever-widening eyes. “Our detectives saw you throw away a disposable prepaid cell phone at a garbage can next to a restaurant near your home. We of course retrieved the phone and downloaded all of the incoming and outgoing telephone numbers and text messages. And guess what?”

  “What?” said Danica Knutsen as she visibly shrank away from Sohlberg.

  “All your calls and text messages in and out of that phone went to another prepaid disposable cell phone owned by . . . Agnes Haugen.”

  Danica Knutsen moaned.

  “Our detectives,” said Sohlberg loudly as he got closer to her, “followed Agnes Haugen after she called you three days ago . . . and just like in your case they saw her throw away her cell phone . . . in a dumpster by a bus stop . . . and just like in your case they also retrieved the phone.”

  A pale green color shaded Danica Knutsen’s face.

  “Now Frøken Knutsen . . . why would two women . . . in the middle of an investigation into the kidnaping of a child . . . happen to buy and use two cell phones in addition to their own cell phones?”

  “We needed our privacy . . . Agnes told me the police were listening in on her phone after Karl disappeared.”

  “Really?”

  “Agnes also told me her husband was spying on her . . . and trying to frame her for Karl’s disappearance.”

  “That’s rather interesting since you and Agnes Haugen bought and used the prepaid cell phones more than ten months before Karl disappeared. The police were not involved back then.”

  “You’re right. But that evil controlling twerp of her husband kept tabs on her all the time. . . . Agnes told me that he was listening in on all of her calls because he ordered her to only use the cell phone that Nokia had given him to test.”

  “Actually Frøken Knutsen no judge is going to buy that pathetic lie as an excuse for your secret telephone relationship with Agnes Haugen. The court will see that your secret telephone calls months before Karl Haugen disappeared are part and parcel of your conspiracy with Agnes Haugen to kidnap and murder the little boy.”

  “No!” shouted Danica Knutsen. She squirmed in her seat and pulled her short wavy brown hair with both hands.

  “We know what you did that fateful June fourth.”

  “No,” she said with a whimper.

  “You went to do your internship work at Anabel’s Organic Farm . . . but you conveniently vanished in the afternoon from twelve-twenty to one forty-five and then you—”

  “No! . . . No. No. No. I never left.”

  “Oh yes Frøken Knutsen. Your boss and her assistant have submitted sworn statements declaring that you got a phone call at fifteen minutes past twelve and that you then took off with no explanation and that they looked for you all over the farm but never found you.”

  “I was there.”

  “That’s another lie Frøken Knutsen. Your boss and her assistant walked all over the grounds looking for you . . . they went to the main house and saw that your car was gone from the parking lot and driveway.”

  “I . . . I . . . had to get lunch. I was feeling faint.”

  “Where did you get lunch?”

  “There’s a little vegetarian restaurant . . . I don’t remember the name right now. I paid cash.”

  “Vegetarian? How can that be? . . . You quit eating healthy foods after you lost your job. Your friends and your ex-boyfriend and your boss and her assistant have all declared that they only saw you eating junk food since last year.”

  “They’re mistaken.”

  “No Frøken Knutsen. They’re not mistaken.”

  “Then I don’t know what more I can tell you. I have nothing more to say.”

  “Actually . . . Frøken Knutsen . . . I don’t need you to tell me anything more since you obviously want to take the blame for the kidnaping and murder of Karl Haugen.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Sohlberg took a calculated risk. He wanted to get an immediate reaction from her. So he presented his theory of her conduct that day as a set of proven and known facts. “Don’t you understand Frøken Knutsen? You set up the perfect alibi for Agnes Haugen when you took her call at twelve-fifteen . . . you then abandoned your internship job the organic farm so that you could meet Agnes Haugen nearby . . . you took her cell phone and drove down to Smestad . . . you drove up and down Sørkedalsveien near Ring 3 so you could take and place calls on her cell phone from twelve-twenty to one forty-five in the afternoon.”

  “How ridiculous.”

  Sohlberg nodded at Wangelin who sent a text message from her cell phone. A minute later Agnes Haugen walked down the hallway past the one-way mirror.

  “Do you see her?” said Sohlberg laying down the trap with a bait of truth. “Agnes Haugen will testify that you kidnaped and killed Karl Haugen because you have a lesbian obsession with her.”

  A deep moan rumbled from the horror-stricken Danica Knutsen. She shrieked and cried and shook uncontrollably.

  Sohlberg knew the symptoms of suspects electrocuted by the truth. He shrugged and said:

  “Constable Wangelin will you please take Frøken Knutsen downstairs for booking . . . give her a moment to compose herself so she can be fingerprinted and photographed and then taken to be charged before a judge—”

  “No! I would never harm little Karl. Never! Never! Never! Agnes told me to drive up and down Sørkedalsveien and use her cell phone so she could go spy on her husband and see what he was doing to Karl.”

  “It’ll be your word against hers.”

  “You may think I’m really stupid . . . but you see . . . I decided to prove where I was at the time because Agnes acted really weird that day . . . Agnes looked so freaking happy . . . something just wasn’t right about what she was asking me to do. So I bought a snack on the way down to Smestad and I bought gasoline on the way back to the organic farm.”

  “Where?”

  “At the Shell Seven-Eleven store . . . at the corner of Stasjonveien and Hollmenkollveien. I have the receipts. I had no cash so I paid for both with my father’s debit card.”

  “Frøken Knutsen . . . are you willing to testify against Agnes Haugen?”

  “Yes! . . . I won’t let Agnes get away with it. She won’t make a fool out of me. I can’t believe how easily she tricked me.”

  “You’re not the only one Frøken Knutsen.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Sohlberg met with Thorsen and Gunnar Haugen and Haugen’s lawyer upstairs at Thorsen’s office. Sohlberg stood by the doorway and he waited for Thorsen to take full credit for solving the case and he did not have to wait long.

  “Thank you for coming,” said Commissioner Thorsen. “This case has been one of the most difficult ones in my career but I decided to throw everything at it . . . to fully dedicate myself completely to finding the criminal who took your son. . . .”

  Sohlberg was not surprised when Thorsen went on to summarize the case by reading straight out of the executive summary that Sohlberg had written in his final report to Thorsen.

  “Agnes Haugen meticulously planned and rehearsed and executed the kidnaping and murder of Karl Haugen for the sole purpose of tormenting her husband and then framing him for her own criminal conduct.

  “We know from eyewitnesses and phone and text and e-mail records that she rehearsed every phase of the kidnaping and the murder. For example we have three credible eyewitnesses who saw Agnes Haugen park her husband’s white pickup truck several times at the dead end of Orreveien in the days leading up to the kidnaping on June fourth.

  “We know from circumstantial evidence . . . and from credible eyewitnesses or from forensic evidence the following facts and circumstances . . . that
she used sign language to order the little boy to meet her in the school’s parking lot right after the science fair ended at 9 A.M.

  “We also know that she drove Karl to the dead end at Orreveien and then strangled or smothered him in the forest where she had lured him with the promise of studying more frogs before going to the doctor’s appointment. . . . And we know that she hid Karl’s body near the pond in a temporary grave.