KV:
Was it hard to get them to believe Didrik’s involvement?
MB:
No, not at all. Well . . . the whole mess surrounding Mio was difficult to disentangle at first. But we managed to get hold of Didrik’s son Sebastian’s medical records from the hospital in Copenhagen. The doctors there said there was no way he could have survived more than a month after he was removed from hospital. After that, the police were forced to accept that the boy Didrik and Rebecca were raising as their own in their house in Denmark couldn’t have been their son Sebbe. They found strands of hair in the house, and using DNA analysis were able to confirm that they belonged to the missing Mio.
KV:
But Mio isn’t still missing, is he?
MB:
No.
KV:
So what happened?
MB:
There was another adult in the car when the accident happened. And that person removed Mio from the scene and made sure he was safe.
KV:
Because they thought Lucifer was still looking for him?
MB:
Which he was, of course. Then.
KV:
What about now? There’s no threat against Mio today, is there?
MB:
No.
KV:
So why is he still hidden?
MB:
He isn’t. He lives with an excellent foster mother who’ll love him as her own son for the rest of his life.
KV:
But . . . who else was sitting in the car, then?
MB:
Come on, Karen. Who do you think it was?
KV:
No idea.
MB:
Rubbish.
(Silence)
KV:
Not Rakel Minnhagen?
MB:
Who else? Things started to heat up in Stockholm and she fled to Denmark. Didrik wasn’t exactly pleased to see her. When they were all in the car together they were actually on their way to Kastrup. He was planning to send her to Spain. Apparently she had friends there and would be able to go into hiding.
KV:
How do you know all this?
MB:
I’ve spoken to her. Unlike the police. They think Mio was snatched from preschool by Didrik or Rebecca, and I’ve no objection to that. Rakel was Sara’s only real friend in Sweden. She did an awful lot of good things for Sara and Mio. I refuse to hold her responsible for the fact that she later got dragged into Didrik and Rebecca’s deadly games.
KV:
So the police know nothing about her involvement?
MB:
No, and that’s how it’s going to stay. And I’ve said as much to Nadja, the teacher who saw Rakel abduct Mio. Rakel feels terrible about everything that’s happened. After all, she only wanted to do what was best for Mio. It was no coincidence that she applied for a job at the Enchanted Garden. She wanted to help Sara keep an eye on Mio, and Didrik knew about that from Sara, and exploited it when it came to snatching Mio. Then Didrik wouldn’t let her go, and kept asking for help with all manner of things, from hiding Elias’s body to moving him to my car. If she’d refused to help him, he would have got her put away for kidnapping Mio.
KV:
Is she still in Spain?
MB:
She’s back in Stockholm. Studying. She left Spain once things had calmed down, and we saw to it that Mio was handed over to the authorities without her involvement. The police have asked a thousand times where Mio was between the accident and the moment he was suddenly standing alone on the steps outside Police Headquarters. I just shrug my shoulders and say I don’t know.
KV:
Sorry – he was standing alone on the steps outside Police Headquarters? I read about that in the papers, and they said—
MB:
They said that the police had found the missing child as a result of diligent detective work. I know. But that’s not what happened.
(Silence)
KV:
I’ve got two more questions.
MB:
Fire away.
KV:
I don’t understand how they managed to get Elias in the boot of your car. Don’t you keep your car locked?
MB:
Yes, but the lock’s not good enough to beat a talented cop like Didrik. Don’t ask me how he did it.
KV:
And now the million-dollar question: who got Mio in the end?
MB:
I don’t know about ‘got’. He ended up with Bobby’s girlfriend. Bobby would never have been approved as a foster parent, but his girlfriend’s a different matter. The sort of person who fulfils the criteria. Mio knew who she was, even though they hadn’t seen each other in over a year. He needs someone like her. Someone who knows his history, his background.
KV:
What about Boris?
MB:
Ha! One question too far. Boris is fine. But I’m not saying where he is.
KV:
And . . . the Porsche?
MB:
Scrapped. I bought a Maserati instead. Much better.
KV:
So, all’s well that ends well?
MB:
As well as it can be. We’re alive and healthy. And that’s really the most important thing.
KV:
See. Maybe you can change after all?
(Silence)
MB:
No, I don’t believe that. Not in the slightest, actually.
Loved THE LIES WE TELL? Discover where it all began . . .
BURIED
LIES
Kristina Ohlsson
FIVE BRUTAL MURDERS IN TWO COUNTRIES.
‘Hollywood blockbuster material . . . you’ll finish it in one gulp’ Metro
A WOMAN CONFESSES TO THE KILLINGS, THEN LEAPS OFF A BRIDGE TO HER DEATH.
‘Kristina Ohlsson is a rising star of Scandinavian crime fiction’ Sunday Times
HER BROTHER INSISTS SHE WAS INNOCENT, AND WANTS THE CASE REOPENED.
‘Expect Ohlsson to join Nesbo on most readers’ can’t-miss lists’ Booklist
BUT HOW DO YOU VINDICATE A DECEASED, SELF-PROCLAIMED KILLER?
‘Superbly crafted’ Daily Mail
Available in print and eBook
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KRISTINA OHLSSON is a political scientist and, until recently, held the position of Counter-Terrorism Officer at OSCE. She has previously worked at the Swedish Security Service, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Swedish National Defence College, where she was a junior expert on the Middle East conflict and the foreign policy of the European Union. Her debut novel, Unwanted, was published in Sweden in 2009 to terrific critical acclaim and all her novels have since been bestsellers. Kristina lives in Stockholm.
Also by Kristina Ohlsson
Unwanted
Silenced
The Disappeared
Hostage
The Chosen
Buried Lies
First published in Sweden by Piratförlaget under the title Mio’s Blues, 2015
First published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2018
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Copyright © Kristina Ohlsson, 2015
Published by arrangement with the Salomonsson Agency
English translation copyright © Neil Smith, 2016
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The Lies We Tell Page 31