“We employ more than one hundred and forty people . . . you see . . . we deliver a multi-disciplinary approach to mental healthcare. So we employ doctors and psychologists and psychiatric nurses. Social workers. Occupational therapists. Family therapists. Physical therapists. A psychiatric pharmacist. And many others.”
“Impressive.”
“Now,” said the mammoth Jorfald as he laid the shovels of his beefy hands on the desk, “I understand from Doktor Nansen that you’re interested in one of our patients. I was baffled to say the least when she told me what you have in mind. So we want to hear it straight from you to make sure that we have no misunderstandings.”
“Yes. I’m investigating a murder.”
“And how are we involved?”
“Indirectly.”
“How indirectly?”
“It’s hard to explain. . . .”
“Start at the beginning. That’s usually a good place.”
“Fine. . . . All of this started because I was looking for a report that two psychiatrists had submitted to the court in a criminal case. Doktor Nansen was on the panel that reviewed the report that was written up on the defendant Ludvik Helland in the Janne Eide murder case.”
“Our patient Ludvik Helland? . . . I’ve met him many times. Quite an interesting case. What’s your interest in him? . . . Just what is your proposed project?”
Sohlberg swallowed hard and laid out his ruse to kill the proverbial two birds with one stone. Like all good ruses it was built out of half-truths and misleading omissions. He breathed in deeply and then spoke as calmly as he could:
“I have information that I need to check up on with respect to one of your patients . . . Håkon Krogvig. He’s a murderer . . . convicted of kidnaping and raping and stabbing two fourteen-year old girls. I suspect that he has killed many others . . . I mean . . . he just didn’t start killing out of the blue when he was in his forties. No . . . people like Krogvig have been killing for quite some time before they’re caught.”
“So . . . you only have suspicions about him . . . nothing else?” said Jorfald with a skeptical look on the slab of his immense face. “Any evidence? . . . Any testimony?”
“I have the fact that Krogvig fits the pattern of all serial killers. He’s had at least five major incidents of major brain trauma as a child and adult. He’s been a heavy drug and alcohol abuser since he was ten . . . and has a lifetime of severe nutritional deficiencies. He’s got toxic blood levels of lead and cadmium. He grew up in a dysfunctional if not toxic home . . . for a mother he had a vicious alcoholic prostitute whose routine beatings once left him in a two-day coma when he was seven. He’s a compulsive sexual deviant with serious memory and personality problems . . . and he’s been convicted as a juvenile and as an adult of arson and animal abuse and rape. He’s confessed to many killings in different jurisdictions and asked for help but no one in law enforcement paid him any attention because they had better suspects at the time. And he’s got a huge inferiority problem and feels very threatened by women.”
“And you have the credentials to determine these psychological patterns?” said Jorfald with a loud snicker.
“I don’t. But the American psychologist Joel Norris does. He’s studied dozens of serial killers and he found common and recurring patterns for all of them. Krogvig fits all of them.”
Nansen chuckled and said:
“Let’s suppose Chief Inspector that we agreed with this pattern theory. Exactly what do you propose to do with Krogvig?”
“Well . . . I can’t approach Krogvig directly since he would never speak to me at this stage in his life about other crimes that I’m sure he’s committed or knows about. Now . . . I did research on your group and found out that another patient of yours . . . Ludvik Helland . . . is also under your care because of a murder that he committed a few years ago. I want to use that patient to get information from Krogvig. I want to—”
“Excuse me,” interrupted Jorfald. “Do you mean that Krogvig knows about other crimes or that he committed other crimes.”
“Both.”
“Interesting,” said Jorfald as he folded his enormous hands on the table. “But we don’t like all of the ethical problems with your proposition.”
“What ethical problems?”
“To begin with . . . it’s based on deceit.”
“Look. It’s up to Ludvik Helland to decide if he wants to help me investigate another of your patients. Isn’t it? . . . I’ve done a lot of research on him . . . that’s why I wanted to read the court experts’ report on him . . . he’s my best hope to ever solve any of the murders that I think Krogvig got away with.”
“I . . . I just don’t know. Chief Inspector . . . this is so strange. We don’t feel comfortable having one of our patients spy on another patient while we know about it. You see . . . we try our hardest to build the trust of our patients. We want them to feel free to say everything and anything on their minds. That trust would be destroyed if the patients somehow found out that we allowed the police to use one patient to spy on another patient under our auspices.”
“Perhaps,” said Sohlberg with extreme patience. “But I’ve read several articles about you and Doktor Nansen . . . it seems that both of you have studied whether police work causes psychosis. . . . I also read that you’ve studied police spying . . . police undercover operations . . . as part of a psychosis case study. . . . Isn’t that what you want to study between the two patients and myself?”
“Yes,” admitted Jorfald. “I’m working with her on that study . . . we’re co-authors. Of course I’m glad you’re seeking help. So many police officers refuse to see a psychiatrist or psychologist . . . until it’s too late.”
“Doktor Jorfald . . . I hope you don’t think I’m psychotic.”
“I don’t know if you are or are not. Doktor Nansen or I would first have to diagnose you Chief Inspector. We would have to determine if you have indeed lost touch with reality. We want to study authority figures who are psychotic.”
“Well,” said Sohlberg, “that’s something I want to discuss with you. I laid out all my cards on the table. Now . . . how about if you explain your project.”
“Alright. First of all you need to understand that psychosis basically means that a person loses contact with reality . . . therefore the person has false beliefs . . . delusions . . . about themselves or others and about what is actually taking place. It can also include hallucinations which happen when a person sees or hears things that are not observable to others.”
Sohlberg grinned and said:
“I don’t see how you can even consider me for a study on psychosis given your own definition.”
“Ah. But wait . . . there’s more. Psychosis is a small part of a large number of psychiatric disorders that we are interested in studying. These include the bipolar disorder formerly known as the manic-depressive disorder. Surely Chief Inspector you won’t deny that many people have this disease.”
“No. I don’t deny it.”
“Wouldn’t you agree with me that many homicide detectives go through manic and depressive phases when they investigate a murder?”
Sohlberg lied. “I don’t know.”
“Really? That’s not what we’ve observed. Anyway . . . there’s also the delusional disorder. In addition to his drug-induced psychosis we’ve diagnosed Ludvik Helland as perfectly fitting this disorder.”
“Yes,” interrupted Dr. Nansen. “Helland is a classic case of a delusional disorder patient whose delusions may seem believable at face value . . . the patient appears quite normal as long as any independent observer does not probe into the delusional themes.”
“Themes?” said Sohlberg.
Bergitta Nansen stared at Sohlberg and moved closer to him. “Themes. Themes of delusions. Helland suffers from the erotomanic theme. That’s where a patient believes that a person who is usually of a higher social standing is in love with the patient. Then there’s the grandiose type. That’s not Helland as he
does not believe that he is some great but unrecognized talent who has some spectacular insight or special identity. Helland also suffers from the jealous theme where he’s under the delusion that his romantic or sexual partner has always been unfaithful. And Helland suffers from the persecutory theme. That’s where the patient believes he is being cheated. Spied on. Drugged. Followed. Slandered. Mistreated for the wrong reasons.”
Sohlberg nodded. “Sounds like most criminals.”
Dr. Jorfald threw a look at Dr. Nansen that Sohlberg interpreted as saying, “This cop’s the perfect specimen for our study.”
Nansen smiled. “Don’t worry Chief Inspector. We’ll be analyzing your every word when we interview you. Not before.”
Sohlberg stared at Dr. Jorfald. “I have a feeling that psychiatrists like to analyze every word they hear from other people.”
Dr. Jorfald laughed a bellyful. “Could be Chief Inspector. Maybe we do it subconsciously.”
“Shall we get back to the matter at hand?” said Dr. Nansen with sincerity and urgency. “As I was trying to tell you Chief Inspector . . . psychosis includes clinical depression with psychotic features. And then there’s the schizoaffective disorder and its twin schizophrenia. And let’s not forget . . . various personality disorders like the schizotypal. The schizoid. The paranoid. The borderline personality. . . .”
“They all sound alike.”
“But they’re quite different. Schizoaffective disorder is a mental condition that—”
“Let’s not bore our guest,” said Jorfald.
Sohlberg raised his hand. “Now . . . wait a minute . . . I’m sure you two will find that I have a grip on what’s real and unreal.”
“We’ll see,” said Dr. Jorfald with a grin. “Of course I’m only joking. But we’re glad that you are open to participating in our study . . . regardless of where it may lead.”
Dr. Nansen smoothly added:
“We believe that there’s a personality disorder that has to abound in every police department . . . and in other government agencies. . . . The paranoid personality disorder. With this psychiatric condition a person has long-term distrust and suspicion of others without suffering a full-blown psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia. People with the disorder are highly suspicious of other people. Thus they limit their social lives . . . sometimes to extremes. They often feel that they are in danger and constantly look for evidence to support their suspicions. A hallmark characteristic is their refusal to admit that their distrustfulness and suspicions are out of proportion to their environment.”
“Well now,” said Sohlberg. “You may be describing what makes a great detective.”
“Really? How interesting. I knew that Doktor Jorfald and I are on the right track. Tell me Chief Inspector . . . are you worried that other people have hidden motives?”
“Always.”
“Do you expect to be exploited by others?”
“Sometimes.”
“Unable to work well with others?”
“Sometimes.”
“Social isolation?”
“Sometimes.”
“Detachment?”
“No. I’m not Buddhist.”
“Funny,” she said without looking amused. “Any hostility?”
“Always.”
The two psychiatrists glanced at each other with knowing looks.
Sohlberg moved quickly to interrupt their secret telepathic session. “This is all interesting Doktors Nansen and Jorfald. But I’m more interested in the patient Håkon Krogvig.”
“We . . . have a confession Chief Inspector,” said Jorfald with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
“A crime?”
“No. No. How funny. You see Chief Inspector . . . we’re not quite sure if Krogvig has the same delusional disorder as Ludvik Helland . . . or whether he’s got a schizotypal personality disorder.”
“I really have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Let me try to explain,” said Dr. Nansen. “The schizotypal personality disorder is a mental health condition in which a person has trouble with relationships and disturbances in thought patterns and appearance and behavior. Unlike people with schizophrenia people with schizotypal personality disorder are not disconnected from reality and they rarely hallucinate.
“Indeed . . . we think that many if not most police officers have schizotypal personality disorder . . . which means a person who is uncomfortable in social situations . . . makes inappropriate displays of feelings . . . has no close friends . . . has odd behavior or appearance or speech . . . and odd beliefs or fantasies or preoccupations.”
Sohlberg laughed. “So that’s how you feel about law enforcement? . . . Sounds grim.”
“Not really,” said Jorfald. “Talk therapy or psychotherapy is usually the best treatment along with anti-psychotic medication in the more difficult cases. Of course social skills training can help some people cope with social situations.”
Sarcastic words were about to fly out of Sohlberg’s mouth when Dr. Nansen intervened. “Now gentlemen,” purred Dr. Nansen. “Please. Let’s not get into an argument.”
“Look,” said Sohlberg in his best no-nonsense voice. “I need to know if we have a deal.”
“What deal?” said Dr. Jorfald.
“You give me access to Ludvik Helland. Let me try to convince him to spy on Håkon Krogvig.”
Jorfald sighed. “Let’s suppose we did that Chief Inspector. But in order for Helland to spy on Krogvig we’d have to take Helland completely off his meds so he’s clear-headed. Let me be honest. Current pharmaceutical therapy basically leaves violent patients in a harmless zombie-like state. We hate it. But that’s all we can get from current drug treatments . . . there are no cures . . . just the management of symptoms. . . . We have no choice but to incapacitate these two men who’ve killed others.”
“I understand,” said Sohlberg.
Dr. Jorfald shook his head. “Do you? . . . There could be unforseen consequences. Ludvik Helland might become homicidal. Even suicidal.”
“But his homicidal rage has always been directed at his wife . . . and no one else . . . yes?”
“Correct. That’s why we’re going to accept your deal.”
“Excellent.”
“But you do understand that your part of the deal requires you to be interviewed by Doktor Nansen and her staff for two hours every week during a period of twelve months. Who knows? She may even need to interview you every other day for a whole year if it turns out that you have a lot of mental issues. Doktor Nansen must be able to get inside your mind. You must share your most intimate thoughts and memories with her.”
“But my name will never be revealed . . . right?”
“Yes. You are patient number nine. Nothing more. Nothing less. Do we have a deal Chief Inspector?”
“Yes.”
“Super!” said the giant with glee. “Now let’s go out to The Farm for you to meet Ludvik Helland.”
“The farm?”
“Yes. We operate a fifty-acre high-security ward a few miles north of here . . . on Herregårdsveien. You will come in our car since the patients do not like to see police cars. By the way . . . thanks for coming dressed in your civilian clothes. A police uniform would agitate the most violent of our patients.”
“Won’t Ludvik Helland be too drugged to see me?”
“Not today. I ordered his Thorazine and Dilantin and Risperdal to be withheld until after you meet with him”
“How did you know I’d take the deal?”
“I didn’t know. But . . . Doktor Nansen said you would.”
PART THREE: THE RABBIT HOLE
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
— Albert Einstein
Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it.
— Jo
hn Lennon
I myself spent nine years in an insane asylum and I never had the obsession of suicide, but I know that each conversation with a psychiatrist, every morning at the time of his visit, made me want to hang myself, realizing that I would not be able to cut his throat.
Sohlberg and the Gift Page 15