“I understand why he became upset,” said Irene.
“Me, too. He seems to be a nice guy. But we have to follow-” HE WAS interrupted by his cell phone ringing. He took it out of his pocket and answered it. After a few abrupt “Yesses” and “I understands,” he ended the conversation. He stared at Irene before he said, “Now things are happening. That was my boss. Christian Lefevre has kidnapped Rebecka. No one knows where they are.”
Chapter 19
IRENE CALLED SUPERINTENDENT ANDERSSON on her cell phone. It took quite a while to explain everything that had happened, but in the end he understood. After many protests, he finally gave in. Irene had permission to stay in London and keep an eye on the new developments in the case.
“As soon as we send you out, there’s always so damn much fuss,” he grumbled.
Irene became angry and said, sharply, “I’ve only been abroad for work once before!”
“Exactly. And don’t you dare say that there wasn’t any fuss that time!” Andersson exclaimed triumphantly.
She had no good response. But the superintendent’s criticism was unfair. She had not
She ended the conversation and asked Glen, “What happened at the hospital?”
“According to my boss, Christian came to the clinic during regular visiting hours, between one and two. There are always more people moving about then, so it took nearly a half hour after visiting hours were over for the staff to discover that Rebecka was gone. At first they searched the ward and the clinic. When they couldn’t find her, they contacted the police.”
“Did he remove her by force?”
“We don’t know for sure, since no one saw them leave the clinic. But there’s nothing to indicate that he used force.”
“Have they searched their apartments? And the office?”
“Of course. That was the first place they went. They aren’t there.”
“Where can they be?”
“No idea.”
They were approaching the airport, and traffic increased. Irene wondered who might know where Rebecka and Christian were. She took out her wallet and, after some rummaging around, found the note she was looking for. It was worth a try, she thought, as she punched in Kjell Sjonell’s cell phone number.
Irene quickly explained the situation to the pastor and asked him, “Do you have any idea where they may be?”
“No idea. But why would Christian kidnap Rebecka? There’s no ransom money to ask for. What is his motive?”
“We don’t know. But a great deal of evidence points to Christian having murdered Rebecka’s family. And now he has taken her.”
“Good Lord! Is he crazy?” Kjell Sjonell exclaimed.
“Possibly, although the impression he gave me was that he was mentally stable. What was your reaction when you met him?”
“The same as yours. Obviously, he was upset and concerned about Rebecka, but that’s only natural.”
“Have you any suggestion to offer?” Irene asked.
Glen had parked the Rover in front of the Avis office and gotten out of the car, but Irene remained to finish the conversation.
“Call each of their friends and every family member that you can come up with. Maybe one of them will have an idea about where they might be. Otherwise, the only advice I can give is to wait and hope that they’ll get in touch somehow.”
Irene realized that he was right. It felt frustrating to have to accept it, but she thanked the pastor and hung up.
Glen had already called Estelle and arranged for a new room for Irene. Irene called home, but there was no answer. She reached Krister at the restaurant. He calmly accepted the news of his wife’s extended stay in England. “Take care, honey.”
AFTER ENDURING bumper-to-bumper rush-hour traffic, they finally made it to the Thompson Hotel. It felt like coming home to Irene. A young girl with spiky red hair stood behind the reception desk and smiled in welcome. Irene explained who she was and was given a key. To her joy, they had given her a room on the second floor this time. Two fewer floors to climb. She threw her bag down and went to the bathroom before she rushed to the lobby again.
Glen was sitting on the sofa with a cigarette in one hand and his cell phone in the other. He looked up and smiled when Irene came up to him.
“I have been looking for Andrew St. Clair, but I haven’t managed to reach him. His secretary has promised that he’ll contact us as soon as he has a chance. But I did speak with Dr. Fischer. He was furious. I hope we find Christian before he does.”
“Did he have a theory about where they might be?”
“No. Not the faintest idea.”
Irene sat down on the sofa next to Glen. Together they tried to think of another person who might know where Rebecka and Christian could be. Glen had asked Andrew’s secretary if she knew at which company Mary Lefevre worked as financial manager. She knew; but when they telephoned the company, the Edinburgh Tweed Company, her male assistant informed them that Mrs. Lefevre had just left on a business trip to Germany and wasn’t expected back until next Wednesday. Unfortunately, he didn’t know which airport the plane would land at. According to him, she was going to spend the weekend with German friends, but he didn’t know what their names were or where they lived. He promised to contact the companies Mrs. Lefevre was going to visit and leave a message for her to contact Glen Thompson right away.
“We have to find Andrew. He may know who his aunt is going to visit in Germany,” Irene exclaimed.
“Perhaps. But there isn’t much we can do right now. Let’s go to Vitoria and eat. Kate and the boys are also coming,” said Glen.
AS USUAL, Donna was ebullient. She pulled Glen and Irene into her plump arms and chirped how happy she was that they had made it home safely. She acted as though they had been wandering around the Scottish heath for several weeks, rather than having been gone just part of one day.
Kate and the twins arrived soon after, and it became a real family dinner with very good food. To be on the safe side, Irene and Glen didn’t drink any wine, just beer. When coffee and ice cream with exotic fruits were brought in, Irene sensed that her fatigue was about to overwhelm her. It had been a hectic and eventful day. She had arisen extra early two mornings in a row, and she was starting to feel it. Thanks to four cups of strong coffee, she started to revive. It was just after nine o’clock.
Kate gathered together her sons, kissed her husband and mother-in-law, and gave Irene a hug. “If we don’t see each other again before you go home, then we’ll be in touch about the summer vacation. I am looking forward to seeing the midnight sun.”
Kate and Glen probably don’t realize how big Sweden is, Irene thought, nor how far it extends from north to south. Nor did they realize how many mosquitoes there were in Norrland. And, even worse, that one never falls asleep there in the summer: Who can sleep when the sun is shining in the middle of the night? Still, she remembered her family’s vacation in a rented trailer in Norrland as the best one they had had. That was almost ten years ago. The trip had taken three weeks, and they had seen a great deal of Sweden.
Irene was telling Glen about her own trip to Norrland when her cell phone started ringing.
“Irene Huss,” she answered.
