happened to the boy on the day that he disappeared. Just stick to the facts and do not include any theories. Write up a second summary on the boy’s family. . and. . if relevant. . include the circle of friends or relatives that he hanged around with.”
“That’s it Chief Inspector?”
“Trust me. . it’s hard work. Summarizing all pertinent facts into two pages will take a lot of thought. I suggest you take the rest of the afternoon today and all day tomorrow to write the summaries. Please make sure that you write or talk to every single investigator involved in the case. Get their input on what needs to be in the summary. All of the information that you get from all of the investigators will now be stored in your brain. . far better than any computer.”
“Chief Inspector. . will you be here if I have questions?”
“No. But feel free to call me any time. I’ll be home. I have a lot to explain to my wife about this unexpected assignment. She thought we’d be leaving for Bergen to visit her parents.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“So am I. But isn’t it interesting. . when my wife saw the news on television about the one year anniversary of Karl Haugen’s disappearance. . she said she hoped that somehow I’d be able to help the investigation.”
“I’m glad you’re here Chief Inspector. It was about time. You see. . some of us do take the case very seriously. . we feel bad for the boy. We’re worried about him.”
“Everyone should think like that. I certainly do.”
Sohlberg left the building. His mind worked better in the fresh air and under sunny skies. A thought hit him. He immediately called Ivar Thorsen on his cell phone and said:
“Do not tell the press that I’m working on the Haugen case. Make sure that no one leaks anything to the media about me working on the case!”
“Alright. Alright. Calm down Sohlberg.”
“I’m serious about this. The person or persons who took the boy must not be warned that we’re reactivating the investigation. We must have the element of surprise. Understand?”
“Well-”
“No! The most you can tell anyone on the outside is that you have assigned the case for review. Understand? You say anything more to your buddies in the press and I will tell everyone that you sabotaged the investigation from the start.”
“Alright!”
“Also. . I’m not going to wear a uniform at all. . nor will Constable Wangelin. And we’re not coming to work at the office from eight to four like everyone else. Is that understood?”
“Ja.”
“Also. . I need an unmarked car that doesn’t yell police to everyone who looks at the car. Matter of fact I prefer that you rent us two inconspicious subcompacts. Ja?”
“Here we go again with your demands and conditions.”
“Ja. . just like the good old days that you seem to remember so fondly.”
Feeling calmer Sohlberg decided to walk all the way to the Oslo Central Station to take advantage of the pleasant sunny weather. He had more than enough time to get to his tram. The walk also gave him time to think about how he would break the news to Fru Sohlberg.
Would she be pleased or angry?
Just how disruptive and difficult would this new assignment become?
Fru Sohlberg was already waiting for him in his parent’s Volvo at the Kastellet station of the Oslotrikken tram line Number 18. His parents had begged them to use their car to prevent the battery from dying.
“How did the conference go?”
He explained and included all the details.
“Unbelievable!” she exclaimed. “What a turn of events.”
“Are you angry?. . I doubt if I’ll be able to go with you to Bergen to see your parents.”
“That’s alright. Maybe they’ll come and stay with us for a week.”
“That’s a great idea. . it would be very good. We have more than enough room.”
“I’ll call them tonight and see if and when they can come.”
“So you’re not angry or disappointed?”
“No at all. Why should I be? I knew this would be our life with you in the police.”
“Thank you Emma.”
“No need to thank me.”
“But I do.”
“Actually. . I’m glad you took the assignment. I’ve thought a lot about that little boy.”
“It doesn’t look good. . he’s been missing for more than a year and there’s no sign of him. I have to warn you so you don’t get your hopes crushed. . he’s probably dead.”
Fru Sohlberg shook her head. Her eyes welled up. “How sad. . if that turns out to be the case then at least he’s in a far better place. . that little eternal soul of his.”
Sohlberg’s throat hardened.
Did Ivar Thorsen know that they had lost their two-year-old son to leukemia shortly after moving to Lyon France?
Was that another reason for putting him on the Karl Haugen case?
Did Ivar Thorsen or the higher-ups know that a child abduction was likely to bring back painful memories of the death of their own son?
Harald Junior’s death almost destroyed Sohlberg and his wife. He could not help wondering whether Thorsen had dragged him into the case as the result of a diabolical plan to cause him and his wife severe if not permanent emotional distress.
Was the Karl Haugen assignment another form of payback for Sohlberg exposing corruption by the Supreme Court justices?
Chapter 6
1 YEAR AND 23 DAYS AFTER
THE DAY, FRIDAY, JUNE 4
Sohlberg reaches into the shelf and takes out Wagner’s
“Huh!”
He’s amazed that his parents still have all of the compact discs that he bought them over the decades for their birthdays and for Christmas and for Mother’s Day and for Father’s Day. He opens the case and studies the libretto for the divine and unsurpassed 1953 classic EMI recording with Kirsten Flagstad (Soprano) and Blanche Thebom (Mezzo Soprano) and Ludwig Suthaus (Tenor) and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Baritone) and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra directed by Wilhelm Furtwangler.
The prelude overwhelms Sohlberg with its intensity.
He takes Wagner’s masterpiece off the CD player and decides to hear the opera at another time. Wagner’s music hits too close to home. The music literally brings to his heart and mind and soul the overpowering nature of love and death and how those two mixed together can easily lead to insanity itself.
The sickening
The last soft breath of Harald Junior before the leukemia killed him. His dreamy eyes slowly dimming away until the light is extinguished and gone.
The grief. The insanity.
A month after Karoline’s death Sohlberg takes a trip to a country house at Asgardstrand. A partner at
