Death on Pilot Hill

“And. . you’re telling us that both parents misled you into believing that Karl would take an excused absence and leave school at or a little before nine in the morning to be at a doctor’s appointment that Friday June fourth?”

“Exactly.”

Sohlberg smiled and said, “Please write your witness list now.”

Froken Boe wrote furiously on a notepad while she frowned and said:

“Also. . I didn’t like them pulling Karl out of school because I don’t think Karl really had anything wrong with him that needed a doctor visit.”

“Why do you say that?”

“They made up his symptoms. They kept saying he had seizures during those two to three weeks before June fourth. That’s a lie. I never once saw him have seizures. At most he was a little space-y the two weeks before he disappeared. He looked sleep deprived. . if not stressed. I asked him what was wrong and he just shrugged.

“I then asked the parents why Karl looked so stressed. That’s when they told me they had called a doctor. . and that she had told them that he was having seizures and needed to come in for an examination.

“But then I thought. . what doctor would diagnose seizures over the phone? And since when can you talk to a doctor over the phone just like that?. . You’re lucky if you get to talk to a nurse on the phone.”

“Do you know the name of the doctor?”

“Julie Heldaas. She’s a pediatrician. A lot of children in the school go to her.”

Sohlberg nodded and rubbed his cold hands. He knew that he would solve the case quickly if he could find out whether the father or the stepmother was the source of the clever trick to mislead the administrators and teachers into believing that Karl was leaving school to visit a doctor that fateful Friday June fourth.

“Froken Boe. . would you say that Karl was a happy boy?”

“Over all yes. . but you know. . children from divorced homes have a lot of stress. . I noticed he got very sad whenever he came back from visiting his mother up in Namsos. . I figured he wanted to stay up there and not come back to his father and stepmother.”

“Did he say anything in pArcticular about wanting to live with his mother?”

“No. . he wouldn’t talk a lot about his home situation. . I always felt that someone at home had told him not to talk with me or other teachers. . I did notice that he seemed distressed during the two or three weeks before he went missing. . he could not focus on class assignments. . he forgot everything he had to do. . he would stare out into space. .

“Karl even got into a fight with another boy. . that was a first for Karl since he was a very sweet and good natured boy. The even more weird thing about the fight was that he kept screaming at the other boy, ‘I hate you. I hate you.’ Now that was very very unusual for Karl. . it was almost as if he was a little tape recording that just kept repeating something he heard at home. . I’ve seen that before with my children. They repeat what they hear at home from the adults.”

“Any signs of physical abuse?”

“No. Had there been I would’ve immediately called the police. . especially with his stepmother pestering me every single day to let her know exactly how Karl was doing at school as far as his academics and behavior. It’s no secret. . Chief Inspector. . that I found Agnes Haugen a little too much to handle. But. . I must admit that I have two other former elementary school teachers who also go nuts in micromanaging their children and their education.”

“One last thing Froken Boe.”

“Ja?”

“Did Karl Haugen usually bring his lunch from home?”

“Ja. Agnes always packed his lunch.”

“Did he have a separate lunch box or did he carry his lunch in his backpack?”

“Let me think. . Karl. . in his backpack. He had small plastic tubs. . like tupperware. . that held his food. So the answer is no. . he did not have a separate lunch box or pail. . he took his lunch straight out of his backpack.”

“Thank you Froken Boe. We’ll be in touch.”

“Oh. . I almost forgot.”

“Yes?”

“During the first few weeks after Karl disappeared we found out that Karl’s parents. . especially the stepmother Agnes. . had made an outrageous statement to the newspaper and televison reporters.”

“What statement?”

“Agnes Haugen insisted that she saw Karl talking to a science fair volunteer who was monitoring the children when she left the school that morning after the fair ended.”

“Ja,” said Sohlberg. “I read somewhere in the files. . that the school had several parents who volunteered to watch over the children in the hallways and the auditorium.”

“That part’s true. The lie is that Agnes Haugen insists that the volunteer was a man wearing a volunteer badge. That’s simply not true. . there were no male volunteers at the science fair that day.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. It was the first time that had happened in several years. . we’ve always had male volunteers at the science fair. . but not last year when Karl disappeared. . all the teachers and administrators made comments about that.”

“Could anyone sneak in wearing a badge?”

“Not really. Inspector. . don’t forget. . I was there. I never saw a man posing as a volunteer. . or wearing a volunteer badge. Trust me. . all of us teachers would’ve noticed that immediately.”

Karl didn’t know how much longer he could hold out. He desperately wanted to see his father and mother. A few days ago he had fallen asleep and suddenly he had woken up and heard his mother’s voice calling him with wild despair:

“Karl!. . Karl!. . My son!”

She was after all still looking for him!

But she could not see him. Eventually her voice and her presence faded away and so did his hopes of ever seeing his beloved mother. His father had stopped looking for him. That made him even sadder. How could his father have given up so easily!

“Dad!. . Mom!”

Wangelin drove four miles southeast to the giant Rikshospitalet National Hospital campus of Oslo Universitessykehus University Hospital. Dr. Julie Heldaas was on the last of her late morning rounds. She had agreed to meet them as soon as she was finished.

Sohlberg and Wangelin waited for the doctor at her small office. Sunlight poured in through the window now that the rainstorm had passed.

“This is quite a view,” said Sohlberg. He was surprised that although the hospital was at a much lower altitude than Holmenkollen the hospital still had lovely views of the broad Oslofjord which looked more like a vast lake surrounded by low mountains.

“It’s nice isn’t it?” said Constable Wangelin. “What with all the sunshine and the water sparkling like that. I wish I could be out there today.”

“Do you-” Sohlberg interrupted himself. He was about to ask her if she liked water sports but that would have breached Norwegian office etiquette which meant avoiding friendships at work and not sharing any confidences or personal information. He missed people’s overall friendliness in Canada and the USA as well as the meaningful work friendships that he had made in those countries. Prosecutors and law enforcement officials in Mexico and Latin America had also befriended him to a degree unheard of in Norway.

“Do I what. . Chief Inspector?”

“Do you think the doctor will be here soon?”

“Ja. She told me to be here at five minutes past noon.”

A minute later at exactly 12:05 PM the doctor walked in and shook hands while Constable Wangelin made the