Death on Pilot Hill

“Ahh. . you don’t say so? How wonderful,” said Sohlberg with unconcealed sarcasm that went over Thorsen’s head.

“Ja. Isn’t it great?”

“You found the boy?”

“No.”

“Someone saw the boy or heard from him?”

“No. But-”

“Someone confessed. Right?”

“No! Stop interrupting me Sohlberg. We arrested Jo Haugen. . the thirty-year-old biological brother of Gunnar Haugen. . Jo Haugen is the uncle of the missing boy. . we arrested him for child molestation.”

“Molesting what child. . Karl Haugen?”

“No. The uncle’s girlfriend left town because her elderly grandmother is close to dying. . the girlfriend left her fifteen-year-old daughter alone with Karl’s uncle. The girl woke up to find him fondling and kissing her while trying to undress her. She screamed. . hit him with a lamp and ran out of the house to a neighbor.”

“What does he say?”

“Nothing. Said he was too drunk to remember. But he said he probably did it because his own grandfather raped and molested him and his brother. . Gunnar Haugen. . when they were boys.”

Sohlberg nodded and merely said, “I need to think about this. Let’s go Constable Wangelin. . we have work to do.”

Commissioner Thorsen abruptly shouted:

“Wait. . where are you two going? Don’t you want to interrogate the uncle?”

“Is the grandfather still living?”

“No.”

“Then I don’t want to see the uncle for now. Just make sure that the uncle is not allowed to talk to or meet with Karl’s father or stepmother. If you let that happen then we could lose the case and never solve it.”

“Alright but do you mind telling me. . ”

“No. Not yet,” said Sohlberg. He strolled nonchalantly out of Thorsen’s office.

Once they got to Sohlberg’s office Constable Wangelin made sure that no one was around hearing her and she whispered:

“What was that all about? I’m confused. Isn’t this a major break in the case? Shouldn’t we be meeting with the uncle?. . I thought it’d mean a lot to you.”

“It does. . but not in the way that you expect.”

“But Chief Inspector. . there’s no denying it. . the case dynamic has radically changed with the uncle’s arrest and. . the allegation that the Haugen grandfather sexually imposed himself on Karl’s uncle and father.”

“Ja. But at this point in our investigation Karl’s uncle is a distraction. You’re forgetting a basic principle of investigating a cold case. . which is to focus focus focus. You see. . to bring a cold case to full boil you need to apply the heat of investigation to one spot for as long as it takes. In other words we can’t afford to run around like headless chickens.”

“Well. . you know best.”

“Thank you. You see Constable Wangelin. . experience does have its rewards.”

Sohlberg grabbed his suit jacket from the coat stand.

“What’s next?” said Constable Wangelin.

“We’re off to Nokia. . their research lab.”

“To interview the father?”

“Ja. . they returned our call. . we first have a meeting with their I.T. department. . which has some information for us on the father’s computer use. Then we’ll interrogate him. . catch him by surprise. . and hopefully throw him off his guard.”

“Chief this is going to be interesting. . and a long day.”

“Did you get the information on the most frequent phone numbers that the father has made calls to or received calls from during the past two years?”

“Ja. He only uses a company phone. . from Nokia of course. . they have a record of all of his incoming and outgoing calls and text messages.”

“Does anything stand out?”

“No. Nothing unusual except for the past two weeks. . he called his parents a lot.”

“We’ll pay them a visit. What about the most frequent e-mail addresses he’s written to or been written from?”

“We also have those from Nokia since Nokia owns the only computer that Gunnar Haugen uses.”

“Even his personal e-mail address?”

“Ja. Employers like Nokia can see and copy whatever is on a company computer. . even if it’s a laptop that the employee has at home. . The only unusual activity is a recent spike in e-mails to his parents. . something about using his grandfather’s old barn for a painting project.”

“Really?. . Call headquarters and have them find the barn’s location. . have several officers check it out today. . it’s urgent that this be done now. . as soon as possible. Also have someone go out and interview his parents. Make sure that Gunnar Haugen’s father and mother are interviewed separately about the barn. . and the grandfather’s molestation of their sons.”

“Chief. . could Karl be at the barn?”

“Maybe.”

“This might be our lucky break!”

“I don’t know,” said Sohlberg in a glum tone while he thought about the most recent developments in the case. “If Gunnar Haugen is involved in his son’s kidnaping then he’s gotten rather careless by using a company phone and a company computer as his only means of communications.”

“But Chief Inspector don’t you think the barn is important?”

“Definitely. That’s why our men have to be there today. Have the officer-in-charge contact us immediately with whatever they find. Go ahead. . call them now and have them be out looking in the barn while we’re at Nokia with Gunnar Haugen.”

“Chief Inspector. . could Karl Haugen be alive somewhere in the farm?. . Or is he buried under the barn?”

“We’ll find out soon. . won’t we?”

“What makes you so sure Chief Inspector?”

“We’re about to let the father and the stepmother clear or incriminate themselves.”

“How?”

“Watch and learn Constable Wangelin. I’ll lead them to several doors that point to guilt or innocence. . of course they won’t know whether guilt or innocence is behind each door.”

“What if they refuse to answer?”

“Silence itself is always an answer to a question.”

Constable Wangelin took the eastbound lanes of Ring 3 or Highway 150 that circles Oslo. Heavy traffic slowed down their trip to Nokia’s headquarters at the suburban Nydalen office park in the Nordre Aker borough of northern Oslo. They got off the freeway on the exit for southbound Maridalsveien. While maneuvering through a maze of narrow streets Wangelin got lost looking for Nokia’s building on the east bank of the Akerselva River.

“These streets are so confusing,” she said hoping that Sohlberg would not get angry or question her competence.

“Ja. They always have been in this neighborhood. I just can’t believe how this area has changed. . it used to be an ugly run-down industrial site. . along with a few modest homes. . now it’s all modern condos and office buildings. . it looks just like some rich suburb in the U.S.A.”

After several wrong turns Wangelin finally found Sandakerveien which she took northbound. They spotted Nokia’s building just before reaching Ring 3 or Highway 150. Nokia’s offices reminded Sohlberg of all of the corporate campuses and corporations he’d visited all over the world: bland and impersonal. Just like the top executives of major corporations.