The head of Nokia’s Human Resources department in Oslo greeted them at the lobby. She escorted them to a conference room where a nervous young man sat in front of a large laptop computer and a large white binder filled with about eight inches of paper.
“Please show the police what you found on Gunnar Haugen’s computers.”
“Ja. . we have remote access to all computers that Nokia owns. We monitor all computers that we own to prevent industrial espionage and other unauthorized uses. . which includes pornography. . computer games. . and other recreational uses.”
Sohlberg impatient said:
“We get it. What did you find?”
The computer technician worked the keyboard and got into screens that meant nothing to Sohlberg.
“We found that Gunnar Haugen installed a key logging software on his computer. . it lets him spy on other computers into which he has secretly loaded the key logging software. . the software lets him see everything a person is typing on that computer.”
“Is this software a Nokia product. . does it belong to Nokia?”
“No. Anyone can buy this type of software at a store or on the Internet.”
“Who was he spying on?”
“His wife. Agnes Haugen. Actually her laptop computer. You can see her using it right now.”
“Was he spying on anyone else?”
“No. But I also found that he installed in her cell phone a similar but much more advanced software that lets him spy on cell phones including all Nokia models.”
“How?”
“He secretly loads a special software into the phone’s SIM card. . it’s a tiny piece of hardware. . the subscriber identification module. that’s inside every cell phone. The software lets him hear every call and see every text message and image sent or received on the phone.”
“Is this software a Nokia product. . does it belong to Nokia?”
“No. This is really advanced. He must’ve designed it himself or gotten it from one of his friends or contacts in the industry.”
“Whose phone did he spy on?”
“His wife’s phone. He was snooping on her calls earlier today.”
“Agnes Haugen’s phone?”
“Ja. . she’s always had our top-of-the-line phones.”
“Why?”
“Because Nokia gives the newest models to senior technology managers like Gunnar Haugen. . the idea is to get managers and their families to use them a lot. . and test them for free so that we can find out if the phones have any software bugs or hardware defects.”
Sohlberg’s mind raced as he tried to figure out the twisted relationship between Gunnar and Agnes Haugen. “So. . Herr Haugen knows who contacts his wife. . and whom she calls or texts or sends images to?”
“Ja. The software lets him read every phone number that calls in and that she dials out. . and he can see all of the text messages and images sent and received on the phone.”
“What kind of information did he find on his wife’s computer and cell phone use?”
“Well. . ”
“Go ahead tell the officer,” said the HR apparatchik.
“Apart from the normal use that one would expect of her contacts with friends and family and various businesses from time to time. . his wife. . his wife. . well. . she uses her computer and cell phone to communicate with a lot of men in a. . a sexual or erotic context. . she arranges meetings with them at their homes or at hotels and other locations. She also sends a lot of nude pictures of herself to men. . a few of the men also sent her nude pictures of themselves.”
“Can we see whom she wrote to and when?”
“Ja. He stored everything that he’s spied on her for the past two years in his hard drive. We copied his entire hard drive last night as you requested since we own the computer and all content on the computer. This binder has a plastic pouch with a portable hard drive that contains everything in his computer’s hard drive and. . as requested. . we’ve included a flash drive that stored everything she’s ever done on every Nokia cell phone she’s used for the past two years.”
“Excellent. Thank you. What are all those pages in the binder?”
“A sample print-out on everything that he’s seen on
“Let me go over one point. . you copied everything on his computer. . including everything that he’s gathered from spying on her in his company computer?”
“Ja.”
Sohlberg mused over the explosive and intrusive nature of the material that Gunnar Haugen had collected on his wife. The chess player and lawyer in Sohlberg needed to make sure that a criminal prosecution or conviction would not be set aside by a court because he had illegally obtained the computer and cell phone information. He said almost causally:
“And. . technically and legally. . all that information that belongs to Nokia. . right?”
The techie said nothing. Instead he turned and looked at the Nokia Human Resources manager. The self- important but utterly forgettable manager cleared her throat and said:
“Ja Chief Inspector. . technically and legally all that information belongs to Nokia. . Every Nokia employee signs an agreement that specifies that
“Very good.” said Sohlberg. He pointed at the Nokia techie. “Constable Wangelin will you please give him your business card with your e-mail and phone.”
“Ja. As long as he’s not able to spy on me or the force.”
Sohlberg wasn’t sure if Constable Wangelin was joking or serious. Either way Wangelin made her point because the HR person immediately interjected with:
“Oh. . of course not. . we’d never snoop on the police.”
Sohlberg wasn’t so sure. But he had an investigation to complete and an arrest to make. “Ah. . before I forget. . what can you tell me about Gunnar Haugen’s computer activity on June fourth of last year?. . The day his son disappeared.”
“He was logged into one of our servers from eight in the morning to three in the afternoon. But the activity was not continuous. . only sporadic. . sometimes as much as half an hour would go by before he was active typing on the keyboard. . designing and testing software. You will find in the binder a minute-by-minute timeline of his computer activity for that day.”
“Thank you. Now. . please take us to Gunnar Haugen’s office.”
Constable Wangelin’s phone buzzed while they rode the elevator up to Gunnar Haugen’s offices on the top floor. When they got out on the lobby Wangelin pulled Sohlberg aside and said:
“Chief Inspector. . they’re on the way to the grandfather’s farm. . it’s near Hov. . on the shores of the Randsfjorden.”
“Is the grandfather still alive. . does he live at the farm?”
“No. . he died two years ago,” said Wangelin. “But let me pull up a map on my phone and have you take a look at this coincidence.”
“Come now Constable Wangelin. . there’s no such thing as a coincidence in a major crime case.”
“I know.”
The map on her cell phone screen showed Hov to be a small town located about 80 miles north of Oslo. Like Wangelin he noticed that Hov — a small cluster of homes and businesses next to the E-16 Highway to Bergen — was also about 20 miles southeast of the E-6 Highway to Trondheim.
“Well now,” said Sohlberg. “The grandfather’s farm and barn are near the E-Six Highway that Gunnar Haugen takes to drop off Karl Haugen with his mother.”
