to the police makes any sense.”
Sohlberg expected an indignant outburst or at the very least a protestation of innocence. He got neither from Haugen who remained wrapped in his silent stoic mantle.
“Why didn’t you go into work on the Friday that your son disappeared?”
“Our daughter had been up all night crying. I felt too tired to put in an honest day’s work.”
“And yet you supposedly worked all day on your computer at home from eight in the morning until three in the afternoon.”
Haugen said nothing.
“Whose idea was it for you to stay home that day?”
“I. . I don’t know. I guess both of us. My wife needed me to stay with the baby while she took Karl to the science fair.”
“Who packed Karl’s lunch for that Friday?”
“I. . I don’t know.”
“Who usually packed his lunch?”
“Well. . it depends. . some days I did. . others day my wife.”
“So you’re a top up-and-coming manager at Nokia. . and you’re also going to Business School and yet you have the time to prepare his lunch?”
“I. . ja.”
“Why doesn’t your wife prepare his lunch all the time?”
Silence.
“Herr Haugen. . your wife’s unemployed. She has all the time in the world to pack his lunch. She seems to be in very good health. So. . tell me. . why doesn’t your wife prepare Karl’s lunch
“That’s just the way it is.”
“I see. We just have to take your word for it. Right?”
Silence.
“Can anyone corroborate your claim that you sometimes packed his lunch?”
“I. . ”
Sohlberg took out a Polaroid picture of Karl’s backpack. The picture was taken by the police at Froken Boe’s room on the day of the disappearance. Sohlberg pointed at the picture and said, “Is this your son’s backpack?”
“I think it is. Ja. . Maybe.”
“I’ve looked inside that backpack. . and guess what? There was no lunch in the backpack.”
Silence.
“No lunch. . that means only one thing Herr Haugen. You or your wife or both of you never expected Karl to be around to eat his lunch at school. That’s why one of you didn’t pack his lunch. That was a major slip-up. Do you care to explain it?”
Silence.
Sohlberg noticed that Gunnar Haugen’s right eye was flickering wildly.
Was Gunnar Haugen trying to figure out what lie to tell about the missing lunch?
“There’s another very odd thing that I found,” said Sohlberg who switched topics to keep Gunnar Haugen off balance. “I read the transcript of your third interview and found something rather unusual.”
Silence.
“You stated that your wife Agnes Haugen is a very good mother. Is that true?”
He nodded.
“Please answer me with words Herr Haugen. The tape recorder can’t pick up your head nodding. . so I guess for the record that means yes. Anyway. . you told us that your wife taught Karl sign language at age six. Ja?”
“Ja.”
“And yet Karl is not deaf. . his doctor told us that he is a perfectly normal child from a medical and physical point of view.”
“He is.”
“So he’s not deaf?’
“No.”
“Then why would your wife teach him sign language?”
“I. . well. . you know. . she’s a teacher. . she has a master’s degree in education and a license to teach elementary school.”
“But she’s not licensed to teach deaf children. . is she?”
“I. . I don’t know.”
“She never taught sign language to Thor. . her first son. . did she?”
“I. . I don’t know.”
“One last time Herr Haugen. . why would your wife teach your son sign language when he’s not deaf?”
Silence.
“Herr Haugen. . did your wife teach sign language to Karl so that they could communicate in secret?”
Gunnar Haugen’s eyes dimmed.
Sohlberg’s throat tightened as he realized how out of touch this man was to the reality of his home life where his wife led a separate parallel existence.
“Herr Hagen! Look at me. Did your wife secretly and silently signal your son instructions in sign language for him to leave the school that Friday June fourth?”
Sohlberg looked straight into Gunnar Haugen’s eyes. But the engineer had shut down. His tightly closed eyes told Sohlberg and the world one message: “Leave me alone!” Sohlberg could literally see and feel that the man was withdrawing to some distant place where no one could intrude.
“Herr Haugen. . you and your wife both told investigators that your son suffered from seizures and yet his doctor says that is not true and has never been true. So tell me. . whose idea was it to create the fake illness about seizures?”
Silence.
“Whose idea was it to use a non-existent illness to confuse the teacher and the school about which Friday Karl would not be at school but on a doctor’s visit?”
Silence.
“Constable Wangelin. . please arrest Herr Haugen if he does not answer my questions.”
The tinkling sound of Wangelin’s handcuffs brought Gunnar Haugen back into the room.
“What?. . What do you want to know?”
“Why did you sign that vague letter to the school telling them that your son would miss school on Friday because of a doctor’s appointment and yet you did not date the letter. . nor did you specify exactly which Friday he would be gone from school.”
“Well. . that’s just the way it was written. I can’t change the past.”
“But you Herr Haugen are a senior high-level manager at a huge multinational corporation. .
“My wife typed the letter. I just signed it.”
Sohlberg wanted to smile. The father had finally opened the door that offered him a way to implicate or blame Agnes Haugen in the disappearance of his son.
“Herr Haugen. . it’s incredible that you of all people signed such a vague note. . a piece of nonsensical verbiage that resulted in so much confusion. . thanks to that misleading note of yours the school was not able to react fast enough to your son’s disappearance. Thanks to your note the search for
Silence.
“You also made verbal statements to the teacher that made her think that your son Karl was visiting the
