Death on Pilot Hill

doctor on Friday June four instead of Friday June eleven. Then you switched your dates and statements and told the school and our investigators that you had always told the teacher that Karl would be at the doctor on the next Friday. . June eleven.”

“I never spoke to the teacher before Friday June four. My wife handled all school matters for Karl.”

Sohlberg stared at Gunnar Haugen. Sohlberg was elated that the father had taken another step to implicate or blame Agnes Haugen in a felony crime. But now the time had arrived to change topics before Haugen could carefully think about Sohlberg’s questions and even more important Haugen’s own answers.

“Herr Haugen. . children repeat whatever they hear their parents say at home. They are little tape recordings. Wouldn’t you agree Herr Haugen?”

“I don’t know.”

“You son repeated many interesting things at school about you and your wife. Did you know that?”

“He could’ve been repeating things he heard at his mother’s home up in Namsos.”

“So you do admit that children repeat what they hear at home.”

“You’re talking about a hypothetical. . that Karl supposedly repeated what he might have heard at my house. So I offered you an alternative that’s reasonable. Anyway. . this is all theory.”

“Actually it’s not Herr Haugen. Your son yelled ‘I hate you. I hate you.’ Now. . where would he have heard that?”

“I. . I don’t know.”

“But you do know Herr Haugen. . you know but you just won’t tell me the truth. . that’s part of your family’s many secrets ain’t it?. . Never tell. . just keep quiet and pretend to be happy. . right?”

Silence. Sohlberg worried because he could again see and feel Gunnar Haugen literally withdrawing from the room in mind and soul if not body. Sohlberg moved quickly to offer another door to Gunnar Haugen. This door offered Gunnar Haugen an excuse for kidnaping or harming his son. Sohlberg shrugged and said:

“Herr Haugen. . I know how people live with deep horrible secrets. . then one day they just can’t go on and they go crazy and explode. You see. . I know one of your secrets. . ”

Silence.

“Your wife. I know all about her.”

Haugen’s eyes narrowed and then closed shut.

“Ja. . I know all about her many many lies to trap you in a loveless marriage.”

Silence.

“I know about her lying to you about being born to a wealthy family.”

Silence.

“I know about her playing on your sympathy for those who are adopted like you.”

Silence.

“I know about her playing on your feelings about being a single father who needed a care-giver for his son. . and who better than an elementary school teacher?”

Silence.

“I know about her pretending to want a career in education only to turn down a good job offer teaching at a school because she instead preferred your offer of marriage. . which meant she no longer had to work for a living. I also know that she lied to you about not being materialistic when she has a long track record of using men to get material possessions.”

“I love my wife and she loves me.”

Sohlberg wondered if the statement was part of Gunnar Haugen’s natural instinct to deny the reality of his loveless marriage. Was Gunnar Haugen’s profession of love meant to protect Agnes Haugen? Or was it maybe meant to protect Gunnar Haugen by making his marriage appear to be that of a loving couple?

“Herr Haugen. . what kind of woman tells lies about not being able to have children and then magically cranks out a baby that will keep you paying child support for a long long time if you get a divorce.”

Silence.

“I know about your wife pretending to like being a stay-at-home wife when. . in fact. . she’s likes to party around with other men.”

Silence.

“I know about the many men she has had sex with while you were here at Nokia working hard.”

“I. . I love my wife and she loves me,” said a robot-like Gunnar Haugen.

“I know for a fact that your wife sent x-rated e-mails and nude pictures to one of your best high school friends who showed up to help search for your son.”

Silence.

“I also know that she sent text messages to one of her men friends and offered to pay him half of your life insurance proceeds if he’d erase you out of the picture.”

“She jokes around a lot.”

“Why are you protecting this woman?” shouted Sohlberg who grew increasingly furious at Gunnar Haugen’s refusal to cast suspicion on his wife. “Is she blackmailing you?”

“She loves me.”

“She can’t blackmail you any more because we just arrested your brother for molesting a teenage girl. . he told us about your grandfather molesting him and you at the barn in his farm near Hov.”

Sohlberg expected more silence and withdrawal. Instead he got an angry reaction from Gunnar Haugen who yelled:

“That never. . never happened to me!”

“Why would your brother lie?” said Sohlberg who was amazed at how this man could live with so many painful secrets. “Why would a pedophile like your grandfather only molest your younger brother and leave you alone?”

Silence.

“Has your wife ever threatened to tell the police that you molested your son because your grandfather molested you and your brother?”

Silence.

“Is that your non-answer?. . I’ve read one of her e-mails to one of her men friends. . she wrote him that she was worried that you may’ve harmed Karl or kidnaped him because you probably molested Karl. . she wrote that molestation victims tend to be molesters themselves.”

Silence and a blank stare.

“What would you say was Karl’s demeanor and behavior during the four weeks before he was kidnaped?”

“Normal.”

“Really?. . Normal?. . That directly contradicts what you and your wife told the school and the teacher. . you told them that Karl was acting strangely. . staring into space. . distracted. . and even angry.”

“I only repeated what my wife observed. . she spent much more time with my son than I did. She was. . is a professional. . a school teacher trained to observe these problems.”

Sohlberg looked as if he had just swallowed a spoonful of lutefisk. Just the thought of the traditional Norwegian dish made Sohlberg feel like retching. He hated the gelatinous cod fish cooked with caustic lye and lots of boiling.

“Herr Haugen. . you’re feeding me a lot of lies.” Sohlberg studied Gunnar Haugen’s stoic stone-face which meant that the engineer was either gullible in the extreme or a brilliant manipulator.

“I’m not lying to you. My wife carefully observed Karl. She knew what she was talking about when she said he was acting strange. . having seizures.”

Sohlberg shouted:

“Is she a doctor? How would she know if he was suffering from seizures?. . Don’t you know Herr Haugen. . what your wife was doing behind your back when she went around telling people that Karl was acting strange?”

“No. What? You tell me!”

“She told everyone at school and the gym and all of her friends. . and Karl’s mother. . that Karl had begun behaving oddly. . weird when he started the second grade. . that he was distracted. . that