Jens Amundsen - Death on Pilot Hill

“She never mentioned Agnes Haugen?. . Think carefully before you answer.”

Olav Tveit frowned and then said:

“Maybe once or twice after she first met Agnes Haugen at the gym. . that was a month or so after Danica and I started dating.”

“What did Froken Knutsen say?”

“Just that she had met this redhead at the gym who worked out a lot and wanted to be a world champion bodybuilder. She also mentioned that Agnes Haugen had ridiculously large breast implants. We laughed about that quite a bit since a lot of the men at the gym used to ogle at Agnes working out in very tight t-shirts.”

“Did they see each other socially outside of the gym?”

“No. At least not the first couple of years after they met. But they got much closer when Danica lost her job. . that’s when I noticed changes to Danica’s personality and outlook. . all of the sudden she hated men. . men were controlling good-for-nothing abusers of women.”

“Danica went around repeating whatever Agnes spouted. . like saying that women should stick it to men and make sure men suffer for dominating women. I’m pretty sure that Agnes tried getting Danica to think she was a lesbian or bi-sexual or at the very least that she has lesbian tendencies that she needs to explore.”

“Do you think that Agnes and Danica had an affair or physical relationship?”

“I. . I. . I’m not sure. I don’t think so.

“I saw right through Agnes’s brainwashing campaign. I warned Danica when I found out that Agnes had taken Danica to lesbian bars and left her with lesbian magazines and feminist books.

“I was amazed at how quickly Danica started repeating and believing a lot of poisonous garbage that Agnes planted inside her head. I think that Agnes Haugen played on Danica’s insecurities and Danica’s need to be loved unconditionally now that she started losing her athletic looks.”

Sohlberg nodded and wondered when was the last time that he had come across someone as manipulative and cunning as Agnes Haugen.

Olav Tveit shook his head and moaned. “Agnes Haugen destroyed my relationship with Danica.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I was forced out of a very good relationship with Danica soon after Agnes got close to Danica. You see. . we had even spoken of marriage. That became impossible when Danica told me she was not going to pay back my loan.”

“Why not?”

“Because Agnes told her that I should’ve gotten the loan down in writing. . and that since I did not do that then it meant that I intended to give her the money as a gift. In other words. . I tricked Danica into believing it was a gift and that now I’d be able to force her to do whatever I wanted by claiming the gift was a loan.”

“How much was it?”

“Six months of my old salary. . I had saved so much over the years.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want to file a criminal complaint against Froken Knutsen for taking your money under false pretenses?”

“No. No. I still love her. I’d never do that.”

“Then why did you come here?”

“To let you know that Danica would never ever harm a little boy like Karl Haugen. . no matter what you think Danica did or might have done in the disappearance of Karl Haugen.

“You see. . Danica Knutsen is smart but very gullible when it comes to other people manipulating her. She once had a boyfriend who made her buy him a motorcycle and tons of other things a few days before he left her for another woman.

“I just cannot emphasis strongly enough that Danica would never harm Karl Haugen.”

“I appreciate you coming here to put in a good word for Froken Knutsen.”

“Are you going to charge her in the kidnaping of Karl Haugen?”

“It’s too early to tell. . but you helped put a lot into context.”

A call came through to Wangelin’s cell phone. She turned to Sohlberg and whispered in his ear:

“They just drove in. . Danica Knutsen is down in the basement. They want to know if you want her brought up to interrogation room number one.”

“Ja. Let’s go.” Sohlberg turned to Olav Tveit and made a short bow that showed the policeman’s respect and appreciation for the informant. “Thank you so much for coming in Herr Tveit. We have to go now. I will see how I can help Danica Knutsen.”

“I knew you would. . I just knew it the minute I walked in and saw you. . you’re a good man.”

Sohlberg and Wangelin turned down the hallway just as Danica Knutsen was ushered into a special interview room that Sohlberg had requested. The room had a one-way mirror that looked out into the hallway so that the police in the room could observe the reaction of witnesses and suspects inside the room to those witnesses or suspects who were made to walk past the room’s window without the walking witness or suspect knowing that they were being seen from the interview room.

Constable Wangelin turned on the video and microphone and made the obligatory statements.

Frumpy and arrogant Danica Knutsen did not present a pleasant picture. She did not acknowledge Sohlberg when he walked into the claustrophobic room. He noticed that Danica Knutsen cast a lustful if not lewd look at Wangelin.

Sohlberg sat down and looked straight into Danica Knutsen’s eyes and said:

“Froken Knutsen. . the game is over. We know what you did.”

“What?”

“Ja. . we know what you did. Let’s start off with what you did three days ago when Gunnar Haugen got arrested.”

“It was high time you arrested him. He’s responsible you know.”

Sohlberg kept a bored look that said, “I know everything there’s to know about this case but I have to go through the motions and tell you this stuff because of police bureaucracy.”

Danica Knutsen shook her head in disgust. “That monster Gunnar Haugen. He’s done so many horrible things. . I’m glad you brought me here. . I want to help as much as I can to put him in prison.”

The interrogation was progressing far better than Sohlberg had hoped for in his wildest dreams. Danica Knutsen was opening doors as soon as he offered them. She was the opposite of the recalcitrant father and stepmother of Karl Haugen.

“What has Karl’s father done that’s so monstrous?” said Sohlberg. “What horrible things has he done?”

“Uhhh!. . You name it,” yelled Danica Knutsen. “He’s verbally and physically abusive to Agnes. He ignored her and treated Karl as if he didn’t exist. He’s a controlling manipulative man.”

Sohlberg noticed that even while Danica Knutsen cast aspersions on Karl’s father she was sneaking appreciative glances at Constable Wangelin. He wondered how badly Agnes Haugen had lied to Danica Knutsen about the so-called monstrous behavior of Gunnar Haugen. He also wondered how Agnes Haugen had taken advantage of Danica Knutsen’s obvious preference for women.

“Froken Knutsen. . please be more specific about the horrible things Gunnar Haugen has done. . especially as to Karl’s disappearance.”

“For starters he’s the one who made Karl switch his science fair project from icebergs to red-eye tree frogs. . that’s the kind of insensitive beast that he is.”

“What else?”

“He’s the one who suggested that Agnes drive his pickup truck that day. . he’s the one who insisted on staying home from work that day. . he’s the one who wanted Agnes to take Karl to the doctor on a Friday. . he’s the one who told Agnes not to pack Karl’s lunch for that Friday. . he’s the one who asked Agnes to drive around town for the baby’s medicines. . he’s the one who suggested she take the baby on a long drive to calm the baby down. . He planned everything that happened that Friday. . don’t you see?”

“No. Please explain.”