33

That’s all she said?” Eik asked as they neared St. Hans Psychiatric Hospital.

All the way to Roskilde, Louise had been trying desperately to call Camilla back, but her phone was busy.

“Did she say why Sune went home with them?”

Louise shook her head. “She said it would be easier to explain when we got there. But she was scared. All I know is, somebody broke in while they were asleep and took the boy.”

“He could have left of his own free will,” Eik said. He’d already said that, several times.

“He could have. It’s the most obvious explanation, but somebody did break in. Apparently, there’s no doubt about that. I just don’t understand the bit about the declaration of war, or how they got the boy to go with them.”

She spotted the two stone pillars marking the entrance of Ingersminde. Charlie perked up in the back of the car when Eik pulled into the long driveway and floored it. The car slid to a halt in front of the broad stone stairs, and before he’d killed the engine Camilla had stepped outside. She stood in her pajamas, pale as a sheet. She waved them in. “There’s something you have to see,” she said, and immediately she hurried into the large hall.

The house was quiet. A jacket had been tossed on the floor; Frederik’s rubber boots stood beside the door to the kitchen. Through the kitchen windows looking out on the enormous lawn, Louise noticed Frederik and the manager by the path that led into the forest, the start of the old Death Trail.

Camilla turned to make sure they were behind her, then she walked out into the small hallway behind the kitchen and opened the outside door. She stepped aside and let them by.

A post had been stuck into the ground. On top of it was a large, black horse’s head.

Louise froze. Eik bumped into her from behind, and she stepped on his foot. He grabbed her shoulders to steady her. The horse’s head had been cut off far down the neck; its mane lay draped over the post like a veil. Black, dead eyes stared at them. A few big blowflies buzzed around the corners of the eyes and the bloody bottom of the neck.

“What in hell is this?” She pushed at Eik to get away from it.

“Frederik calls it a nithing pole,” Camilla said. She sounded feeble. She led Louise back into the kitchen while Eik walked over the lawn to join Frederik and Tønnesen. “It’s part of the old Nordic religion. It means that someone has cast a spell on us.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like this,” Louise said. Her legs were still shaky.

“He says it’s like when the Viking ships sailed in with a dragon head carved into the stem. It was considered an act of aggression.”

Camilla sat down and pulled a chair over for her bad leg. “God knows where they got the head. Everyone around here has horses. I hope it’s not one from close by. The whole area will be screaming!”

Louise walked over to the Nespresso machine and asked what Camilla wanted.

“Strong, big, with milk.” Camilla leaned over. “I started crying, I was so scared.” She breathed deeply for a moment before straightening up. Louise handed her the coffee.

“First thing in the morning,” Camilla said, “I open the door and step outside. We eat breakfast on the terrace when the weather’s good.” She looked up at Louise. “I didn’t see it until I was standing right in front of it.”

Louise watched through the window as Eik let Charlie out of the car. He ran across the lawn, his snout to the grass. “How long have you been hiding the boy, and why didn’t you tell us? You knew we were looking for him!”

“We weren’t hiding him.” Camilla held the coffee mug with both hands and stared down into the foam.

“You do realize, don’t you, that a young woman has in all probability been murdered in your forest. Sune might be an important witness, but instead of calling the police and saying you found the boy, you do nothing. Until you let our witness disappear again.” Louise’s hands were shaking with fury, but she knew she had to get hold of herself, to focus. “How long have you been hiding him from the police?”

Now it was Camilla’s turn to explode. She slammed the mug down, splashing coffee onto the table. “I haven’t been hiding him, goddamn it. Not from the police. Something terrible happened yesterday evening, and we took care of him. The only person we hid him from was the idiot dragging him over to a car.”

She shook her head and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she explained that she and Frederik had been taking some supplies out to him.

“We heard screams, and we saw a man dragging him on the ground. We did what anyone would have done; we brought him back to safety.”

“What anyone would have done is to call the police,” Louise said.

“Damn it, Louise! We wanted to, but he wouldn’t have come with us if we did. Besides, he needed somewhere safe, a meal, and a shower.”

“Did he speak with his father out in the forest?”

Camilla’s explanation had eased her somewhat. And she had to admit that she probably would have done the same thing. The well-being of the boy came first, of course it did.

Camilla nodded. “I don’t know how long they spoke; we didn’t get there until Sune started screaming, and Frederik ran over to him. Then I followed him to his camp, but his father had disappeared.”

Before Louise could ask about the man who had abducted Sune, Camilla shoved a scrap of paper across the table. “This is the man’s license plate number. You can check it out. It was a black four-wheel-drive, Frederik said.”

She paused for a moment. “Sune was shaking like a leaf when he ran over to me. He was so scared. This may be just another case for you, but that boy screamed like it was life or death. And he was in shock.”

Louise nodded. She read the license plate and was immediately stunned; she recognized the ST in front of the numbers. That those two letters and her friend’s description pointed to Thomsen’s four-wheel-drive didn’t surprise her. But knowing that he was a step in front of them made her skin crawl.

“How much did Sune tell you?” The three men and the dog were walking across the lawn now, back to the house.

Camilla shook her head. “Nothing. Only that now they were after his father, too, because he tried to protect Sune. He looked terrible, and he had no place to go. That’s why Frederik told him he could stay with us. But he wasn’t in any shape to answer questions; he needed to sleep before we tried to find out anything more. He was sleeping like a rock in the guest room beside yours when I went to bed.”

“Would you have heard if the boy got up and tiptoed out during the night?”

“No, I doubt we would have. But the kitchen door was broken into from the outside. And he could have just unlocked the door and walked out.”

Louise thought for a second. “You’re sure his father was protecting him against the other man?”

“I didn’t see it, but that’s what he said. I only saw the man who hit Frederik before he drove off. Actually, I only saw him from behind. But like I say, the boy was totally shaken up and very afraid for his father. He said that his father had tried to stop the man who’d taken him.”

“And you saw the man?”

“I told you, only his back. It wasn’t light enough to see a whole lot. Mostly, I saw a shadow walking away.” Camilla rubbed her forehead with her fingers. “I don’t know what shocked the boy most, seeing his father get hit or the argument between the two men.”

“He might’ve been surprised that his father was defending him,” Louise suggested. “He might have felt he didn’t need to hide anymore, knowing that his father would fight for him.”

Camilla frowned. “Why in the world would anyone put their child in a situation like this?” she mumbled.

The men walked in. “No doubt about it,” Frederik said, “they used the old trail to get up here.” He set coffee mugs on the table. “The grass has been trampled, and it looks like there’s been a struggle.”

Louise glanced at Eik. “Let’s go. We need to find the butcher, and I have a feeling we need to find him fast.”