The Disappeared by Kristina Ohlsson Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kristina Ohlsson
investigators have conducted so far – anything there?’
‘Maybe,’ Peder replied, chewing on a fingernail.
Alex gave him an encouraging look.
‘Not long after Rebecca went missing, there was a rumour that she had been selling sexual services on the Internet.’
‘We heard the same thing from her mother,’ Alex said. ‘A friend had told her.’
‘We’ll have to follow it up, but I don’t believe it.’
‘Me neither.’
‘I also heard something else that sounded more credible. Did you speak to her ex-girlfriend?’
‘Several times. Why?’
‘According to the gossip, she never got over the fact that Rebecca had dumped her, or that Rebecca regarded her as an experiment.’
Alex rubbed his hands together; it was something he often did when he was distracted, or when he was thinking. Scarred hands that had been burned, then healed. A constant memory of a case that ended in chaos, a case that had troubled their consciences for a long time.
‘There were certain indications that the ex wasn’t quite as she should be,’ Alex said. ‘She’d been in a youth psychiatric unit when she was younger; I think she’d been diagnosed as bi-polar.’
‘Any violent tendencies?’
‘Not as far as we know.’
‘We ought to check her out anyway.’
‘I agree,’ Alex said. ‘However, there is one thing I think we can be absolutely sure of.’
Peder waited.
‘She can’t possibly be the father of the child Rebecca was expecting.’
Peder grinned.
‘No, but Håkan Nilsson could have been.’
‘Absolutely.’
‘One of Rebecca’s female friends had some fairly unpleasant things to say about him. Apparently, Rebecca thought he was a real nuisance; he didn’t seem to realise they weren’t such close friends any more.’
‘In that case I think we need to have a chat with him,’ Alex said.
Peder worked late that day. He called home to let Ylva know he would be missing dinner. It was a conversation that would have triggered a huge row two years ago, but now she accepted it calmly. He and Ylva had sorted all that out when they decided not to get a divorce, but to move back in together and try again. Perhaps ‘sorted out’ was putting it too simply; the road back had been long, with many painful upsets along the way. Ylva needed time to forgive, to learn to trust him again. He also needed time to forgive himself. For all the damage he had caused. All the responsibility he had failed to accept.
The counsellor said they had to stop arguing about problems that couldn’t be solved. Peder’s job was never going to change, unless he went and did something else. However, he could try to negotiate with his employer for better terms when it came to time off in lieu, which he had done.
The reconciliation with Ylva had done him good. He had slowly begun to find his way back to the feeling of fulfilment he had enjoyed during the early years with her, when he had just joined the police and everything was going well. The birth of his twin boys had ruined everything, wrecked any attempt at a normal family life, because Ylva had suffered from serious postnatal depression. Her longing for children had turned into despair and insecurity. Peder had been unfaithful to his wife for the first time, and from then on he was caught in a downward spiral with no apparent end.
The fact that the end was not apparent did not mean it didn’t exist. It came the day he was called in to see the head of HR, and was sent on an equality course and for a programme of counselling. He had hated that old witch, punishing him for things he hadn’t done. He had hated her until the news about Alex’s wife and how ill she was became common knowledge at work, and at the same time Fredrika’s lover was involved in a serious car accident. It was as if Peder was able to gain some perspective on his own troubles, and at some point things turned around. And they had got better and better.
Peder and Alex wondered whether to bring in Håkan
‘Maybe,’ Peder replied, chewing on a fingernail.
Alex gave him an encouraging look.
‘Not long after Rebecca went missing, there was a rumour that she had been selling sexual services on the Internet.’
‘We heard the same thing from her mother,’ Alex said. ‘A friend had told her.’
‘We’ll have to follow it up, but I don’t believe it.’
‘Me neither.’
‘I also heard something else that sounded more credible. Did you speak to her ex-girlfriend?’
‘Several times. Why?’
‘According to the gossip, she never got over the fact that Rebecca had dumped her, or that Rebecca regarded her as an experiment.’
Alex rubbed his hands together; it was something he often did when he was distracted, or when he was thinking. Scarred hands that had been burned, then healed. A constant memory of a case that ended in chaos, a case that had troubled their consciences for a long time.
‘There were certain indications that the ex wasn’t quite as she should be,’ Alex said. ‘She’d been in a youth psychiatric unit when she was younger; I think she’d been diagnosed as bi-polar.’
‘Any violent tendencies?’
‘Not as far as we know.’
‘We ought to check her out anyway.’
‘I agree,’ Alex said. ‘However, there is one thing I think we can be absolutely sure of.’
Peder waited.
‘She can’t possibly be the father of the child Rebecca was expecting.’
Peder grinned.
‘No, but Håkan Nilsson could have been.’
‘Absolutely.’
‘One of Rebecca’s female friends had some fairly unpleasant things to say about him. Apparently, Rebecca thought he was a real nuisance; he didn’t seem to realise they weren’t such close friends any more.’
‘In that case I think we need to have a chat with him,’ Alex said.
Peder worked late that day. He called home to let Ylva know he would be missing dinner. It was a conversation that would have triggered a huge row two years ago, but now she accepted it calmly. He and Ylva had sorted all that out when they decided not to get a divorce, but to move back in together and try again. Perhaps ‘sorted out’ was putting it too simply; the road back had been long, with many painful upsets along the way. Ylva needed time to forgive, to learn to trust him again. He also needed time to forgive himself. For all the damage he had caused. All the responsibility he had failed to accept.
The counsellor said they had to stop arguing about problems that couldn’t be solved. Peder’s job was never going to change, unless he went and did something else. However, he could try to negotiate with his employer for better terms when it came to time off in lieu, which he had done.
The reconciliation with Ylva had done him good. He had slowly begun to find his way back to the feeling of fulfilment he had enjoyed during the early years with her, when he had just joined the police and everything was going well. The birth of his twin boys had ruined everything, wrecked any attempt at a normal family life, because Ylva had suffered from serious postnatal depression. Her longing for children had turned into despair and insecurity. Peder had been unfaithful to his wife for the first time, and from then on he was caught in a downward spiral with no apparent end.
The fact that the end was not apparent did not mean it didn’t exist. It came the day he was called in to see the head of HR, and was sent on an equality course and for a programme of counselling. He had hated that old witch, punishing him for things he hadn’t done. He had hated her until the news about Alex’s wife and how ill she was became common knowledge at work, and at the same time Fredrika’s lover was involved in a serious car accident. It was as if Peder was able to gain some perspective on his own troubles, and at some point things turned around. And they had got better and better.
Peder and Alex wondered whether to bring in Håkan