The Killing Forest by Sara Blædel Read Free Book Online Page B

sweatshirt with everything inside and laid it in the hollow tree. “Let’s drive over to his parents and give them the news before we inform social services.”

9
    N either of them spoke until they arrived in Hvalsø.
    Louise gave him directions at the roundabout, steering him out of town and over the hill before the asphalt road turned to gravel.
    “Why oh why is that boy living out in the rain and mud instead of relaxing in his nice, warm room at home?” Eik asked.
    She shrugged. It wasn’t unusual for kids to run away from home. Or for them to return, either voluntarily or when they were found.
    The butcher’s house was one of the last on the road. An old friend from school had lived in the first house, and they had often ridden horses on the gravel road leading into the forest.
    She motioned for Eik to pull in. On the right side of the driveway stood a big chestnut tree, like a giant parasol shading most of the farmyard. The three-winged house had stable doors on every wing and a thatched roof overhanging the windows, like thick hair over a forehead. A white van was parked by the green front door.
    Louise took stock of the place a moment before walking up to the door. She was fairly confident that the butcher didn’t know who had turned him in about the meat back then, yet she had butterflies in her stomach when she grabbed the heavy knocker and let it fall against the brass back plate.
    A moment later the door opened. There he stood, only slightly taller than her. His ranginess had vanished and his round cheeks had spread to the rest of his body. The open expression on his face suddenly closed; clearly, he’d been expecting someone else. He casually stepped back and looked expectantly at her without speaking. She could tell he didn’t recognize her.
    Something in his eye jogged her memory. She knew Klaus had been with him the evening before his death. That Lars had agreed to come by and help him carry their double bed upstairs while she was in Roskilde, at the Gnags concert with Camilla.
    Louise had completely forgotten that. Just as she had repressed all the too-painful details. She didn’t even know if the bed had been moved upstairs, because she didn’t go inside the house after she found Klaus hanging in the hallway. And she’d never returned.
    Her little brother Mikkel, her parents, and Camilla had packed her things and taken them to Lerbjerg. Klaus’s parents had dealt with all his belongings. They told Louise that she was welcome to anything they had bought together, but she had politely declined. All of it had been recycled.
    A shadow passed over the butcher’s face when he finally recognized her. He lowered his eyes to the level of her throat to avoid eye contact. He still hadn’t said anything and she couldn’t find a way to get started, until Eik saved her by announcing that they wanted to talk about his son.
    “Police,” the butcher said, nodding as he stepped aside. “I don’t know if my wife is awake. She’s not doing so well. I thought you were the nurse; it’s been over an hour since I called.”
    “I’m very sorry to hear that,” Eik said.
    “Have you found him?”
    The butcher looked up at Eik, who was already halfway into the hall. He seemed uneasy, fearful.
    “No, we haven’t found your son yet,” Louise said. Quickly, she stepped inside. “We’d like to talk to you about him, and why he might possibly be hiding in the forest close to Roskilde.”
    The butcher got in her face. “Let’s get something straight right now. If you’ve been listening to that schoolteacher, you need to know he’s full of shit. I don’t want to hear it. My son isn’t hiding. Why the hell should he be?”
    Louise was so surprised by this outburst that for a moment she stood speechless, staring at the Thor’s hammer hanging from a silver chain around the man’s neck.
    Eik walked into the kitchen and asked where they could sit and talk. The butcher turned his back on Louise and motioned