Chapter 111
It is almost six thirty in the evening, and Hanna can feel that she has been on the phone for many, many hours. Her back is protesting and her glutes are stiff. There is an ache just below one ear, even though she is using a headset.
“You just don’t get it!” Mogren yells.
“I’m sorry,” Hanna says, backing off immediately.
They have started to talk about how badly his mother was treated after the brutal rape.
“She had to carry all the blame, and she lost her job even though she was the victim. Her parents kicked her out, she had nowhere to go.”
“It sounds terrible. I can’t begin to imagine what it must have been like.”
Mogren has been repeating the same thing for the last hour. It really is a dark and tragic story, and Hanna’s heart bleeds for the young woman.
“That fucking hotel only wanted to protect its own reputation.” He lowers his voice, as if the rage triggered by his memories is threatening to choke him. “They didn’t care what happened to my mom. Or me. They can burn in hell. Just like the vile creature who is supposed to be my father!”
“What do you mean?” Hanna rests her chin on her hand to ease the tension in the back of her neck.
“He got away scot-free. No one held him accountable; it was only my mom who had to pay. He carried on with his life as if nothing had happened, while she worked her fingers to the bone to bring me up alone. And then she came back.”
“She” is Charlotte.
Little by little Hanna has teased out the motive behind the first murder.
What happened when Charlotte began to stay at Copperhill on a regular basis, and Mogren realized whose daughter she was.
How the sight of her made him increasingly frustrated.
Her snobbish big-city attitude brought back everything his mother had told him.
Terrible childhood memories came swirling to the surface.
Charlotte’s plans to restore the Storlien mountain hotel to its former glory infuriated him. He couldn’t bear the thought of the place coming back to life.
It would be a constant reminder of what his mother had been forced to go through.
Ever since he was a little boy, she had imprinted his father’s name, Curt Wretlind, in the child’s mind. He grew up with the story of the man who had behaved with such ruthless cruelty, he was reminded over and over again that Curt refused to accept responsibility for his son.
During all those years Erik attempted to make contact only once, and Curt refused to have anything to do with him. He denied paternity, told him never to contact him again. If Erik made the slightest attempt to contact Curt’s wife or other children, he would regret it.
In the end the dam broke.
It was the evening when he witnessed the altercation at reception, when he saw how badly Charlotte behaved toward Paul Lehto.
It proved once and for all that she was exactly like her father.
She simply took what she wanted and treated everyone else like shit.
Curt Wretlind’s egotistical, self-obsessed bloodline had continued, and it was unbearable.
Okay, so the original perpetrator was dead, but Charlotte was very much alive.
That was when Erik made his decision.
He had dreamed of punishing her. That was why he took her key card in an unguarded moment. Now it was clear what he had to do. It was as if fate was directing his actions.
Deep down it was all about penance and atonement. Someone had to pay for what Curt had done.
That was why Filip had to be removed too, according to Erik’s twisted logic.
Daniel hands Hanna a bottle of Coca-Cola. She drinks gratefully. She isn’t hungry, but is beginning to feel dehydrated. The slight pressure over her temples is a sure sign.
Erik Mogren and poor Filip must also be suffering from the lack of food and drink.
However, it does feel as if they are making some progress. Over the past hour Erik hasn’t sounded quite as aggressive. His mood swings have become less frequent, and a few times he has even asked for Hanna’s opinion.
She hopes this means that she is getting through to him.
“What can I do for you?” she says when a natural pause arises.
“I’m hungry.”
This is the first time during the entire conversation that he has diverted from his main theme—bitterness because of the assault almost fifty years ago, and its consequences.
“I’m sure you must be—we’ve been talking for a long time. I’d be hungry too if I were you.”
“I want a pizza from Flamman.”
Hanna recognizes the name of the nearby restaurant. “I’m sure we can arrange that. Shall I order one for Filip too?”
“Fuck him.”
Hanna wonders if the time is right to make another attempt to speak to Charlotte’s son.
It’s make or break.
“I’d really like to hear him say he doesn’t want anything, if that’s okay with you?”
Silence.
When Hanna looks down she realizes she has her fingers crossed. It’s childish, but she really hopes she will be able to speak to Filip.
“Wait a minute.”
She hears Erik’s footsteps moving across the floor. Then comes another voice, weak and strained, but she recognizes it.
Filip. He sounds terrified.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Filip,” she says, as gently as she can. “It’s Hanna from the police in ?re. How are you doing?”
“Help me,” he whispers.
“He’ll be fine as long as no one tries to get in here,” Erik says.
“I promise we won’t come in without your agreement,” Hanna assures him, just as she has done several times already. It is a huge relief to hear Filip’s voice.
He’s alive.
“Tell her about the gasoline,” Erik says in the background.
“He’s splashed gasoline all over me,” Filip sobs, on the verge of hysteria. “It’s everywhere.” He is wheezing, and suddenly he yells, “He’s going to kill me! You have to break in!”
“Shut the fuck up!”
The sound of several blows makes Hanna recoil. Then there is a faint whimpering that seems to come from Filip.
It is horrible to hear him being mistreated and knowing she cannot intervene. She could scream with frustration.
Seconds pass. She hears muffled sobs in the background, then Erik is back on the line.
“I want a moose meat pizza and a Coca-Cola.”
His voice is ice cold. It is as if the meaningful conversations of the past few hours never happened.
The sight of Filip seems to have fanned the flames of his rage.
“If you make the slightest attempt to get in when you leave the food, I will set fire to the gasoline. The whole place will be razed to the ground.”
Hanna swallows hard. Daniel, who has positioned himself beside her, is ashen-faced.
This is much worse than they could have imagined. One wrong step and Filip will die.
“I hear what you’re saying. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
She has to get through to Mogren, she can’t lose him now.
Her mouth is dry as she pleads with him.
“Please, Erik. Don’t do anything stupid that you’re going to regret.”