‘What did the doctor say?’
‘Malin is telling the truth,’ Curry replied. ‘She has been in and out of institutions since she was a kid. If the man I spoke to really was a doctor, then this case is so strange that I don’t know what to believe any more.’
‘Did he tell you what she suffers from?’
‘No, Doctor-patient confidentiality and all that, but he was happy to confirm that she’s off her trolley.’
‘Curry…’
‘Mentally ill – dammit, Anette, that woman has killed four children and I have to watch my tongue?’
‘Make sure he is a real doctor and get someone to run a check on Maiken Storberget.’
‘Who’s she?’
Anette nodded in the direction of the room.
‘Stoltz?’
‘So she says. Please?’
‘Sure,’ Curry said.
Anette returned to the interview room and restarted the recorder.
‘Friday, 4 May 2012, the time is 22.40, present is Police Prosecutor Anette Goli, who is interviewing Malin Stoltz.’
‘Maiken Storberget,’ Stoltz said, but suddenly she didn’t seem quite so sure.
‘What would you like me to call you?’ Anette asked her kindly.
‘Maiken, I think,’ Malin said.
‘Right, Maiken it is. Would you like some more water, Maiken?’
‘No, thank you, this is fine.’
‘Do you know why you’re here, Maiken?’
‘Yes, because Karen and I tricked the old people. I’m so sorry.’
‘That’s not why you are here, Maiken.’
‘Isn’t it?’
Maiken Storberget, formerly known as Malin Stoltz, gave her an odd look.
‘Are you quite sure that you don’t want a lawyer present?’
‘Yes, I’m sure. So why am I here?’
‘You’re suspected of the murder of four girls aged six and the abduction of six-year-old Marion Munch.’
‘Oh… no, no, no, no.’
‘You need to sit down, Maiken.’
‘Oh no, no… no, no, I’m telling you, no, I haven’t got anything to do with that. Oh no. No, no, no.’
Anette already regretted agreeing to taking off her handcuffs. Maiken Storberget looked as if she was about to harm herself.
‘Please sit down, Maiken.’
‘I’ve got nothing to do with that.’
‘Please sit down, Maiken.’
‘That business, oh, no, no, no. I didn’t do it, I’m telling you.’
‘If you promise me that you’ll sit down, then I’ll listen to you, how about that?’ Anette said in her nicest voice, her finger edging nearer the button under the table. She was reluctant to summon uniformed officers; that would be only a last resort.
Maiken Storberget looked at Anette momentarily before deciding to sit down.
‘Maiken?’
‘Yes?’
‘Let’s forget what I said, shall we?’
‘OK,’ Maiken said quizzically, and wiped away a tear.
‘What were you just telling me about?’
‘The old people?’ Maiken nodded, sitting up in the chair.
‘Which old people?’
‘Old people in care,’ Maiken said quietly. ‘I met Karen in Hønefoss. At a group for people who can’t have children. We became friends. It was her idea; she said she knew someone.’
‘Who?’
‘A priest. Well, he wasn’t a priest to begin with – I think he sold cars – but he became a priest and took money from people who were going to die.’
‘Their inheritance?’
Mia had briefed the team about the church that had been trying to con Munch’s mother out of her money.
Maiken Storberget nodded.
‘We got paid for every name we supplied them with, people who were…’
‘People who were?’
Maiken hesitated.
‘Well, you know, old, whom we might persuade to believe in God.’
She was clearly ashamed now. She wrung her thin hands in her lap.
‘And for how long did this continue?’
‘Oh, a long time. A long time. We conned a lot of people.’
The door opened and Curry entered the room. Anette spoke into the microphone.
‘The time is 22.57. Investigator Jon Larsen has just entered the room. The interview with Malin Stoltz, Maiken Storberget, continues.’
She looked up at Curry, who nodded.
‘It’s all true,’ he said.
‘So who is Karen?’ Anette said.
‘Don’t you know Karen?’ Maiken said.
‘Who is Karen?’ Curry said.
‘No, we don’t know Karen,’ Anette said.
‘I know Karen,’ said Munch, who had suddenly appeared in the room.
Anette hadn’t even heard the door open.
‘The time is 22.59. The head of the special unit, Holger Munch, has just entered the interview room,’ Anette said into the microphone.
‘Where’s Karen?’ Munch said, taking a seat at the head of the table.
Maiken Storberget looked embarrassed at Munch’s arrival. They recognized one another. And Maiken had been part of the attempt to trick the Munch family out of their inheritance.
‘I’m sorry, Holger,’ Maiken mumbled, and looked at her lap. ‘I just wanted a baby. Why can’t I have a baby when everybody else can?’
‘It’s quite all right, Malin,’ Munch said calmly, placing his hand on her shoulder. ‘I just want to know where Karen is.’
‘Maiken,’ Anette corrected him.
‘Eh?’ Munch said, turning to her.
Anette had seen her boss exhausted before, but never like this. He could barely lift his head. If she hadn’t known he never touched alcohol, she would have sworn that he had been drinking.
‘Maiken Storberget,’ Curry said, nodding to Munch to reassure him.
‘Maiken? OK, Maiken,’ Munch said. ‘Where is Karen?’
‘Oh no, no,’ Maiken said, rocking back and forth on her chair.
‘Munch?’ Anette said, but he took no notice of her.
‘I need to know where Karen is, do you understand? I have to know where she is, now!’
Munch leaned forwards and grabbed the skinny woman’s shoulders. Maiken Storberget reacted intuitively and covered her face with her hands.
‘No, no, no.’
‘Munch,’ Anette warned him.
‘Where is Karen?’ Munch shouted, shaking the frail woman.
‘Munch!’ Anette screamed.
‘Where is Karen!!’
Munch was shaking her violently now. Anette was about to get up, but Curry beat her to it. The stocky police officer put his strong arms around Munch and guided him out of the interview room.
‘Are you all right, Maiken,’ Anette said when they were alone once more.
The emaciated woman looked up at her with terrified eyes and nodded softly.
‘I just need a word with the other two, and then I’ll be back, OK?’
Maiken Storberget nodded again.
‘And, listen.’
Maiken looked up at her.
‘Yes?’
‘It will be all right. I believe you.’
Maiken wiped away a tear and nodded feebly.
‘Thank you so much.’
Anette smiled, placed her hand on her shoulder and left the room.
‘What do you think you’re doing, Munch?’
Outside in the corridor, Curry still had Munch in a tight hold.
‘Sorry,’ Munch babbled. ‘She has Marion. Karen. She has my granddaughter. She has Marion.’
‘Calm down,’ Curry said.
‘Find a cell for Maiken,’ Anette said calmly. ‘I’ll deal with Holger.’
Curry nodded reluctantly and released his hold on the light brown duffel coat. He returned to the interview room and left the two of them alone in the corridor.
‘Are you OK, Holger?’ Anette said, putting her hand on her boss’s shoulder.
‘She has my granddaughter,’ Munch said again.
‘Who is Karen?’ Anette said, still calm.
‘She works at the care home,’ Munch groaned. ‘She has my granddaughter, Anette. My granddaughter.’
‘We’ll find her,’ Anette said, as her mobile rang.
‘Anette speaking.’
‘Get me Holger,’ said a breathless Gabriel Mørk.
She handed the mobile to Munch.