Page 117 of Hidden in Memories
The tears begin to flow as she makes her way down the stairs. She switches on the light and starts loading the dirty clothes into the machine. Her shoulder aches when she bends forward. It is so stiff thatshe can’t reach properly, in the end she has to kneel down to push things into the drum.
When she gets up she notices something white in the gap between the tumble dryer and the washing machine. She grabs hold of it and out comes a white sports sock. It is Ogge’s; it must have been the one that was missing when she did his laundry the other day.
As she brings it into the light she stiffens. It is covered in dried patches of something red. If she didn’t know better she would think it was ... blood.
She sniffs cautiously. It smells unpleasant, and it frightens her.
Tiina stares at the sock. There is no doubt that it is the one that she couldn’t find on Sunday night.
She drops it as if it is red hot. Then she goes over to the drying cupboard where she had hung everything up. Nothing is left. That can mean only one thing.
Ogge has fetched the washing himself.
This is another thing he never does, and Tiina leaves the cellar and rushes up to the bedroom. She yanks open the door of his closet and checks the drawer where he keeps his T-shirts. The freshly washed top is lying there. He hasn’t bothered to fold it properly as she does, just bundled it in with everything else.
She picks it up and holds it in front of her. Goes over to the window to see better. It has been washed, but it isn’t as clean as it might be. In the bright daylight she can see faint shadows of something that appears to have splattered all across the chest.
She sinks down on the bed.
Her head is spinning.
If there was blood on the sock, there could have been blood on the T-shirt too. There could have been blood on all his clothes, which was why he washed them right away. But he has got bloodstains on him before. She doesn’t know how many times he has come back fromthe moose hunt with clothes that needed several washes before they were clean.
If he had put everything in the laundry basket on Sunday night she would have found it the following day, and she would have thought nothing of it.
Or would she?
The hunting season has been over for a long time.
Last night she was convinced that Ogge was having an affair. It would explain so much—his irritability, the mysterious scooter trips in the middle of the night, the increased alcohol consumption over the past year, the growing bitterness.
She had thought that the worst that could happen would be him wanting a divorce.
Now there could be another explanation, one that is far more terrifying.
One that she hardly dares think about.
94
In the pale morning light, Daniel can see that Hanna is almost transparent with exhaustion. Her hair is more tousled than ever, and she has dark circles under her eyes. Apparently she has been up all night, and he is equally concerned about Filip’s disappearance.
He can’t help reproaching himself.
Shouldn’t they have realized that Charlotte’s son could be in danger, after the murders of his mother and Aada Kuus?
He hears his inner critical voice asking how he could allow the boy to be kidnapped before their very eyes.
The whole team is gathered around the table in the conference room. It is seven o’clock in the morning, and Anton and Raffe are sitting next to Daniel and Hanna. So is Birgitta Grip, who stayed over in Åre. Everyone has been called in at short notice.
It is Easter Saturday, but that is the last thing on their minds.
A call has gone out for Filip Wretlind, and all patrols in the region have been informed. Given the circumstances, the case is being treated as an abduction. Filip has probably been taken away, presumably by the same person who is behind the two murders.
A patrol is on the way to Supper to see if there are any traces of Filip or the kidnapper. The parking lot at the train station will also be searched.
The hypothesis is that the kidnapper left his car there and dragged Filip across the road. They have no idea where he went after that, but they have posted information on the police home page and on local Facebook groups. They have also contacted Missing People to ask for assistance.
Daniel has a sudden flashback to the case involving Amanda eighteen months ago, when Missing People helped with the search.
