Page 119 of Hidden in Memories
Or worked out where he was staying.
She pictures the perpetrator following Filip and Emily when they went out to eat yesterday evening. He wouldn’t have dared to attack at that point, because Filip had company. However, if he was waiting outside the restaurant when Filip came out for a smoke, he would have seen his chance.
“There’s one thing that doesn’t fit with the other murders,” Daniel says. “If we assume we’re dealing with the same perpetrator—why was Filip abducted rather than killed on the spot?”
That hadn’t occurred to Hanna. Daniel is right, it deviates from the pattern. Both Charlotte and Aada were killed in the place where theyencountered the murderer. This time he has made the effort to take his victim, which is more complicated.
The question makes her feel marginally less guilty. In a way the fact that Filip has disappeared rather than been killed gives a glimmer of hope.
It might mean that he is still alive.
“Maybe there were too many people around,” Daniel continues. “The risk of being seen was too great, so he decided to take Filip’s life somewhere else.”
Hanna understands what he means. The entrance to Supper is clearly visible from Sankt Olavs väg, which runs past the train station and through the village. There would have been plenty of people around at eight o’clock on Friday evening. After all, their eyewitness, the guy the patrol car picked up, had noticed Filip.
What happened next?
Hanna hates the thought that Filip could be lying dead somewhere because they failed to find him.
If that is the case, then everything they are doing now is too late.
“There must be other motives,” she says, mainly because she can’t bear the idea that the boy is beyond help.
“Like what?”
Hanna searches for an explanation.
“Maybe he’s sorry for what he’s done, and wants the chance to explain himself to Filip face-to-face, with no witnesses?”
The look on Daniel’s face is skeptical to say the least. “Like some kind of confession, you mean?”
To be honest, Hanna doesn’t know what she means. Her brain feels like porridge.
“When are we expecting to hear from the phone company?” she asks, her heart sinking.
“Soon, hopefully.”
They are trying to trace Filip through his phone, and have contacted the service provider to ask for a location. Under normal circumstances this shouldn’t take long, but today things are moving slowly. The fact that it is early morning and Easter Saturday doesn’t help.
They have also checked with Emily to find out if Filip has activated the find function on his phone, but she doesn’t know.
Hanna isn’t feeling very well. She sways on the chair, and Daniel gives her a searching look. “When did you last eat?”
She can’t remember; she definitely didn’t have dinner yesterday. She is faint from tiredness and the lack of food.
“I’m not sure,” she admits.
“Wait here.” He disappears to the kitchen and returns with a cup of tea and a cinnamon bun from the bag Raffe brought in earlier in the week. It has gone pretty dry, but Hanna gratefully nibbles the sweet dough, which gives her a small energy boost. Enough to remember what Henry said about the waitress who became pregnant in the 1970s, and the fact that Charlotte could have a half sibling.
She realizes they have to look into this. If the killer has gone so far as to kidnap her son, then a half brother or sister could be in danger.
She quickly shares Henry’s revelation with Daniel, who frowns at her when she has finished.
“Why didn’t you mention this at the briefing?”
Hanna stares down into her cup. The truth is that she had forgotten, but also she was embarrassed about the hours she had spent at the Villa. She is finding it difficult to look Daniel in the eye after what almost happened between her and Henry. If Emily hadn’t called, they would probably have slept together.
Not that it’s any of Daniel’s business.
