by Willow Rose
23
WE MET at the restaurant Mama Rosa at one. I hadn’t been lying on the phone. I was starving at this point. David was already sitting inside when I entered, and the waiter showed me to the table. I had never been to this restaurant before, but loved the atmosphere. It was small, located on a small secluded street, pulled away from the main street. But, best of all, there was no one else in there. I didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing us and telling Sune. It was, after all, a small town, and people started talking very fast. Not that we were doing anything wrong. We were just two friends eating a lunch. After all, Sune was hanging out with his friend as well. I needed someone who understood me just as much as he did.
“So, what’s good here?” I asked, when the waiter had handed me the menu.
“I’ve only been here once, two days ago, but I had the risotto and it was excellent,” David said.
“I think I’ll try that, then,” I said.
David ordered the chicken Parmesan. We both had a beer.
“So, how long are you in town for?” I asked.
David leaned over and smiled. I felt a pinch in my heart. He was so handsome. His eyes felt like they could see right through me.
“I haven’t decided yet,” he said.
“Aren’t you going back to work?”
“I’m looking into it. I just don’t really know what I want, you know what I mean? My priorities have changed. I’m not striving for money and fame anymore. I don’t crave being that big journalist anymore. I just want to enjoy my life. I still want to work; I still have to put food on the table, but I’m not as career-minded as I used to be. I’m not sure it’s worth it anymore.”
“I do know what you mean,” I said, and drank from my beer. “I had to leave my job at Jyllandsposten a few years ago for the very same reason. I had to get away from my ex-husband, and I knew my daughter was more important than my career. It was tough saying goodbye to my old life, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I love it here.”
“I have the biggest respect for that; I really do,” David said.
I smiled and drank more from my beer. I looked at his hands and realized even they were handsome. He was just…such a man. I guess that was what I really enjoyed about being with him. He was older than me. He was a real grown-up.
He was everything Sune wasn’t.
“The risotto for the lady,” the waiter said, as he brought us the food. A hot plate landed in front of me and made me even hungrier than before.
“And the chicken for the gentleman.” The waiter looked at us with a smile and clasped hands. “Now, enjoy.”
I dug in as soon as the waiter turned around. David laughed. “You weren’t kidding when you told me you were starving, were you?”
“No.” I spoke with my mouth full, and held a hand up in front of my lips. “I can’t remember when I was last this hungry. Lately, my appetite has been kind of nonexistent.”
I looked at David, while realizing that I had been feeling better too. I had slept really well for the first time in a long while. And now I was eating too? It was like a cloud had been lifted from my face. Like I was waking up.
“I’m feeling it too,” David said. “Spending time with you makes me feel better. It’s like all the bad thoughts disappear when you’re around.”
Could it be? Could it be that David simply made me feel better? That we were somehow good for one another? I couldn’t believe it. Maybe I shouldn’t feel so guilty about spending time with him. I could choose to look at it as therapy.
“So, how is the case going?” he asked.
“The genderless bodies?” I asked.
I had told David everything about the case the night before.
“Yeah. Any news?”
“Not really. I can’t seem to get anywhere with it. I’ve been thinking about the clothes and the mutilations a lot. I mean, there is definitely a statement of some sort. But what is he trying to tell us?”
“You do know that the pastor was known to be very outspoken against the rights of gays getting married in the church, right?”
“No. I didn’t.”
“Well, she was. She talked about it in many interviews and in her sermons. She was the only one who refused to marry gays in her church when they said it was allowed.”
“So, you’re thinking it has something to do with homosexuals? The clothing and the mutilation of their private parts…well, that makes sense. Maybe I should look into that. But why that couple? Tina and Dan Toft were just an ordinary middle-aged couple. Why them?”
David shrugged and sipped his beer. I was getting full now and put the fork down, feeling slightly stuffed.
“I guess that’s what we should try and find out,” he said.
“We?”
“Yeah. I would like to help you. I don’t have much else to do right now, so why not?”
24
DAVID WALKED me back to my office. I felt slightly intoxicated by the entire situation and kept giggling like a schoolgirl at all of his jokes. We looked at store windows and talked about everything and nothing. It was wonderful. So wonderful I felt guilty. When I could see the newspaper’s building in the distance, I grabbed my phone from my jacket and looked at it.
I had three missed calls from the office.
“What’s wrong?” David asked.
“Something’s going on,” I said and pressed callback.
Sara sounded agitated. “Where have you been?”
“Out for lunch. The sound on my phone was turned off. What’s going on?”
“Dr. Korner has been found killed. They’re all over it on the scanner. All officers have been called to the scene.”
“I’m on it. Text me the address, and I’ll get Sune,” I said.
“I’ve tried him as well. He doesn’t answer his phone either. What is wrong with you two these days?” Sara moaned. “I can usually always get ahold of you. At least one of you.”
“He’s not answering again?” I said angrily. I tried to calm myself. “Doesn’t matter. I know where to find him.”
I hung up and looked at David. Then I found Sune in my recent calls and called again. Still no answer. I growled and hung up.
“What’s going on?” David asked.
“They found another one. Sune is not answering his phone. I don’t know what to do. I need a photographer. I don’t have time to drive all the way down to the Internet Café to pick him up.”
“They found another body?” David asked. “Boy, this guy is busy, huh?”
“You can say that again. Say, didn’t you use to do your own photos?” I asked
“Sure. I always work alone. I’m a photojournalist. I can do both. Makes it a lot easier. Why?”
“I think I have one of Sune’s cameras in the car. Would you mind helping me out?”
David smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.”
We sprang for my car, and I received the text from Sara with the address and a small message about how much she knew. I called Sune again and left a message, telling him I was going on an assignment and to remember pick up the kids today.
“Dr. Korner is apparently some therapist,” I told David, as we rushed through town. In the distance, I could hear sirens. “I have to warn you. The last murder scene wasn’t pretty; I can tell you that much. I have a feeling this won’t be any better.”
“I’ve seen my share of horror scenes when reporting from Syria,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”
“Good. Besides, we’re a little late, so we might not get to see much.”
The therapist’s clinic was located in a small farmhouse outside of town. The surroundings were quiet and would have been idyllic, if it hadn’t been for all the police cars and the ambulance parked in the front yard. I spotted my friend, Officer Pedersen, walking out of the building just as we drove up. I waved at him and jumped out. David followed with the camera in his hands. He started shooting pictures right away.
“Rebekka Franck!” Officer Pedersen said
and approached us. “Twice in one week. I can hardly believe my luck.”
I pretended to be flattered and smiled. “So, what happened here? Is it related to the three other killings?”
“You know I can’t say anything. We’ve all been told to keep quiet about this case.”
“Ah, okay,” I said, sounding disappointed. “But you can tell us who it was, right? Can you confirm the victim was Dr. Korner?”
Officer Pedersen looked at me, then looked around to see if anyone had seen us talking. Everyone seemed too busy to care. He pulled us to the side. “Yes. I can tell you it was Dr. Korner. I can tell you he was killed. I can also tell you who found him. Would that do? But you didn’t get it from me, alright?”
“That would be perfect,” I said.
“It was his secretary,” Officer Pedersen said. “She walked in and found him.”
I noted the name in my notebook, and as I thanked the officer and he turned to walk away, I suddenly stopped him.
“Excuse me?”
“Yes?”
“You’re missing your baton, Officer.”
He felt his belt. “Yes, you’re right. I must have forgotten it in my car. Silly, huh?”
I smiled. “Very.”
25
WE FOUND the secretary, Miss Nielsen, at her apartment in downtown Karrebaeksminde. We had to have Sara help us out, since all Officer Pedersen gave us was her name. I called Sara and asked her if she could help us find the address, hoping that she would be able to somehow look her up online, but there was no need to.
“I know Sandra,” she said. “She lives right downtown above SunTan, the sun tanning place. “I’ll text you the exact address. I’ll call her and ask her if she’ll want to do the interview.”
It was that easy. I thanked God for having Sara, and then waited for her to call back. It took less than five minutes.
“She’ll see you. I have to warn you, though. She’s pretty shaken up. She’s been interrogated over and over by the police until they finally drove her home less than half an hour ago. But she has agreed to talk to you. Just make it short, okay?”
“Got it.”
I looked at my watch. It was getting late. I hoped Sune had picked up the kids by now. He would have to make dinner as well. I texted him.
STILL ON JOB. IT’S GOING TO BE LATE.
That was it. I’d have to fill him in later.
Sandra Nielsen looked pretty bad when she opened the door to her apartment and let us in. Her eyes were swollen and her hand shaking badly when I shook it.
“Let’s go in the living room,” she said, and we followed her. “Help yourselves to some coffee in the kitchen, if you like. I’m sorry if I’m not much of a host.”
“That’s fine,” David said. “I’ll grab some for all of us.”
He left and came back with three cups. Sandra’s hands could hardly hold onto hers when she tried to lift it. She sniffled and wiped her nose on a napkin.
“We won’t stay long,” I said. “First of all, I would like to say I’m so sorry for what happened to your boss. How long did you work for him?”
“Ah, let me see,” Sandra said and sniffled again. “It feels like forever. Twenty years? Yeah, it’ll be twenty years this summer. Wow. I didn’t even realize it had been that long.”
I wrote it on my pad. “Time sure flies. So, tell me what happened today? I know you’ve been through this with the police, but I would be very grateful if you would repeat it for our readers.”
“I’ll be taking some photos while you talk,” David said. “Will that be okay?”
Sandra chuckled. “Oh, I’m such a mess.” She corrected her hair and wiped her nose again. “Well, I guess it’ll be alright.”
“So, tell me what happened today?”
“It was a day like any other. I mean, Dr. Korner had clients like he always has. There was nothing unusual. He had a new one at one o’clock. He seemed like a nice guy. He went in and they started their session. I…I never even heard a thing. Well, the rooms are pretty insulated; it’s kind of the idea that no one is supposed to hear what goes on in there, what they talk about, right? So, I guess that’s why I didn’t hear anything, but still. I mean…”
Sandra stopped and picked up another napkin. Tears had started rolling across her cheeks. She looked at the ceiling, trying to hold them back. “Oh it’s just…I mean, when you work with someone for this long…”
“You cared about him,” David said in between photos. “That’s only natural.”
“I mean, he could be a prick sometimes. A real bastard, and I didn’t always agree with his ideas or his methods, especially in the earlier years, but what do I know about anything? I’m just a secretary, right?”
“So, what happened? A new patient arrived; can you describe him?” I asked.
“Well, I thought I could, but the police told me he was wearing a wig and thick glasses that they later found in the garbage outside the clinic. But I do know he was tall and quite handsome. I still believe I would be able to recognize him if I saw him again, at least I hope I would. But I do remember he was wearing a blue jacket and had a backpack with him. A blue and red EastPak.”
“So, this patient, did he leave afterwards?” I asked, while writing everything she said on my pad.
“Yes. When time was up, he came out of the office. I asked him if we should schedule another appointment, and he said he would call when he had his calendar, then he smiled, waved at me, and left. There was nothing odd about his behavior. He seemed to be in a hurry to get out, but that’s not unusual. People often feel a little embarrassed coming out, especially if they’ve cried or something. It’s only natural to want to get away in a hurry. So, I didn’t take much notice of it.”
“So, what did you do after he left?” I asked. I sensed my phone was vibrating in my pocket, but ignored it. It had to wait.
“Usually, Dr. Korner brings out the patient’s files when he’s done with them, and I put them back and hand him the next patient’s files. So, I was waiting for him to come out, but when he didn’t, I walked in.”
“And what did you see?”
Sandra Nielsen started crying again. David handed her another Kleenex. “Take your time,” he said.
“He…he…” Sandra sniffled, then looked at me. “The first I saw were his legs. They were dangling in the air. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Dr. Korner was hanging from the ceiling, a rope around his neck, dressed in…Well, that was the odd part. He was dressed in women’s clothes. A red dress and black stilettos. He even had make-up on.” Sandra broke down and cried harder. “Who would do such a thing?”
“Do you know if the doctor had any enemies?” I asked.
She shook her head with a sob, crying.
“You said you didn’t always agree with his theories and methods, what did you mean by that?” I asked.
“Well, that was mostly back in the days when I just started working for him. He had this idea, him and the doctor he worked with back then. They believed that gender could be reversed. That it was something that was taught at an early age and not something you were born with. That it could be somehow reassigned with the right influences during childhood.”
“What?” I blurted out. It sounded so strange.
“It was back in the nineties. Dr. Korner and Dr. Winter worked with a lot of kids. You know boys that dressed up like girls and the other way around. Kids that believed they were born in the wrong body.”
“You mean transgender?” I asked.
She sniffled again before she sipped her coffee. “Yes. Parents would come to them and ask them to help their kids. Mostly because they didn’t want them to think they were born in the wrong body. Because they wanted their little boy to act more like a boy.”
“You’re kidding me, right?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I’m afraid not. They had this very serious research going on. Got money from the state and everything. I never liked the project much, but I’m not the one with all t
he degrees.”
“Well, I guess that would explain the woman’s outfit, then,” David said.
“You mean someone’s angry about what they did?” I asked. “I guess that is a motive. But you say you’ve never seen this patient before?”
“I don’t think so. His name was Alexander, Alexander Hansen. I didn’t recognize the name, but now that you say it, there was something vaguely familiar about him. I just can’t figure out what.”
“Maybe he’s an old patient of Dr. Korner’s?” David asked. “From when he was a child?”
“Do you really think so?” she asked. “That’s a terrible thought.”
“Do you have the journals from back then?” I asked. “Maybe we could find his name in there?”
She shook her head. “We only save them for five years. We can’t keep everything.”
“Of course not,” I said.
My phone kept vibrating in my pocket, and I finally pulled it out. The display said it was from William’s day-care mom.
“I’m sorry. I have to get this,” I said, and picked it up with my heart racing in my chest. “This is Rebekka.”
“It’s five-thirty, Rebekka,” she said from the other end. “I close at five.”
“Oh, my God. Sune didn’t pick up William?”
26
I WAS so angry I was shaking as I drove towards the day-care and picked up William. I made a million excuses to Anette, and she told me not to worry about it, just never do it again. The worst part was going to the school and picking up Tobias and Julie. The school had also tried to call me several times, and the lady in the aftercare looked at me very angrily, even after my million excuses. She wasn’t as forgiving as Anette.
“I have a life too, you know,” she said. “I have my own kids to go home to.”
It was so embarrassing.
“I’m so, so sorry. It’ll never happen again. I promise,” I said, but I could tell she didn’t believe me. I knew every aftercare experienced the moms that were always too late to pick up their kids, and now she thought I was one of them. I could tell by the way she looked at me. I had been stigmatized.
