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“Sojer says he found someone who knows Kline in a different light to what he’s projecting to the world,” he says. “A former patient who says she’d been sexually assaulted by him.”
Now that’s something I wouldn’t expect from this killer. It doesn’t fit the profile I drew up. But I could be wrong.
* * *
Sojer asked us to meet him at the National Police Bureau building, and even though I’ve been in here since with no problem, the sight of its dark glass, sleek facade as we park in front of it fills me with all the dread I felt on the night I had to spend here waiting for Mark. Only some of the lights are on, because it’s so late in the day, and we find Sojer alone in one of the multi desk rooms on the third floor. There are no computers on any of the desk, save for a laptop on the one next to him, and the room smells of stale coffee, furniture polish and dust.
The overhead lights only illuminate about a third of the area where Sojer is working. He has set up a whole whiteboard, which he has covered with photos, printout, arrows and text. He’s writing something on it using a green marker as we approach.
“I’ll be with you in a sec,” he says without even glancing back at us. The frenzy with which his hand is moving as he writes reminds me of myself when I’m deep into drawing up the connections in a case I’m investigating.
I pull up one of the office chairs and sit down in it, facing the board Sojer is putting together. Mark remains standing beside me.
The board Sojer is using is about a meter and a half wide. He’s pinned pictures of the two doctors on top followed by a row of crime scene photos in chronological order, starting with Marko Ban and going all the way up to Ana Kobe. Under each of these, he also pinned a photo of them alive and completed the series with the date on which they died and their age.
Under this is the timeline of where each of the doctors worked during the years. The gaps in the killings don’t quite line up with the absences of either of the doctors, but they’re close enough to be possible.
And under this, he has written the names of two women with a question mark next to each.
He straightens up from putting down the second of these question marks and turns to us.
“I’ve spoken to this one,” he says and points at the first name—Kaja Hren. “Kline treated her for depression and suicidal ideation when she was twenty-three and she claims that he molested her while she was hypnotized.”
“He uses hypnosis?” I ask and Sojer nods.
“Him and Lap both do,” he says. “It’s something like their specialty, and the main reason why they have such a rich and distinguished clientele. A lot of very prominent people claim they were helped greatly by their hypnotherapy sessions.”
As far as I’m concerned, the use of hypnosis should be limited to helping people remember things they’ve repressed. I am not a big fan of hypnosis being used to put thoughts into people’s minds, however helpful and harmless. But then again, this could just be my prejudice and fear of the unknown speaking.
Sojer walks over to the printer on the other side of the room and returns with a stack of color printouts of women.
“I believe there is a dark underbelly to what Lap and Kline do, though,” he says. “I think their hypnosis therapy has left a lot of women, and possibly men, even more traumatized that they already had been.”
“How did you come across this Kaja Hren?” Mark asks and the skepticism in his voice makes Sojer look at him sharply, angrily even.
“Since I was told to stay away from the doctors themselves, I decided to interview some of the people they used to work with,” he says. “Visiting the psychiatric hospital, where both of them worked for a period of about eight years led me to Ms. Hren. She’s a patient there and has been, on an off, for the past ten years. As for the second name on the list, Mojca Kos, she’s also there, but on the closed ward. Her doctor wouldn’t let me see her, but confirmed that she is suffering from severe post traumatic shock after being raped several times by a person she trusted. She claims it was her psychiatrist who raped her, but the one treating her thinks she may be projecting and that someone else was actually her attacker. Her step-father, they believe.”
Mark doesn’t say anything, and I glance at him to try and see what he’s thinking. I absolutely can’t read anything on his face as he studies the board with a very intense look in his eyes.
“So you think these two doctors are using the therapy sessions to rape their patients,” Mark says. “And what, they kill the ones who threaten to tell the world about it?”
Sojer shrugs. “Something like that, yes. This is just what one day of doing background has uncovered. Who knows what else there is to know?”
“The victims are of both sexes though,” I say. “That’s the first snag in this theory, as far as I’m concerned. And the second is that I don’t believe these crimes are sexually motivated at all.”
Sojer glares at me, but I’m starting to think that the scowl in his eyes is just something that’s always there.
“Well, what I’m thinking is that the murders happen to keep them quiet,” he says. “That’s not sexually motivated.”
“No, I suppose not,” I say. “But what I meant is, I believe this killer is driven by something higher than everyday selfish concerns, such as eliminating witnesses. I could almost say that he believes he is setting them free in some way.”
I make a sweeping gesture to encompass the crime scene photos. “I mean, the victims look almost angelic in death. And they’re killed in a way that does very little damage to their bodies.”
“That’s why you’re so interested in the priest,” Sojer says. “But I believe there’s something even more significant here.”
He sounds defensive, but also rather desperate. It’s a strange combination, and I think it’s also the cause of the permanent scowl on his face. I wonder what the reasons behind it are.
“All the victims were very attractive people,” I say, looking at their photos.
