On a cold and dark November day while Else Hagmo, a journalist for the local newspaper, was on a long walk with her dog team on a road that could be considered a forest road, her guide dog reacted.
From within the dense forest of planted sitka firs came a terrible scream. The guide dog, Bonzo, turned sideways and pulled the cart straight towards the edge of the forest. Else had her share of trouble keeping the carriage on the right keel.
There was a heartbreaking scream, almost like a scream of terror from inside. The forest was so dense and the branches went right down to the ground.
With Bonzo on a leash, she went in to investigate. The sound came closer as she managed to make her way into the forest. Up on some stout branches two meters above the ground was a young lady, no older than a teenager, screaming hysterically. Even further into the forest, dogs howled and shouted. Then a shot.
Else had a lot of trouble getting the young lady down from the tree and with the protection of Bonzo they managed to get out of the forest without the pursuers getting any closer.
The young lady was trembling and terrified. She was wrapped in a reindeer skin in the carriage. Else turned the crew around and let the dogs run almost freely back to her car.
She was sure the young lady would collapse in terror. What had caused this was unknown to Else.
She contacted the police, or rather the sheriff as she thought someone would come after her and get the lady back.
The case that developed was almost unbelievable. In a house that was an abandoned farm lived a former university professor who wanted a place to write scientific articles and a book. It turned out to be a front for a bizarre business involving murder, threats, trafficking, live streaming of sexually abused children in rural Philippines. As a defence in case, he would be discovered, he got a doctor to declare his own son brain-damaged and mentally retarded via threats.
The son could not be punished for his actions, which was the plan of his father.
The sheriff was assaulted when he surprised burglars inside the sheriff's office. He was taken in a medical helicopter to Haukeland Hospital in Bergen, more dead than alive.
The burglars were from a branch of a mafia network from Transnistria which supplied the university professor with young ladies for the free use of their so-called clients. It was one of these young ladies who had escaped and was rescued by Else Hagmo.
The sheriff's assistant, Hans Olav Eriksen, with just over four years' experience as a police officer, had the case in his hands. At the same time, the Chief of Police he was subordinate to saw that it was an excellent opportunity to close down the sheriff's office. The plan was to replace it with a patrol car with a station an hour away. Hans Olav had to fight on several fronts to solve the case and prevent the sheriff's office from being closed down.
He grew with the task and proved to himself that there was real material in him. He was confronted with a multitude of incidents; the case grew in complexity and scope. Bizarre things revealed themselves from the abandon farm deep in the forest.