Sand arrived back in Oslo in the early hours of the morning. At the time he was landing three disgruntled tourists were being told they would have to spend another day and night in Alta as their plane had already departed. Pedersen had pulled his weight and the plane company had agreed to fly him back immediately.
When Sand turned his ‘phone on he had a message from Pedersen. He was to head straight to the address of Dag Moen’s love nest apartment in the city. A squad car had been sent to meet him. At Sand’s urging, they tore through the streets with the siren wailing.
He arrived at the block of rundown apartments. Police tape sealed off the door on the second floor. Pedersen was there to meet him.
‘Any word from Gabi?’ Sand asked.
Pedersen looked at his lead detective. His suit was crumpled, he hadn’t slept or shaved, his greying hair was dishevelled. ‘Nothing yet. We have had a piece of luck though. Come on.’
They moved into the sparsely furnished living room. An upset woman sat on the one chair in the room. Detectives Jens and Karl stood over her.
‘Meet Mrs. Gerd Bøe,’ Pedersen introduced her. ‘She turned up last night looking for her young lover Dag Moen.’
Sand looked at the middle-aged woman, who stared at the ground in shame.
‘When did you last see him?’ Sand asked her.
Gerd Bøe looked up. ‘I already told the other detectives.’
‘Tell us again,’ Pedersen instructed her.
‘Two weeks ago. I came to see if he was here because he had stopped calling me for no reason.’
‘You used to meet him here?’
She nodded and looked to the floor again. ‘Does my husband have to find out. I have children.’
‘A detective’s life is on the line. I’m not concerned for the state of your marriage at the moment,’ Sand’s voice grew louder. Pedersen placed a hand on his shoulder.
Bøe answered. ‘We met every week, sometimes twice a week. Always in the evening.’
‘How did you meet him?’
‘He was the delivery driver to the vet surgery I work in. It started as innocent flirting.’
‘How long have you been coming to his love nest?’
‘Six months or so.’
‘You have no idea where Dag Moen is now?’
‘I told you. I haven’t heard from him for a fortnight.’
‘Is there anything unusual you notice here? Anything different since your last visit?’
Bøe shook her head. Sand walked over and pulled her up by the arm. ‘Come on. Take a good look round. We need to find him and quickly. Your lover is probably a murderer and has abducted a police officer.’
Sand dragged the woman into each of the small rooms that made up the basic apartment. She saw nothing until they were about to leave the bedroom.
‘Wait,’ she said. ‘On the back of the door. He always used to have his work uniform hanging there, on that hook. I would leave to go home and he would stay the night and go to work the next morning.’
Sand delivered her back to Karl and Jens, who took the broken woman out of the apartment.
‘We know he has a work delivery van.’ Sand said to Pedersen. ‘We can guess he is wearing his delivery uniform. Odds are he has taken Gabi to one of the places he regularly made deliveries too. Get on to the delivery firm. We need to know his regular work route.’
Pedersen left the room and made the call. Sand stared round the room. There was nothing to give Dag Moen any personality. It was bare and damp-stained. If anything it told him what he already knew. Moen was single-minded and efficient. Nothing superfluous or material would get in his way. He wouldn’t be distracted or allow his plan to deviate. Focus and necessity, that’s what the apartment said to him.
Pedersen hustled back into the room, ‘phone still in his hand. ‘They just found the missing delivery van. Abandoned on the E18 south. Guess what? One of Dag Moen’s regular deliveries was to the Kristiansand Amusement Park and Zoo.’
Sand was running down the stairs before Pedersen had finished speaking.
This is part fourteen of my A to Z Challenge 2017. More information on the challenge, and other stories and blogs taking part in it, can be found HERE.
Throughout April I hope to publish a section a day, relating to a letter of the alphabet, which in the end will make up a continuous story, all based round the objects found in this children’s jigsaw:
Other entries in the challenge, and a version of the final complete, joined up story can be found here: A TO Z CHALLENGE 2017.
Thriller based on a childrens jigsaw, genious theme.
Very clever lining up ready for Octopus and Panda.
Still waiting to see how you get Zebra in but don’t want to get there too quickly, enjoying this too much. Find Gabi, get her released tomorrow and send Sand to Africa on a boat called….
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Well, not quite what i had in mind, but it would be one way to fit some of the words in! Thanks for your continued reading 🙂
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Cant wait for the jigsaw to be solved, whAt is next in this strange murder tale filled with surprises?
https://smitasangle.wordpress.com/2017/04/16/e-for-elevator-a-story-on-eve-teasing-atozchallenge/
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Thank you 🙂
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The puzzles yet to fall in place……..
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He’s getting closer…
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I was wondering how would they find a lead, since Moen seems to be so elusive and disconnected from anything.
That’s quite clever 🙂
@JazzFeathers
The Old Shelter – 1940s Film Noir
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Thank you, they’re learning a bit more about him as they go…
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He may be headed to the zoo, but Sand’s wading into the jungle now…
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Nicely put. So long as there is an octopus and a panda there for the next couple of days!
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😀
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Love “nest”. Cute.
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A bit of a stretch, but I think I get away with it!
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Would he by any chance dress as an Octopus? Going undercover and all 😁 I just hope Gabi is doing okay.
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The fate of Gabi tomorrow…
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Off to the zoo we go! I can’t wait to see how you masterfully weave 🐙 and 🐼 into the story! 😁
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Hope you like it tomorrow 🙂
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I’m sure I will! 😊
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Oh dear. You can have all kinds of “fun” with them at the zoo.
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It will definitely be fun 🙂
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if Gabi is in a vat full of octopuses, i hope for her sake they aren’t poisonous
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I can confirm there will be at least one octopus involved 🙂
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Just the thought of octopi at the zoo is scary. A nice plate of calamari, much more civilized! 😉 I’m so enjoying your writing!
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I’ve never tried calamari, the thought of it doesn’t do much for me. Hope you like the octopus appearance tomorrow!
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Keeps the pace with every episode
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Tomorrow should be a good one 😉
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I can see what your Z is going to be, but N for Nest is clever. 🙂 N is for Nuggets and News as you Build a Better Blog. #AtoZchallenge.
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I’m guessing the octopus will be at the amusement park, not the zoo. But I haven’t guessed anything right so far. Excellent twists and turns.
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Oh, good one. I wish I’d thought of that!
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Dang! So I’m wrong again! I’ll keep guessing, though, and anticipating each episode. 🙂
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It’s funny what reading a good story will do to your mind sometimes. A nest, once an innocent little home to woodland animals, now becomes stained with a murdering kidnapper. When I walk in the wood later this week, will I think of scurrying squirrels or serial killers? Time will tell…
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I’ll never look at my kid’s jigsaw in the same way again, that’s for sure.
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LOL! Hear hear!
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Clever way of using nest 🙂
Was wanting to hear more about Gabi, but I will be patient and wait… not as if I have much choice 🙂
Glad that they were able to get a lead, hang in there Gabi! Your Knight in Shining armor is coming to your rescue!
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Gabi tomorrow, promise!
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Inspector Octopus will only cause confusion tomorrow by pointing in lots of different directions. I feel a calamarious calamity coming on.
BTW, calamari is delicious Iain, like eating rubber bands fried in batter! Try it.
Another day in Amble Bay!
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Rubber bands fried in batter! Well, okay then 🙂 Apparently Octopus is not a Norwegian surname, so I had to rule that one out 🙂
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I do believe that amusement park and zoo is going to come in mighty handy! 🙂 (I’m having fun just thinking about how you’re going to tie all of those words in!)
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I’m enjoying writing it too. They had to end up at a zoo of course!
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Actually this is turning out to be fishy… Gripping narrative. And somehow it reminds me of the ABC Murder Mystery written by Agatha Christie. Is this a happy coincidence or have you read that before?
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I have read it! Couldn’t resist a bit of ABC given the challenge!
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I hope Gabi is found in time!
The suspense is killing me here, I hope you know that! 😀
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Not long now 🙂
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Wow. I like an interesting story, and this one is detective one, too–I LOVE! I clicked on Follow immediately. Will have to your previous posts, though, to understand more. Keep writing it!
And also, thanks for the follow, too (please don’t think that me following you back is just a thank-you gesture. I really am interested). This is my N post, BTW: What’s in a Nom?
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Thank you, hope you can find the time to read the previous parts of the story, look forward to reading more on your blog too 🙂
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Will find time because I want to know where it all started. 🙂
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Clever, one tricky word down a few more to go, I’m still looking forward to today’s because you don’t usually find octopuses (octopi?!?) in a zoo, or do you 🙂
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You might in this zoo….! 🙂
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well an interesting zoo it is, but really I shouldn’t expect any less 🙂
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I like to look at the alphabet puzzle and guess where the story is going. Nest had me wondering but I knew a zoo had to be somewhere in the future. Fun.
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Thank you, it’s fun to write too. Always had to feature a zoo somewhere. S is for Squirrel is filling me with anxiety at the moment! Thank you for reading.
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I’m sure you can work an evil squirrel in there somewhere – it’s the perfect code name maybe…
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“His suit was crumpled, he hadn’t slept or shaved, his greying hair was dishevelled.” — nice touch!
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Love nest. Hahaha! And then he actually said it out loud to the woman and she never batted an eye. I couldn’t help but laugh.
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I had to have him say it, definitely one of the trickier letters so far, a few more to come!
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I had to have him say it! Definitely one of the trickier letters so far, a few more to come.
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Ha ha .. “When did you fall into his love Nest? ” .. brilliance!
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A tricky one 🙂
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Oh, I wish Gerd Boe had more to tell about Dag Moen. But why did he abandon the vehicle? And what will we find in the zoo, if that’s where we are headed? 🙂
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Read on 🙂
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Making noise at the zoo will give Sand his chance at revenge.
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