The Chestnut Man: A Novel

In the airport business lounge, Hess re-examines the archive, trying to understand Bekker’s obsession with the 1989 photo. He begins scrutinizing background details and discovers a chestnut man hanging from a playpen rail in a 2001 Risskov murder photo, and another from a rearview mirror in a 2015 Nyborg murder. Convinced Bekker had found a serial killer’s signature spanning nearly 30 years, Hess rents a car.

On her last day in Major Crimes, Thulin prepares for her transition to NC3. Nylander tells her about Hess’s tragic past: his pregnant wife died in a fire five years earlier. Since Hess has been reassigned abroad and isn’t returning her calls, Thulin resolves to move on. 

Running with Genz, Thulin voices unresolved questions about the chestnuts with Kristine’s fingerprints. Later, at Le’s Halloween party, a teacher mentions there are many chestnut varieties beyond common edible and horse chestnut types. This sparks a realization. After sharply questioning the teacher, Thulin runs out.

Thulin urgently asks Genz to identify the exact species of chestnut used for the doll. Annoyed, Genz checks the reports: All three cases used an edible species, Castanea sativa x crenata. Thulin recalls Steen saying the family tree Kristine used was a horse chestnut tree. Realizing the species don’t match, she declares they have a serious problem and must find the expert who identified the evidence.

Struggling with grief, Rosa forces herself to run while movers remove Kristine’s belongings at her psychiatrist’s suggestion. Steen still clings to hope and secretly continues to search for Kristine, refusing to sign the death certificate he requested for. 

Returning to her house, Rosa finds a wreath of five chestnut dolls on her doorstep. The sight triggers a memory: she knows who gave it and why. She forbids the au pair to call the police and flees, convinced she is being watched.

At the ministry, Rosa searches the archives for her former foster family, the Petersens from Odsherred Council. With her ID number, they find her adoption record; her birth name was Juul Andersen. Prompted by the memory of a foster brother and sister, Rosa also finds a 1987 case file for twins Toke and Astrid Bering, who stayed with the Petersens for three months. 

Reading the social worker’s report sickens Rosa. She believes it contains a message from the killer directing her to the address where the twins were transferred. A text arrives from an unknown number: a “shushing” emoji commanding silence if she wants to learn Kristine’s fate.

Driving through a snowstorm, Hess investigates the older cases. The 2001 Risskov case yields little new information. In the 2015 Nyborg case, the inspector mentions a chestnut doll in the victim’s car, which her mother found strange because the victim had a severe nut allergy. 

Continuing to Vordingborg, Hess is rebuffed by Police Chief Brink to help with his investigation. When Hess specifies he is looking into the 1989 Møn case, Brink stops.

Brink recalls the details of the Møn case: on October 31, 1989, Marius Larsen had driven to the Ørum farm in response to an animal complaint. Brink and a colleague responded to Larsen’s call for assistance. The Ørums were struggling financially and took foster children for payments. Inside, Brink found Ørum’s two teens and the mother dead around the house. Larsen was also discovered beaten to death in the basement. Ørum himself was missing, and was only found three years later dead in a fertilizer pit. In the basement Brink and his colleague also found foster twins held in dungeon conditions. Videotapes showed prolonged sexual abuse of the girl by Ørum and his teens with the mother filming. The boy was repeatedly locked away and told to make chestnut dolls. 

Hess needs to locate both twins urgently. He doesn’t believe Ørum killed Larsen or the others. Brink protests that it was impossible for the boy to have killed the family.

Researching the Møn case, Hess finds that Toke Bering’s records stop at age 17 while Astrid’s address was unregistered from ages 18 to 27. She moved between psychiatric hospitals before vanishing just under a year ago at age 38. 

Calling Odsherred Council, Hess learns from a caseworker that before the Bering twins were adopted by the Petersens, the Petersens had already adopted a child named Rosa. Cross-referencing information, Hess confirms this Rosa is Rosa Hartung. He realizes this shared past is the link. Unable to reach Rosa, he suddenly receives a texted class photo that includes a young Toke Bering. Zooming in on the boy’s eyes, Hess has a shocking realization about the killer’s identity and fears he is too late.

Self-satisfied after his press conference, Nylander contemplates having an affair with a communications consultant. His thoughts are interrupted when Hess calls. Nylander prepares to rebuff Hess, but ends up shocked when he hears what Hess has to say. Nylander sprints back and orders his detectives to reassemble the task force and contact Rosa immediately.

A drunken Steen canvasses a neighborhood to look for Kristine. Mortified to learn that he has already visited this neighborhood, Steen runs to his car and sobs. He answers his phone thinking it’s Gustav. It is the au pair frantically telling him to find Rosa, mentioning that the police are looking for her.

Acting on Hess’s theory, Nylander leads a convoy to Forensics. Inside everything appears normal. Genz is in a meeting; his lab and private office are empty but tidy. Skeptical of Hess’s theory, Nylander glances into Genz’s office and sees his ID, keys, work phone, and access card laid neatly on the desk. Next to them sits a small chestnut doll.

Hess connects with Nylander en route: Genz has disappeared; his apartment was searched but was empty. Rosa is also missing after finding a chestnut man ornament at home. Nylander then informs Hess that Thulin is also gone. She was last seen getting into Genz’s car hours earlier; her phone was found in a trash can. 

Stunned, Hess reasons Genz’s primary target remains Rosa. Thulin must have discovered something to make her a liability. Acting on a hunch, he makes a dangerous U-turn across the central divider and speeds back.

Thulin and Genz search Møn for a specific chestnut tree. Earlier, a botany expert had confirmed the crime-scene chestnuts were a hybrid, Castanea sativa x crenata, with the last registered trees on Møn. 

About to give up, Thulin spots an enormous tree, confirms the type, and finds matching chestnuts. She notices a small snow-covered road into the woods next to it and insists they follow it. Genz reluctantly agrees.

In a flashback to her childhood, Rosa happily teaches her foster siblings Toke and Astrid to make chestnut dolls. When her parents announce they’ve decided to keep the twins and ask if she agrees, she gives the answer they want. 

Later, social workers arrive to take Toke and Astrid away. Rosa, recalling a kindergarten incident involving a false sexual allegation, had told an story that caused her foster siblings’ removal. On her bed she finds a parting gift: five chestnut dolls representing a family. As the car pulls away, Rosa runs after them, catching a final glimpse of Toke staring at her through the back window.