The Ghost Of Louise's Island (Part 2)

Let me first of all apologize for such a late follow-up to the story (more than 2 years, I know). A lot of things have happened lately, and it was just one of those projects that had to be put on the back-burner more than a few times. All in all, however, I have made a lot of progress on the case. I even managed to visit the island last summer, together with Thomas. This post will, among many other things, include a photo report from that trip. But let's start from where we left off, as we have a lot of ground to cover.

Towards the end of my previous post, I hinted at the fact that all of the four people involved in the experience have somewhat diverging memories and opinions about what happened that fateful night/morning. This is to be expected in any recollection of events that happened so many years ago, and it neither proves nor disproves that something spectacular actually took place; it is a reminder that any shared experience will always be more subjective than first meets the eye. Even if all witnesses had been questioned directly following the episode, the story would already have been colored by the personalities involved, their individual sensory apparatus, and state of mind at the time which, I will remind you, was largely one of fear. I mention this simply as a caveat for going so much into detail regarding the discrepancies of the following accounts. This is in no way meant to portray the witnesses as unreliable, but simply to try to paint the clearest possible picture of what happened, from a consensus of their collective statements. 

Accounting For Differences

So, what do our protagonists - Thomas, Nick, Olsen & Niels - actually agree on, and where do their stories differ? Let's take a look at this point by point while we go through their accounts.

Beginning with the year in question, the general consensus among all of us was that it must have been either 1997 or '98, and probably around midsummer. As to where they found the boat, Thomas, Nick and Olsen are all certain they grabbed one from a small docking area in front of Frederiksborg Castle, close to where the main shopping street begins, while Niels is not so sure. In fact, he even thinks they might have taken more than one boat with them. He also has a notion of a fifth person coming along, but the others dispute this quite strongly.

Regarding how they managed to even get one boat, let alone two, all the way to the island without anybody noticing them, Thomas believes they carried it mostly by hand. Olsen agrees that they had to walk for some distance, but feels certain that they sailed a good part of the way, maneuvering through the many small canals leading from the castle towards Badstuen. Nick's memories are somewhere in the middle, but they all remember there were some places where they could easily drift under the small bridges, and others were they had to take a detour. At the very least, considering that there is no direct water passage between the park canal system and Ødammen, they had to have carried the boat during this final stretch.

Aerial map of the castle area. The red dot indicates the place from where the boat was probably "borrowed", which is more or less directly south of Louise's Island. Sources indicate that while there has never been a boat renting company at this location, it is true that smaller boats used to dock here back during the 1990's.

Thomas recalls that when they finally reached the island, they tied the boat to some small trees near the shore, while Nick, Niels and Olsen told me they were sure they tied it to a small pier on the north-west side of the island. They all agree very adamantly about one thing, though: they made 100% - no, 110% - sure that the boat was secured properly before they started exploring. Both Thomas and Nick are former boy scouts and Nick specifically remembers tying a double granny knot, so he felt completely confident that there was no way they were going to have to swim to get back to the mainland. 

Another part that everyone agrees on is that the first thing they did after tying up the boat, was to try and enter the wooden cabin. Still, there are some conflicting details regarding how they managed to do that. Nick, Thomas and Olsen remembers the main entrance as being boarded up, while Niels has a memory of a large padlock. Whichever the case, this resulted first in an attempt to climb through a window, but without luck. Niels has some memories of hearing noises that frightened them around this time, but none of the others acknowledge this. According to Nick and Thomas, they tried to force open the door a few times (though being careful not to break anything, out of respect for the old building) and eventually succeeded. In fact, Thomas thought it was strange how they suddenly managed to get in that easily after struggling so much at first.

When they stepped inside, they found themselves in what Olsen describes as a kind of foyer or lobby with benches on each side near the entrance. He also recalls some sort of open roof construction around the cabin "tower", to which a staircase was leading. But the place was so full of old wooden planks and similar rubbish, that it was impossible to get past even the first few steps. Thomas remembers that he found it odd with that much garbage lying around, but in retrospect believes it was probably waste after the renovation, that workers had stashed there, since it was out the public's view anyways. After a while they got bored of exploring the cabin, and decided to take a walk around the island instead. 

The Boat House: The first thing you notice upon exiting the cabin

One detail that Thomas told us back then, but which I had since forgotten, was that some time after arriving on the island they all started to pick up on a distinct and unusual odor. Nick and Thomas remembers it as being sort of like the smell of freshly brewed tea. Olsen more specifically described the odor as being similar to chamomile. From what i can gather, Olsen and Nick were probably the first to take notice of the smell. But while they all have different recollections about when exactly it began, they agree that it wasn't there when they arrived. And that it became gradually stronger the more they walked around. Initially this sounded a bit strange to me when i was reminded of it. But then Thomas told me that, even back then, he thought it might have just been emanating from the plants they were stepping in. More about this later.

After walking around for a while - how long is uncertain, but probably 15 minutes at most - the novelty effect of the little island adventure was beginning to wear off, and the guys decided to head back to the mainland. This is when they realized, to their abject horror, that the boat they thought they had tied up so neatly, had come loose and begun drifting away from the island. Not everyone remembers how exactly they managed to pull it back again, only that it happened in the very last second. Thomas thinks they used a stick of some kind, Niels that they could still barely reach it with their fingertips. It was around this time that at least Thomas and Nick began getting the feeling that they weren't alone out there.

After comparing all accounts, it seems certain that Nick not only was the first to step into the boat after reeling it back in, but also the first to see "it". This happened as soon as he sat down, looking towards the island. Thomas would have been the second to climb aboard, and just as he was ready to position himself he felt Nick making a kind of panicky jump, followed by a "what the hell is that!". His reaction was so unusual that Thomas instantly sensed something was very wrong, and when he looked in the direction where Nick was pointing, he almost freaked out. 

In Thomas' estimate the figure was about 3 to 4 meters from the shore in front of them, grayish white and partially transparent. He sensed that it was most definitely looking at them. Nick went even further and described it's stare as "intense" - almost as if it wanted to make sure that they never thought of coming back again. The last one to get aboard the boat appears to have been Olsen. He remembers taking a few steps back and pushing the boat into the water, before finally jumping in himself. He didn't see the figure properly before he turned around to take a final look at the island.

Regarding the actual attributes of the entity, I always imagined it being similar to the so-called "Newby Church Spectre". I am of course referring to this most classic of all ghost photos:

Thomas knew exactly which picture I meant even before i showed it to him, but told me that the figure they saw wasn't nearly as detailed in its features. You couldn't see the face properly, as if there was something over its head. It was also darker in the facial area than the rest of the body. It looked like it was wearing a dress. Nick describes it as having a very "alive" and clearly defined body, whereas Olsen thought that while it was undoubtedly humanoid in shape, you could only really see the shoulders and outline of the head, while the rest was more blurry. Thomas describes the body structure as bulky and about 150 to 160 centimeters tall. Furthermore, he had a clear impression that it was female, from its general stature. This did not occur to Olsen at all, and even in retrospect he doesn't agree with this description. Niels only remembers them seeing what looked like a foggy figure near the area of the dock, but also that they suddenly started seeing ghostly shapes everywhere - between the trees, on the other side of the island, etc. Once again, his account differs quite notably from the rest.

There is also some dispute about how they got away from the island as quickly as they apparently did. Nick believes that they rowed back, but according to Thomas they had no oars or paddles to begin with. If so, it must have taken a while for them to reach land. Olsen and Niels don't remember what they actually did. Thomas saw the entity still standing at the exact same spot when arriving on back on the mainland (southwest of the island), while Nick couldn't see it anymore due to the fog, which had then encapsulated the whole island. Thomas and Olsen are both pretty adamant, however, that the entity was easily distinguishable until they reached land.

According to Olsen the figure was the same basic color as the fog, a sort of grayish white. According to Thomas there was some light mist on the water already when they were sailing away, but he felt it didn't really get thicker until they reached the shore and started running. After that, it became like a massive wall, at least 1½ meters tall, but the figure was still visible through it all, at least to him. Olsen remembers the entity as being the same height as the fog about this point, and that it gradually disappeared behind it. Thomas, Nick and Olsen then ran all the way to a nearby hill that leads to the eastern part of Hillerød, where they lived at the time. Niels, who lived in complete opposite direction, most likely ran that way.

And, as you already know from reading part 1 of this story, a few minutes later I would hear the story straight from the proverbial horse's mouth, as Thomas came crashing home, still in shock from the experience. 

Making sense of it all

With the exception of some of Niels' memories, it is still remarkable how similar the accounts are. In this connection it is important to note, that Thomas and Olsen told me they never really talked that much in the days and weeks following the event, and even less so in recent years, where they have had very little contact with each other. The same is the case with Nick, who drifted away from the group shortly after the event (although for a completely different reason). Of course, there is still a good chance that they could have influenced each other. Niels was never really a part of that group of friends. Furthermore, he lived in the complete opposite part of the city, so he probably did not meet any of the others again until long afterwards. This could, at least in part, explain why his memories are the ones that differ the most. While he was telling his side of the story it also struck me, that he by far has the most disconnected view of the events. According to Niels, this is because his memories from that general period aren't very strong. For the same reason I have been particularly careful to distinguish between his initial memories of what happened, and thoughts that arose after I presented him with details of the others' accounts.

Another important point to mention is that Niels readily admits that he was a bit "off" during that time, and sometimes became like a completely different person when he had too much to drink. So it might just have been one of those nights where no one saw the world quite the same way he did. And while we are on the subject, it should be mentioned that none of the guys tried to hide the fact that substantial quantities of alcohol (and probably marijuana) had gone ahead of the trip to the island. They all agreed that this could have played into what they experienced to some extent, but at the same time everyone, including Niels, feel they have at least some clear memories of that night, that would have been essentially the same without any substances involved. In the end, however, Niels is the one who finds the experience the least supernatural in retrospect, and is much more ready to attribute it to intoxication.

Whatever you may think of their state of mind, it is undeniable that all four guys went to the island with the purpose of finding something, attracted by its inherent spookiness and mystique. Niels in particular pointed out how they had been riling each other up about what they were going to find out there. In that sense they would of course have been geared towards noticing "strange" details even before their arrival, and elements such as the strange smell and the fog could unconsciously have affected them, allowing for a certain narrative to override their senses. This could then have been further reinforced by things they each had read, watched or heard about ghosts prior to, or even long before, the event. Whichever way you look at, it their experience does have almost all the elements of a classic ghost story. So let's try to break it down a bit and see what mysteries still remain.

Regarding the strange tea-like odor: as mentioned previously, even though everyone remembers noticing it, they didn't find it equally compelling. Thomas even suspected back then that it came from the plants they were stepping in, which makes sense considering that they didn't start noticing it before walking around the island. Furthermore, everyone told me that it became increasingly powerful the more they walked, which strengthens the hypothesis further. Taken together with the other details of the story, however, it surely adds in building up a more mysterious narrative. Particularly since strange and powerful smells are a staple of many a ghost story, both "real" and imagined. But when looked at separately it probably did have a very down to earth explanation. Perhaps the smell is also the source of one of the cabin's many nicknames, "The Tea-Brewer House", a name that doesn't make much sense otherwise.

Next we have the presence and gathering of fog, something which is even more prevalent in traditional ghost stories. During the late 1990's, John Carpenter's The Fog was still moderately popular in Denmark and was shown occasionally on TV (the remake didn't come out until 2005), and although the movie doesn't technically involve ghosts (they are more like zombified lepers), it does contain excessive amounts of fog through which figures can be seen, mostly in outline. There is a pretty good chance that at least one or two of the guys had seen this movie some time prior to the event. The fog doesn't really play a big part in the spookiness until the end of the island visit, though. As is evident from the different accounts, there is a dispute both as to when the fog started and about the specific qualities of it, but it was not something that they thought of as being particularly strange until all the other things started coming together.

Still from The Fog (1980) 

The boat untying itself, on the other hand, is viewed by all of those involved, particularly by Thomas, Nick and Olsen, as undeniably weird - and highly unlikely to have happened on its own. As Thomas and Nick told me, they had both been boy scouts for many years, so they were actually trained in tying a suitable knot for something like a boat docking on a quiet patch of water. Nick specifically said that he tied a double granny knot, which is widespread and known for being far better than a normal knot. However, as i would later learn, most active outdoor people seem to swear more to a reef knot (or square knot), as it is considered more stable.

I am no expert on the subject, but viewed in conjunction with the level of intoxication among the group, this would rightly be something to seize upon for skeptics. But again, the timing of the thing itself is certainly striking. It really was the worst thing that could happen and, according to their testimony, the guys discovered it in the very last second before it would have been too late.

But too late for what? Well, we can't know for sure of course, but being trapped on an island with the ghostly entity that they believe they saw next, is not very many people's idea of a good time. Since it isn't possible for us to know exactly how the island looked at the time, it's difficult to speculate about possible sources that could be misinterpreted as a ghost. The buildings - the cabin, the boat house and the ice house - were of course located where they are today. And probably many of the same plants are still growing there. But there may have been trees or bushes that have since been cut down considerably. Also, it would depend on whether the yearly gardening maintenance had happened yet (this usually takes place in August). If it was indeed around midsummer, then it would have been almost a year since the island last had a good trim. Thomas is quite adamant, however, that there was nothing they could have overlooked that would suddenly surprise them and appear as a menacing, human figure. Could it perhaps have been the residue of some long gone, former visitor of the island? Remember, Thomas said that he felt the entity was female. Maybe it was the ghost of the stocky Louise Danner haunting the island, forever concerned about her husbands mischievous activities there? 

But is there a possibility of a fictional spillover effect here, too? Perhaps. One of my favorite horror movies of all time is The Entity from 1982, which is based on a book by Frank De Felitta bearing the same name. The book itself is a highly fictionalized adaptation of one of the strongest and most highly revered poltergeist cases of all time. 

---SPOILERS AHEAD--- 

In this very creepy made-for-TV film, a single mother of 3 children, Carla Moran (Barbara Hershey), is stalked and repeatedly raped by an invisible being that can pretty much follow her everywhere she goes, making it all the more scary, as you never know when the next attack is going to happen. In the end of the movie there is an attempt to capture the entity by spraying it with liquid helium. In this scene a fog-like effect is created, and we finally see the outline of the otherwise invisible being, which turns out to be of a huge and bulky shape:

                   

I realize it's a bit of a stretch to think that this movie could have had such a powerful influence, but I do know for a fact that it was shown several times on danish TV in the early-to-mid-90s, because i saw it back then and it scared the hell out of me on more than one occasion. In the movie there are also a few references to odd smells accompanying the entity. Unfortunately I have not been able to get either of the guys to make even a basic sketch of what they saw for comparison, despite repeated attempts. 

Several times during my investigation, I also considered the option that Thomas himself could have acted as sort of a "conduit" for the whole episode. He is the biggest "believer" of the four, convinced that ghosts, in the sense of spirits of the dead, really exist, and that what they saw falls neatly into this category. This way of thought could very well have affected both Nick, Niels and Olsen if he had shared certain ideas and stories with them beforehand. And, depending on how far you are willing to stretch it, there could perhaps be something about his personality that plays an even deeper part, as well. The thing is, Thomas has had strange experiences many times before and since the night on the island. I remember him telling stories from his folk high school - episodes of slamming and self-locking doors, disappearances and other unusual happenings, which he appeared to be the at the center of - years prior to the events. Most recently, upon moving into his new home, these experiences has become almost as commonplace for him as picking up the daily newspaper.

How exactly this supposed disposition towards the paranormal relates to the incident on Louise Island, where several people experienced more or less the same thing, is of course another story. But in the literature on ghosts and related topics, especially regarding the concept of poltergeists (such as in the original entity case mentioned earlier), there are many examples of key individuals being pegged as "activators", indicating a larger probability of experiencing supernatural events and enabling others to share it with them. This is of course wild speculation in our case, but an interesting idea nevertheless. For a more in-depth example of how powerful the mind may be in manifesting such phenomena, I recommend reading the book Conjuring up Philip: An Adventure in Psychokinesis by Iris Owen and Margaret Sparrow.

Similar Cases

I have consistently tried to dig up other stories from Louise's Island for the last many years, but without any luck. The expectation was that my first post would have stirred up at least something, but even though i shared it in relevant groups on Facebook and with several locals, nothing has surfaced. At an early point I also tried contacting Hillerød's Historical Society, as well as the parents of an old classmate, who are huge collectors of Hillerød folklore and memorabilia and who arrange local tours regularly. Both sources probably know more about Louise's Island and the castle area in general, than anyone else, but neither could remember ever hearing about any strange happenings at all. I also contacted renowned Cryptozoologist and Fortean researcher/writer Lars Thomas, who informed me that he used to attend university with a guy from Hillerød, who on occasion had told him second or third hand ghost stories involving Louise's Island. But Lars never did investigate it further, nor could he help me get in contact with this person.

Thomas, on the other hand, had mentioned to me early on that the father of his ex-girlfriend used to be a night watchman at Frederiksborg Castle during the 1990's (he died some years ago, so I couldn't interview him). He once told Thomas that the team of gardeners who at the time were assigned to the island, didn't like the place and found it uncomfortable even during daytime. He was always ambivalent about things himself, but at the same time often claimed to have seen entities when he was going his rounds in the vicinity of the castle. He supposedly once saw a ghostly figure floating over the big lake, Slotssøen. Often times there was nothing to be seen, but instead he had the feeling as if an invisible wall appeared, through which no one could pass. The latter happened in an attic of one of the castle buildings and may be marginal to the case at hand, but of great interest in general, because another old classmate of mine actually used to lived in an apartment at the top of one of the castle buildings during the 1990's. Her mother held a top position at the castle museum at the time and she experienced several unexplained phenomena - including a nightly encounter with an invisible "wall".

I haven't been successful in tracking down any local ghost stories involving Frederik 7. at all, but it is well known that the king believed in and was fearful of revenants. For example he was always cautious about staying at Fredensborg Castle (another royal residence located about 10 kilometers North-East of Hillerød), as it was said to be haunted by the ghost of former Queen Juliane Maria, who died there in 1796. Who knows, maybe one day a relevant story from an old letter or diary will see the light of day.

Queen Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

I also looked for examples other places in both Danish, and eventually even in foreign, literature, in the attempt of finding similar stories. Regarding the former, i have not had much luck. The closest story I have found from Denmark is in one of folklore writer Gorm Benzon's collections of ghost tales, which goes as follows (my translation/resumé): 

In the 1960's a merchant was staying at an estate called Ørbækslunde. During the night he was awakened by something and saw a bulky and mostly featureless, woman-like figure, bending over him. When the entity disappeared again, he noticed a smell like mouldy apples. 

There is also what, at least at first, seemed like a highly relevant piece of fiction, discovered with the help of Martin Shough, which I would like to just briefly mention. It's an American children's story called The Foggy Figure, which includes basically all the elements from our little island adventure. This slim volume is all but unknown in Denmark, but it does appear to be enjoy some popularity among grade school teachers in the US. But the real argument against it at least being a potential influence, is that it only just came out a few years ago. So there is no way any of the guys could have read it. But as the book itself might of course build upon a much older story, so I contacted the author Kelly Hashway in the hope of learning something useful. Shortly after i got the reply that her inspiration had simply been the morning fog on the lake near her vacation home. Oh well...

Back to the island

Already early on in the investigation Thomas and I had talked about somehow visiting the island again - both to clear up a few things and out of general interest and curiosity. The only way to do this legally was by making an agreement with the gardening team who attend to the island, and once a year go there to clear it of weeds and other plants. They usually do this in the beginning of August, but back in 2016 we missed the opportunity because i was out of the country. Determined not to let it go again, I made arrangements for the next year in good time. So in 2017 it finally happened that me and Thomas were sitting in a small boat with one of the castle gardeners, on our way out to Louise's Island.

When we arrived it became immediately clear why the place has a yearly maintenance team assigned. You don't so much notice it standing on shore, but the plants grow pretty ferociously. I'm also glad we decided to wear long pants, as there were thorny bushes and other nasty appendages all over the place. We started by walking around a bit while the gardener, Thor, was cutting down the weeds around us. One of the first things we discovered was that there indeed was a small pier on the western part of the island. This surprised us both, as it simply isn't visible from land, but could indeed be where they tied up the boat back then. And as Thor advanced in his task, various things such as dead swans and even Frederik 7.'s memorial stone also became visible. We didn't notice any strange smells, though. 

There was of course one main object of our curiosity: the cabin. We quickly concluded that the main entrance was the only realistic way to get inside without doing any serious damage to ourselves or the building. The only problem was that the door was blocked...again. Actually, it is wholly due to Thomas' stubbornness that I have something to write about beyond this point. I initially worked with him to find a way to open the door, but gave up fairly quickly, worried that we might break something. We discovered that it was actually just a question of removing a few nails and then it would be possible to pry it open. But as you might imagine, this was not an easy operation without the proper tools, and that wasn't something we had thought about bringing. After about 20 minutes of twisting and prying with whatever we could collect lying around us, Thomas managed to get the door open just enough for us to enter.

Thomas (me on the left) and Thomas, before entering the cabin. Notice the "decoration" behind me. 

Inside view of the cabin entrance

Upon entering the "lobby" we saw to our right an area with a pile of discarded wood, which looked like it came from some sort of renovation work. This could be the remnants of what Thomas remembered from his previous visit. There was also a hole in the ceiling of the almost empty room in front of us, where we could place a nearby ladder. We tried to climb up and take a look, but there was nothing immediately of interest on the top floor. In the end we decided not to go up there, as the floor simply was too old and brittle.

Thomas checking out the top floor

Then we proceeded into the next room, which was about the same size, but filled with a lot of different objects like old fishing ruses and boxes that might well have been lying around ever since the days of Frederik 7. All over the place there were signs of long deceased, as well as more recent, visitors. Primitive graffiti was scrawled all over the walls, some dating back over 150 years. This was quite fascinating, thinking about who might have been here over the years. Maybe some of it was even the work of the king himself!

Top: Some of the objects we found in the cabin. Bottom: Graffiti indicating the year 1883

Thomas at the spot where he remembers the ghostly figure to have been standing

All in all, the visit was quite interesting, even if it didn't bring any huge revelations or breakthroughs, and as we were sailing back I pretty much imagined in my head how I would use it to round up the post. But, as so often before, one thing led to another and soon I was led down one more trail.

Our gardener friend Thor had not initially seemed very curious about us tagging along. Only on our way back to land did he actually ask us about our interest in the place. He found Thomas' story fascinating, but had not personally experienced anything strange that he could contribute with. And from what he knew, neither had his colleagues. But then again, he had only recently been assigned to island duty, after the former caretaker had left his job a few months earlier. Thor suggested that we instead get in contact with him, because he had been going to the island for at least 20 years. Furthermore he was an interesting character, so there was a high probability he could tell us something of value to our investigation. 

Thor was clearly quite fond of this ex-colleague, whose name was Palle, and lived in an apartment in the western part of Hillerød where I grew up. As soon as i heard the name it rang a bell, but it wasn't until later that day, after talking with my mother, that I realized Palle was the father of a childhood friend of mine. I clearly remembered him; I not only used to hang out with his son, his wife had also worked at my school, and our families even saw each other personally on several occasions, back in the early 90's. But mostly I remembered him for accidentally breaking my precious Commodore 128, once during a visit to our house.

A few weeks later I looked up Palle in the phone directory and called him. He was of course very surprised to hear from me after all those years, and confirmed that he was indeed the former caretaker of the island. More than that, it became clear to me that besides having extensive knowledge of the plant life on Louise's Island, he also knew a great deal about the local history. Maybe more than any other single person i have met so far. Alas, when it came to the subject of ghosts or other paranormal phenomena connected specifically with the island, he drew a blank. He did however remember a period where they often found leftovers from what he could only describe as rituals: burnt out tea candles, rocks placed in certain patterns and even drawn pentagrams. But he never thought that it was really something that serious, i.e. involving human sacrifices, although he jokingly said that that it could maybe explain the weird smell that night. And what about that bird skeleton thingy on the cabin door, from the photo earlier in this post?

On a more serious note, Palle did actually present me with a few plausible suggestions for what could have caused the strange smell. First of all, he said, there is a type of perennial plant on the island that can release a sweet odor. Also the sieves around the island, when bent and crushed, can give off a pretty distinct scent. Finally, a herb known as Cheledonium is found there, which can set off a pretty a harsh allergic reaction in some individuals and is best avoided all together. If we imagine four people walking around the island in the late summer, before the yearly maintenance, when the plant life has been allowed to grow wild for almost a year, it's not hard to imagine that one or more of these could be the culprit. So i think that we now definitively can put that part of the story in the "normal" box.

There was one more thing I had hoped Palle could clear up for me, namely the issue of the open roof construction that apparently was in progress when the guys visited. Narrowing this down to within a precise year would help immensely. Unfortunately Palle could not remember when this might have been, but he told me that he and his colleagues often tried to make measures to prevent visitors from going upstairs and prevent the risk of a collapse and possible accident. So it might be that what Thomas and the others interpreted as leftovers from construction, was more of a deliberate obstruction made by Palle and his crew.

Palle then told me one last, highly interesting fact. The stone seat of Frederik 7 that I included a picture of in part 1, and which is clearly visible on the island today, was thought for many years to have been removed and shipped away to some other place, without a record. For ages nobody could figure out what had happened to it, and any hope of finding it again had long since been abandoned. But one day when Palle was out on the island working, he discovered the top of what seemed to be a large rock under the soil. He started to uncover more and more of it until he finally realized that what he had discovered was the notorious, "lost" stone seat. It had been there all along, hidden by the island herself! He was subsequently in contact with the Danish National Museum, who thanked him many times for making the discovery. So while we may not have solved the main mystery of our story, there most definitely has been many interesting findings along the way, this being just the latest.

The End?

Speaking with Palle was a nice way to round up what I initially thought would be a pretty straightforward account, but which has steadily evolved into something much larger, connecting many people I grew up with in the most unforeseeable ways. It has made me grow a lot personally as well, and greatly expanded my historical knowledge of my home town and country, something that would probably otherwise never have happened to the same extent. At the same time, while I do hope and believe that more things of interest will eventually surface, I don't see myself making a part 3 anytime soon. But let's see.

Probably we will never know what really happened on Louise's Island during that summer night at the end of the previous century. But it is the kind of story that resonates strongly with many people, whether they believe in ghosts or not. I for one am glad I've had the opportunity here to raise it to a more national, and even international, level of awareness, and I hope it will continue to be told for many years to come. It deserves it.