Le is relieved and happy to see Mark after he spent the night after the stalker threats in Episode 3 of The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek. Naia decides to keep Esra in the dark for now, promising Mark to keep him posted if anything changes.
The investigation continues and the police discover that both Zara and Andreas had cheated on their spouses, but Emma had not. “Emma had multiple stab wounds, and bruising and evidence of a violent struggle, suggesting she was known to her killer, and the crime was very personal.”
She found three previous stalking complaints from Sandra, all with similar patterns. Ali fled the country, Berit was no longer harassed after reconciling with her husband and Ditte has been living in hiding divorcing her abusive ex-husband. The investigators learn soon after that Ditte, Zara and Andreas have all reached out to the Agency for Family Law for assistance in their divorces.
Meanwhile, Signe, a widow in Marie’s grief support group, checks up on her. Marie, still wracked with guilt, says she and Emma fought a lot and she had no clue what her daughter was dealing with. Signe tells her to concentrate on her last children. She helps her gradually clear out Emma’s room.
Doctors at the hospital prepare to wake Jon from his coma. “You must see your brother, Mark,” says Naia, but he is determined to remain with her. But the playfulness turns to tension when Mark receives a teasing selfie from Le prompting Naia to tell him not to lead her on.
Back on the case, the police meet up with Ole, Ditte’s caseworker at the family agency. Ditte says she will be in court when her custody case is decided.
Later Marie is leaving class early, she sees Emma’s friends nearby. During a chat Silje discloses that their crew kept a list of people they fantasized about, some of which were teachers.
Elsewhere detectives question Ditte’s ex-husband Peter and his current girlfriend Lena, but neither provides useful information. Meanwhile, Aksel stumbles upon a chilling 1992 case involving a predator playing hide-and-seek with children before killing them. Three children died, the last body was found in the marshlands.
The investigation takes a new turn when Ole recalls that Ditte had previously lived with a colleague. Peter is following them secretly as Naia and Mark are going there.
Ditte is preparing for an important meeting when she gets another countdown message from the stalker, sending her into panic until Mark arrives.
At school Marie becomes more and more suspicious after seeing Silje talking to Bo, a young teacher who has been supportive of Marie. Marie combs through Emma’s assignments and finds an essay for Bo’s class called “Erotic Obsession” and disturbing personal remarks from him.
Ditte later tells detectives that Peter is controlling, unstable and perfectly capable of stalking her. As she explains, the harassment started soon after she approached the family agency. And after Ditte went underground, investigators find “cuckoo” text messages, showing the stalker was actively looking for her.
Marie publicly named Bo, who had been one of the chaperones at the party where Emma disappeared. Thor and Principal Anders, however, dismiss her concerns, believing Marie is suffering from emotional problems.
Detectives return to interview Peter, only to find his house empty.
Jon wakes up in hospital. Naia finally gets Mark to visit her. They had a tough start in life, but Jon says he’s proud of Mark. Mark, ominously, says every choice has a price.
Meanwhile Naia checks Peter’s computer and finds disturbing photoshopped pictures blaming Ditte for destroying his family.
Peter goes with Ditte to the family agency. He goes off when he finds out from his lawyer that he might only get limited visitation rights. He storms into the building with a rifle, shoots the receptionist and starts hunting Ditte.
Taking into account what Jon said, Mark calls Naia and asks her to dinner. She happily accepts but cuts short the call when she gets to the agency and sees the chaos.
Inside, Peter shoots both Ditte’s police escort and Ole. Naia tries to bargain with him, but Peter shoots her and runs off with Ditte. Naia attempts to follow them, wounded, but falls.
Police have cordoned off the scene by the time Mark arrives. He is heartbroken to find Naia’s body, cold.
Episode Review
Episode 3 is a another exciting chapter, gradually unfolding the layers of the mystery and keeping the audience hooked. Each new clue is deliberate, so the audience can piece the puzzle together with the investigators.
Peter is the obvious suspect, but the episode heavily implies he might be nothing more than a red herring. The real stalker knows much better how the family agency works, especially considering how accurately Ditte’s whereabouts were revealed after so few people knew where she was.
The possibility of an inside leak can no longer be ignored.
The other big shock of the episode is the apparent death of Naia. Whether she’s really gone or faking her death as part of a bigger strategy remains one of the most interesting questions to go forward.
There is also the suspicion of Signe’s continued presence. Her close relationship with Marie and her own tragic history suggest that she may play a bigger part in the mystery than viewers initially thought.
