Nights of Awe (23 page)
Authors: Harri Nykanen
“Can’t go in there yet. Might be more explosives; the bomb squad is checking the apartment and the car first.”
“Any victims?”
“One. The woman who entered the apartment. The pressure from the shock wave slammed into the upstairs and downstairs apartments with the most force, but luckily they were both empty. Neighbour’s an elderly woman, she was taken to hospital for tests.”
“How’d the apartment look?”
“Bad. All the contents were destroyed, but the walls and ceiling are intact, there’s about an eight-inch hole in the floor. Victim’s in unidentifiable condition.”
“How big an amount of explosives are we talking about?”
“Hard to tell; there was more than one explosion. A big explosion was heard first, followed by several smaller ones. We found signs indicating grenades. There were also guns in the apartment, or at least one sub-machine gun plus ammo. That’s why I ordered that the apartment be checked before we let anyone else in there.”
Stenman came over to me.
“The officers who saw the explosion are waiting in the car, if you have a second…”
I thanked the fire marshal and followed Stenman.
The men were sitting in the back of the van, looking grim. I shook hands with both of them.
The older, bald officer gave a brief report of what had happened.
“Did the bomb go off as soon as the woman stepped into the apartment?” I asked.
“No, a light came on in the apartment, then it took five, at most ten seconds before it blew… and a few seconds later there were at least two more explosions, not as powerful. All the debris flew out into the yard during the first explosion.”
“You knew which apartment it was?”
“Sure. We received instructions to watch the car and the apartment and if necessary apprehend anyone… that is, if they tried to leave with the car.”
“Where did the woman approach from?”
“From over there.”
The younger officer pointed at the end of the building. We had just come from that direction ourselves. Behind the building, only fifty yards away, ran a busy arterial road served by a local bus route.
“So she came on foot, not by car?”
“If she came by car, then it had to be farther off.”
“Did she have anything with her? Carrying anything, a bag or something like that?”
“A purse. White leather.”
“And you didn’t see anyone else in the yard?”
“When it exploded, you mean?” asked the bald police officer.
“Yeah.”
“No, almost definitely not. Before that, there were two little girls on the swing, but someone yelled for them to come home.”
Yelled. It sounded so old-fashioned. Nowadays a mum was more likely to call her kids on their mobile phones than bother to step out onto the balcony and yell for them to come home.
The car door opened. Simolin peered inside.
“There’s someone here who wants to join you.”
Sillanpää climbed into the van and sat down next to me.
“Evening. Inspector Sillanpää from the Security Police. I’d like to hear everything once more from the start.”
The police officers told him everything they had told me. I didn’t feel like sticking around for the rerun, so I hopped out.
Sillanpää evidently couldn’t come up with any more questions than I had. A couple of minutes later, he emerged from the van.
“Looks like it’s time for us to clear the air,” he said, attempting a smile. “Your boss already let me have it, so go a little easier on me, huh? Try to keep in mind this isn’t a simple matter.”
“What matter are you talking about?”
Sillanpää steered me aside.
“You already know that we received a tip-off just a little over a week ago that a couple of big-time terrorists were holed up in Helsinki – we’re talking international elite. We got names, but they weren’t of much use, because both of them had false identities and evidently Danish passports as well. All the other distinguishing characteristics were old too; we didn’t even have fingerprints for them. Both had lived in Denmark for a long time, one was apparently married there. Someone was right when they said that something’s rotten in the state of Denmark.”
I started to suspect that Sillanpää was trying to butter me up by telling me everything I already knew.
“Tell me something new.”
“The information came at a fucked-up time, frankly speaking, because a couple of weeks earlier the foreign ministry of Israel had contacted us and informed us that Foreign Minister Szybilski was intending on visiting the Jewish congregation in Helsinki during their Yom Kippur. The foreign minister didn’t want any official visit or protocol; he just wanted to pay his respects to the congregation. The only meetings Szybilski would have would be informal discussions on the situation in the Middle East with the prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs. We were told the duration of the visit would be two days. When we were informed about the visit, we were also presented with a request to take a group from the Israeli security police around to the stops on the itinerary in advance, let them familiarize themselves. This is normal protocol in such situations, and we didn’t have any reason to say no. Five men from the security police arrived a week ago. Everything went as usual. They were here for four days.”
“They’re the ones who told you about Saijed and Bakr?”
“We already knew about them, but we got some updated intelligence. We were told that in addition to Bakr and Saijed, a UK citizen named Tagi Hamid who had previously procured weapons and explosives from Russia for terrorists was hanging out in Helsinki. Surprisingly, we found Hamid easily. It turns out that Hamid’s cousin who had been granted Finnish citizenship also lived here.”
“Ali Hamid,” I said.
“Right. Israel didn’t have any information on this cousin, so in other words Ali was innocent and only died because his cousin had got mixed up in some bad stuff, the same with his employee at the body shop… I heard that you found some of the weapons and plastic explosives that Hamid had procured.”
“Some?”
“According to our intelligence, there were many times more explosives and three launchers. It could be that some of it detonated in Laya’s apartment. Laya’s still missing, though, and so is Bakr. And that means that we still have a problem.”
“We’re not sure yet that the man who got hit by the train was either Saijed or Bakr. As a matter of fact, we still don’t have a clue as to his identity.”
“The Israelis believe he’s Saijed.”
“On what grounds?”
“They won’t say. They just talk about their sources.”
It seemed strange that Sillanpää was still willing to believe the Israelis, even though he had been screwed over like us. It was clear that the Israelis were doling out information bit by bit, and only as much as they considered necessary. If they wanted to play, I’d play too, and I didn’t want Sillanpää to reveal my cards to them.
“As I recall, the day before last you still believed that the events at Linnunlaulu and Vartiokylä didn’t have anything to do with terrorism,” I reminded him.
Sillanpää grunted.
“The commander and the rest of upper police command knew the whole time what was going on. The tactic had been agreed on with them. We had to maintain a low profile. Keep in mind, the foreign minister is arriving next week.”
“You said that all the guys from Mossad left Finland.”
“You better believe it. I escorted them to the airport and put them on the plane myself.”
“Why?”
“Because my bosses and I wanted to be sure that they left.”
“What about now?”
“We want to know who’s behind the Linnunlaulu killings, and we also want to get the rest of the explosives out of here before the visit… and of course apprehend Bakr, Laya and the accomplice.”
“What information do you have on Laya?”
“We knew that he and Tagi Hamid were meeting. He didn’t have a record, and we evidently didn’t take him seriously enough. We staked out his apartment a few times, but then we concentrated on locating Bakr. We had our hands full with that.”
“Did Laya have a girlfriend?”
Sillanpää nodded.
“I’d say she’s an ex now.”
“She may have been the woman seen in Laya’s Focus in Kerava. In which case it’s more likely that the man who got into the car was Laya and not Bakr.”
Sillanpää still wanted to hear how we had picked up Laya’s trail and what we knew about him.
When I had told him, Sillanpää held out a hand.
“So, a clean slate?”
I shook the hand, even though I was sure that Sillanpää hadn’t changed his ways. Either that, or he had a different conception of a clean slate than I did.
I left for home around nine p.m. By then I had learnt that sixty grams of hash and twenty-five grams of amphetamines had been found in Murak Laya’s apartment. On the way, I ordered a pizza. There were a few cold beers in the fridge, and I had already mentally cracked one. Life was more pleasant if you rewarded yourself now and again.
I had just hopped off the tram at Viiskulma when my mobile rang. After a moment of silence, I heard a voice say: “Hey Ari, nice to hear your voice. It’s been a while.”
I recognized the voice as easily as the figure from the Parliament House security camera. The caller was Dan Kaplan, my friend who had a warrant out for his arrest.
“Hi Dan. You still in Finland?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“In Helsinki?”
“Maybe. Is it true that you’re looking for me?”
“Maybe.”
“Ask me what you want to know.”
“Where are you?”
Dan chuckled.
“Let’s not get down to the nitty-gritty just yet.”
“Then tell me what happened at Linnunlaulu. You were there, weren’t you?”
“I must admit I was.”
“Why were you there?”
“I was travelling with Weiss as a bodyguard of sorts. Maybe you haven’t heard, but I quit the army and set up my own company in the security field. I also work as a bodyguard.”
“Why did Weiss need a bodyguard?”
“Weiss came to Finland, at least in his words, to buy some furs, and he was carrying a lot of cash. He and I bowl in the same league, that’s why he extended me an unofficial invitation. According to Weiss, I wasn’t actually working, more on holiday and as a travel companion. He paid for my trip and expenses and promised me a thousand dollars on top.”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a holiday.”
“No indeed.”
“What happened to Weiss?”
“Usually the first thing you ask a friend who you haven’t seen in ten years is how he’s doing.”
“How are you doing?”
“Not so great. My boss didn’t like me and made my life such hell I had to quit. I’m on the verge of getting a divorce. Other than that, everything’s great. Hopefully for you, too.”
“Can’t complain.”
“I heard you’re still a bachelor. What happened to that foxy redhead that you came to Israel with? Heli, wasn’t that her name?”
“We parted as enemies.”
“You happen to have her number? How are things going with the ladies otherwise?”
I told him that for the past couple of years I had stuck to one-night stands.
“Ari, I’ve always said that you’re full of surprises. When I last—”
I interrupted him: “What happened to Weiss?”
“All right, down to business. Weiss was an exercise freak and always went running at seven a.m. I had to go with him, of course. We ran along Töölönlahti Bay, and when we were about maybe fifty yards from the Linnunlaulu bridge, we saw two men were fighting on it, or at least that’s what we believed. One was lying on the ground and the other one was having a go at him. Then the guy got up and kicked the guy on the ground so hard that he rolled down the embankment. When he took off in the other direction, we ran after him. From the bridge I could see that the guy who took a tumble down the slope was lying there all bloody.”
“Was he still alive?”
“I didn’t have time to check, because Weiss followed the other guy and caught up to him on the bridge. I had to go help Weiss. By the time I ran up, the other guy was reaching for his gun. I pulled mine out faster and aimed. He was dark-skinned, looked Arab. He went nuts and scrambled over the railing onto the edge of the bridge. At the same time, a train came from the north and he lost his balance and fell…”
I had a few seconds to consider what Dan told me. His story seemed solid.
“Then we noticed this other Arab-looking guy standing at the far side of the bridge. Weiss wasn’t the type to stand around thinking; he attacked him. The other guy took off and Weiss went after him. I followed, of course, because I was afraid that Weiss would get into more trouble… I have to admit, I’ve let myself get a little out of shape. By the time I got to the park, Weiss was right on the guy’s heels. There was a car at the side of the road with someone sitting behind the wheel. The guy who was running from Weiss suddenly stopped and pulled out a gun. He aimed at Weiss and forced him into the back seat of the car. Right when I made it there, the car sped off… End of story. It’s fucked up, huh? Weiss had a wife and three kids. I know the wife pretty well… imagine what it’s going to feel like telling her about all this when I was there.”
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