The Hummingbird (34 page)

‘Oh piss off, Rauno,’ said Anna and ran to the taxi rank, jumped into a car and watched the dark, deserted city rush past her eyes as she tried to hold back the tears. The jetties outside the brand-new apartment blocks on the islands at the mouth of the river floated black against the glinting water, then they reached the slip road on to the motorway and from there the taxi sped up to 120 kilometres an hour past Välikylä and Savela towards the imposing apartment blocks of Koivuharju, towards the apartment in which she would try to get some sleep, the place that she called home.

It struck her that she still hadn’t gone to visit the house where she and Ákos and their mother had moved to after leaving the reception centre. It was close by. Childhood. Youth. There it was round the corner.

Anna couldn’t get to sleep. She couldn’t forget the insinuating text messages from an unlisted number. Now she was thinking about them again.

Could Rauno be behind them?

She tossed and turned in bed until morning, put on her headphones and listened to Delay’s album
Anima
, tried to calm herself down, to forget the text messages, to forget Rauno. She went out to the balcony for a cigarette, stood there shivering in only her pyjamas and dressing gown. She spat on to the asphalt below.

The tower blocks stared at her with hundreds of empty eyes, oozing loneliness.

28

‘
IMAGINE
,
THERE
ARE
ALMOST
600,000 rifles in Finland,’ Rauno said to Esko as they drove to Maria Pollari’s house.

‘So?’ Esko replied.

‘It’s a bloody insane number.’

‘Why?’

‘That’s one rifle for every eight people in this country.’

‘So what?’

‘Well, it’s pretty fucking worrying, don’t you think?’

‘Not really. What’s with all the swearing?’ Esko asked. ‘Feeling a bit the worse for wear this morning?’

‘No.’

‘Late night?’

‘No.’

The golden boy is lying, Esko thought with an air of self-satisfaction. Rauno’s conscientious attitude had always irritated him.

‘You’ve got a rifle yourself – a .12-calibre at that – and I’ve got two.’

‘But I’ve started wondering whether it’s too easy to get a firearm in this country. Even underage kids can get their hands on a gun.’

‘For Christ’s sake, Rauno, don’t talk bollocks. The background checks are ridiculous these days. You have to spend hours proving you’re not a self-destructive lunatic with a quick temper. How could they make the protocol any tighter? And as a country lad yourself, you know fine well how bloody important the hunting season is. What else is there for young boys to do? Hunting’s a great hobby, keeps kids on the straight and narrow. You don’t see country lads hanging around the shopping mall all night; they’re in the woods hunting, doing something useful and age-old. They’re enjoying
being outdoors, getting some fresh air. They’re the kind of lads that do their national service without kicking up a fuss.’

‘You’re right. It’s just got me thinking, especially after these shootings. The ecological footprint of game is virtually non-existent. You can’t say that for soya.’

‘What fucking ecological footprint?’

‘Who’s swearing now?’

‘That’s just my irresistible charm. Have you been out hunting this season?’

‘Too busy. And there’s a bit of a situation about to kick off at home.’

‘Jesus, Rauno, all the more reason. Let’s go to Jyräväjärvi next weekend, you and me. We’ll rent a cottage, have a sauna, get pissed and forget all about your woman problems. Shoot us a few ducks too. What do you say?’

‘I’ll have to think. Sounds good,’ Rauno said, though he knew he wouldn’t go.

The Pollaris’ house came into view at the end of the path. It was a new, light-blue, detached house with a mansard roof that lent it an air of bygone grandeur. The still of the front garden made the entire house seem deserted. The yellow leaves of the berry bushes fluttered in the breeze. A wind chime jangled on the almost bare branches of a bird-cherry tree. The vegetable patch was empty and untended. Maria Pollari was at home. She invited the officers into the kitchen and asked if they would like some coffee. Both politely refused upon seeing the difficulty Maria had in moving. As she walked she pressed her hands against the base of her spine and groaned in pain as she sat down. They didn’t have the heart to cause her any excess trouble.

‘What do you want now?’ Maria asked, irritated.

‘We found an interesting item in your husband’s pocket. Here’s a photograph. Do you know what it is or why he had it in his pocket?’

Rauno showed her a photograph of the Huitzilopochtli necklace. Maria looked at it carefully.

‘I’ve never seen a necklace like that,’ she answered eventually. ‘I’m sure Ville didn’t own anything like this. Neither do I. How could it have ended up in his pocket?’

‘That’s what we’re trying to establish.’

‘What is it?’

Rauno looked at Esko, who gave an affirmative nod.

‘It’s an image of an Aztec god called Huitzilopochtli,’ said Rauno.

‘What on earth was it doing in Ville’s pocket?’ Maria was becoming agitated.

‘We don’t know.’

‘This is sick,’ she started to shout. ‘My husband is shot while on a perfectly innocent run, then ends up with that thing in his pocket. Which pocket was it in?’

‘In his right-hand jacket pocket,’ Rauno answered.

‘Who put it there? Why?’

‘I’m afraid we don’t know.’

‘It was the killer. It’s some sick lunatic. He’s going to turn up here and shoot us all,’ Maria screamed before falling suddenly silent and stroking her stomach.

‘It’s perfectly understandable that you’re frightened, but there’s nothing to indicate that the killer will attack people in their homes. He stalks joggers on the running track.’

‘Yes, until now he has, but maybe now he’s going to change tactics. Surely he can’t repeat the same pattern indefinitely? How many joggers is he going to kill?’ Maria was no longer shouting, but her voice was still jittery.

‘Could this be something personal?’ asked Esko. ‘Do you think it’s possible the killer deliberately chose Ville?’

‘Do you mean, did Ville have any enemies?’

‘You could put it like that.’

‘Ville had only friends. Not very many, but they were all close friends. Everybody liked him. Nobody could possibly have anything against him.’

‘What about people from the past? From before you got married?’

‘Ville and I got married a year and four months ago, when he got his job with the city council. Before that we lived in Jyväskylä; that’s where we’re both originally from. We dated for two years. We were in our early twenties when we met each other at a mass organised by the Lutheran students’ association. What past? People that age don’t have a past.’

‘That depends on the person. Quite a few people that age have a past,’ said Esko.

‘Ville didn’t.’

‘What about you?’

‘I don’t either. I went to confirmation school in Aholansaari and fell in love with one of the older boys. That’s my past. Shocking, isn’t it?’

‘Do you have any connections to Saloinen? Do you know anyone who lives there?’

‘You mean the girl killed in August? The one you think was Ville’s lover or something equally ridiculous? No. We don’t know anyone out that way. Most of our friends are still in Jyväskylä, and by that I mean our true friends. Here we don’t have much to do with anyone except for a few work friends and Ville’s orienteering friends. They all live in the local area.’

‘Did you ever have any arguments?’

‘How many times do I have to tell you? No, we didn’t. We loved one another. How dare you turn up here and hurt me further?’ she screamed.

‘I’m sorry,’ Rauno apologised. ‘All we want to do is find this killer.’

Maria was silent. Only the faint gurgling of the fridge elements broke the silence.

‘My back feels like it’s on fire; I’ve got to lie down,’ she finally said.

Without waiting for a response she stood up with considerable difficulty, staggered into the living room, her back hunched forwards, and lay on her side on the sofa.

‘This has got much worse now that Ville isn’t here to help me.’

Maria started to sob.

‘Is there anyone who could come out here and help you?’ Rauno asked with a note of genuine concern.

Maria wiped her eyes and swallowed her tears, stroked her swollen stomach.

‘My mother is here already. She’s in town picking up some groceries.’ Maria’s voice was exhausted. Her eyes momentarily drooped shut.

‘Did you notice anything strange about Ville in recent weeks?’ Rauno tried again.

‘I’ve already talked about this. I didn’t notice anything, because there was nothing to notice. Everything was perfectly normal.’

‘Ville had told Jussi Järvinen about a red car he’d seen in the parking area at the start of the running track. Did he ever mention that car to you?’

‘No.’

‘Do you have any idea who that red car might belong to? According to the sightings, it would seem to be a somewhat older model, an average-sized car.’

‘How specific. What make of car?’

‘I’m afraid we don’t know.’

‘Nothing springs to mind, I have to say. My mother has a red car, but it’s a brand-new Volvo station wagon. And besides, my mother lives in Jyväskylä and doesn’t go jogging.’

‘Try and recall the moments when Ville returned from his runs this past summer. What did he tell you? How did he seem? Did he appear worried or concerned about something?’

Maria thought hard, then shook her head once again.

‘I categorically did not notice anything out of the ordinary about him. I mean, he wasn’t frightened or nervous or anything of the sort. He told me how the run had gone and how he was preparing for his next competition. Though orienteering was only a hobby for Ville, he took it very seriously.’

‘What do you know about Jussi Järvinen?’ Rauno asked.

‘Not all that much. He was a slimy sort of man.’

‘In what way?’

‘He’s a bit too full of himself, the way big bosses generally are. He has a very high opinion of himself. But his wife Tiina seems pleasant enough. They visited us every now and then.’

‘When were they last here?’

‘June. It was before Midsummer. We had a barbecue in the garden.’

‘Did you notice anything odd about the men’s behaviour?’

‘No,’ she replied. ‘Ville didn’t have a difficult relationship with anyone.’

‘Were you in contact with Jussi’s wife?’

‘No, we weren’t friends. They were so different from us. Sometimes I wondered why Ville always wanted to train with that self-obsessed man.’

‘Why did he? In your opinion?’

‘I’ve already told you we don’t have friends round here. Ville met Jussi through the orienteering club, they live close by, I don’t know. Men enjoy doing outdoors things with other men. It doesn’t matter who, as long as they get to run around with their dicks out.’

Rauno was amused.

Maria sat up on the sofa, an agonised expression on her face. She clenched her fist and used it to massage the base of her spine.

‘Do you have a doctor’s certificate for your back problems?’ Esko asked.

‘Excuse me?’ Maria became animated again. ‘Of course I have. How else do you think I’ve managed to be on sick leave for two months? It’s over there in the bureau. Take a look for yourself.’

Temperamental woman, Esko thought. I reckon she did more than fall for that older boy.

Esko fetched the paperwork, looked through it and gave Rauno a nod. Loosening of the sacroiliac joints. Intense pain while walking, standing and sitting. Unable to work.

Unable to murder anyone.

The front door opened. A woman’s voice could be heard in the hallway.

‘Maria! Whose car is that in the drive?’

‘There are two police officers here, Mum,’ Maria shouted back. ‘They want to ask about Ville.’

A chubby woman in her sixties appeared in the living room, like an older clone of Maria Pollari.

‘Hello. Sirkka Jääskö, Maria’s mother. I came as soon as I heard about this terrible thing. Poor child. They were so happy together.’ Maria’s mother’s voice broke and she stopped talking.

‘My condolences,’ said Esko. ‘It’s a good thing you’re here to support your daughter.’