Jarkko Sipila - Nothing but the Truth

“Nope,” said Kannas.

“And you put a rush on it?”

“They promised it this afternoon, but I haven’t heard anything.”

Takamäki paused. “Lots of work, little result.”

“Should we take a more proactive approach?” asked Suhonen.

“Meaning?” said Takamäki.

“Well, we could spread a rumor that all of Korpi’s money has been confiscated and there’s a mole in his organization. In other words, send a message to stay away from him and his outfit.”

Takamäki thought about it. There were pros and cons to the idea. “Okay, you can do the bit about the money, but the mole part could be dangerous. Someone might actually lose their life.”

“Sure,” said Suhonen. “It’d be more effective with the mole part, but I can leave it out.”

“Good. Seems like we have the situation under control. No new threats. The Lehtonens are safe. Just got word from prison that Korpi is in solitary, so he’s cut off from the outside. So for now we just wait for the DNA and the phone data and keep an eye on Siikala. And spread a few rumors, too. Time is on our side.”

FRIDAY, 10:20 P.M.

TAKAMÄKI’S HOME, ESPOO

Takamäki was at home sitting at the kitchen table, a towel around his waist, and his hair still damp from the sauna. A half-empty beer stood on the vinyl tablecloth.

He sifted through a pile of mail from the past week that had never been read: ads from car dealerships and bills, but nothing of any interest. He sipped his beer.

Takamäki’s wife came down the stairs in a T-shirt and yoga pants. “The boys are asleep.”

“Good. Kinda early isn’t it?”

“I guess they had tough practices today. Games tomorrow, too,” said Kaarina. Joonas was fifteen and Kalle was thirteen. The Takamäkis had been married for almost twenty years, after having met at a joint party of police officers and nurses. The parties, popular in the eighties, had paved the way for dozens of cop-nurse couples, some of them still together. In the beginning, the Takamäkis’ rigorous work schedules had created problems, but Kari’s promotion to lieutenant and his wife’s advancement to management had helped to smooth out the wrinkles.

“How was your week?” asked Kaarina.

Takamäki shrugged. “Two life sentences, so I’d say pretty good, but…”

“But what?”

“But…well…there’s been a threat related to the case.”

She bristled. “Against you?”

“No,” he said quickly.

Several years back, Takamäki himself had been threatened, but he had kept it from his wife to save her the worry. This had created a crisis in their marriage, which they had resolved only after months of tense discussion.

“Against someone on your team?”

“Why are you so interested?” said Takamäki, turning the questioning around. Usually she wasn’t terribly interested in his work.

“I want to know. Tell me.”

He sensed that she felt like chatting, so he told her the story about Mari Lehtonen’s role as star witness, and how she had ended up at the safe house. He also mentioned the threat against Lehtonen’s daughter, which darkened his wife’s mood substantially. Takamäki finished off his beer and took another bottle from the fridge. Three remained in the six-pack.

“So what happens next,” she asked. “And I’ll have a beer, too.”

He grabbed a second beer and handed it to his wife along with a glass. He preferred it straight from the bottle. “Well, the situation is under control for now, so we’ll just wait and see if the bad guys come out of the woodwork.”

Kaarina was quiet for a while. “Sad story.”

“Uh-huh,” Takamäki nodded.

“I mean for the lady.”

“Right.”

“In a way, you’ve ruined her chance at a normal life.”

“What do you mean ruined? We didn’t do anything.”

“You made her testify.”

“That’s the law. Witnesses have to testify. Besides, she’s the one who called us.”

“Well, the law ought to be changed if this is what happens. Society can’t expect people to sacrifice their everyday lives for the sake of some criminal case.”

Takamäki sipped his beer. “Well, there’s no telling what’ll happen, if anything. It might already be over.”

“For you, maybe. But this poor woman will be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life.”

“Hey, we’ll protect her.”

“How? By locking her up like the murderer?”

Takamäki studied his wife. “So it would be better if this Korpi were on the streets dealing drugs and having people killed?”

“Of course not. But why should this woman serve the same sentence?”

“Uh-uh. It’s not the same thing. Right now, this safe house is the most sensible and secure solution. Maybe it’ll be weeks, but certainly not months.”

Kaarina looked him in the eyes. “That kind of an experience can really scar a person. Especially the little girl.”

“So we should just forget about witnesses, right?”

“It’s a possibility.”

“ Im possibility is more like it. It’s out of the question! Witnesses are far too important. The police need the support of the community that we protect.”

“But you have to consider the witness and their family before you make them testify,” she went on. “You’ve got phone taps, surveillance, hidden cameras, undercover agents, GPS tracking and who knows what else. Certainly with all that you should be able to build a case well enough to leave innocent citizens alone.”

“Better yet if the criminals would leave us all alone,” said Takamäki, his annoyance beginning to show.

“That’s not much of an argument.”

“What I’m saying is that testifying is a civic duty. The police can’t go it alone-we aren’t some kind of island apart from the rest of society.”

Kaarina was about to say something when Takamäki’s phone rang. He dug it out of his jacket pocket in the entryway and looked at the screen: Joutsamo.

“Yeah,” he said, lingering in the entryway.

“Hi. Sorry to bother you,” said Joutsamo. “The night shift guys called to say that Siikala’s phone records are in. We can get the real-time data on the computer. You want me to go in and check it out?”

“You at home?”

“Yeah.”

Takamäki considered it briefly. “Uhh…probably alright if we wait till morning. But check with Narcotics to make sure the guy is still at the house.”

“Well, they promised to let me know if he goes anywhere. I haven’t heard anything.”

“Alright. Let’s talk tomorrow.”

“Bye,” said Joutsamo, and she hung up the phone.

Takamäki came back to the table. His wife looked at him inquiringly.

“We’ve got the suspect under surveillance and now we have the call data. We’ll look at it tomorrow.”

“So you’re going to work tomorrow?”

“Looks that way. Someone’s gotta look after these witnesses.”

SATURDAY, 1:40 P.M.

PASILA POLICE HEADQUARTERS

Joutsamo set the handset back on the base. No answer. Nothing. The call had gone directly to voicemail. She was sitting at her desk when Takamäki came in.

“Anything?” he asked.

Hope rarely had a place in the VCU’s line of work, but Takamäki was hoping for a yes. Joutsamo shook her head gravely.

“Damnit.”

Mari and Laura Lehtonen had disappeared. Joutsamo had found out about an hour earlier after she tried to call Mari’s cell phone and it went straight to voicemail. Apparently, the phone was off. Joutsamo had Laura’s number too, but the result was the same.