Jarkko Sipila - Nothing but the Truth

As Joutsamo stepped into his office, Takamäki could tell from the faint smile on her face that she had good news.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Something, which is a good thing. First off, Kulta got footage of the Lehtonens at the Kirkkonummi train station. They boarded an 11:30 train toward Helsinki, scheduled to arrive at 12:08. The video showed that they were clearly alone on the platform.”

Takamäki glanced at the clock. “So we’re about two and a half hours behind them.”

“Right, but of course they could’ve gotten off at an earlier stop. No sign of them at the apartment.”

“I’m sure Kulta will check the footage at the Helsinki end next?”

“That’s what he said,” said Joutsamo.

“Well, at least we’re on the trail.”

That the Lehtonens were travelling alone was a relief. If someone had snatched them, they wouldn’t be using public transit. More than likely they would’ve been tossed into a trunk. Or a trash bag.

“One other thing,” said Joutsamo. “Guerrilla got another phone call. Came from a cell tower in Kallio.”

“A prepaid phone?”

Joutsamo nodded. “That’s the third call from the same number, but all from different towers. I think it makes sense to file for a warrant at this point.”

“I think so too,” said Takamäki. Given the calls had come from three separate cell towers, it made sense to dig deeper-it would be easier to limit the number of phones falling within their range. The data could also reveal the caller’s other phone numbers, which might be registered to a real person. “I’ll take care of the red tape ASAP.”

Joutsamo looked exasperated. “I’m sick and tired of messing with all this cell tower bullshit… No question in my mind we should be able to listen to these calls. Right now we have no idea who’s calling and what’s being said. With a tap we’d be two steps ahead of the game.”

“You’re preaching to the choir. Talk to the parliament and interior ministry,” said Takamäki with an edge in his voice. “Maybe you could stage a protest.”

Joutsamo was quiet for a while. “Stage?” She thought for a while. Laura’s theater project was over, but hadn’t Mari mentioned something about a show they were planning on attending? A musical, she recalled. Wasn’t it around this time? A Saturday, to be sure.

“You know what,” said Joutsamo. “I think they’ve got tickets to a musical today.”

“A musical?”

“At the City Theater, if I remember right. I wouldn’t think there’d be too many musicals running at the same time.”

Takamäki grabbed a copy of the Helsingin Sanomat and opened it to the entertainment section. “Two shows there today. A matinee at four and an evening show at seven-thirty.”

Joutsamo looked at the clock. “Still a good hour before the matinee starts. Maybe we ought to have a look.”

“I’ll come too. If they don’t show, let’s stop by their apartment and take a stroll around the neighborhood.”

* * *

Mari and Laura Lehtonen were sitting at a table for four on the second floor of the Hakaniemi McDonald’s. There were few other customers. Mari was sitting with her back to the wall, with a clear view of anyone who came up the stairs. Laura was facing her.

The window provided a view of the empty Hakaniemi outdoor market. It had closed at two, the vendors having packed up their carts and left.

Mari and Laura ate their hamburgers in silence. The decision to run had been discussed thoroughly back in Kirkkonummi. Laura had complied with her mother’s wishes.

Mari saw him the moment his face came into view on the stairs. He spotted her and cut straight for their table.

Mari set what was left of her hamburger on the table and followed his approach with her eyes. Anton Teittinen stopped and stood at the end of the table. Mari had called him an hour earlier to ask for a favor and they had arranged to meet here.

Laura’s eyes went from the man to her mother with a mystified expression.

Teittinen kept his gaze on Laura. “You sure have grown.”

Laura was confused. And who is this supposed to be, her eyes seemed to say.

“Laura, this is your father,” said Mari.

Laura stood and threw her arms around his sturdy body. At first, he was taken off guard, but soon he wrapped his strong arms around her and held on. He couldn’t speak, nor could he keep the tears from welling up in his eyes. After about half a minute, the girl let go and so did Anton.

“Sit, sit,” said Mari, glancing around at the other customers. Nobody had taken any interest in them.

Anton Teittinen tried discreetly to dab away his tears, but he wasn’t fooling either of them. “Been quite some time,” he said. “Time you can’t get back. I…uhh…I’ve been pretty stupid.”

Mari nodded. This was probably the closest to an apology Anton was capable of. “There’s no going back to the way it was,” she said.

“That’s not what I meant. But maybe we could meet here…or someplace else, say, a few times a year?”

“I’d like that,” said Laura.

Mari nodded. “I’d be okay with it.”

“Or what if dad came to see my play?”

“If he wants to,” said Mari.

“I don’t see why not, but…” he gathered his thoughts for a moment. “…about the current situation.”

“Right,” said Mari. She looked at Laura, “I’ve told her everything.”

“Okay, then I’ll just be blunt. There’s a lotta rumors going around about you. Hard saying what’s true and what’s not, but there could be some truth to them.”

“We know, but who?” asked Mari.

“Korpi, of course.”

“Why?”

“That I don’t know. Probably fu… Umm… Annoyed about his sentencing,” he said, smiling sheepishly at his daughter.

Mari thought for a moment. “What do you think we should do?”

“I dunno. You can’t show fear, but Korpi has some crazy guys in his corner. I really don’t know.”

Laura cut in. “Are you a criminal?”

Anton chuckled. “Uhh, how to put it… I never been much for the straight and narrow, but I’m not a bad man. At least not that bad,” he said, trying to keep a gentle face.

“Listen,” said Mari. “We should go. Did you

bring it?”

Teittinen took a bag out from beneath the table. “I got some Christmas presents for the two of you. This bigger one is for your mom and this other is for you. I didn’t have time to wrap them. This all came up kinda sudden.”

He handed the smaller package to the girl. “Here. Merry Christmas. It’s one of these MP3 players with a bunch of music already on there.”

Laura smiled in surprise. “Thank you!”

Mari didn’t want to ruin the moment by asking how and where he had managed to purchase a player with preloaded songs.

“And Mari…maybe we should duck into the restroom to open this one.”

Mari nodded and stood up. “Watch our stuff,” she said to Laura.

The restrooms were on the second floor, small but private. Mari chose the women’s room. Anton followed and locked the door behind him. The room felt a bit cramped for Mari’s tastes-she didn’t care to be so close to her ex-husband.

“I haven’t changed my mind about your testifying against Korpi. But let’s not talk about that right now. You’re both in trouble, so I’ll help you because of

the girl.”

He opened the box to reveal a small revolver with a roundish profile. The handle was made of dark

wood, and mated with chrome-plated steel. The barrel seemed remarkably short.

“It’s the best I could get on short notice. A short-barrel Smith amp; Wesson.44. It’ll fit in your purse and it’s fucking easy to use.”

He cocked it, pulled the trigger, and the hammer snapped shut. “The bullets are in here.” He held up a small Zip-loc bag with six rounds in it, then took out a small rag and set about wiping his fingerprints off the weapon. “This is what the gun dealers always do.”