Jarkko Sipila - Nothing but the Truth

“Mari,” said Joutsamo. “The criminal is in prison. You were sent there for your own good. So you’d be safe.”

“For weeks or for months? I mean, the place was like a prison. Stuck in a room all day. I have a life. My daughter has a life. We have work, school, family, friends, interests. And tickets to the theater. What right do you have to lock us up?”

Takamäki was about to say something, but Joutsamo shut him up. “We’re looking out for your safety. You’ve been threatened. This is a perfectly normal course of action.”

“It might to be normal to you, but not to us. And what if the threats keep coming? What do you recommend then? That we move to Lapland or Sweden? Cut all ties to our old lives? Geez, if you can’t come up with something better, then I’ll take the risk.”

“For Laura, too?”

“Yeah, we’ve talked it through. We want our lives back. If I start being afraid all the time, I’ll never get my life back. I can’t give up. I can’t be afraid.”

Joutsamo paused for a while. Takamäki had decided to keep quiet. “Let me ask you a question: Do you remember how you felt when Laura got that envelope?”

Mari swallowed hard. “Yes, I’ll never forget. But I was weak then. I thought the experts could help us. But once we were at the safe house, it dawned on me. You don’t care about our lives. You just don’t want problems. That’s why you had to get us out of the picture.”

“Well, what do you want us to do?” said Takamäki, struggling to conceal his disgust.

“Do what you want, but we’ll be going on with our lives.”

The first chime sounded, signifying that the show would begin soon. “Right now, we’re going to watch the play. Afterwards, maybe we’ll have some tea and then head home. I don’t really give a rip what you cops do.”

“Fair enough,” said Takamäki in resignation. “Enjoy the show. Good night. Afternoon, that is.”

He gestured to Joutsamo, and they took their leave.

“We can’t just leave them to Korpi you know,” said Joutsamo as she pulled on her coat. “The wolf will get his sheep in short order.”

“She said herself she doesn’t care what the police do,” he snorted.

“But…”

“Stop and think, Anna,” he said as he held the entry door for her. The temperature had dipped well below freezing. “We’re not gonna abandon the case, we’ll just have to do without their cooperation. Basically, that means you get to stay here and wait till the show is over. Then you just politely ask if they’d like a ride in an unmarked squad. If they turn it down, follow them and make sure nothing happens.”

“Isn’t that…”

“She said herself she doesn’t give a rip what the cops do. At least for now, that’s the way we’ll have to do it. Like you said, we can’t just leave them to Korpi. To hell with the cost,” he said. “I’ll leave you the squad and catch a bus back to the station.”

“I can drop you off,” said Joutsamo. “The show will probably take a couple hours, and I didn’t see any suspicious characters around.”

“Except for Römpötti. Alright, let’s do that.”

* * *

It was nearing six o’clock and already dark outside. Suhonen was sitting in a car in the Haukilahti district of Espoo, staking out a house that belonged to Attorney Mats Martin. Suhonen had parked the car with a clear view of the façade. There was no doubt that there were people inside-the place was actually hopping. Presumably the lawyer was hosting some kind of party.

Only a few hours before, Suhonen had been spending his day off with the intention of going for pizza and a few beers with his wife candidate Raija when Takamäki called. Of course, he could have said no, but that wasn’t his style.

Besides, the situation seemed pretty juicy. Based on information gleaned from phone taps, they had reason to believe that Martin had called Jere Siikala three times on a prepaid card in recent days. The lawyer was the only one whose own phone had been within range of the same cell towers as the prepaid phone that was used to call Guerrilla. It couldn’t be a coincidence. And if it was, it called for a formal explanation in a police interrogation room. Martin had also gone to visit Korpi in Helsinki Prison on the Thursday prior to Korpi’s transfer to solitary.

Takamäki, Suhonen, Joutsamo and Karila had held a meeting at the VCU conference room to discuss the situation brought about by the Lehtonens’ desertion. Once Martin’s and Siikala’s phone records were added to the equation, it became clear that there was no reason to wait. Particularly with Siikala continuing to call anonymous numbers. The police had to be proactive. Anybody who could be linked to the case would be taken in and held for as long as legally possible, and potentially remanded into custody if the interviews and searches produced any evidence.

As for Guerrilla, his arrest was left up to Narcotics agents, who were overjoyed to be done with their mind-numbing surveillance detail. Suhonen, for his part, had tracked down Martin. Because the two men were connected, there was good reason to make their arrests at more or less the same time. A tentative time of six o’clock was agreed upon, just before the conclusion of the play at the Helsinki City Theater.

Suhonen considered the various ways that he could arrest Martin. If the house was packed with lawyers, sending in the SWAT team would likely be ill-advised, though quite educational. Karila and Takamäki had emphasized the importance of the lowest possible profile and minimal publicity. The goal was to turn the situation back in the Lehtonens’ favor.

In terms of a low profile, Martin’s party was clearly a terrible starting point. No matter how they got him out of the house, there would be an uproar amongst the guests. Suhonen couldn’t wait until the party was over, because timing was important. But the bosses had only urged the lowest possible profile. Needless to say, they would have to search the house, so the party had to end. But how to do that without revealing the reason for Martin’s arrest to his guests?

Suhonen had looked into Martin’s background. The man was married with two teenage children, but more interesting was what he found in the firearms registry: a shotgun and two handguns registered in his name.

His two-story red brick house was situated just across the street from the ocean front, not far from Mellsten’s beach.

Suhonen took out his phone and called the on-duty lieutenant at the Espoo police department. Takamäki had already arranged for back-up to be available. After that, Suhonen called Takamäki, who had no objections to his straightforward plan.

Within ten minutes, the cruisers from Espoo had pulled up to the agreed-upon meeting spot in the parking lot of the Toppelund school. Suhonen briefed the uniformed officers on his strategy and showed them a photo of Martin he’d gotten from a directory of lawyers.

The squad cars pulled up to the house in single file with their roof lights off. Suhonen parked his vehicle behind them and he, along with four other cops, weaved through the cars parked in the driveway. One of the uniformed officers rounded the house to cover the back door.

Suhonen reached the front door and was about to ring the bell when it opened. He recognized Martin immediately. The man had a glass of Cognac in his hand. He reeked of alcohol, and his pupils were dilated. Latin music and the smell of cigar smoke wafted outside.

“What’s this?” he said. “Are the neighbors complaining? We’ll turn it down.”

“No need. I’ll take care of it,” said Suhonen.

“What? You can’t just…”

“Shut up,” said Suhonen, and one of the Espoo cops twisted Martin’s arms behind his back. The glass of Cognac fell to the floor and shattered.