Jarkko Sipila - Nothing but the Truth

“You think Römpötti did it on purpose?”

“Absolutely. Without an answer from us, she just kept going up the ladder. The minister doesn’t know anything about the case,” said Takamäki. “If I were a betting man I’d say the boss’ phones are ringing off the hook right now. First the police commissioner will get a call, then he’ll call the commander and on and on all the way to Deputy Chief Skoog, and from there the shit will pour right down the back of Lieutenant Takamäki’s collar.”

“But Skoog was supposed to be in charge of media.”

“I’m not really worried about the media or getting yelled at. I’m more worried about how Korpi’s goons are gonna react. Might be pouring fuel on the fire.”

“Or not,” said Joutsamo.

“How not? Don’t tell me you buy this bit about publicity protecting her?”

“No, but the bad guys like it when the cops get smeared on TV.”

“I dunno… I’d say she’s lucky they scrambled her face… But, I have been thinking about it a little. It is true that we don’t have any tools other than the safe house. Having the SWAT team running tactical raids and arresting everyone we can think of can’t be standard procedure every time we face this situation.”

Joutsamo could see where Takamäki was going. “In other words we need to think twice before using witnesses.”

“Maybe… I don’t know. We can’t isolate ourselves, but at the same time we have to preserve the public’s trust. Anyway, I’d better have another cup of coffee. Won’t be long before my phone starts ringing.”

Before he made it to the coffeemaker, his phone rang. At least it was easy to pass the reporters on to Skoog, who had “volunteered” as the media contact. After a while, there was a lull in the calls and Joutsamo brought him a cup of coffee.

The fourth call was from a very enraged Skoog.

“What the hell,” he blustered. “How is this possible?”

“Free press?” suggested Takamäki with a smirk. Joutsamo, the only other person in the break room, was sitting across the table.

“Don’t fuck with me. This is a major crisis. That reporter made a laughing stock of the minister and that’s bad news for all of us.”

Takamäki didn’t respond-he was waiting for Skoog’s threat to transfer him to some rural district to process gun permits.

The silence made Skoog hesitate. He didn’t want to hesitate. He’d been lambasted, and now he wanted to lambast someone else. “Answer me! How is this possible?”

“Didn’t you watch the broadcast? Lehtonen talked to a reporter. What more do they need?”

“So where’d Römpötti hear about having Lehtonen committed? She didn’t know about that part.”

“How should I know?”

A foreboding silence prevailed. “There’s a mole on your team. Find out who it is!”

“You know…” said Takamäki, the irritation audible in his voice now. “I think we’ve got enough to do around here without launching an internal investigation.”

“Well… I want a full report for the minister by nine A.M. outlining everything that’s happened and when.”

“Fine.”

“This won’t be good for your career.”

“So where’ll it be… Lapland or someplace else?” said Takamäki in a weary voice.

“Huh?”

“Don’t you always threaten to transfer us to the backwoods whenever something goes wrong? I’d just kind of like to know what district you think is at the bottom of the bucket.”

“You really don’t get it, do you?”

“Actually, I do. But I have some real work to do here. We have a witness who wants…uhh… needs protection.”

Takamäki was getting tired of the conversation, and his coffee was getting cold.

“You’re in deep shit.”

“Is there anything else? I got work to do.”

“No,” said Skoog, and he hung up the phone.

Takamäki tasted his coffee. Still warm enough. “Y-eaah…”

“Well?” said Joutsamo.

“Nothing,” he smiled. No point in burdening Joutsamo with the details. She’d already heard enough. “The chiefs are taking out their rage on everyone else, meaning all of us here in the field. No point worrying about it.”

“No?”

“Not if your conscience is clean,” he said. “In any case, Skoog wants a report on the case to give to the minister. Would you have time to do it?”

Joutsamo nodded. “Sure, I’ll be burning the midnight oil anyway.”

“Don’t make it too long. Two, three pages max. The attention spans at the ministry can’t handle anything longer. So no unnecessary details or confidential material. No addresses, for example, since it’ll be passed around the ministry and political circles. Who knows where it could end up.”

“Got it,” said Joutsamo.

“Oh yeah, and one more thing,” said Takamäki. “Let’s put another patrol car in front of the Lehtonens’ building tonight.”

“Just in case the publicity stirs up any nutcases, huh?”

He nodded. “Damn, we’re like a medical team trying to treat somebody who’s asking us to pull the plug.”

* * *

Mari Lehtonen was at home, sitting on the sofa in front of the TV with her legs folded beneath her and a glass of red wine on the coffee table beside her. She had just watched the news, and Laura, tired from the long day, was already asleep. It felt good to be home.

Mari got up and looked out the window onto the street below where a blue and white cruiser was parked. Despite her hard feelings, it still felt comforting. She thought about the news story, which had been rather critical. Joutsamo and the others were doing their best, of course, and maybe her words were too harsh. In the actual interview, Lehtonen had made it clear that her grievances weren’t against any particular officer, but against the system in general. Römpötti had edited that part out. For a moment, Lehtonen considered calling Joutsamo, but decided against it.

Mari returned to the sofa, took a sip of wine and thought about the coming Monday. Most likely she would go to work as usual, and Laura to school. She would have to schedule her day so she could bring the girl to school and get off early to pick her up. That would be best, no doubt.

Her attempts to analyze her own feelings fell short. Home felt good, if a little scary. Her eyes went to the handbag on the coffee table.

She didn’t feel tired yet, and was flipping through the channels when the phone rang. It was her ex-husband, Anton Teittinen. After a brief deliberation she answered.

“Hello.”

“Hey, it’s Anton. Sorry to bother you.” Mari could hear what sounded like the din of a bar on the other end.

“No worries.”

“Listen, you were great on TV, even if I couldn’t see your pretty face.”

She couldn’t decide whether to be warm or cold, so she settled on neutral. He had, after all, helped them out earlier. “Yeah, well…”

“I’m serious,” he went on. “You really put those pigs in their places. Fucking right on, you know.”

Lehtonen didn’t respond.

“But listen. There’s something I wanna talk to you about,” he said. “I got a call from a couple buddies who wanna help out. You know, be kinda like bodyguards for you two since the cops flopped so bad. These guys are definitely not Korpi fans…very much the opposite.”

“I’m not so sure,” said Mari. Anton’s buddies sounded shady, and she didn’t really want bodyguards, just a normal life. What she definitely didn’t want was to end up in the crossfire between two gangs.

“Come on,” he urged her. “Yes, they have criminal records, but that could make a good story: Ex-cons protect a witness when cops fail.”

“Well, I’m not so sure…”

“Seriously. Give it a chance,” he persisted. “Might take some of the heat off you on the streets if people hear these guys got your back. Don’t ya think?”