Harri Nykanen - Behind God's Back

“Most people consider Jacobson’s murder an act of anti-Semitism.”

“Pretty understandable.”

“I’m meeting Jacobson’s daughter at seven.”

“Your former girlfriend, you mean,” Huovinen said, a twinkle in his eye. Either Simolin or Stenman had spilled the beans. “How has she held up?”

“Pretty well.”

“Then watch your step.”

A water bus full of tourists was gliding under the Degerö bridge. The canal was so narrow that only a couple of feet remained on either side of the vessel, and the waves it created sloshed up the stone banks. A little further off, two boats were waiting to enter the canal. The tourists waved at Lea and me good-naturedly. We were standing side by side on the bridge, leaning against the railing. I got momentarily lost in nostalgia, and was on the verge of lowering my hand to her shoulder like I used to. Luckily I realized what was happening, and stopped myself in time. Huovinen’s words came back to me: Watch your step .

“It looks exactly the same. It smells the same, too,” Lea said. A gust of wind tousled her dark hair. For a brief instant, distant memory clouded the present moment and she was the young girl whom I had dated over twenty years ago.

“Maybe this spot looks the same, but nothing else does. Everything has changed. Helsinki has totally changed; I’ve changed — even though I’m actually a young man in a middle-aged man’s body.”

Lea glanced at me. “It’s for the best. Middle age suits you.”

“How about you?”

“A lot of things happen over twenty years. Too many.”

“True. You like living in Israel?”

“Most of the time.”

“Do you visit Finland often?”

“Once or twice a year. The next time I was supposed to come was for Dad’s birthday in November… It’s hard to believe that he’s not here any more. He’s always been there… my whole life.”

We strolled slowly towards Laajasalo.

“The motive,” I said. “We don’t have a motive yet. If we knew the motive, I think we’d be able to make pretty rapid progress. It’s hard to understand why someone would want to kill your father…”

“It’s even harder for me than it is for you. Unless it’s an act of anti-Semitic violence, which you say you don’t think it is. Maybe I don’t even want to try and think of an explanation, since it’s my father.”

“I get that, but I hope you’ll try anyway…”

“You can be sure I’ve already discussed it with both Mom and Roni. None of us can come up with a believable reason for the crime. Nothing but guesses. Mom even imagined that Dad had another woman. Dad, another woman… Mom has always been jealous of Dad…”

“Your father was afraid of something, and who would he talk about it with if not his loved ones?”

“Not me, at least. Maybe Mom misunderstood and thought Dad was afraid of something, even though something else was going on. Dad was a good man; he didn’t have any enemies.”

He had one, at least , I thought.

“Your mother said that your father had warned her against opening the door to strangers. It’s not likely that your mother misunderstood that. Besides, the fear was rational. The killer was dressed as a police officer. There can be no other explanation except that that’s how he got your father to open the door. Your father was on his guard because he was afraid.”

“I suppose I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“Your brother left for Lapland a day before your dad started staying home from the office. Could that have something to do with all this?”

“What on earth are you implying?” Lea asked, although I knew she understood perfectly well what I was implying.

“Maybe he also believed Roni was in danger, and sent him away.”

“Roni wouldn’t have lied to me… or to Mom.”

“Maybe Roni didn’t know what was going on. Maybe your dad had just asked or demanded that he take his vacation right when he did.”

“If that were the case, Dad would have told Roni the real reason. It’d be easier for him to avoid danger if he were anticipating it. And if that were the case, why wasn’t Dad scared for Mom?”

“Perhaps because your brother and father were caught up in the same imbroglio, but your mother wasn’t.”

“You don’t respect Roni very much, do you? Since you think he would hold something back that would help you catch Dad’s murderer.”

“Why didn’t your father contact the police if he was afraid, then?”

“I don’t know. You tell me,” Lea said.

“Because he would have been forced to explain something to the police that he wanted to keep under wraps. And that something was to do with him or your brother, or both. Maybe he ended up footing the bill for your brother… Maybe he was killed as a warning to your brother. Regardless of what my opinion is of Roni, it’s easier for me to believe that the murder has something to do with him than with anything your father did or did not do.”

My words gave Lea pause. And that had been the point. I was trying to get her to see things more clearly.

Two little boys were digging for worms in the woods. The alders lining the shore were still green, but the nip of early autumn was unmistakable. The last couple of nights had been cold. There had already been night frosts in Lapland, and it had snowed in the fells.

Eventually Lea spoke. “That was a cruel thing to say; Roni is my brother.”

“And I’m a police officer. Sometimes we have to say cruel things. A little over a year ago your brother built a big, expensive house in Marjaniemi. Do you know where he got the money?”

“He sold his old home and took out a loan. Dad thought the house Roni was building was too expensive and the loan he took out was too big. I presume Roni makes a pretty good living. He is an executive, after all.”

“When was the last time you were in touch with your father?”

“A week… five days ago. Dad called in the evening. We talked for about ten minutes.”

“What about?”

“Completely ordinary things. Were things calm in Tel Aviv, how the kids were doing, were they enjoying school, how I was doing. Then he told me was in good health and Mom was, too. Roni and his new wife were not doing very well, evidently. He always told me whom he had seen at synagogue… He even mentioned you…”

“Me?”

“Yes. He said that there had been an article about you in the paper. You had solved a taxi murder.”

“That was over two months ago.”

“He’d hear about you at the synagogue, from your brother. They were on some committee together.”

“The executive council?”

“Evidently. That’s why they saw each other a lot.”

“Eli has always had a big mouth. Did your dad say how the company was doing?”

“He mentioned that there was a recession in Finland and things weren’t looking too good. But he had made it through the last recession and he intended to make it through this one, too…”

“Which reminds me. How did Roni react when your dad wanted to stay on as CEO?”

“Roni, Roni, Roni. I don’t know; we haven’t talked about it. It would have only been a year or two at most.”

“Your father didn’t seem concerned about anything?”

“Not to me. When we ended the call, he said to say hello to everyone and reminded me that we’d see each other for his birthday.”

“We found the car that the killer used. It turned up right near your folks’ house.”

“Roni told me about that. A pretty unusual place… Audacious.”

“The car was stolen. From Estonia.”

“Is the killer Estonian?”

“We don’t know. It’s possible. The car is owned by an investment firm based in Estonia, the same company that financed the construction of the new building for your dad’s company.”