Harri Nykanen - Behind God's Back

“Who’s the guy in the picture, then?”

“A former Finnish criminal who has received Israeli citizenship. He’s violent and dangerous. We know he’s suspected of several assassinations. Another reason the motive is so critical is so we can try to predict his next moves.”

“If he’s a professional, he’s probably not hanging around Finland waiting to get caught.”

“We believe that he hasn’t carried out his primary mission yet. We need your help to figure out what it is. That man is genuinely dangerous, not someone you just find and bring in. He has already killed three people.”

“If I knew anything, I would have told you… Wait, who’s the third?”

Stenman took the lead. “We can’t reveal that at this point… We suspect that the real motive might have something to do with your father and Oxbaum’s roles in the Jewish congregation.”

“What roles?”

“Your father was involved in arranging the new Israeli Minister of Justice’s visit to Finland, and so was Oxbaum. It’s possible that the killer tried to get information on the visit from them. That means that the target would actually be Levi.”

“That also means that he might try the same thing with a third individual privy to the visit’s arrangements and Levi’s schedule,” I said. “Which includes you.”

All three of us looked at Roni. It must have felt uncomfortable.

“Do you guys really suspect that Dad’s killer tried to get information from me about the visit?”

“You know Levi because he lived with you as an exchange student twenty years ago. I heard that Levi wanted to relive old memories and go for a sauna at your cottage. Is that true?”

“Yes, but… goddamn it. Believe me, you guys are way off here. Why would anyone want to kill Levi, and here in Finland of all places?”

“Because he has threatened to expose corruption and collusion between politicians and criminals. Killing Levi here is a lot easier than in Israel. Plus you can always pin the blame on some crazy anti-Semitic Finn.”

Roni was clearly rattled. “I don’t know what to say… or what I can do to help…”

“Were you aware that, according to telecommunications data, your father was in contact with the Israeli Ministry of Justice on numerous occasions?”

“So what? It must have been to do with the visit… I mean, I know it was to do with the visit, let’s put it that way.”

“It’s also possible he wanted to tell Levi something about, say, Baltic Invest. Something he might have heard from Max.”

“Why the hell…”

I glanced at Stenman, and she took the floor. “We’ve been in touch with the Israeli police and we know that Levi’s revelations would specifically threaten Benjamin Hararin, the owner of Baltic Invest, and Amos Jakov, whose front man Hararin is considered. Your father and Oxbaum may have had information that would have been dangerous for him.”

“Just a second ago you were suspecting that my father was killed because he didn’t provide information about the visit, and now you’re claiming that Dad and Max were Levi’s sources.”

“True,” I said. “But they might be interrelated. Let’s assume your father found out something from Max, something of a sensitive nature about Baltic Invest. Can you guess what it might be?”

“I have no idea… I can try and think. If I come up with anything I’ll be in touch right away…”

“We’d also like to know more about your personal connections to Baltic Invest,” Stenman said.

“There aren’t any.”

“We understood that you borrowed money from them.”

“That can’t be considered a connection. Thousands of other people have, too.”

“Who arranged the loans, Max or your brother-in-law, Joel Kazan?”

“Max did, of course.”

“What is the total amount of those loans?” I asked casually.

Roni sprang up. “My personal finances don’t have anything to do with this. If I had known that the interrogation was going to sink to this level, I would have brought along a lawyer to ensure my rights.”

“We make the decisions about what’s relevant for the investigation. Believe me, we’re not asking out of curiosity, so sit down,” I ordered him. “The sooner you answer the question, the sooner you’ll get out of there.”

“A little over a million.”

“So you have loans in the amount of a little over a million euros?” Stenman repeated.

“Yes.”

“Those are some pretty substantial monthly payments. Several thousand euros, off the top of my head.”

“I can handle them.”

“Especially now that your father is dead.” My remark was a cruel one, I had to admit.

Roni latched on to my words. “What are you implying?”

“That your stake in the company increased and you became CEO. I assume that also meant a raise.”

“I would have become CEO anyway.”

“But not as soon as you wanted to be.” We sat quietly for a moment, faces grave. Then I continued: “Since you and I know each other, I’ll tell you frankly that we were seriously considering arresting you, so we could have some time to investigate your company’s loans and personal financial affairs. However, we decided at this point to give you a chance to answer all of our questions as a free man. We hope cooperation will go a little more smoothly in the future.”

Roni rushed to assure us: “Of course I’ll help you any way I can. I don’t have anything to hide.”

“Will you show him out?” I said to Simolin.

Once the door had shut behind Roni, Stenman said: “We were pretty mean to him.”

“He deserved it.”

“Do you think he’ll pass the word on?”

“I know he will.”

Autumn put her best foot forward as we wound our way through the southern Finnish forest. Now and again, a vista of rolling pastures and idyllic farmhouses would emerge behind the trees. This was a prosperous region, one whose residents hadn’t had to resort to eating pine-bark bread during the shortages. In the rays of the autumn sun, the world was awash in vivid green and yellow, like a Van Gogh painting.

The Jacobsons’ cottage was an old log-framed villa on the seashore. The property included a woodshed, a tool shed and a sauna painted traditional farmhouse red. The latter almost hung out over the water, and the sea lapped at the stone foundations of its porch.

Sillanpää was about a hundred yards away, his binoculars trained on the sauna. Nurmio was examining his cell phone. A rifle equipped with silencer and telescopic sight balanced on a bipod on a nearby rock.

“I never would have imagined in a million years that I’d be involved in anything like this,” Sillanpää said. “I should be protecting Levi, and instead I’m giving a Mossad killer a shot at him — and to top it all off, on purpose.”

“I’m the one taking the risks, and you guys will win out,” Nurmio promised generously, as he had before.

Sillanpää’s superior had been in touch with Nurmio’s boss at the Mossad, who had confirmed that Nurmio was on a very important clandestine mission and requested he be given any support possible. The assignment demanded exceptional measures, even according to Mossad standards, but in this case they were up against exceptional forces as well.

Sillanpää had been given almost free rein, as well as freedom to take responsibility if something went awry and the affair resulted in a diplomatic incident. I had spared Huovinen’s civil servant morality from being stretched beyond its limits and given him the light version of my involvement.

Even though Semeyev had been confirmed as the murderer, the crime wouldn’t be solved until the person who had ordered the hit had been taken into custody. I told myself that I was still working towards that. And I was.