Death Spiral by Leena Lehtolainen Page B

TV. I like her style. A lot of female skaters are too sugary for my taste, but Silja has just the right edge.”
    “Yeah, even though she looks like that princess from Monaco when she was young.”
    “Yeah, you’re right. She’s just like Grace Kelly in Rear Window ! But Koivu, Silja is ten years younger than you.”
    “So what! Age isn’t everything,” Koivu said, blushing disarmingly. He had a serious crush on Silja Taskinen. “Is Silja dating this Janne Kivi character?” Koivu continued. “I just mean, Noora might have been jealous. And Silja was so worried about him . . .” Koivu tripped over his words, but his clumsy inquiry felt refreshing in the midst of all the darkness. The rain had started falling again, and the blanket of gray clouds had fallen almost to tree level. Tiny droplets drizzled on the windshield.
    “I haven’t heard anything like that. As far as I know Silja is single. I promise, I’ll let you go get her signature for the affidavit on the interview transcript.”
    Koivu blushed even worse, and I mussed his hair as if he really were my little brother.
    Then I took my phone out and called Antti to let him know he shouldn’t expect me for a few more hours.
    “Something bad?” Antti asked cautiously. He was used to me not saying much about my work.
    “A murder.”
    I heard Antti sigh on the other side of the line. He hadn’t dared tell me directly that he was afraid of my work since my coworker’s death that winter. Of course he was also afraid for the baby I was carrying. I didn’t quite know what to think about his anxiety. It was true that I often acted impulsively, and it was also true that a pregnant woman had to think about her baby too. But avoiding emotionally taxing jobs at work was entirely different than quitting drinking. I didn’t want anyone mollycoddling me because I was pregnant.
    From the Taskinens’ apartment we drove to the parking garage where Noora’s body had been found, following a narrow, winding ramp to the upper level.
    According to the patrol officers who responded the night before to the initial call, the upper level had been nearly deserted. Now the afternoon rush was on because people were trying to get their shopping in before The Bold and the Beautiful came on. Why our entire country practically shut down at five thirty every day for an American soap opera was beyond me, but it was a reality we frequently had to take into consideration when setting appointments with people. There were only a couple of empty stalls in the low, echoing parking structure. None of them had been cordoned off for the investigation because a search of the area had revealed no evidence of Noora’s murderer or car. The more important thing was interviewing the people who had been in the area.
    I asked Koivu whether he’d heard anything new, at which point he realized his phone was turned off.
    “Crap . . . sorry . . . Lähde was handling it. I’ll call him. Should I check how it’s going with the video from the surveillance camera?”
    “Sure.”
    “This damn cell phone doesn’t want to work in here. I’m going to have to go outside. Wait here.”
    Koivu climbed out of the car, and I got out to wait in the middle of the crowded, bleak garage. Where did Noora’s murderer get the idea to dump her body here? He must have transported her body here in his car and then noticed that Kati Järvenperä had left her trunk unlocked. But the risk of being seen was so great. The killer’s actions didn’t seem terribly premeditated. Maybe we would find the person we were looking for by interviewing the other people who had used the parking garage the night before. Someone must have seen him.
    Then it occurred to me how little attention I had paid to the cars parked around me in the garage, and my mood darkened. Even so, I decided to call the Department of Motor Vehicles and get the license plate numbers of all of Noora’s close acquaintances. A gray Volvo station wagon