old school friends called, and I spent half an hour gossiping with her about mutual friends andacquaintances. She was a regular newswire and always had some juicy story to tell. Some of her wilder tales even made murder seem run-of-the-mill. After that, I just gave up and went to sleep.
Now I tried to collect my thoughts as I stared out the tram window on my way to work. The tabloids hadn’t come out yet, but I was nervous that at least one or the other of them would already have reporters on the case. Summer was almost halfway over, Finland had closed for business, and the newshounds had to start digging deeper for their shock stories. I could just picture the headlines— FEMALE DETECTIVE HEADS INVESTIGATION: MURDER STILL UNSOLVED —and wanted no part of the potential media frenzy.
The Pasila police station was already buzzing when I arrived. On my desk was an order from the captain to come report on the case. I put on my game face and marched into his office, which was hazy with cigar smoke. I couldn’t stand tobacco smoke when I was sober, and I wasn’t afraid to show as much to the captain. Let him smoke five cigars at once if he likes, just so long as he isn’t poisoning me. With his big cigars and massive desk, he may have imagined himself as the hero of some American cop show. Did he have a bottle of booze in his drawer too?
I optimistically tried to wriggle out of the case by mentioning that I had known the deceased. It wasn’t any use though, because there was no one else who could break away from what they were already doing and take it.
“Narcotics called asking for help the minute I walked in the door. Apparently, they’ve uncovered some big distribution ring and some of their boys made some premature arrests. So now they’ve got all these bit players who don’t really know anything. We don’t have anyone to send them either. Kinnunen isout for the whole week now—I just got the sick leave approval. And all of the older detectives are already overworked as it is...So, if you could just handle this...” The captain puckered his mouth around his cigar, looking uneasy. Kinnunen’s alcoholism seemed to be a taboo subject with the more senior officers in the department.
“You’re starting to have the routine down well enough. And Saarinen’s sick leave will last at least through September, so there’ll be plenty of work for you here. And if you get through this successfully, we might be able to start thinking about a permanent position...especially since it isn’t like there’s an over-abundance of you women in this profession...” The captain drew these words out as though he didn’t really want to let them out of his mouth.
“Well, we can revisit that later,” I said noncommittally. I didn’t want to promise anything. Though I wanted out of the department as soon as possible, I didn’t want to irritate my boss any more than absolutely necessary at the moment.
“Your summerhouse victim’s dad—Peltonen was his name?—is coming in to see you today, right? Be careful with him. He isn’t just anybody—he’s on the board of Neste Oil. And since his other son is in that yacht race they’ve been making all the fuss about, we could end up with the wrong kind of publicity.” The captain’s face was three shades grayer than usual. Normally, when people got worked up, they turned red, but my boss just grew steadily grayer until all real color had drained from his face.
I wondered how he already knew the Peltonens’ resumes and took it as a sign that I was really in for it. It would have been easier for me to do my job if the captain didn’t have such a fear of authority. I once had the unfortunate experience of looking on as the captain’s concern for his own position interfered with theinvestigation of a rape allegation against a rising politician. The victim dropped the charges. Though rapes were usually foisted on the female officers, I hadn’t been one of the main
Now I tried to collect my thoughts as I stared out the tram window on my way to work. The tabloids hadn’t come out yet, but I was nervous that at least one or the other of them would already have reporters on the case. Summer was almost halfway over, Finland had closed for business, and the newshounds had to start digging deeper for their shock stories. I could just picture the headlines— FEMALE DETECTIVE HEADS INVESTIGATION: MURDER STILL UNSOLVED —and wanted no part of the potential media frenzy.
The Pasila police station was already buzzing when I arrived. On my desk was an order from the captain to come report on the case. I put on my game face and marched into his office, which was hazy with cigar smoke. I couldn’t stand tobacco smoke when I was sober, and I wasn’t afraid to show as much to the captain. Let him smoke five cigars at once if he likes, just so long as he isn’t poisoning me. With his big cigars and massive desk, he may have imagined himself as the hero of some American cop show. Did he have a bottle of booze in his drawer too?
I optimistically tried to wriggle out of the case by mentioning that I had known the deceased. It wasn’t any use though, because there was no one else who could break away from what they were already doing and take it.
“Narcotics called asking for help the minute I walked in the door. Apparently, they’ve uncovered some big distribution ring and some of their boys made some premature arrests. So now they’ve got all these bit players who don’t really know anything. We don’t have anyone to send them either. Kinnunen isout for the whole week now—I just got the sick leave approval. And all of the older detectives are already overworked as it is...So, if you could just handle this...” The captain puckered his mouth around his cigar, looking uneasy. Kinnunen’s alcoholism seemed to be a taboo subject with the more senior officers in the department.
“You’re starting to have the routine down well enough. And Saarinen’s sick leave will last at least through September, so there’ll be plenty of work for you here. And if you get through this successfully, we might be able to start thinking about a permanent position...especially since it isn’t like there’s an over-abundance of you women in this profession...” The captain drew these words out as though he didn’t really want to let them out of his mouth.
“Well, we can revisit that later,” I said noncommittally. I didn’t want to promise anything. Though I wanted out of the department as soon as possible, I didn’t want to irritate my boss any more than absolutely necessary at the moment.
“Your summerhouse victim’s dad—Peltonen was his name?—is coming in to see you today, right? Be careful with him. He isn’t just anybody—he’s on the board of Neste Oil. And since his other son is in that yacht race they’ve been making all the fuss about, we could end up with the wrong kind of publicity.” The captain’s face was three shades grayer than usual. Normally, when people got worked up, they turned red, but my boss just grew steadily grayer until all real color had drained from his face.
I wondered how he already knew the Peltonens’ resumes and took it as a sign that I was really in for it. It would have been easier for me to do my job if the captain didn’t have such a fear of authority. I once had the unfortunate experience of looking on as the captain’s concern for his own position interfered with theinvestigation of a rape allegation against a rising politician. The victim dropped the charges. Though rapes were usually foisted on the female officers, I hadn’t been one of the main
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