by J J Marsh
The four of them sat in silence for a moment, the only sound the bubbles fizzing in Heikki’s beer. The cat returned.
“Got a kiss for Papa?” Heikki placed a piece of meat between his lips, pushing his face towards the Burmese. With delicate jaws, the cat took the meat and sprang off the table.
Karoliina’s telephone rang. She glanced at the screen and refused the call. “I have to go. I will be unavailable for the rest of today and tomorrow, because I will be spending most of the time underground. Thank you for all your efforts. I will pay you in full, as per our agreement. I intend to settle your invoice as soon as it arrives. It was a pleasure to meet you, Beatrice. You too, Theo.” She shook their hands and got to her feet.
They said their goodbyes to Heikki and left him in the kitchen with the cat. Karoliina followed them to the car and handed Beatrice a card.
“Please keep me informed if the police decide to act on your findings. I’m not completely off grid for the next two days. If anything occurs between now and when you leave, please call my deputy with an update. Astrid’s handling the public-facing side of this so I would prefer it if any sensitive information goes to her first. She’s the person I trust above anyone else.” She glanced behind her at the house.
Beatrice met her eyes, picking up the hint. The LokiEn business card read Astrid Falk, Personal Assistant to Karoliina Nurmi. She placed it in her purse with a nod. After Karoliina waved them off, Beatrice and Theo remained silent the whole journey, until Erik drew to a halt outside the hotel. They thanked him and made their way to the revolving doors. Theo stopped.
“Are we officially off duty?” he asked. “Because I still want to seek out Päivi Aho.”
Beatrice’s interest in the case had waned. As long as she’d passed everything relevant to the police, the self-inflicted kidnap was no longer her problem. “If you wish. Did she agree to another meeting?”
“No. She didn’t answer my email and she’s not taking my calls.”
“So how do you plan to talk to her?” Beatrice demanded.
“Turn up at her office and use every ounce of whatever I’ve got to persuade her to talk to me.”
“Watch your step and good luck. While you’re stalking her, I’ll book our flights home tomorrow morning. Be very careful.”
“I will. See you back here for dinner. Promise not to turn up shitfaced again.”
Beatrice tried to laugh but a cloud coloured her mood. “Theo, please don’t drink at all. I’m not talking alcohol, I mean don’t drink anything she gives you. Especially if she presses the point. Claim a hangover, carry a water bottle but do not imbibe anything you did not purchase or prepare yourself. Call me an old fusspot, but I am deadly serious. Play it like a choirboy.”
He exhaled a low whistle. “Got it. See you later.”
Chapter 21
For someone who couldn’t keep her hands off him last night, it seemed Päivi Aho had changed her mind. Theo got the brush-off at reception – ‘she’s in meetings all afternoon’ – and she blocked his number so he couldn’t even leave a message. Very weird. He walked away from the TV station and wandered around the block until he found the bar they’d visited the night before. He went inside, scanning the clientele for her face. She wasn’t there.
The idea of sitting outside in the sunshine with an orange juice appealed, but he wanted to be unobtrusive. If she did come here for a drink and saw him, she might well leg it. But she would have to come out of the TV station at some time, and when she did, he’d be waiting. He surveyed the street for a likely observation point. Cafés, an expensive-looking hotel, a mobile-phone shop, a sandwich bar, a place selling Scandi-style furniture and the ubiquitous chain-store clothing outlets. He stood still as a monolith, waiting for the pulse.
It didn’t always happen, but when it did, he listened. Rotating his head to study his environment, Theo listened to his instinct. One turn over his left shoulder. Another over his right. Return to centre. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Once again, he looked over his right shoulder. From a first-floor window of the furniture shop, the end of white curtains blew in the wind, like handkerchiefs waving farewell to a steamboat. It was nothing, but the only tiny pulse in this atmosphere-void shopping area. Theo responded, walking along the pavement and into the shop.
On the first floor, he wandered around beds, wardrobes and mock-up interiors. There was one young man at the cash desk who didn’t look up from his computer screen. That gave him enough peace to stand at the half-open window, watching the street. The pulse grew to a buzz. Theo relaxed, taking long slow breaths and waited. He was good at waiting.
Fifteen minutes passed. Theo didn’t move, his stillness blending into the background. He’d been standing there over half an hour when he saw Päivi Aho hurry up the street, power-walking and talking into her mobile. She walked right past the bar and with a sense of purpose, bounded up the steps to the hotel.
A hint of a smile crossed his face. I knew it. She had to come out sometime. The question now was whether to confront her inside or when she came out again. He debated the pros and cons for several minutes while watching the hotel doorway.
A man crossed the street, heading in the direction of the hotel. Theo recognised his face: Heikki Mäkinen, cat lover and husband of Karoliina Nurmi. Theo reached for his phone and selected the camera mode, catching a shot of Heikki as he entered the hotel portico. Theo zoomed in and got several shots of him greeting the doorman and entering the lobby. As Beatrice often told him, there was no such thing as coincidence. Time to find out what was going on.
He left the pine-scented store, put on his sunglasses and walked with a confident stride towards the hotel. Neither Heikki Mäkinen nor Päivi Aho were in the lobby, the bar or the restaurant. They must have taken a room. Theo had no way of observing so ordered tea and retreated to the darkest corner of the lobby. It took him over an hour to finish his pot of peppermint, his focus apparently on his phone. It was nearing six o’clock before Päivi Aho swooped down the carpeted stairs and rushed across the lobby, her cardigan flowing in her wake, reminding him of the hankies he’d seen earlier. The sunlight worked in his favour, shining into her eyes and making him a silhouette. He practised his stillness, barely breathing, not moving and dropping his gaze. She didn’t see him, enabling him to take several surreptitious shots of her hurrying back in the direction of the TV station.
Shortly afterwards, Heikki Mäkinen strolled down the stairs and rather than going out through the revolving doors, he meandered into the bar, sat on a stool and ordered a beer, chatting to the barman like an old friend. Theo leaned into his wing-backed chair and waited. It was essential he left without being seen.
Heikki turned his attention to the TV screen on the wall, so Theo left a few Euros to cover his bill and got out into the fresh air. He hit the pavement with a long steady stride. Top priority, tell Beatrice what he had just seen.
His boss had the opposite of a poker face. Her expression altered as she pondered his information, her face changing from sunny to thunderous like a summer sky dimmed by clouds.
They sat in the hotel restaurant, eating a fish pie with kale and trying to agree on a theory. Theo refused wine, so Beatrice ordered a half bottle for herself.
“The question is, what relationship do these two have? If lovers, I can see what’s in it for her. Beefy body and inside source. What about him? Why leak stories about his own wife? The man is so bloody minted he can feed top quality cuts of meat to his cat. Is it a perverse kind of loyalty? Protecting her company by selling crappy misdirection to the media? I don’t get this.”
Theo saw the same problem. “I don’t know what their game is, but I strongly suspect they are orchestrating this whole drama. Each for their own reasons but ... and this is important ... for their own ends. They want stories or success or whatever. The last thing they care about is the missing kids. The kids themselves are expendable.”
“Not to us, not Karoliina and not to the police.”
&
nbsp; He swallowed some water. “That’s true. Anyway, this is a matter for them to sort out. I’m ready for home. Did you book flights already?”
Beatrice chewed another mouthful. “I did, but there’s a horrible storm about to hit the coast. If we get out tomorrow morning, it will be nothing short of a miracle.”
Theo put down his cutlery. “Let’s hope for one. Whatever Päivi Aho and Heikki Mäkinen are up to, that’s their problem. We got better things to do.”
Chapter 22
For such a big man, Karl moved with surprising grace. He passed the building site on the opposite side of the street, familiarising himself with the layout, and walked all the way around the block before returning. There was no one around at this time of night, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He slowed, taking a 180° scan of his environment. Only when he was convinced the area was empty did he slip behind the scaffolding and through the gap in the hoardings.
The door was closed, but as agreed, the padlock had been taken off. He moved with great care through the darkened building, aware of the dangers of loose electric wires, trip hazards and rubble. There was enough twilight for him to ascend the stairwell to the third floor at something like normal speed.
The view was pretty impressive, he had to admit. The lights of the city stretched out like stars until they met the blackness of the sea. He stood in the doorway, waiting for his contact to make himself seen. It didn’t take long. The man appeared at the other end of the huge space, silhouetted by the city lights. He made no move to approach and Karl knew it was up to him to cross the distance between them.
No handshake, not even a nod of greeting, he simply turned away to look across the semi-darkened city. Karl stood beside him, waiting for the reason he had been summoned. Eventually, his employer spoke.
“You were supposed to make it look like an accident.”
“I did. I knocked the guy down the steps. The other idiot added the knife.”
“I hired you to work as a team. I’m disappointed with the results.”
“So am I. Far too stab-happy, these southerners. I can’t stand people who won’t follow orders. That’s why I got rid of him.”
“He’s left this country?”
“He’s left this world, my friend.”
“I see.”
“Once things have calmed down, I intend to disappear for a while. The witness statement puts me in an awkward position.”
“I’ll make sure the media focus remains on the other guy. I need you here for a little longer.”
“What for?”
“An irritation has arisen. A private investigator from Britain is trying to find the missing kids. She and her assistant are circling uncomfortably close to my operations. She’s getting under my feet.”
“What do you want done?”
“Nothing yet. I want you to watch and report their activities to me. It may be necessary to hasten their departure from Finland.”
“Just from Finland?”
“That remains to be seen.”
Chapter 23
It might have been because she was in a strange bed, the relief of knowing Catinca was handling her family or possibly the copious amounts of Prosecco she had drunk the night before, but Tanya slept better than she had in months. She woke late, and instead of flinging herself out of bed to attack her To Do list, she luxuriated under the sheets until someone knocked.
“Just a minute!” She got out of bed, pulled on her dressing gown and opened the door. There was no one there, but at her feet lay a breakfast tray, with orange juice, coffee pot, a basket of croissants and a red rose in a vase. Bless Susie. She must have realised Tanya was not going to make the eleven o’clock cut-off point for breakfast service. She picked it up and took it back to bed. Exactly what she needed before tackling all the messages on her phone.
She had no more than half a glass of juice and one bite of pastry before her calm was shattered. Two messages from the caterers, one confirming the change of menu and another informing her of the revised price. The florist called to apologise for the fact they were unable to double the number of red rosebuds at such short notice and offered a mixture of yellow, pink and orange as an alternative. One of her cousins left a cryptic voicemail, asking why Tanya had forgotten to mention the big news over last night’s cocktails. Finally, Luke’s form teacher let her know that he had arrived at school without his gym kit, so would be unable to take part in sports day unless Tanya could deliver the necessary items by lunchtime.
She swore with considerable vehemence and checked her watch. It was ten past eleven. She had forty minutes. Without bothering to shower, Tanya dragged on jeans and a T-shirt, stuffed her clothes and hen night presents into her suitcase and called Matthew’s landline. When she couldn’t reach him, she dialled Gabriel. His phone went straight to voicemail. In a panic, she tried her mother, but the line was engaged. She bit her knuckle in frustration. Freshly laundered gym clothes in a kitbag were hanging on the coat rack at Matthew’s cottage. The question was, how to get in, pick up the gym bag and get it to Luke’s school in the next half an hour? If he missed sports day, he would be inconsolable.
With great reluctance, she dialled Marianne, always a last resort when it came to domestic crises. To Tanya’s amazement, she rejected the call. Where the hell was everyone? She yanked her hair into a ponytail, washed and dried her face, zipped up the suitcase and clattered down the stairs, close to tears of frustration. She dumped her bag in the hallway and burst into the bar, in the hope of persuading someone to give her a lift.
To her immense relief and delight, Will and Adrian had just arrived. They stood with their suitcases talking to Catinca at the bar. She cut short their effusive greetings and explained the urgency of the situation. As she had hoped, the police officer in Will came to the rescue.
“All right, Tanya, we can sort this out. Does anyone else have a key to Matthew’s place? Have you checked your text messages in case your dad or Gabriel let you know where they were going? How far away is Luke’s school and does he have only one set of gym clothes?”
Catinca handed Tanya a glass of water. “Keep calm, mate. Drink this.”
After a soothing swig, Tanya released a shaky breath. “Beatrice has a key but she’s in bloody Finland. No spare keys, as far as I know, which is ridiculous, if you come to think about it. No, I’ll check WhatsApp and texts now. The school is about ten minutes from here, fifteen from Dad’s cottage. He has a spare gym kit, but that’s in the laundry. I told Dad at least three times not to forget the gym kit this morning.”
She went ahead to scroll through the various apps on her phone, vaguely aware of Adrian talking to Susie about nearby school uniform shops and Will suggesting the possibility of breaking a window to gain access to the cottage. Then she saw it. A message from Gabriel.
School just phoned. Luke forgot gym kit. Washed and dried spares. Dropped them off just now along with his old trainers. Forest clearing this morning, i.e. chainsaws. Call you at lunch. Hope last night was fun. G X
“Panic over,” said Tanya. “Gabe already fixed it. I’m so sorry, creating a drama over nothing. That’s a Prosecco hangover for you. Can we start again? Hello, you two!”
Adrian and Will embraced her and she looked at them properly for the first time since she burst into the room. Next to her husband, these were the best-looking men she knew. Adrian, graceful, chiselled and dark with eyelashes she would kill for, had a natural elegance and a smile to make anyone melt. His husband was taller and more muscular with the kind of chest often seen on the cover of romance novels. She adored them both and knew without question their arrival meant her team now held all the winning players.
“I cannot tell you how pleased I am to see you both. You look gorgeous. Have you eaten?” she asked. “I didn’t manage any of my breakfast and I’m absolutely starving. The thing is, I need your help.” She made a pleading face at Catinca. “Our strategy has backfired. Mum and Marianne have dropped all pretence and simply taken over.
While I was sleeping off the effects of last night, they changed into fifth gear. Not only that, but I have no idea when Beatrice will turn up. I need her right here, right now! What the hell is she playing at?”
Catinca put her left hand on Will’s shoulder and her right on Adrian’s. “We need an emergency meeting with our Gay Diplomacy Squad. Let’s sit down and make battle plan. Susie? What is lunch special today?”
Four portions of tomato and basil soup later, everyone had their duties. Adrian and Catinca were promoted to official wedding planners aka trouble-shooters. Adrian would nobble Marianne and Pam, requiring their help with a series of themed surprises, each of which had been not-so-secretly approved by Tanya and Catinca. Meanwhile, dress designer and wedding stylist herself, Ms Radu, would visit all service providers to deliver her business card and insist that any wedding-related enquiries be directed to her. Will was in charge of Matthew.
“He’s stressed to the eyeballs about the speeches.” Tanya met Will’s kind gaze. “As father of the bride, he’s expected to say a few words but it doesn’t need to be anything special. Then I asked him to help Luke. It was a lovely gesture from Gabriel to ask my son to be his best man and even if he is only seven, Luke can do most of it on his own. It’s just the speech. We should have had a wingman but it’s too late now. Could you mind him, Will? Actually, could you mind both of them? Dad manages well most of the time, but that’s because he’s got Beatrice.” She released her hair from her ponytail and scratched her scalp. “Well, at least he usually has Beatrice.”
Will opened his mouth to respond but Adrian spoke first. “I know that woman has a way of cutting it fine, but the wedding rehearsal is on Friday evening. How much finer can she cut it? Ow!” He winced and frowned at his husband.