“Okay. Set up a meeting between Kafka and me for around five and we’ll all meet at five-thirty for a full briefing.”
“Got it,” said Karila. “Sounds good.”
Takamäki slipped his phone into his coat pocket and strode back to the table. Just as he was about to ask if everything was alright, he stopped himself. Saarni was explaining the objective of mediation. “…the goal is to reach a point where everybody has something to gain. A win-win situation.”
Lehtonen eyed the psychologist. “So what would a win-situation look like for me?”
“Well, for the threats to stop,” said Saarni with
a smile.
“Okay, so my life goes back to where it was before this whole thing started. But what would the win-situation be for Korpi, then?”
“That he see the bigger picture and comprehend it. And stop the threats.”
Lehtonen was stupefied. She looked from Joutsamo to Takamäki. “You can’t be serious. Geez. How can you talk about a win-win situation when nobody’s winning anything. I’m going home.”
“Hold on, Mari,” said Takamäki. “Right now, it’s lose-lose. You’re right. But if we can use this to rally back to even-lose, where you’re back at zero and Korpi’s the loser, then isn’t it worth a try? I’m not saying it’ll work, but since we’re already here I think we should see it through, don’t you? The only other option we can offer you is the safe house.”
Lehtonen looked at Takamäki. Her blue purse rested in her lap. “Well, since we’re already here.”
Saarni had little to add. “A positive attitude is important. The goal is simply to communicate and understand,” she managed.
Mari was about to snap at her again, but Takamäki set his hand on her shoulder and she checked herself.
A prison guard opened the door and glanced inside without a word. A couple of seconds later Korpi walked in followed by another guard, Salo.
Salo escorted Korpi, who was dressed in brown prison coveralls, to the opposite side of the table. Mari Lehtonen sat between Joutsamo and Saarni. Takamäki remained standing behind them. The burly guards stood further off.
Korpi’s bald head drew even more attention to his piercing eyes, which wandered from one person to the next. He began with Lehtonen. “Three of hearts. Phh.”
He went on to Saarni. “Two of diamonds.”
Joutsamo was ten of diamonds, and Takamäki, jack of clubs.
Saarni played along. “And what would you be?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it would nice to know so we can start
the game.”
Takamäki was certain he’d drop the ace of spades, the toughest card in the deck, but he blindsided them. “A joker. I’m whatever I want. A couple days ago I was a two of hearts. Couldn’t even stand up to that three over there,” he stared at Lehtonen. “But I’m wild… Right now I could be anything.”
The guy’s not dumb, thought Takamäki.
Korpi sat calmly with his hands folded on the table. Nobody said a word for at least ten seconds until Korpi spoke up again. “So I understand that you all wanted to meet. I know Lehtonen, Joutsamo and Takamäki, but who are you?” he asked the two of diamonds.
“Maija Saarni. I’m a psychologist.”
Korpi sniffed. “A police psychologist.”
“Correct.”
“Well, just as I figured. The cops would never trust any shrink but their own. What do you want?” he said with a smug look. “I got plenty of time.”
Takamäki gazed at the gang boss in his prison duds. What a smug bastard. Korpi wasn’t stupid. He just wanted to play games and flaunt his so-called intelligence. The thought of abruptly calling off the meeting occurred to Takamäki. Saarni clearly didn’t have any experience with hardened criminals if she was playing along with Korpi’s games and letting a criminal set the tone. On the other hand, she had gotten him to talk. A few months ago, the gang boss had been impenetrable in police interrogations.
“We’d just like to talk,” said Saarni. “About our situation.”
“What situation?”
She took a firmer approach. “Don’t play dumb with me. You’re not fooling anybody. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Korpi didn’t like her tone of voice, especially coming from someone he’d ranked as a two of diamonds. Nobody of that rank got the better of him. “I do? Well, let’s see. I’m an innocent man doing life in prison. The last few days I’ve spent in the hole because apparently I pose some kind of risk. So I hope you don’t mind if I don’t know much of anything right now.”
Takamäki felt like saying that in that case all was well, but it wouldn’t be constructive. A positive attitude was important, and the only way he could think of to be positive was to keep his mouth shut.
“What we do know is that you’ve been convicted. I can’t really comment on the rest. I’m a psychologist, not a lawyer.”
Takamäki and Joutsamo looked on with their mouths agape. Whoa, what was this woman trying to pull? Was she throwing the verdict into question or baiting him? Mari Lehtonen’s face was expressionless. She just stared straight ahead at Korpi.
“Allow me to comment, then,” said Korpi. “The only thing I’m guilty of was being in the car with that idiot Nyberg when he went and shot Salmela without telling me. I had no idea what he was planning. If I had, I’d have gotten him another driver.”
“So Nyberg screwed up?” said Saarni.
“Nyberg screwed up because he is a screwup. That’s why I’m serving a sixteen-year sentence.”
This last comment earned a smile from Takamäki. Sixteen years was hardly enough for Korpi.
“What is your relationship to Nyberg?”
Korpi stiffened. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he said, his eyes narrowing to slits. “What…is this an interrogation? You pigs record everything. You probably wanna use this against me in appeals….son of a bitch!”
Takamäki’s eyes shifted to the three guards. The two armed guards were still standing off a ways, and Salo stood to the right.
“This has nothing to do with your appeal. I’m looking for the object of your hatred,” said Saarni. “What is it?”
Korpi looked at her with a baffled expression. “All of you…don’t you see? The whole fucking system. Every one of you put me in a cage for life,” he said. His finger swept from Takamäki to Joutsamo. “These dirty pigs were prejudiced from the very beginning. Everything against me they took into account, and everything in my favor was ignored. I already said it in court, but you still don’t get it. How can you think I’d be dumb enough to drive on a stupid hit job like that? Just think about it. To collect a few thousand euros, okay, I’ll drive. But a hit job? Hell no. I got enough fucking money to…”
Takamäki wanted to ask where the money was now. In court, Korpi had mentioned a 400-euro TV which had now ballooned into a three-thousand-euro debt. Yet another mark of his lies.
Saarni’s game was beginning to dawn on Takamäki. She was going through the objects of Korpi’s hatred. As much as he seemed to hate himself, he’d never admit it. So his hate always needed a surrogate, and this time it was Mari Lehtonen.
“You remember Mari Lehtonen from the trial, right?” said Saarni.
“That’s right,” said Korpi, turning toward Lehtonen. “Pretty damn good memory you’ve got for a three of hearts. Pretty convincing show you put on, too, when Martin put you on the spot.”
“Let’s try to stick to the subject,” said Saarni. “What did Mari do wrong?”
Korpi looked at Saarni, confused. “Wrong? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Now even Takamäki was dumbfounded. “Nothing?”
Korpi was outright laughing now. “Absolutely nothing. Mari Lehtonen did exactly what she was supposed to. She called the police and testified in court like a good little girl. There is nothing wrong with that.”
Saarni was at a loss for words. “Well… I don’t understand. Why retaliate against he
r, then? Why put glue in her lock? Why threaten to kidnap her daughter? Why plant a bomb at her doorstep? I don’t understand.”
Korpi folded his arms on the table and gazed down at them for a while. Then he raised his eyes and surveyed his audience with an almost theatrical flair. His gaze went from Saarni, to Joutsamo, then Takamäki, and finally came to rest on Lehtonen.
“You’re right. You don’t understand,” he said. “Sorry about all this, Mari. But obviously I’m angry that you testified against me. If not for your memory, I’d be a free man.”
He scanned the faces again. It gratified him to see their confusion. “To me it makes no difference if you pin those threats on me. Appeals won’t change the murder verdict, so what do I care? This has nothing to do with her. It has to do with every other mari lehtonen in Finland,” he said with a laugh. “It’s a question of principle. Let’s see once and for all who the public dares side with. I can prepare for anything but some mari lehtonen seeing me in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can eliminate every fucking bug and tap, and flush every rat out of the system. Money can be moved abroad. But the only thing I can’t anticipate is some fucking mari lehtonen. So that’s the last variable I have to control.”
Takamäki was beginning to understand what Korpi was thinking, and it frightened him.
“This isn’t about me. It’s a question of principle. It’s a war between cops and criminals. Innocent bystanders don’t have to have any part in it. But if they decide to get involved, then they’re part of the game.”
Korpi stared directly at Mari.
“So when you called the cops you chose your side. Before that call you were neutral, but now you’re part of the system. An enemy.”
Mari glowered across the table at Korpi. “Listen, asshole,” she said. The psychologist tried to tug on her sleeve, but to no avail, “Neither I nor any other citizen is neutral. Shit… As if we should stand by and watch as someone gets raped in the park. We are the system, but you, Risto Korpi, are a stinking sack of shit. The worst kind, and I’m damn glad that I helped put you away for life. I’m happy to be your enemy.”
Korpi looked at the woman. “Sure, I got the life sentence. But you’re already dead. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon.”
“That doesn’t scare me. We all die sometime.”
Takamäki cut in, “You’re powerless now, Korpi. Ahola’s dead. Nieminen’s dead. Nobody will take orders from you anymore. Nyberg, Siikala, Martin…they’re all in jail.”
Korpi smiled. “So Ahola and Nieminen are dead. So what. Temporary setback. Fresh troops are always on hand. But I’m interested in what you, Mari Lehtonen, are afraid of. If not for yourself, then what about for your daughter? There’re a lotta guys in here that would take a piece of her for free, to say nothing of getting paid for it.”
Takamäki tapped Joutsamo on the shoulder, signaling that this had gone too far. No amount of mediation would get them out of this. Saarni sat frozen in her chair with a vacant expression.
“If you touch her, I will pay to have you killed.”
“Doesn’t bother me. Why would I care about the life I have here? For me it’s a question of principle, but you care about the girl.”
Mari Lehtonen gave a sigh of resignation, then stood as if to leave. She stepped to the side, pulled the short-barreled .44 out of her bag, and leveled it at Korpi. “Are you afraid now?”
Korpi didn’t say anything, but his eyes went first to Takamäki, then to Joutsamo.
“I think you’re lying when you say you’re not afraid,” she said, her voice tense. She circled to the other side of the table where neither Takamäki nor Joutsamo could surprise her from behind.
“Mari, don’t,” said Joutsamo. “This won’t solve anything.”
Saarni gave it a go, “Let go of your hatred. Don’t let it control you.”
Lehtonen smiled and waved the gun in the air. “Right. Use the force.”
Takamäki shoved the psychologist under the table where she’d be out of the way. “Mari,” he said. “If you fire that gun, your daughter’s future will be destroyed.”
Mari Lehtonen grinned as she peered down the barrel at Korpi, “But if it’s really a question of principle, then let’s settle it, good versus bad. Who’s got more guts?”
She had two hands on the revolver now, and it seemed to Takamäki they were trembling. She took another step toward Korpi. Too close, thought Takamäki. She was no more than five feet away.
The armed guards had taken a couple of steps closer, but neither dared draw his weapon.
Salo had circled out of the line of fire.
“Are you afraid?” Mari asked. “Will you be afraid if I pull the trigger? It makes no difference to me. I’m dead already. I’ll gladly go to prison if that’s what I need to do to save my daughter.”
She inched a little closer.
“Watch it!” said Takamäki as Korpi’s right hand lashed out and wrenched the gun from hers. He spun her around, clamped his arm around her neck, and pressed the barrel of the gun against her temple, her body shielding his.
The psychologist shrieked from the floor.
“Shut up bitch!” shouted Korpi, and she fell silent.
One of the armed guards had drawn his weapon, but the other hesitated. At some point in his training he had learned not to provoke a gunman in this kind of situation. Salo jerked the man’s gun out of its holster and aimed it at Korpi and Lehtonen. Takamäki and Joutsamo stood helpless, having left their firearms in the car. Saarni was still huddled on the floor.
“Give it up, Korpi,” said Takamäki. “There’s no way out.”
Korpi smiled and cocked the hammer.
“Really? You listen to me, pig. With this bitch on my arm we could waltz out the front gate. I’ll get a helicopter…an airplane…I’ll go anywhere in the world.”
“If you can get outta this room,” said Salo, taking another step closer.
“Well, well. A real prison guard…fantastic room service. Gets friendly with the inmates and enjoys it, don’t you, punk.”
Korpi turned his gaze back to Takamäki. “But what if I don’t want to go anywhere? What if all I want is to blow this bitch’s brains all over these walls? Might suit my purpose just as well. Imagine the field day the media would have over what happens to your witnesses. Heheh.”
Takamäki’s eyes were fixed on the trigger of the gun. Only a sliver of light was visible behind it now. One little squeeze and Mari’s head would fly apart. The stout little gun would make quite a mess. Takamäki kept imagining Korpi’s hand squeezing the trigger.
“Don’t do it,” he said. “Let her go. Take me instead.”
Korpi laughed. “A hero cop, huh? You really think I’d switch?”
“Think about it. If you do, you’ll get your helicopter.”
“And you’d be a legend,” said Korpi. He wrested Lehtonen’s head to the side and pressed a kiss onto her cheek.
“What soft skin you have. I’m sure the girl’s is even softer.”
“Eat shit,” said Mari. “Joker my ass. You’re a four of clubs. Nothing more, nothing less. A four of clubs. Pathetic.”
Korpi’s eyes flared. “You wanna die?”
“Go ahead,” she said with a wooden expression. “I’m already dead. Just do it!”
“Fuck you!”
Takamäki looked on helplessly as Korpi’s trigger finger began to close. The lieutenant had managed to inch a little closer—maybe he could make a lunge for the gun. But that wouldn’t work, the distance was too great. Korpi squeezed his finger and Takamäki’s mind pictured the hammer as it flew home, but a shot from the left rang out at the same time. Takamäki’s ears went deaf from the blast. Risto Korpi sank to the floor with Mari in his arms.
One shot or two? Takamäki wasn’t sure. He looked to the left and saw that Salo had fired. Joutsamo scrambled to the other side of the table and pulled the bloodied Mari away from Korpi’s body. Takamäki looked at the inmate. The bullet had shattered h
is skull. He was dead.
“Is she okay?” asked Takamäki. Joutsamo was holding Lehtonen in her arms some fifteen feet away.
“She’s alright. She’s not hit.”
The second armed guard reclaimed his Glock from Salo’s trembling hand. Takamäki couldn’t understand why Mari wasn’t dead. He felt certain he had seen Korpi pull the trigger before Salo.
He found the revolver on the floor and picked it up. The hammer was closed, so Korpi had definitely pulled the trigger. He snapped open the cylinder. Empty: the weapon hadn’t been loaded.
Takamäki realized that Mari was watching him. Their eyes met for what seemed like a minute. Had she planned this all in advance? he wondered. Her eyes offered no clues, but that gaze was intense.
“It’s all over,” he said calmly. “Put your safeties back on. Nobody talks to anybody till the interrogations are done.”
CHAPTER 29
MONDAY, 6:00 P.M.
PASILA POLICE HEADQUARTERS
The lobby of the police station was nearly full. What used to be the press briefing room had been remodeled into a monitoring room for traffic enforcement cameras, so press conferences had to be held in the lobby now. A couple of tables had been set up in front of a glass wall near the elevators, and about twenty chairs had been assembled for the reporters.
Half a dozen TV cameras and upwards of a dozen newspaper photographers were lined up in the front row. The first few reporters to arrive on time had had the good sense to take the outermost seats in the front row, the only ones with sightlines not obstructed by the photographers’ backs. Other reporters stood to the sides.
Sanna Römpötti was standing about thirty feet from the tables when Deputy Chief Skoog arrived. The cameraman gave the signal and the live broadcast cut from the news desk to the police station.
“I’m here at Pasila Police Headquarters where a press conference on today’s dramatic turn of events is about to begin. Let’s listen in,” said Römpötti, and the picture cut to a second camera trained on Skoog.
Helsinki Homicide: Nothing but the Truth Page 24