4

THE LATE SUMMER LANDSCAPE, betraying the onset of autumn, seemed a blur through the car windows as they drove back towards the city, Esko in front, Anna following behind. As the forensics team arrived at the scene, the rainclouds had suddenly dispersed, proving that the blue sky was still there after all. The cloud had split into long threads and drifted into the distance, much to the satisfaction of the team whose job it was to examine the scene and photograph the body. The sun shone down in all its splendour and the forest began to dry out. Although the leaves hadn’t yet yellowed, they already carried a hint of their approaching demise. Only a few weeks now, and summer would finally cede to autumn. Anna had long since given up hope of an Indian summer. At this latitude, even thinking of such a thing was futile. Soon the woods and the patches of garden around the isolated houses would curl up in the long embrace of the winter darkness. The city would try to fight against it with neon lights and fluorescent strips. Everyone would be eagerly awaiting the return of light from the first snow. But nowadays the snow fell late in the year. The boundary between autumn and winter was imperceptible amid the surrounding grey slush.

Don’t think about that now, Anna irritably chided herself and jerkily pulled the car straight after noticing it had drifted out towards the right. An approaching lorry sounded its horn at her.

The sun is shining; it’s still summer – for now. Concentrate on driving and don’t fret about the future.

The coroner gave the approximate time of death as around ten o’clock the previous evening. She too was puzzled by the relatively late hour of the victim’s jog and in such poor weather. Anna didn’t say anything, though for her it seemed utterly unremarkable. She always jogged in the evenings. And the weather was never a reason to miss a run. The forensics officers had promised to submit their reports as quickly as possible, and the coroner invited Esko and Anna to the autopsy, which was to take place the following day. Anna flinched. This was new. She worried about maintaining her professional poise, though the mere thought of the morgue made her feel sick. No, not the morgue itself, but the thought that the girl lying on the running track would be chopped up there tomorrow like an animal in an abattoir. As if there were no end to her denigration, the authorities would continue to mutilate her where the killer had stopped.

One after the other Anna and Esko parked their cars outside the police station, slammed the doors shut, walked inside and made their way up to the fourth floor, Anna by the stairs, Esko in the lift. Each withdrew to their own office, as though the other didn’t exist, as though the tragic scene they had just witnessed was but an illusion.

This is ridiculous, Anna sighed. We need to talk about this, analyse the situation, plan what steps to take next, find Juhani Rautio, examine the girl’s phone records and her final movements before going on that run. Where had she been yesterday, and in whose company? Who was she? What had Aune Toivola told Esko and the patrol officers? And what about the Kurdish girl? Who was looking into that? What should they do next? I should at least try to get to know Esko, have lunch with him or something. This is no way to work. And for a sinking moment, the thought occurred to Anna that she had already failed.

Anna spent her lunch break alone in the station cafeteria, where she ate a depressing meal of overcooked spaghetti with bland mincemeat sauce and a salad of mandarin slices and grated red cabbage. This was winter food, though the harvest season was at its peak. Bitter home-brewed beer and stale bread buns. The cafeteria food had gone downhill since her high-school internship; here, too, the object was simply to save money. In future she would go into town for lunch, she decided.

Just as she was taking her tray and dirty dishes to the kitchen trolley, a group of people appeared in animated conversation. Esko, Sari, Rauno and Chief Inspector Virkkunen. Blood rushed to Anna’s cheeks.

‘Anna, there you are! Have you already eaten?’ exclaimed Sari in disappointment.

‘We have to talk about the case,’ said Anna, pointedly delivering her words to Esko.

‘We just did, shame you couldn’t join us. Everything’s in order. You just take care of your own duties, okay,’ he replied, noisily placing cutlery on his tray.

‘How should I know what my duties are if nobody tells me?’ Anna replied, struggling to control the tone of her voice.

‘Anna, we were expecting you at the meeting just now,’ Virkkunen explained.

‘I don’t have telepathic skills, and I don’t remember ever claiming such a thing on my CV either.’