“You may not know this but he was an expert in tropical fish,” Erki said. “We all have our dreams, don’t we? Our lives…”
Lindell waited for a continuation but it never came.
“How do you know the money came from the shop?”
“I’ve worked there a long time,” Erki said. “I see a lot. I know.”
Lindell left the subject. She would get the details in due course.
“Did Berit know about the backpack?”
Justus shook his head.
“I didn’t take it all. I left half.”
“Where is it?”
“At home in the closet.”
“And she doesn’t know?”
“Only Dad and I knew.”
“Okay,” Lindell said. “I get it.”
She turned to Erki and asked if she could use the bathroom. He pointed to the hall. Lindell left the kitchen and closed the door after her. Two children sat on the floor. They had arranged all the shoes by the door into a big pile. Lindell caught sight of her boots near the bottom. From another room came the sound of music and loud peals of laughter. Lindell felt as if she were making an educational visit to a Normal Home.
In the bathroom she picked up her cell phone and called Haver. He told her that Ruben Sagander wasn’t home. His wife had been waiting for a few hours and had tried his cell phone but had been unable to reach him.
“What are you doing?” Lindell asked.
“We’ve sent out an alert,” Haver said. “We’re trying to figure out where he may have gone.”
“He’s armed,” Lindell said.
“We know,” Haver said.
“Is he the one?”
“We can’t say for sure, but the tracks in the snow appear to match up. He has a red-and-white pickup and he was at Akademiska Hospital on the same day the knife was stolen.”
“Have you asked about the knife?”
“His wife says he has a large number of knives,” Haver said. “The whole house is full of weapons and trophies.”
“Motive?”
“Money, most likely,” Haver said.
A short pause reigned before Lindell got the words out.
“I’m sorry for what happened.”
“It’s okay,” Haver said, but Lindell could hear that it wasn’t.
“I have to get home to Erik,” she said. “Justus is here with Erki Karjalainen and doesn’t want to go home yet. I think he should be able to stay awhile longer.”
Finally she told him about the money stolen from the shop and the cash in Justus’s backpack. She hadn’t been sure she wanted to tell Haver about this. She knew she had to, but it felt like a betrayal of Erki and Justus.
“Money,” Haver repeated.
“Ola, be careful.”
Lindell ended the call and blew her nose with a little piece of toilet paper. The children in the hall were singing a Finnish Christmas song in shrill tones. She dialed Berit’s number. When she answered, Lindell had to fight to keep the emotion out of her voice. She knew what a relief it would be for Berit to hear that Justus was fine.
“Thank God,” she whispered.
Lindell could imagine her expression. She swallowed and continued.
“One more thing. In the closet in Justus’s room there’s a lot of money. It’s John’s money. I’ll tell you later how he got it. It’s not just from poker, I can tell you. I’ll be over in a while so we can talk, then my colleagues will come down.”
“What about Justus?”
“He’s safe here. Give him a few hours. I promise you he’s fine.”
“Tell me more about the money. Where did it come from?”
“I’ll be over soon. Okay?”
She went back to the kitchen. Justus looked up.
“I was treated to a Finnish concert out there,” Lindell said lightly and tried to smile.
“It’s the grandkids,” Erki said.
“Can Justus stay with you a bit longer?” she asked.
Erki and Justus looked at each other.
“Of course. We’ll call Berit later. I’ll bring him back.”
Lindell nodded.
“I’m going home now,” she said, but paused. “Good-bye, Justus. I’ll see you.”
She gave Erki a look. He got to his feet slowly and when Lindell left the room he followed.
“There’s one thing,” she said as she searched for her boots in the pile of shoes.
Erki closed the door to the kitchen.
“I want…I know this is wrong, but there’s one thing.”
Lindell fished out one boot. She turned to Erki.
“This thing about dreams,” she said. “Aren’t children the most important?”
Erki nodded.
“I was thinking…Justus dreams of Africa.”
Erki glanced at the kitchen door and took a step closer.
“Africa isn’t what he thinks it is, but it’s the dream he shared with John. What happens to him now?”
A group of kids ran giggling out of the living room, stopping short when they saw Lindell. They looked at the boot in her hand and the pile of shoes. Erki said something in Finnish and they immediately drew back into the living room and closed the door behind them.
When Lindell continued to speak it was with greater assurance.
“I want you to count out one hundred thousand from the backpack and put it aside. Hide it, and when everything has calmed down I want you to make sure Berit and the boy get to Africa. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Erki nodded.
“He has to see the place, even if it’s only for a week,” Lindell said.
“Isn’t this wrong?” Erki said.
Lindell shook her head.
“I would be fired on the spot if this came to light, but you like the boy, don’t you?”
Erki Karjalainen smiled. Lindell thought she caught a whiff of mulled wine on his breath.
“Treat yourself to a taxi to Berit’s and back,” she said.
“But stealing?” Erki said. “What will the boy think?”
“Tell him it’s what John would have wanted.”
Erki leaned forward and for a second she thought he was going to hug her, but he only gave her an intent look, as if he wanted to check the sincerity in her expression.
“Are you alone with your baby over Christmas?”
Lindell shook her head, bent over, and fished out her other boot.
“We’re having Berit and Justus over,” Erki said. “If you want to come.”
Lindell looked around, sat down on a chair, and pulled her boots on with concentration. She wanted to run away but also stay there. She sighed heavily and pulled up the zipper of her boot.
“My parents are in town,” she said and managed to give him a smile. “But it’s very nice of you to invite me. Thank you.”
Lindell stepped out into the cold with a sense of longing. She turned. A nose was pressed against the glass and she waved. The nose disappeared.
She let the engine run for a while, like she always did. When she finally put it in gear she realized where this habit came from: it’s what her father had always done with the delivery truck. He would go out a few minutes before he wanted to leave, turn on the engine, then go back in and have the last drop of his morning coffee before setting out on his rounds.
She called home. This time her mother’s voice was commanding.
“You are coming home this instant,” she said.
“There’s a boy here who needed attention,” Ann said.
“You have a boy yourself.”
“He’s hardly suffering,” Ann said, but she felt a twinge of guilty conscience.
“Where are you?”
“Don’t you hear what I’m saying? I’ll be home soon! I’m just going to stop by and see someone on the way back.”
Her mother hung up, and Ann was not surprised. She knew her mother was incapable of having a discussion of any length with her daughter. The distance between them was too great.
She pushed away all thoughts of her parents in the way she had always done, by thinking of her work. Had it been right to ask Erki to put away a hundred thousand? He had raised the issue of morality, but the fact was that it was John’s money. Even if the starting sum had been stolen, then surely the poker winnings were his? If the money from the workshop was subtracted perhaps there would be even more than a hundred thousand, and this money would go to Berit and Justus in any case. This was how she was going to construct her inner moral defense.