Free Copper Heart by Leena Lehtolainen

wouldn’t happen to have a cigarette on you?”
    “I don’t smoke.”
    “I don’t either anymore…theoretically.” Kivinen dug more nicotine gum out of his pocket. “There’s the guest list. I left sometime around one, and there weren’t many people left at that point. I can try to remember who if you want. I am pretty sure Meritta was still at the party. The place was empty by the time my secretary left at two thirty. She didn’t go in the Tower, though, so Meritta could have been up there.”
    “And the night watchmen? Aren’t they supposed to drive by once an hour?”
    “I’ve tried to call the company, but no one is answering.”
    Kivinen had told me that security at the Old Mine was handled by a company run by a couple of young local men who had promised to patrol the area several times a night.
    “How well did you know Meritta Flöjt, Mr. Kivinen?” My voice echoed in the empty, stone-walled restaurant.
    “Isn’t it a city ordinance that we’re all supposed to be on a first-name basis? Call me Seppo.” Kivinen extended his hand, which I shook, though I was a little taken aback as I muttered my first name. Under the circumstances, Kivinen’s familiarity seemed out of place, even though I could tell he wasn’t joking about the city ordinance. Small towns had a habit of passing peculiar laws, and this one was instituted while I was in high school. My art teacher had been one of the main opponents of the measure, arguing that we didn’t have to copy every idiotic idea the Swedes dreamed up.
    “Yes, I knew her…She was a member of the committee that helped develop the concept for the Old Mine renovation, the same committee that your uncle Pena was on. And…well…There’s no point trying to hide it, since someone will tell you eventually anyway. Last winter Meritta and I spent a few nights together. It wasn’t anything serious. I’m married and Iintend to stay that way.” Kivinen didn’t seem the slightest bit uncomfortable talking about his relationship with Meritta. That didn’t mean anything though. People cheated on their spouses without any qualms all the time. So why was I so messed up over one friendly kiss with Johnny?
    “Your relationship was over, then?”
    “Yes. I think she was with someone else this spring. And there wasn’t any love between us, so we weren’t bitter. You saw yourself yesterday how well we got along.”
    “Yes, I did.” I didn’t want to think about Meritta’s other male companion.
    Next we quickly ran through the guest list and then began discussing which areas on the property to cordon off. Without too much resistance, Kivinen agreed to close the Tower and delay opening the restaurant until the evening. In order to cause as little inconvenience as possible, the lower area where the museum and other attractions were located would continue operating as planned.
    When I came out of the restaurant, Meritta’s body had disappeared, and Lasarov and Hopponen had returned from reporting her death to her next of kin. The local cops were powwowing intensely with the county police. The photographer was still snapping away up above.
    “There were all sorts of neat things up there,” Detective Antikainen said. “The pieces of fingernail you were expecting, a little blood…” Cheerfully Antikainen waved a transparent evidence bag with something orange inside, which one of the county forensic technicians grabbed out of his hand and added to his collection of samples. “That piece of cloth is probably from our vic’s skirt. And this Kalevala brooch must be hers…”
    Horrified, I stared at the heavy medieval-reproduction brooch in the other bag Antikainen was holding up. Thepalmette ornamentation was unmistakable; I knew I had seen someone wearing it yesterday, but not Meritta. Ella had been wearing it as part of her folk costume.
    “Well, what did the ME say? Do we have a murder on our hands?” Antikainen asked blithely. Lasarov coughed, and Järvi also