Free TH02 - The Priest of Evil by Matti Joensuu Page A

the ding-dong meant that the world would begin to bounce slightly quicker than usual, and that would be followed by more murmuring, first the familiar, strong one, then another, fainter murmuring.
    Ding-dong, came the sound again, and at that Sinikka and the rest of the world began to bounce, much faster, and soon afterwards Sinikka could make out her own murmuring: ‘Good morning.’
    ‘Good morning. I’m DS Timo Harjunpää from Helsinki Police.’
    ‘Oh? Ah yes, you must be here about the break-in. I simply haven’t got round to making a list of everything that’s missing.’
    ‘No…’
    ‘Don’t worry, you can look at it. Quite a handsome bump, isn’t it? It’s our first baby.’
    ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… Do you know what it is yet?’
    ‘No, we didn’t want to. We’ll find out when the time comes. So what does bring you here then?’
    ‘May I come in for a moment?’
    ‘By all means.’
    ‘Perhaps we should sit down.’
    ‘I’d rather stand. It’s good for the back, you know.’
    ‘Do you have any friends or relatives who live nearby?’
    ‘No. Why do you ask? What’s this about?’
    ‘Your husband is Tero Yrjänä Kokkonen, is that correct?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘I’m afraid I have some terrible news,’ Harjunpää finally stammered. ‘Your husband has been involved in an accident and I’m afraid to say…’
    ‘No! It isn’t him! Good God, what a fright you gave me… That motorbike is still registered in his name, but someone else was driving it. We only handed it over once the payment had been settled. He sold it two days ago.’
    ‘I’m terribly sorry. This wasn’t a motorbike accident, this happened in the underground.’
    ‘Good God! No, God, no… what happened? Which hospital is he in?’
    ‘I’m afraid he’s dead, madam.’
    ‘Oh Jesus, no! He can’t be! He took the underground because it was so much safer… Tell me it wasn’t Tero!’
    ‘There’s nothing we can do. There’s no doubt that it is your husband. Madam, please, come and sit down here.’
    ‘No! No!’
    ‘I’m so sorry; please, let’s sit over here. Please…’
    These were strange murmurings, Sinikka had never heard anything like them before. They made her feel suddenly very bad indeed – her heart beat so frantically that it hurt, she became very restless and started kicking with her little fairy feet and waving her arms around. Then something even worse happened: something pressed against her, all around her, again and again – Sinikka felt like she was about to burst.
    Her own discomfort meant that she no longer paid attention to the murmurings, but they continued, she could feel it, and she soon heard a very strange murmuring indeed: wee-wah-wee-wah! Soon afterwards Sinikka’s position changed again. In this position the world was still for a long time, and she couldn’t hear murmurings of any sort. Only now Sinikka no longer felt calm, as she always had done in that position. All she felt was that she was being pushed from every direction, that something wanted her out of there.
10. Nook
    If you were to lift the stiff hatch in the corrugated-iron roof of The Brocken and edge your way through the gap, you might be in for a surprise. Right in the middle of the hut’s stone floor gaped the mouth of a shaft, about two metres in diameter, and a sheer drop leading down intothe darkness. At first glance it resembled the hungry jaws of an ancient monster. If you dared move closer, at the western side of the shaft you would notice the top of a pair of steel rails, and if you inched your way towards these rails you would see, in between the rails, steel rungs leading down into the earth’s invisible core.
    And if you had the courage to grip the rails, place a foot on the first rung and lower yourself down, it would be another twenty-five rungs before your feet once again touched something firm. If, however, you were to shine a torch at your feet, you would notice that the firm ground was not