Free Death Spiral by Leena Lehtolainen Page A

his own joke, but then he realized what he had said and blushed.
    “We even saw that yesterday,” he said suddenly. “It was like a contest to see who could yell the loudest. And I think Elena is too authoritarian with Noora, like she’s still back at the figure-skating academy in Moscow. There a coach is like a demigod. In terms of technique, she’s fantastic. I fully admit she’s better than me.”
    “So who was arguing with who yesterday and why?” Koivu interjected, apparently tired of hearing about the ins and outs of figure skating.
    “Well, yesterday’s practice wasn’t a very good example of either of our coaching skills. We should have taken a real vacation, but the ice show got in the way. The season was good, but it was hard on all of us,” Luoto said as if to himself, and Koivu started showing signs of impatience again.
    “So Noora was fighting with everyone here?” he said, interrupting again.
    “Not exactly everyone. For some reason she left Silja alone. And Silja left earlier while we stayed to work on some new pairs moves. Noora was able to concentrate well despite it all, but she still seemed irritated when she left. I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised if she accidentally walked into the middle of the street and got run over by a car.”
    Koivu and I stared at each other for a second in surprise, and then I remembered what Elena Grigorieva had said about Noora getting run over like her first husband. Even though I told her that wasn’t the case, in her shock Grigorieva must have misunderstood and told Rami Luoto the same thing.
    “Noora wasn’t run over,” I said, “and it wasn’t an accident. She was murdered.”
    Luoto’s face went an icy gray, and his whole body started shaking. Collapsing on the bench, he wept like a child.
    Koivu was a traditional Finnish man, and seeing other men cry irritated him. He turned his head away while I made a notation in the recording that we were taking a break. Then I let Luoto cry.
    “I’m going to find Kivi,” Koivu said, clearly trying to escape. I fetched a stack of rough paper towels from the restroom and handed them to Luoto.
    Luoto stopped crying suddenly. In a couple of minutes he was himself again and asked what had happened. I didn’t say anything about the skates, but I did say she had been beaten and found in the trunk of a car.
    “Do you have any idea who did it?” Luoto asked, but I didn’t have time to answer before Koivu returned with the janitor.
    “I can’t find Kivi anywhere.”
    We rushed out into the hall as if it were an emergency. The janitor and Luoto yelled for Janne and checked the other dressing rooms. Finally we went out to the parking lot, but he wasn’t there either. Rami Luoto frowned.
    “Janne probably just went home. I don’t see his car anywhere, do you? It’s a little Nissan Micra.”

4

    “Where does Janne live?” I asked Luoto, who clearly didn’t realize why we were staring at him like he was a ghost.
    “Across town in Otaniemi, by the university campus.”
    I wanted to talk to Janne Kivi. Immediately. I took off at a jog for our car, and Koivu sprinted after. Opening the door, I wedged myself into the driver’s seat. My belly was already getting in the way, and it was hard getting used to not moving as easily as usual. Luoto grabbed the car door.
    “You can’t really suspect Janne! You saw how distraught he is. If you barge in there making wild accusations, it will just make it worse. Who knows what he might do!”
    Koivu jumped into the passenger seat, and I almost slammed the door on Luoto’s fingers as I hit the gas.
    “Call the DMV and check the plate on Janne’s Nissan so we aren’t jumping to any conclusions,” I panted as I swung through an intersection onto the West Highway. I wondered whether I should turn on the siren, since we were in a blue-and-white for once, but I decided not to bother. People moved over when they saw a police car coming up behind them regardless. I