Read Online Death Spiral by Leena Lehtolainen - Free Book Online Page B

found a guy who was on the upper level of the parking garage at seven forty-five and actually knows something about cars. Those were the ones that were there besides Järvenperä’s!”
    “Really? Great! Let’s get to work,” I said, feigning excitement. I would prefer to do anything but see Janne Kivi right now. Even though their relationship had been stormy, after seeing Janne skate, there was no doubt he was out of his mind with grief over Noora’s death.
    Janne sat with his head between his hands in the player’s box. He hadn’t even bothered putting guards on his skates, their blades slicing deep gouges in the black rubber flooring. Rami Luoto stood next to him with his hand on Janne’s shoulder, and I got the feeling that seeing us was a relief.
    “Sergeant Kallio and Senior Officer Koivu from the Espoo Police. We’ve been trying to reach both of you all day. We’re sorry we had to come and interrupt your practice.”
    “We aren’t going to be training today,” Rami said and then extended his hand. “Rami Luoto, Noora and Janne’s coach. How can I help?”
    Rami Luoto was about forty-five, and a bit of gray tinged his carefully trimmed black hair and the sideburns that curled beneath surprisingly small ears. He was short, barely five foot seven, and he still had the lithe, muscular frame of a ballet dancer. Once, Rami had been Finland’s top skater, but he never quite managed to win a medal in one of the majors. His skating style had emphasized dance over acrobatics—the speed of his pirouettes was amazing, but he had trouble on the jumping side. My sister Helena, our family’s most enthusiastic skating fan, had a serious crush on Rami back in the day. I’d always thought he was effeminate and not very handsome, but age had narrowed his face, seeming to draw his eyes closer together and adding a nice softness to his lips.
    “The police have reason to believe that Noora was killed soon after she left here yesterday. We’re trying to retrace her movements as precisely as possible. Elena Grigorieva said that you two were the last at the rink.”
    Rami Luoto listened to me quietly, but then nodded to Janne.
    “I don’t think you should try to talk to Janne right now. He should really go home. He just heard about Noora’s death. When no one was here at the rink, he called the Nieminens to see what was going on.”
    I remembered that Elena Grigorieva had said something about a ballet class and wondered if Janne was supposed to attend that too, but I didn’t say anything about it now.
    “Can you drive home, Janne, or should I drop you off?” Luoto asked. The young man didn’t answer, just sat with his face in his hands. The shoulders under his black T-shirt heaved, but it was hard to tell whether he was crying or breathing heavily after skating.
    “Could you still answer a few questions?” I asked. “Did you see Noora leave the rink?”
    Luoto nodded.
    “I did . . . Let me think . . . It’s the same every day, so remembering what happened when is hard. But yesterday was an unusually difficult training session. I was probably the last one to go because I talked with the custodian. The ice hasn’t been quite how we like it the past few days. I saw Noora go out, though. Didn’t you leave together, Janne?”
    No answer.
    “Were you driving or walking?” I asked Luoto.
    “Me? Walking. I live right near here. The rain started almost immediately, so I had to run the whole way. I still got soaked, though.”
    “You said practice yesterday was unusually difficult. Would you mind if we recorded this conversation? You’ll have to repeat the answers you just gave, maybe a little more specifically, and tell us whatever else you remember about yesterday and Noora.”
    Luoto nodded and suggested that we go sit in the dressing room because it was warmer. On the outside he appeared calm, but when he touched Janne on the shoulder again, I noticed his hand tremble. Rami Luoto was used to soothing his