Read Online Nights of Awe by Harri Nykänen - Free Book Online

Finland, but we do have some information on them.”
    Huovinen indicated Lieutenant Toivakka. “Take it from here, Seppo?”
    “We have a couple of tip-offs on the cousin, Tagi Hamid. One of his buddies is a Moroccan citizen who has been convicted of narcotics violations. Hamid’s name came up during routine monitoring of the Moroccan. In addition, we have an anonymous tip-off according to which Hamid brought over or had someone else bring over three kilos of hash from Morocco. Since then, we’ve been in contact with Birmingham, where Hamid has lived for over twenty years. According to the police there, Hamid only has minor convictions, but he’s considered a mid-level drug dealer. At this moment, however, we don’t have any information indicating that an Arab-led drug gang is operating in Finland. That’s it.”
    “Thank you,” said Huovinen. “As far as the killers, we know that there were at least two of them. They were also dark-complexioned, meaning Arabs or southern Europeans, about forty years old and athletic. That’s as detailed as the description gets.”
    “What about the security-cam footage?” Leivo asked.
    “We’ve got some images from the rail-traffic-monitoring camera that most likely are of the suspects, but they don’t offer any new information. The shots are so blurry that we won’t be able to get anything close to identifying characteristics from them. The only piece of additional information is that the men approached from downtown on the path that goes past Finlandia Hall and heads along the shore of Töölönranta Bay to Linnunlaulu.”
    “What about the cars?”
    “The Vartiokylä Teboil security camera gave us some good footage of cars headed towards and away from the auto-body shop owned by the victim named Ali Hamid. Not all of the vehicles have been identified yet, or their owners contacted, but we believe we’ve found what we’re looking for. One was a white Nissan-make minivan with stolen plates. A similar Nissan has been reported stolen. We suspect Hamid’s killers used this vehicle, and an APB has been placed on it.”
    “How do we know for certain that the Vartiokylä killings are related to the events at Linnunlaulu?” enquired Deputy Chief Leivo. He was clearly annoyed that the majority of the information he currently possessed had come from the media.
    Leivo had only himself to blame. He’d been at a seminar in Lahti and unreachable all day. Besides, he was known for not developing interest in a case until the media started asking about it.
    “Through the family connection, as I said,” Huovinen answered. “In addition, the person who was hit by the train had made numerous calls to the owner of the body shop, so the connection can be considered certain.”
    I eyed Sillanpää. His dark eyes narrowed. Sillanpää returned my gaze with a piercing look and said: “It would be nice to know how we know about these calls to the body shop. As far as I’m aware, the only way would be accessing the caller’s info. But it just so happens that we have the phone, and it’s only now being unlocked because there’s no PIN code, at least in our possession.”
    Huovinen didn’t let Sillanpää’s prickliness bother him. He was much thicker-skinned that he appeared.
    “I don’t think we ought to be splitting hairs at this point. I’m not interested in where the information came from, the main thing is that we have it and that it’s been useful to us.”
    “Well, we are interested, because—”
    Leivo started losing his patience and interrupted Sillanpää.
    “Split hairs some other time. Do we have any theories as to what this is all about?”
    I’d only seen him at work in a suit and tie. Now he was wearing a dark-green sweater and slacks. Apparently he’d dropped by the house on his way in.
    Huovinen nodded in my direction.
    “Kafka can report on developments in the field. He has by far the most accurate information on everything.”
    I looked at Leivo’s