Read Online Nights of Awe by Harri Nykänen - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Harri Nykänen
Ads: Link
gentle, unlined face. He was exactly what his previous subordinates in central Finland had warned us about: a nice guy, great company and an excellent storyteller, but totally out of place as a cop. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one of his kind.
Maybe people like him were a blessing to humanity, but they were also a hell of a burden when they wound up in positions not suited to their character. They never wanted to throw the first stone and always discovered mitigating factors, even in places where they didn’t exist. Thanks to them, the bad guys were back out on the streets faster than you could spit, realizing their true natures through foul deeds.
It was my belief that the world wasn’t ready for nice people yet. Nice people didn’t stick their noses in the business of a neighbour who beat his wife and kids; nice heads of state didn’t attack a neighbouring country, even if its dictator had butchered millions of its citizens. Avoiding inconvenience was a fundamental trait of nice people. That’s why they let unpleasant things happen rather than get involved.
Nice people were in their element as nuns, midwives, nurses, scientists, dentists or activities counsellors, but in the kind of position where you had to be capable of handling pressure and problems, they were in the wrong spot.
“None of the deceased except for Tagi Hamid have a criminal background, and all of them are foreigners from a specific region of the globe. They’re also all Muslims, and according to Hamid’s wife, the man who called Ali Hamid had stressed that Muslims here have a responsibility to aid their fellow believers. Aid them in what? We could propose a couple of theories, but for now, at least, they’re only theories.”
“Do any of the theories have anything to do with terrorism?” Leivo demanded.
Most people in the room had already seen this coming for a while. Still, the mention of terrorism silenced the group.
“If it does, I want to know how,” Leivo continued. “Everything would also fit with international organized crime and a territorial gang war. Killing and mutilating competitors as a warning, forcing compatriots to aid them. Even though most of the deceased don’t have a criminal background in Finland, they might turn out to have one back home.”
The deputy chief’s aggressive stance surprised me. It was no longer pure self-defence. Nor was it his place to offer already-digested theories to the lead investigator.
“Like Toivakka said, we don’t have any hints of organized crime of Iraqi or other Arab background,” I said. “For a territorial war, you need a territory.”
“So what about the mysterious killers? Who were they, where did they disappear to, and what was their motivation?” Leivo wondered out loud.
“Huovinen said that there were at least two of them, I’d say at least four. We know that Tagi Hamid, who was shot and mutilated on the bridge, and the unidentified man who was hit by the train approached the scene from different directions with the intention of meeting on the bridge. The killers followed Tagi Hamid. They were not interested in him, however, but in the man that he was supposed to meet. Ali Hamid, on the other hand, was killed last night, so it seems as if the information about the meeting on the bridge had been tortured out of him. He, in turn, had heard it from his cousin Tagi.”
“Where does the four come in?” asked Toivakka.
“Everyone who has ever been involved in tailing a suspect knows that in order to do it successfully, you need enough people. You have to switch roles, so the target doesn’t start noticing that the same guy is always at his heels. In addition, the killers intended to abduct the other man from the bridge. You can’t drag a man who’s struggling and afraid for his life very far without calling attention to yourself. There had to be someone there with a car. But how did the killers know that the person they were following would take the exact
Maybe people like him were a blessing to humanity, but they were also a hell of a burden when they wound up in positions not suited to their character. They never wanted to throw the first stone and always discovered mitigating factors, even in places where they didn’t exist. Thanks to them, the bad guys were back out on the streets faster than you could spit, realizing their true natures through foul deeds.
It was my belief that the world wasn’t ready for nice people yet. Nice people didn’t stick their noses in the business of a neighbour who beat his wife and kids; nice heads of state didn’t attack a neighbouring country, even if its dictator had butchered millions of its citizens. Avoiding inconvenience was a fundamental trait of nice people. That’s why they let unpleasant things happen rather than get involved.
Nice people were in their element as nuns, midwives, nurses, scientists, dentists or activities counsellors, but in the kind of position where you had to be capable of handling pressure and problems, they were in the wrong spot.
“None of the deceased except for Tagi Hamid have a criminal background, and all of them are foreigners from a specific region of the globe. They’re also all Muslims, and according to Hamid’s wife, the man who called Ali Hamid had stressed that Muslims here have a responsibility to aid their fellow believers. Aid them in what? We could propose a couple of theories, but for now, at least, they’re only theories.”
“Do any of the theories have anything to do with terrorism?” Leivo demanded.
Most people in the room had already seen this coming for a while. Still, the mention of terrorism silenced the group.
“If it does, I want to know how,” Leivo continued. “Everything would also fit with international organized crime and a territorial gang war. Killing and mutilating competitors as a warning, forcing compatriots to aid them. Even though most of the deceased don’t have a criminal background in Finland, they might turn out to have one back home.”
The deputy chief’s aggressive stance surprised me. It was no longer pure self-defence. Nor was it his place to offer already-digested theories to the lead investigator.
“Like Toivakka said, we don’t have any hints of organized crime of Iraqi or other Arab background,” I said. “For a territorial war, you need a territory.”
“So what about the mysterious killers? Who were they, where did they disappear to, and what was their motivation?” Leivo wondered out loud.
“Huovinen said that there were at least two of them, I’d say at least four. We know that Tagi Hamid, who was shot and mutilated on the bridge, and the unidentified man who was hit by the train approached the scene from different directions with the intention of meeting on the bridge. The killers followed Tagi Hamid. They were not interested in him, however, but in the man that he was supposed to meet. Ali Hamid, on the other hand, was killed last night, so it seems as if the information about the meeting on the bridge had been tortured out of him. He, in turn, had heard it from his cousin Tagi.”
“Where does the four come in?” asked Toivakka.
“Everyone who has ever been involved in tailing a suspect knows that in order to do it successfully, you need enough people. You have to switch roles, so the target doesn’t start noticing that the same guy is always at his heels. In addition, the killers intended to abduct the other man from the bridge. You can’t drag a man who’s struggling and afraid for his life very far without calling attention to yourself. There had to be someone there with a car. But how did the killers know that the person they were following would take the exact
Similar Books
