LITMIR.BIZ

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to talk to you.”

      “Is Evelyn really fine? Nothing’s happened to her?”

      “Open the door.”

      “I don’t want to.”

      “It would be helpful if you could come to the station.”

      There is a brief silence.

      “Has he been here more than once?” Joona asks, all of a sudden.

      “Who?”

      “Josef.”

      “Who’s Josef?”

      “Evelyn’s brother.”

      “He’s never been here,” says Sorab.

      “So who did come here?”

      “Why can’t you understand? I’m not going to talk to you!”

      “Who came here?”

      “I didn’t say anyone came here, did I? You’re just trying to trap me.”

      “No, I’m not.”

      Silence once again. Then Joona hears the sound of a tearing sob behind the door.

      “Is she dead?” asks Sorab. “Is Evelyn dead?”

      “Why do you ask?”

      “I don’t want to talk to you.”

      Joona hears footsteps moving away, down the hallway, then the sound of a door closing. Loud music starts up. As Joona is walking down the stairs, he thinks someone must have frightened Sorab into telling him where Evelyn was hiding.

      Joona emerges into the chilly air and sees two men wearing Pro Gym jackets waiting by his car. When they hear him coming, they turn round. One sits on the hood, his mobile to his ear. Joona assesses them rapidly. They’re both in their thirties; the one sitting on the hood has a shaved head, while the other has a schoolboy haircut. Joona guesses that the man with the boyish hair weighs over 220 pounds. Perhaps he practises aikido, karate, or kick-boxing. Probably on steroids, thinks Joona. The other one might be carrying a knife, but probably not a firearm.

      There is a thin layer of snow on the grass.

      Joona turns away, as if he hasn’t noticed the men, and heads for the well-lit path.

      “Hey, you!” shouts one of them.

      Joona ignores them and heads towards the steps by a streetlamp with a green waste bin.

      “Aren’t you taking your car?”

      Joona stops and glances quickly up at the building. He realises that the man sitting on the hood is talking to Sorab on his mobile, and that Sorab is watching them from his window.

      The man with the boyish haircut is approaching cautiously, and Joona turns and walks back towards him.

      “I’m a police officer,” he says.

      “And I’m a fucking monkey,” says the man.

      Joona takes out his mobile and calls Ronny again. ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ begins to play in the pocket of the man with the boyish hair; he smiles, takes out Ronny’s phone, and answers.

      “Officer Pig here.”

      “What’s this all about?” says Joona.

      “You need to leave Sorab alone. He don’t want to talk.”

      “Do you really think you’re helping him by—”

      “This is a warning. I don’t give a fuck who you are, you just keep away from Sorab.”

      Joona realises the situation could become dangerous, remembers that he locked his pistol away in the gun cupboard back at the station, and looks around for something he can use as a weapon.

      “Where are my colleagues?” he asks in a calm voice.

      “You hear me? Leave Sorab alone.”

      The man with the boyish hair runs one hand rapidly through it, begins to breathe more quickly, turns sideways, moves a little closer, and lifts the heel of his back foot an inch or two from the ground.

      “I used to train when I was younger,” says Joona. “If you attack me I will defend myself and I will take you.”

      “We’re shitting our pants,” says the one leaning against the car.

      Joona doesn’t take his eyes off the man facing him. “You’re intending to kick my legs,” he says. “Since you know you can’t manage high kicks.”

      “Asshole,” mumbles the man.

      Joona moves to the right to open up the line.

      “If you decide to kick,” Joona continues, “I will not move back, which is what you are used to; instead, I will move in, against the back of your other knee, and when you fall backwards, this elbow will be waiting for the back of your neck.”

      “Fuck me, he talks bullshit,” says the one leaning on the car.

      “He does.” The other grins. “And what an accent.”

      “If your tongue is sticking out, you’ll bite it off,” says Joona.

      The man with the boyish hair sways slightly, and when the kick comes it is slower than expected. Joona has already taken a first step when the man’s hip begins to twist. And before the leg extends and meets its target, Joona kicks as hard as he can at the back of the knee of the other leg, the one on which the man is resting all his weight. He is already off balance and falls backwards just as Joona swings around and hits the back of his neck with his elbow.

       29

       friday, december 11: morning

      It is just 5:30 a.m. when the knocking begins somewhere in the apartment. Simone perceives the noise as part of a frustrating dream, in which she has to pick up different shells and porcelain lids. She understands the rules but still does the wrong thing. A boy knocks on the table and points out the wrong choices she has made. Simone twists and turns in her sleep, whimpering; she opens her eyes and is immediately wide awake.

      Someone or something is knocking inside the apartment. She tries to locate the noise in the darkness, lying perfectly still and listening, but the knocking has stopped.

      She can hear Erik snoring beside her. There is a tapping sound in the pipes. The wind blows against the windowpanes. The sound of a car outside roars through the window.

      Simone just has time to think that she must have exaggerated the noise in her sleep when the knocking suddenly begins again. Someone is in the apartment! Erik has taken a pill and is out cold. His snoring quiets as she lays a hand on his arm, but he doesn’t wake up, only turns over, puffing. As quietly as possible, she creeps out of bed and slips through the bedroom door, which is ajar.

      A light comes from the kitchen. As she moves through the hallway she sees a glow hanging in the air like a blue cloud of gas. It’s the fridge light. The fridge and the freezer are standing wide open. The freezer has begun to defrost and water is running onto the floor. Drops of water from the thawing packs of food are landing on the plastic edging with a gentle tapping noise.

      Simone becomes aware of how cold it is in the kitchen. There is a smell of cigarette smoke. She looks out into the hallway.

      Then she sees that the front door is wide open.

      She rushes to Benjamin’s room. Fast asleep. For a little while she just stands there, listening to his regular breathing.

      As she walks towards the front door to close it, her heart almost stops. There is someone standing in the doorway. He nods to her and holds out an object. It takes a few seconds before she realises this is the paperboy and he’s handing her the morning paper. She says thank

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