The amount of blood, however, proved that Nurminen had lived for some time during the attack. Had he died on the first stab wound, his heart would have stopped pumping blood.
“Dead,” said Nykänen. “No pulse.”
“Alright. Let’s not mess up the prints anymore-give forensics a chance.”
The men withdrew into the hallway. “They can’t have much of a head start. I’m sure that butcher job took a while, and if their lead at the Corner Pub was half an hour…”
Suhonen dug out his phone. “That half an hour was Macho’s drunken guess. In reality, it could be more.”
Nykänen eyed the bloody corpse from the door.
“That there looks like Steiner’s work. You remember what he served those seven years for?”
“His girlfriend.”
Nykänen nodded.
“Think Salmela was here?”
“No. That looks like torture. If Salmela was here, they wouldn’t have had a reason for it.”
“Steiner doesn’t always need a reason. You think he talked?” Nykänen wondered.
“Tough to say. Most do and Nurminen sure would’ve. Based on this mess, I’d guess he didn’t know where Salmela was, but the Skulls didn’t believe him.”
He glanced at the body and noticed a piece of paper lodged between the man’s arm and the side of the tub. Not wanting to touch it with his hands, he grabbed two knives from the kitchen drawer, slipped back into the bathroom and plucked out the note.
In large shaky letters, it read, “RAT.”
The officers examined the note. “How do we know Salmela didn’t do this? That’s a possibility,” said Nykänen.
Suhonen shook his head and phoned Takamäki.
* * *
A blue Audi A4 rounded the west side of the circular Ympyrätalo building at the edge of Hakaniemi Market Square and stopped at a red light.
The men had been largely silent since they left the apartment. Larsson was behind the wheel and Steiner sat next to him. The driver fumbled a joint out of a metal box and lit up. Larsson cracked a window as the sweet smell of marijuana filled the car.
“Didn’t exactly go as planned,” said Larsson, offering the joint to his buddy.
“What was the plan?” Steiner replied coolly. “I thought the whole point was to find the rat. I know that cauliflower-eared fool knew where he was.”
Larsson knew it was fruitless to start an argument with this junkie, but he went on, “He didn’t know anything more. If he did, he would have talked… I believe his story. Salmela was there, but he went to get some pizza and beer.”
“Well, maybe we should have stayed and waited for him to come back.”
“Yeah, and wait for the cops too, with all the racket we made.”
The lights changed and Larsson turned northbound onto Hämeen Street. “That pizza joint was practically across the street. The little shit probably smelled a trap and took off.”
They had both taken five minutes to clean up their tracks, and they had worn gloves so there shouldn’t be any prints. Their beanie hats kept loose hairs from falling, so hopefully no DNA was left at the scene. At some point, they’d have to destroy their clothing, so no fibers could be linked to them, though both were wearing jeans, which had such a common fiber as to render them useless as evidence.
Emptying a fire extinguisher into the car would wipe out the prints in it. Had they had more time, they would’ve taken the body along and properly disposed of it.
On the other hand, the “rat” note made the murder look like Salmela’s work. Two friends got in a fight and Salmela made a break for it.
In Larsson’s opinion, killing Nurminen was stupid. Roughing him up would have been enough, but Steiner had gotten out of hand. The stop at the Corner Pub wasn’t very smart either, but he hoped the Skulls’ reputation would keep anyone from talking to the cops.
At any rate, now they had to finish the job.
CHAPTER 23
MONDAY, 7:40 P.M.
PASILA POLICE HEADQUARTERS, HELSINKI
Honkala stared at Takamäki. “Shit.”
“Brutal and bloody enough that it’ll be prosecuted as a murder,” Takamäki remarked. Finnish law divided homicide into three categories: murder, manslaughter, and killing. Murder, which carried a life sentence, was reserved for premeditated or particularly brutal acts causing serious danger to the public.
Five detectives sat at their computers in the VCU’s conference room. Investigators from the NBI, Helsinki, and the neighboring Espoo police departments streamed in and out, reporting the latest news. The head of each investigative branch received the intel, sorted it out and then relayed the main points to Honkala. Takamäki was somewhat envious of how well the system worked. This was how he would have wanted the VCU to work, but they only had the staff for it in exceptional circumstances. This case was exceptional and was getting more so at every turn.
“The name was Kauko Nurminen, you say?”
Takamäki glanced at Joutsamo’s printout of Ear-Nurminen’s rap sheet and handed it to Honkala. “Minor stuff. A former burglar, but he’s been more focused on drinking and shooting the breeze lately.”
Takamäki had already described the victim’s condition, as well as what Suhonen and Nykänen had told him. A team from forensics was already on the way.
“So the duo that was kicked off the case is now on the hottest trail.”
“How should I put it? Suhonen and Nykänen make a dynamic team. More often than not, they’ll end up on the right track.”
Honkala chuckled. “The dynamic duo. Yes, of course.”
Takamäki was glad that Honkala had loosened up his tie over the course of the evening. Managing an investigation involving nearly a hundred officers with a tight tie would have been too much. If nothing else, the blood supply to his head would be disrupted.
“And the two top dogs at the Skulls are our prime suspects?” asked Honkala.
“According to them, Larsson is second-in-command. The president is doing life in Turku. Steiner, well, he’s a psycho. Never know what to expect from him. But you’re right in that these two hold the most sway with the Skulls right now.”
“What grounds do we have for suspicion?”
Takamäki repeated Suhonen’s story and explained how Macho had told them that the two Skulls had come to the Corner Pub looking for Salmela, and how he had directed them to Nurminen’s apartment. Takamäki also told him about the note found in the bathtub, which got Honkala thinking.
“There’s always the possibility that Salmela killed his buddy for ratting on him,” Honkala noted. “Let’s not forget about that.”
“Of course not. We’ll follow every lead, but the one from the Corner Pub makes these two Skulls prime suspects.”
“We should take this Macho in for questioning before he finds out what happened to his buddy. After he finds out, we won’t get anything out of him,” said Honkala as he glanced around the bustling room.
“Listen, Kari. Would it be possible for you to take this Ear-Nurminen angle?”
“Fine with me, but is that going to be okay with the bosses?”
“Let them hash it out among themselves later on. We have crimes to solve here.”
“Good call. And I can use Nykänen and Suhonen?”
“We’ll need Nykänen back at the NBI tomorrow. Otherwise, I don’t see why not. Let them have at it. It’ll do Nykänen good to be back in the field and away from the coffeemaker for a while.”
Takamäki looked at Honkala. “I’m guessing you have the S.W.A.T. team on standby. When are you looking to raid the Skulls’ compound?”
“You’re thinking now?”
“For two reasons. First: we might get some forensic evidence for the bombing. Second: I’m thinking about this Nurminen’s murder. The top brass at the Skulls are suspects, so it’s possible we’ll find them at the compound. We have plenty of probable cause for a search warrant.”