He was asleep all night.”
I wondered how Sirkku could know that if she had been asleep herself, though it was possible that they had been so tangled up in each other that the slightest movement would have woken her.
“Did Tommi seem normal to you yesterday?”
“Yes. He was in a good mood. He didn’t even lose his temper with Pia during practice, though she was screwing up the whole time. Pia is a second soprano, and she was supposed to start the song solo, but she just couldn’t get it. Tommi is always extra patient with Pia. I mean he was...”
Sirkku seemed to be suggesting that Pia had been included in the performance lineup for reasons other than her singing ability.
“To be honest, I think Pia and Tommi must have had something going on. Peter, Pia’s husband, is off racing yachts in the US for almost six months. Isn’t that a horribly long time? But Pia gets to go see him next month. Anyway, Tommi moved in onPia as soon as Peter left. Maybe I shouldn’t be telling you this...But Pia talked about it herself, and there probably isn’t anything wrong with mentioning it. I mean they go to movies and stuff together. Luckily Peter is safely on the
Marlboro of Finland
, their boat, I mean, because he certainly would have a reason to kill Tommi. Well, no, not a reason to kill him, but he was pretty jealous.”
“So Tommi didn’t have any shortage of women? What was your relationship like with Tommi? Did you and Tommi ever have...‘something going on’?” I vaguely remembered that the last time I had seen Jaana, she had griped about Tommi “lowering his standards” and that he was “doing it with any little bitch he could get into bed.”
“Oh, well, just a little fling once in Germany, but nothing serious.” Sirkku did not appear to be ruffled by my direct question. Talking had clearly calmed her down, and now there was a faintly proud edge to her voice. “Tommi and Jaana had already broken up, but I know for a fact that Jaana’s flirting with Franz bugged Tommi. Tommi and I had a good time together, and I hadn’t even noticed Timo at that point. But it didn’t last beyond that trip, especially since I was going out with a guy named Jari here at home.”
“Was Timo jealous of Tommi?”
“About Germany? Nah, why would he be? There was nothing between us after we got back, and I would never cheat on Timo.”
Even though you cheated on your boyfriend at the time, I thought with amusement. “Last night, when you went to the bathroom, did you hear or see anyone else moving around?”
“The upstairs bathroom was right next to our room, so I didn’t have much time to see anything, especially since I was sogroggy and still a little drunk. And I fell right back asleep, though I did hear Tuulia snoring downstairs. I can’t understand how Pia and Mira were able to sleep through that racket. Pia would have had a better chance of getting some sleep with Tommi, whatever else he might have wanted.” Sirkku’s expression turned guilty. “At some point after the sauna, I went upstairs and they were having some drama about Tommi asking Pia to sleep with him and her saying that she didn’t want to. But that’s all I heard.”
“What woke you up in the middle of the night?”
“I had to pee, of course!” Sirkku’s expression turned contemplative. “Well, I don’t know...Maybe I heard some bang, but I’m not sure. I usually have to go the bathroom in the middle of the night if I’ve been drinking that late.” Sirkku glanced at Rane and blushed.
I don’t particularly like girlish flirting—maybe because I’m not any good at it myself. I let Sirkku go with a warning that I might need her again later in the week and asked her to send Timo in to see me.
“Why on earth is she advertising her sister’s romance with Tommi? Does she think it has something to do with what happened?” I asked aloud, speaking half to myself and half to Rane. “In any case, we’ll have to check whether