The Fire Witness

99

Joona takes the plastic bag out of his pocket and dumps the key ring on the table in front of Flora.

“This belongs to the murder suspect,” he says.

Flora looks at it without picking it up.

“Dennis?” she asks.

“We don’t know who Dennis is, but perhaps… perhaps you can feel something from it,” Joona says.

“Maybe, but this is my job.” She smiles, embarrassed, and hides her smile with her hand.

“Of course,” he says. “How much?”

She looks down at the table as she tells him the price for a half-hour sitting. Joona opens his wallet and pays for one hour. Flora thanks him and gets her purse. Then she turns off the ceiling lamp. There’s still some light outside, but inside the kitchen it’s fairly dark. Flora takes out a tea light and a silk cloth with golden edges. She lights the candle and places it in front of Joona. Then she places the cloth over the key ring.

Joona watches her without presuppositions.

Flora places her left hand beneath the cloth. She sits still and then her body begins to shake. She takes a deep breath. “Dennis, Dennis,” she mutters.

She touches the metal tag beneath the black cloth. They can hear voices from the neighbor’s television through the walls. Suddenly a car alarm goes off on the street below.

“I’m getting strange pictures. Nothing I can make out yet.”

“Keep going,” Joona says.

Flora’s light, curly hair touches her cheeks. Her skin turns bright red and her eyes dart under her eyelids.

“There’s power in this object. There’s loneliness and rage. I feel like I’m burning when I touch it,” she whispers. She pulls the key ring from beneath the cloth and holds it in her palm. She opens her eyes to stare at it. “Miranda tells me there’s a thread of death. They were both in love with Dennis. I can feel jealousy burning in the medallion.”

Flora falls silent, then she mumbles that the contact has been broken and pushes the key ring at Joona.

Joona gets up. He was wasting his time coming here. He thought that she might know something real for reasons that she did not want to mention. It’s obvious that Flora Hansen is only telling him what she thinks he wants to hear.

“I’m sorry that you feel you have to lie,” Joona says. He takes the key ring from the table.

“May I keep the money?” she asks. “I can’t manage. I collect bottles and newspapers from the subway and from all the garbage cans…”

Joona stuffs the key ring back into his pocket. Flora picks up a piece of paper and follows him into the hallway.

“I really did see a ghost,” she says. “I’ve drawn a picture of her.”

She shows Joona a childish drawing of a girl and a heart. She practically holds it in front of his face. Joona pushes her hand away. She drops the paper and it sails to the floor. Joona steps over it, opens the door, and leaves.