The Fire Witness

107

Joona leaves the cab and joins the SWAT team. They surround the shaggy man, who’s sitting with his back to the wall. He’s crying and seems bewildered.

Joona takes off his bulletproof vest, squats down in front of the man, and says, “I’m looking for a girl and a little boy.”

“Don’t hit me,” mumbles the man.

“Nobody is going to hit you. I need to know if you’ve seen a girl here in this subway car.”

“I didn’t touch her! I just followed her!”

“Was she alone?”

“I don’t know. She locked herself in the cab.”

“Did she have a little boy with her?”

“A boy? Yes, maybe… maybe-”

“Answer the question!” barks the SWAT team leader.

“You followed her here,” Joona says. “What did she do after she got here?”

“She left again,” the homeless man answers. His eyes still show his fright.

“Where did she go? Do you know where she went?”

“That way,” the man says, using his head to make a helpless gesture toward the opening to the tunnel.

“So she headed toward the opening? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

“Maybe not… maybe-”

“Answer the question!” snaps the SWAT team leader.

“But I don’t really know,” the man snivels.

“When was she here?” Joona asks carefully. “Was it today?”

“She left just a minute ago,” he says. “She started screaming and then she took off.”

Joona begins to run down the sidetrack. Behind him, he can hear the SWAT team leader take over the questioning. His voice brusque and hoarse, he demands to know if the man has done anything to the girl or molested her in any way.

Joona runs along the rusted track to its end, up a set of metal stairs, and into a long hall ribbed with pipes running along the ceiling. At one end, there’s a large door, and the damp concrete floor before it shines with the light from outside creeping in. When Joona reaches it, he finds it is broken and is able to push his way through the gap. He’s outside, in the middle of a rough stone crossway that spans more than fifteen or so pairs of train tracks. The tracks gather like a ponytail farther up and then curve smoothly to the side.

He can spot the thin figure of a woman farther down the embankment. She has a dog with her. A subway train starts to thunder and passes him, shaking the ground beneath his feet. Joona sees glimpses of her figure as the windows of the train flash by. He keeps running along the embankment through tall weeds and over broken glass, crushed tins, and used condoms. There’s electric buzzing and a new train approaches from Skärmarbrink. Joona has almost caught up to the thin figure. He jumps over the tracks in front of the train and grabs her thin arm. He pulls her around to face him. She’s surprised and tries to hit him, but he dodges her blow. He loses his grip on her arm, but still has her jacket. She tries to hit him again while she wriggles out of her jacket. She drops her shoulder bag and falls backward onto the gravel.