The Fire Witness

96

Tuula takes a step toward Elin and holds out a bloody hand. Her face is pale and her eyebrows are invisible. Her hair is hanging in red wisps around her cheeks.

“Go back inside the room,” Tuula says.

“I have to talk to Daniel.”

“We can go inside together and hide.”

“What’s happened?”

“Go inside the room,” Tuula says, licking her lips.

“Is there something you’d like to show me?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a game. Vicky and Miranda played it last week,” Tuula says. She raises her hands in front of her face.

“I have to go,” Elin says.

“I’ll show you how it’s done,” Tuula whispers.

Elin hears other footsteps in the hallway and catches sight of Daniel carrying a first-aid kit. Lu Chu and Almira are coming from the direction of the kitchen. Tuula runs her fingers through her hair, and they come away coated with fresh blood.

“Tuula, you were supposed to stay in the dining room,” Daniel says. He takes her other hand and leads her away. “We have to wash your wound and see if it needs stitches.”

Elin stays still and waits until her heart calms down. Reaching into her pocket, she fingers the key ring Vicky got from her mother.

A few minutes later, the door to the kitchen opens again. Tuula walks out, trailing her hand along the wooden paneling. Daniel is beside her, saying something in a serious but calm tone. Tuula nods and then goes inside her room and shuts the door. Elin waits until Daniel turns to her before she asks what happened.

“She’s all right. She banged her head on the window a few times until she broke the glass.”

“Has Vicky ever mentioned someone named Dennis?” asks Elin. She keeps her voice low as she gives Daniel the key ring.

He looks at it and turns it over in his hand. He whispers the name Dennis to himself.

“Well,” he says at last. “I think I’ve heard the name, but I… Elin, I’m embarrassed. I feel totally worthless, because-”

“You’re trying-”

“Yes, but I’m not at all sure that Vicky has told me anything that could help the police. She didn’t really tell me all that much, and…”

He stops talking as they hear the sound of footsteps coming up the steps outside and the front door opening. A massive woman in her fifties enters and she’s about to lock the door from the inside when she catches sight of them.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” she says as she heads toward them.

“My name is Daniel Grim and I’m-”

“The girls cannot receive visitors at this time of night,” the woman interrupts him.

“We’re just about to leave,” Daniel says. “We just need to ask Caroline about-”

“You’re not going to ask anyone about anything.”