Nights of Awe

Nights of Awe by Harri Nykänen Read Free Book Online

Book: Nights of Awe by Harri Nykänen Read Free Book Online
Authors: Harri Nykänen
Mercedes, a newish Volvo hatchback and a relatively old 300-series BMW. At the edge of the property, right under a birch tree, stood a boxy white RV.
    Over the door to the shop, it read A. Hamid, Auto Body & Paint. The door was locked, but the crossbar that should have been padlocked was dangling.
    Simolin groped for his weapon. I instinctively did the same; my gun was right where it was supposed to be.
    “Think we should load?” Simolin asked.
    I nodded and pulled a round into the chamber, set the safety, and put my gun back into its holster. Simolin held on to his, but concealed his hand under the edge of his coat.
    I knocked on the metal-plated door and listened. There was no response. I rattled it a little, but that didn’t produce any results either.
    “Take a look in the side window,” I ordered Simolin. He obeyed, returning a second later.
    “Don’t see anyone, but the lights are on.”
    I beat on the door more heavily. It still didn’t open.
    “Why don’t I get some tools from the car?” Simolin suggested.
    “Do it.”
    Simolin bounded off. When he returned, he was carrying a crowbar and a one-pound mallet.
    “Go for it.”
    Simolin pounded the crowbar in between the door and the jamb, right next to the lock. When it had sunk in deep enough, he lowered the mallet to the ground and twisted the crowbar. The door popped open on the first try.
    The heavy, gentle scent of motor oil wafted out. Right across from the door there was a car with the hood up. A burning work lamp hung over the engine block. The distributor cap was off and the plug wires were unattached. Problem with the ignition, I figured.
    The space was approximately fifteen by thirty feet. Another car was against the long wall. It had been driven onto the lift and raised a couple of yards off the ground. At the far end of the space, there was a little office around thirty square feet with big windows. Across from it was a much larger walled-off space, with double doors big enough for a car. An ad for car paint hung on the wall, next to a shelf full of paint cans. From that and the paint splatters, it was easy to deduce that cars were painted behind the double doors.
    I peeked into the office. I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, unless you count the fact that there wasn’t a single girlie calendar on the wall. Customer appointments had been marked in a desk calendar; it looked like A. Hamid had his hands full.
    “Not a living soul,” Simolin said.
    I stopped in front of the double doors and sniffed the pungent fumes coming from the painting chamber. Then I opened them.
     
    A young man in overalls was leaning in a sitting position against a wall covered in splashes of paint. Another, older man dressed in slacks and a checked jacket was sprawled in a recliner sitting in the middle of the floor, both hands tied to the arms of the chair. There were bruises on his face and two bullet holes at his right temple. A fire-engine-red air compressor stood next to the chair, its hose dangling in his lap.
    Simolin peered over my shoulder and saw the same thing I did. He said, almost enthusiastically:
    “That’s four bodies already. Looks like we got the biggest case of the year.”
    As I looked at the bodies, the Rabbi’s words came to mind: Yamim Noraim.
    Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe.
    If Rabbi Liebstein was right and the world was falling to pieces, an unpleasant role had been reserved for me. It was my job to gather up all of the gears that were flying off and repair the clock so it would work again.

5
     
    A good thirty minutes later, the crime scene was buzzing. The area was marked off, the medical van had come and gone, and an ambulance had been ordered for the bodies. The same CSIs who had been at Linnunlaulu, Manner and Siimes, were opening their aluminium cases.
    I had already called Huovinen and apprised him of the situation.
    “Stay there and direct the investigation; I’ll send over as many people as I can tear away. Someone’s

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