The Hummingbird by Kati Hiekkapelto Page A

moment.’
‘Why did they split up?’
‘Riikka felt like she needed to move on. She needed a bit of freedom, you know? She was still pretty young when they started dating. Relationships like that rarely last for ever.’
‘Did they argue a lot?’
‘Towards the end, yes. In the spring, they argued pretty badly.’
‘Do you know what they argued about?’
‘Riikka thought Jere was too possessive. It annoyed her.’
‘So it was Riikka who ended the relationship?’
‘Yes.’
‘How did Jere take it?’
‘He wanted to carry on dating, I think. You don’t think he had anything to do with this, do you?’
‘Our job is to find out, not just to think things.’
‘He couldn’t have done something like that, I’ll swear to it.’
‘Was he violent? Towards Riikka or in general?’
‘No. Not like his dad. If you ask me, I think Riikka was exaggerating things a bit. As if she was never at fault. It takes two to tango, you know.’
Anna nodded, as if to indicate that she couldn’t agree more. Her mind was going over the books she’d read on interview technique: use gesture, expression and tone of voice to show that you are with the interviewee, that you’re listening. Empathise with the interviewee’s opinions when appropriate to gain trust.
‘Was Jere’s father violent?’
‘He was a drunk. Round the village rumour has it he used to beat their mother when he’d had a few. I remember Liisa would often turn up for work with a black eye. She’s a cleaner at the primary school we all went to.’
‘Think carefully back to the day Riikka died. Last Sunday. Starting right from the morning, tell me as much as you can remember,’ Anna asked.
Virve again blew her nose and took a sip of water, then began twirling another strand of hair round her finger. Her eyes wandered restlessly across the walls, and every now and then she would sneak a glance at Anna. It appeared that her eyes found it hard to focus on one thing, even for a second. This girl’s in a pretty bad way, thought Anna.
Virve closed her eyes, took a few agitated breaths in and out.
‘So, we woke up around ten. Riikka was sleeping in the living room. We had breakfast and just hung out. We couldn’t be bothered going out because the weather was so awful. I was in my room for the most part, I rent a one-bedroom flat downtown: bedroom, living room and a small kitchen. Then some time in the afternoon she took a shower, started getting herself all dressed up and said she was going into town. She came back around five o’clock, then at around seven she suddenly had another shower and said she was going out for a jog all the way to Selkämaa, and from there to her parents’ place for the night.’
‘Didn’t you wonder what she was up to?’
‘What? Going out for a run?’
‘That too. And what she was doing in the afternoon.’
‘Not really. I wondered why on earth she wanted to go out in the pouring rain. I wouldn’t have bothered. I prefer yoga. I suppose I didn’t think anything of it because she’s been like that all summer. Of course, I knew she had a new bloke on the go, and it pissed me off that she wouldn’t tell me anything about him.’
‘So Riikka had a new boyfriend?’
‘She never said as much, but you could tell.’
‘How?’
‘She was so excited, secretive even. She’d disappear all of a sudden, dressed up to the nines. That’s when she got into all that bloody running – she was trying to lose weight. Often she’d be out all night.’
‘When did this start?’
‘I can’t remember exactly. Maybe around Midsummer or at the very beginning of July. Anyway, it was almost as soon as she’d finished with Jere. If you ask me, I think they started seeing each other before the break-up.’
‘Did you ask her about it?’
‘I never stopped! But she kept saying there was no one new. She didn’t breathe a word of it to me. It was weird. I’ve always … I mean, we always used to share things like that.’
‘Have you any idea why she