Snow Woman Read Online Free Page B

remember her and my visit to the Rosberga Institute a few weeks ago. I’d heard nothing more about Johanna’s case, and with all the rush around the holidays, I’d forgotten my promise to see if I knew any police in the district where she lived.
    Aira’s voice sounded strangely hesitant when Dispatch connected the call. “I don’t really know whether this is the sort of thing to bother the police about, Maria, bu t . . . Elina is missing.”
    “Missing? What do you mean?”
    “No one’s seen her since last night. It doesn’t look like she slept in her bed, and we can’t find her nightgown or bathrobe anywhere. And the clothes she laid out for today are still in her room. It’s as if she went somewhere in her nightgown.”
    “When did you last see her?”
    “Last night around ten o’clock. She’d just come in from an evening walk and was going to her room. We’ve had a small group of women here celebrating Christmas. Four in addition to me and Elina. No one remembers seeing her after that.”
    “And she didn’t leave any kind of message?”
    “No.”
    Was that misgiving in Aira’s voice when she replied?
    “Is there any place Elina could have gone? Who are her closest friends?”
    “I called Joona right awa y . . . Joona Kirstilä. He’s Elina’s boyfriend. But Elina wasn’t there.”
    “You mean the poet Joona Kirstilä?” I asked curiously. Elina was in the press relatively often, and Kirstilä was well known, but I’d never heard any rumors of a romantic relationship.
    “Yes, that’s him. They’ve been seeing each other for a couple of years. Elina spends the night at Joona’s now and then, so I thought maybe she was there.”
    “Is there any particular reason to be concerned about Elina’s disappearance? Did anything happen over Christmas, maybe an argument? Who else is there with you at the house?”
    “You met Johanna Säntti and Milla Marttila when you came. They’ve basically lived here since that course at the beginning of December. Tarja Kivimäki is an old friend of Elina’s; she also spent Christmas here. And Niina Kuusinen arrived on Christmas Day. She’s a therapy patient who attended Elina’s courses too.”
    I was shocked to hear Milla was still at the manor, remembering how much she had seemed to dislike being there. And Johann a . . . Wasn’t she able to see her children even at Christmas?
    I didn’t want to think about Johanna, so I continued my questioning. “Was Elina in the habit of disappearing without prior warning?”
    “No! This is very strange. If you could—”
    “She hasn’t been missing for twenty-four hours,” I interrupted gently, “and since she’s an adult, the police won’t initiate a search yet. Does Elina have any friends or relatives she might have gone to see?”
    Aira replied in the negative once again. She didn’t seem to want to end the call. People disappeared with no explanation all the time, and they usually turned up in one piece. But I didn’t think saying so would comfort Aira. Besides, Elina Rosberg’s sudden disappearance sounded strange to me too.
    “Aira, if you haven’t heard anything from Elina by tomorrow morning, call me again,” I finally said. Addressing a woman I barely knew and who was forty years my senior by her first name felt strange, but she had called me by my first name too. I guess that’s how they did things at the Rosberga Institute. “And even if she does come back, please give me a call.” Although I knew I shouldn’t, I gave Aira my home number. I tried to rationalize that I was just curious, but I knew that was a lie. I was worried.
    After hanging up, I went back to typing my report. Before leaving work, I called and asked Antti to wax my skis. It had been snowing heavily all day, and the fields near the house were covered with a thick layer of white. Now that the sky was clearing and everything was freezing up, the conditions were good for skiing. One of the benefits of our temporary