One

“Would you mind telling me why am I needed here? Or am I accused of something I have no idea of?”

I was sure that the tone of my voice was light and even if I wasn’t smiling, I was sure that there wasn’t a scowl on my face, either. However, nothing changed on the face of the short-haired female police investigator across the table. She was about my age, in her thirties, and she might have been considered pretty if the look on her face hadn’t been so grim. I sighed.

“Look, I needed to arrange daycare for my daughter because of this appointment. Since I’m self-employed, all this counts against my income and the well-being of my daughter and myself - so, could you get to the point as soon as possible, please.” It was quite easy to tell that she didn’t like being challenged. Being a woman, and already a sergeant, probably meant that she was considered a tough one. Too bad, I wasn’t here as a suspect but just being questioned; giving information or being a witness. On the other hand, that put me in a weaker position since if I had been a suspect there would not have been any reason to stay truthful. As a witness I wasn’t allowed to lie.

“Do you mind if I record this hearing, Mr. Aho?”

“Not at all. As long as I’m allowed to do it myself, too.”

Now the woman looked really pissed.

“I don’t understand why you’d need to do that, Mr. Aho.”

I smiled at her as sweetly as I could.

“Simple, according to the law I’m allowed to record all the conversations I’m involved in. If I record it myself there’s no need for you to deliver me a copy of this discussion.”

“Why should you have a copy of this discussion?”

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

“As you certainly already know, I’m self-employed and have my own business. I record all my calls and business discussions unless otherwise agreed. That habit has saved me quite a lot of money during the years, and even my ass sometimes.”

“For someone running his own business, you were quite a difficult person to get in contact with.”

“I really cannot see any way of getting any profit out of this, so my business has a priority. As simple as that.”

I smiled at her and took my phone and put it on the table after pressing the record button first.

“Date, March the 6th, 2017, Mikael Aho having a hearing with Sergeant Koskinen. Please, Sergeant Koskinen, ask what you want to know.”

I was sure that she would have liked to sweep my phone to the floor, but she kept her cool and just shot daggers at me from her eyes. I guess that I would not say anything about the digital recorder that I had started before entering the building. You just can’t be too careful nowadays.

The first few minutes and questions were about who I was and where I now lived. Then, without any warning she really got to the point.

“How do you know Mr. Jukka Tamminen?”

“I do not remember seeing anyone with that name.”

“I didn’t ask about seeing him, I asked that how do you know him?”

“Look Sergeant, I know that I’m bound to tell the truth. The truth is that I do not remember seeing anyone with that name. However, there is still a possibility that I know him or that I’ve seen him at some point of my life, without knowing his name.”

“But do you know him or not?”

“I don’t know. It might help if I saw his picture. There’s a group of people I know through other people without knowing their names.”

She snorted, but then she picked up a picture and put it in front of me. I took the picture and looked at man in the picture. He was probably in his forties and he had an almost haunted look in his face. I guess that might be quite normal in pictures taken by the police. The man in the picture looked like a normal family man who suddenly found himself in a bad situation. I shook my head and gave the picture back.

“I’m sorry, I cannot remember seeing him, never.”

“But do you know him?”

I rolled my eyes.

“Mrs. Koskinen, I’m an IT Security Consultant. In my business I’m in contact with several people I haven’t met and will never meet in real life. I don’t even know the full or possible real name of all of them if they want to stay anonymous. So, I cannot say for certain if I know him or if I don’t know him - but I’m quite certain that I have never seen him in real life.”

“It’s Miss, not Mrs.”

“I’m sorry, Sergeant Koskinen.”

I could almost see that that she wanted to say ‘the hell you are’ - and she would have been exactly right. However, I was quite certain that they could not charge me because of that.

“Most likely you haven’t met him through your work on the Internet. Mr. Tamminen is a car driver.”

“Then, if he’s a taxi driver, it’s possible that I’ve been in his taxi without remembering him.”

“I said that he’s a car driver, not a taxi driver. He’s used by several companies as a designated driver for their special occasions.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“Then I’m certain that I have not met him at work, since I’ve never been in a situation in which I would have been offered a ride by some designated driver. Never. I’m quite used to paying the taxi trip by myself.”

“Then why is he saying that you framed him for the crime he’s accused of?”

“Framed him? For what crime? A man I’ve never seen? What would be the point?”

She kept on looking at me but I didn’t move my eyes away from her.

“Mr. Aho, do you know that liars quite often repeat the questions asked them?”

I groaned and rolled my eyes.