Three

During the previous week I had seen Minna much more than I had seen her during the last few months. All that simply because I had more or less stopped visiting customer sites and worked through network conferencing most of the time. Once I had had the fiber optic cable installed, that really wasn’t a problem, at least not for a while. Damn, when it came to the network, I probably had a faster connection than most of my clients. I knew that I had more computing power in the silenced rack in the corner of my garage than some of my clients. In a way, this remote work was well suited to my purposes, since this was a way to show some of them that, even if most of their security issues were internal, there were also ways to access their data and system remotely. Demonstration only with permission, of course.

Of course, this remote work didn’t fully replace personal communication, but now those cases were only a few each week. While doing those few visits, I also stopped at the business complex where I was renting a small office. Even if I didn’t use it that much, the existence of the address gave some extra credibility to my business. Besides being the place to receive and dispose of all the incoming traditional mail. Well, one out of thirty was probably something worth saving - or at least reading. Besides, there was also a nice view over the bay from my office, if nothing else.

My scripts were doing some routine scanning for one customer at the same time I was writing a detailed report with suggested corrective procedures for another customer. Both of them were old customers and my job was to check their systems regularly - or more precisely - irregularly. The time between checks could be anything from days to months. I was a true believer in using a random generator to decide the check interval; even if computer generated random numbers weren’t really random ... Okay, let’s not go there. Most of the time they are random enough.

I stopped writing the report when my camera system informed me that someone had come into our yard. I turned towards the activated monitor and looked at the car that carefully entered our drive and parked next to my car. Since I didn’t recognize the car, I saved my work and locked my laptop while keeping an eye on the monitor. When I saw Sergeant Koskinen step out of the car I didn’t quite know what to think. On the other hand, I was quite sure that she wasn’t here to see Minna, but me.

Minna and Oona beat me to the door. I was able to see, from the other side of the hall, that Minna first checked the monitor from outside the vestibule for the view of the door before resetting the image back to the changing landscape the monitor normally showed. I was a bit proud of the setup: A standard ten-inch touch screen that would show nice changing scenes if someone was nearby - unless someone was outside the door. Then it showed the pictures from the security cameras until next reset.

“Hrm. Good afternoon ... is Mr. Aho at home? He wasn’t at his office...”

“Just who’s asking?”

I could hear that Minna wasn’t too polite when she was asked that. I also noticed that she kept Oona behind her with one hand while the other one was next to the alarm button. Good girl. She obviously remembered what I had taught her.

“I’m sorry, I’m Sergeant Koskinen from the National Bureau of Investigation and I’d like to talk to Mr. Aho.”

“May I see some identification, please.”

I got the feeling that Minna was pissed and I decided to interfere before anything more would happen.

“Minna, she’s just who she says she is, I’ve seen her before.”

I picked up Oona and kissed her on her forehead before turning towards the door.

“Sergeant Koskinen, please come in. Or are you here to pick me up? Do I need to come out?”

The tone of my voice was light, but not that light. I couldn’t help wondering what made her come here, alone.

“Oh no, I’m not here to get you, but I’d like to have a few words with you - if possible.”

“Of course, please come in, then. Do you want some coffee? I’d like to have a cup myself.”

“Look, there’s no need...”

“If you made the trip here you need to have coffee with me. Or at least watch me have some. Please remember that us nerds need caffeine in order to keep on moving.”

“In that case, I can have a cup.”

I let Oona down and ran around the table a few times, threatening to tickle her before stopping to put the coffee on. Minna took Oona with her, but not before giving a long look at Sergeant Koskinen. I turned the coffeemaker on and picked a sack of buns from the freezer before getting out some mugs and plates. All that time Sergeant - Miss Koskinen - was looking around and following me.

“You never told me that there’s someone living with you and your daughter here.”

“Because there isn’t. Minna is studying to become a children’s teacher and she works for me and takes care of Oona. She spends a night only if I’m away on a trip or if I come back so late that it’s not practical for her to drive home. On those nights, she sleeps in her own room next to Oona’s.”

“I’m sorry, I got a wrong impression, then.”

I waved my hand. “No need to apologize to me, apologize to her if you think that it’s necessary. Because my working hours can be a bit erratic, this is easier than having Oona in traditional daycare. Besides, Oona adores her and Minna knows that I’m married.”

Sergeant Koskinen opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but then she closed it as though she’d had second thoughts. I decided not to care.

“So, Sergeant - or should I call you Miss Koskinen, here? What brings you here - if you didn’t come to take me in?”

I could almost feel her eyes evaluating me for a moment.

“Since this is not really an official visit, Miss Koskinen is fine - for now.”

“Okay, you can call me Mikael, if you want to.”

“I’d rather not, Mr. Aho.”

“Oh, I’m hurt. For once I have a female visitor and the she wants to call me Mr. Aho. Okay, I accept my fate. Please, what brings you here?”