No one answered at either, and the machine at the music institute said they would be starting classes again after Epiphany on January 6. After calling Elina’s lawyer to ask about her will—she promised to send me the main points by tomorrow morning—I decided to head back to Nuuksio. I wanted to look at the land and walk in Elina’s footsteps. Maybe that would help me figure out how and why she ended up in the forest. My doctor had ordered me to take it easy for the rest of the day, but even though blood was trickling between my thighs and my head was still spinning a bit, I decided to stay at work. At home my thoughts would just keep circling around the fetus floating inside me, and I couldn’t bear that. It wasn’t as easy to deal with my personal life rationally as it was my work. I called Rosberga Manor to verify that Aira was at home. When I ran into Palo in the hall, I asked him to go with me. Fortunately Ström was gone; otherwise he would’ve forced himself on us just to piss me off.
