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the commercial was that Noora is so focused on licking a frozen yogurt bar that she doesn’t notice while Janne skates off with Silja. It was supposed to be funny, and I think we really succeeded.”
    “But Noora didn’t?”
    “Who does that girl think she is?” The anger of the night before flared again, and it took Weissenberg a moment to remember that Noora was dead. “Or ‘did,’ I guess I should have said. I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but Noora could be a real piece of work. Everything had to go just the way she wanted. But I saw through her. She didn’t want the commercial because she would have had to compete with Silja for Janne’s attention. And in reality it was perfectly obvious who Janne liked better! Noora really wasn’t much of a beauty. Her backside was as wide as they come.”
    “Isn’t that a bit cruel?” I knew how much appearances mattered in figure skating, but Weissenberg’s words still felt inappropriate. What had Noora done to make this woman so angry?
    “Cruel? Yes. But it’s also a fact that has to be taken into consideration. It was strange that with that face and body type, Noora made it so far in figure skating. Her legs were far too short and her hips were too wide for singles, which was why she ended up as Janne’s partner.”
    “So Noora was refusing to do the commercial?”
    “She was trying to refuse. But I can’t allow things like that when so much money is at stake! And everything was already arranged, even the shooting schedule. Of course Noora had no concept of how difficult finding sponsors can be. And I don’t want to bother the skaters with it. Let them do their work, let me do mine.”
    Weissenberg’s poodle bounded into the room and started whining. Without a word Weissenberg stood up and disappeared after the animal. Maybe it had needed to be let out. Attempting to banish the distaste I felt for Ulrika Weissenberg, I tried to come up with some sensible questions. Elena Grigorieva had said that Weissenberg left the ice rink long before practice ended. Could Weissenberg have hung around waiting for Noora to pressure her again to do the commercial? Could the killing have occurred in her car?
    “So the others had agreed to the commercial?” I asked when Weissenberg returned, still without any explanation.
    “Of course! Silja and Janne understood the realities. Training camps and trips to competitions aren’t free!”
    “And you weren’t able to settle your disagreement with Noora?”
    Weissenberg shook her head, not a single hair coming loose from her tight bun.
    “What time did you leave the ice rink, and what did you do afterward?”
    “I’d say around six. And I came home. But how is that any of your business? And why are you bothering me in the first place? Why don’t you go and arrest that stalker who’s always bothering Noora’s family? He’s the one who killed Noora!”
    Pihko glanced at me in confusion. Obviously he didn’t know what Weissenberg was talking about. Pihko hadn’t been at the department when Vesku Teräsvuori’s harassment of the Nieminen family had been at its worst, and I’d only just arrived. I’d have to fill him in on the way back.
    “Can anyone confirm when you arrived home?” I asked.
    “No. My husband was at work. What’s going on here? Are you accusing me of Noora’s murder?”
    “I’m not accusing anyone of anything. These questions are simply a routine part of our investigation, and we’ll probably have to go over them again with you sometime later. Thank you for your time, though. And please do make sure you coordinate with Lieutenant Taskinen about that press release.”
    I felt like I might blow up at Weissenberg again if I didn’t get out of that house soon. For some reason I’d thought pregnancy would soften my disposition, but I was still the same hothead I had always been, and I was already getting worried about how my nerves would deal with a screaming baby. The spring had flown by, and I