“My appearance interferes with my work as a detective. If I can get them all done at once, I won’t have so much downtime from work, and I have a baby to take care of. I know you can get it done if you call in favors. I’m asking you for a favor.”
Kate still had trouble believing that medical care is essentially free here. Brain surgery, all the attendant tests and the hospital stay would cost me nothing. The police have private insurance, so I get preferential care. I forget, maybe I pay a fifty-euro-a-year deductible. Nothing more. For an uninsured citizen using the public health-care system, a hospital stay costs fifteen euros a day. A doctor’s visit about the same. Specialists cost nothing extra. Tests are cheap or free. Medicine can be expensive, but most people can easily afford to be sick here.
“Well, the scar removal could be called a procedure as much as a surgery. We can have your knee assessed, and if your tumor removal goes well, it’s possible to do them both in a short time frame. “I’ll make some calls and get back to you,” he said.
I rang off. Everyone gawked at me, too shocked to question my decision, even Kate.
Sweetness changed Charlie Parker for Charlie Christian and sat down again. I issued my edicts. Milo was in charge. There would be no robberies, heists, B&Es, or any such activity while I was away. Robberies made enemies, they might cause problems. Milo would commit no acts of violence, because he enjoys them. If violence was necessary, it would fall under Sweetness’s domain, because he doesn’t enjoy it. Also, Milo was famous, Sweetness was unknown. He would be our front man, the face of the team, if we needed one. I suspect Sweetness has sociopath tendencies, doesn’t care if he hurts people or not. Milo got a carrot on a stick. He was to teach Sweetness computer skills. In return, he would slowly get to take more part in the exciting, meaning violent, aspects of the job if they were required. I sensed resentment between Milo and Sweetness. Neither liked the arrangement, but they nodded agreement.
“That includes your hobby,” I said to Milo. “No B&Es for voyeurism. I don’t want you to get in any kind of trouble.”
Milo’s hobby is breaking into people’s houses for fun. He doesn’t steal. Just looks around, prowls, goes through their things. He told me he just enjoys seeing how people live, what kinds of secrets they’re hiding. It’s some kind of fetish. His face went red and he glanced over his shoulder to check Kate’s reaction. She pretended as though she heard nothing.
“You’re not to skim or steal,” I said. “You don’t have to. Both of you get five percent of the take. You’ll continue to get it as long as you don’t flash it around.”
I told them that while I was out of action and recovering, Milo was to get us outfitted with everything we needed to cut the legs out from under the criminals of Helsinki.
“Go heavy on surveillance gear,” I said. “We’re not going to war with the criminals of Helsinki, we’re going to steal them broke and put them out of business.”
“I know what we need,” Milo said. “It’s going to cost a fuckload of money.”
“Then spend the fuckload of money. We have plenty.” I continued, “I don’t trust the people we work for. Sweetness, I want you to surveil Jyri, the national chief of police, the interior minister, and also the leadership of Kokoomus”—the conservative party to which they belong—“and whatever other politicos you find they associate with. Just spot tail them at random. See what turns up.”
I had an idea of who was crooked from my conversations with Jyri and bits and pieces of info I picked up during the Filippov investigation. Sweetness isn’t built for surveillance. He stands out from a mile away. “Get a camera with a long telescopic lens,” I said, “and don’t let them see you under any circumstances.”
Milo said, “I’ll get you a shotgun mike and rig so you can record their conversations.”
“And, Milo,” I said, “get us about ten safe-deposit boxes in different cities and banks. Kate,” I asked, “would you go with him and co-sign so we have access?”