The technical examination of the body is completed. It becomes evident that the victim was killed on the construction site of the Palace. The body was found at 21.45 and had been dead for 2-2,5 hours only, which places the time of death between 19.15-19.45. The victim was shot with a 9-mm handgun at close range, three shots, one piercing the heart and causing immediate death.

 

There are no signs of a struggle. There have been lots of people in the Cathedral Square at about 19.00 o’clock in connection with the fireworks on the occasion of March 11^th, and there are some signs of other people having been on the site, but since it is a construction site, this is hardly a surprise. It is impossible to get any significant technical evidence from the crime scene. Also, the murder weapon is missing.

 

In Vilnius, the press frantically want to interview Paulius Račkaitis, “the Duke”. He refuses all interviews, referring to his jaw injury and the terrible tragedy in the family. Then Paulius releases a short press release, which is a shock: he will quit basketball for good, effective immediately, because of the shock of the death of his brother.

 

The brother is to be buried in Palanga. With nothing better to do, Pocienė travels to the funeral. She is allowed to attend, and afterwards Juozas Račkaitis invites her reluctantly to his house, as she would like to talk with them. Both Juozas and Paulius are quite reticent though. She learns from Juozas and Paulius, however, that they have decided to leave Lithuania and settle in Spain, in order to put the harsh incidents behind them. They will leave in a week. Pocienė also sees Juozas’ collection of WW II handguns. Juozas’ father was a resistance fighter, killed by the Soviets in 1951.

 

Janutėnas is leaving Oslo for Vilnius, when he gets a call from a colleague in Helsinki. The police in Helsinki, following the Interpol warrant, have taken into custody Vilma Gedvilaitė, as she came into Helsinki from Stockholm and was passing passport control. Janutėnas rebooks and flies to Helsinki. He sees her at the main police station in Helsinki, and the Finnish police agree to turn her over to Janutėnas.

 

At that point the Lithuanian police refuses to send any more travel money to Janutėnas, so he has to book a ferry to Tallinn for the two of them and take a bus to Vilnius.

 

During the long bus ride they have time to talk. Gedvilaitė is psychologically unstable. She tells her whole life story, and the tragic culmination in the relationship with Paulius Račkaitis, who had made her have an abortion. She says that she had no knowledge of Saulius, but would actually like to meet him. Janutėnas asks, why she decided to go to Finland to work. Vilma also tells him she has spent all this time in the Nordic countries, working in different places, trying to put the past behind her, and hasn’t visited Lithuania during this time.

 

There is no need to keep Gedvilaitė in custody, so she is released after questioning in Vilnius. But Pocienė and Janutėnas agree that they have to keep a close eye on both Vilma and Kęstas.

 

(To be continued on October 24)