Pirjo's Spade

Pirjo's Spade is first discussed as a tool associated with excavating ancient monuments, but Pirjo's plans for Wanda Phinn reveal its more immediate purpose: it is a weapon kept ready to finish an attack. At Gettlinge, where Pirjo hopes to push Wanda down a steep cliff, the spade stands behind the plan as a fallback; later, Pirjo swings its compact blade at Wanda's face. Afterward, Pirjo washes it alongside her boots, trouser legs, and scooter, making the object a material link between the attempted killing, the later assault, and her effort to clean up.

From Excavation Tool to Weapon

On the journey through Öland, Wanda Phinn asks about Pirjo's spade after hearing that Atu Abanshamash Dumuzi prefers areas farther south, where there are more ancient monuments to excavate. The exchange gives the tool an ordinary, practical context. Pirjo's thoughts at Gettlinge expose another use: because the cliff is too far from the scooter for her to push Wanda straight into the deep from the seat, Pirjo considers the site the best available option and plans to use the spade if the fall does not kill her. The implement associated with excavation is thus incorporated into a deliberately prepared attack.

Use Against Wanda Phinn

At Gettlinge, Pirjo pulls Wanda's arm and knocks her hip forcefully into Wanda's lower back, intending to send her down the slope among vegetation, stumps, and large rocks. Pirjo expects Wanda to fall alone; instead, Wanda instinctively grabs Pirjo's waist, and they tumble down together. The fall disrupts Pirjo's plan, but the spade remains part of the threat. In a later encounter, as Wanda turns only at the last moment and jumps aside, Pirjo swings the small, compact spade directly at her face. Wanda sees the attack, and then sees nothing more. The tool's role has shifted from contingency to direct assault.

Cleaning and Narrative Significance

After the killing, Pirjo washes her boots and trouser legs, the spade, and Pirjo’s scooter at the Academy's Stable of Senses. The location is ordinarily used by disciples seeking relief from depressive tendencies and bad karma, and is usually busy with grooming and mucking out the ponies' boxes; at this hour, with everyone meditating in their rooms, Pirjo can clean without disturbance. The spade's appearance in this cleanup makes it more than a weapon in the attack: it is also among the objects Pirjo must wash as she attempts to put the violence behind her. Her effort to regard the killing as insignificant in the grand scheme of things contrasts with her red forearms and pounding heart, while the spade remains a concrete trace of what she has done.