The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg Page B

there.

Nineteen
    Katia clicked the telephone off and stared at the display as if that could help her. She had lost count of how many times she had rung without Nurse Barbara answering. The manageress had spoken somewhat vaguely about the length of her holiday plans. Katia hadn’t given it too much thought; the last time she had worked at Diamond House she had been able to phone and ask for advice. But now, when she really needed it, she couldn’t get through. Katia sighed and looked out over the lounge. A woman was sitting there sewing a blanket and two elderly men were playing chess. The choir gang had still not returned, and that frightened her. They were a group of friends who made the best of life and they had livened up the others at the home. Now it was quiet, boring even. Katia thought about Brains, who used to do his woodworking when he believednobody could hear him, and about Rake, who sang his navy songs. Even a little neigh from Anna-Greta would have cheered things up. She would never have believed that she could miss them so much. She thought about Rake, who cultivated his plants on the balcony even though he wasn’t allowed to, and Christina, who helped him to water them. Katia had noticed how Christina looked at Rake on the sly and guessed that the old gal fancied him. She was, at any rate, always careful to look nice when she knocked on his door. Unlike Anna-Greta, who only seemed to wear clothes for warmth. If more people were like her, models would have nothing to do and Europe’s fashion houses would go bankrupt.
    Where were the choir gang
? Katia went into the staff room and looked through the papers to see if there were any clues there. Perhaps Nurse Barbara had written a note for her? If the oldies were doing a concert in Strängnäs or Eskilstuna, they should have been back by now. She couldn’t stall any longer; she must act on her own and do something that unfortunately might well cast a long black shadow upon the reputation of Diamond House.
    Katia sat down in front of the telephone but couldn’t bring herself to ring the police straight away. Instead, she called the various parishes in the district and asked if the five pensioners had visited them. Perhaps the welfare officer knew of a choir concert that was going to be given by a group of elderly singers. She didn’t? Oh, what a pity.
    Two hours later, Katia gave up. Nobody knew anything. Had Martha and the others merely invented their concerts? Now Katia was really anxious and realized that she should have sounded the alarm sooner. Her hand shook as she liftedthe receiver of the phone. She tried to calm herself and while she listened to the ring tone reflected that five was better than one. After all, they could help each other, couldn’t they, if something was wrong?
    ‘Police. Can we help you?’
    Katia inhaled deeply and tried to say in as roundabout a way as possible that five elderly people had disappeared from the retirement home.
    When Martha and Brains returned from their museum visit, they rested for quite a long time. Towards the end of the evening they ordered champagne and gathered everyone together for dinner. They had been inspired, and now that they had slept a little they were in a really good mood. They might even be considered rather giggly. When they were ordering food, Brains had ticked the special wedding menu, with three courses including wedding cake, by mistake. Martha had caught sight of the order in time and changed it to an ordinary luxury menu. Then she blushed bright red and thought about Freud. Perhaps Brains had subconsciously done what he longed for deep inside? She glanced in his direction and saw that he was looking at her.
    ‘I’ve been downstairs and have read the newspapers in the library,’ Brains said after having poured out a glass of champagne for each of them. He put the bottle down. ‘There was no mention of us, but I caught sight of some policemen. They weren’t in uniform, but it was