Nurse Ellen got up from her chair, and Irene followed her. As they left, Irene shot a glance back at her boss, who looked very ill-tempered. Maybe he was up to something after all.
The nurse began to pick out the supplies she’d need. Sterile saline, new bandages, skin-friendly adhesive, and tweezers. She chatted as she assembled everything on a trolley.
“Things are quiet today. Dr. Bunzler has gone to his cabin in Salen with his children and grandchildren. Konrad Henriksson, our anesthesiologist, has also gone on winter break. So it’s just Sverker Lowander in surgery, and he’s only doing minor operations using local anesthesia in the polyclinic. So there’s not a lot going on.” Nurse Ellen stopped in the middle of the flow of words. Her voice filled with worry. “Is there any news about Linda?”
“No. Sorry. No trace yet.”
“The whole thing is unbelievable. First Marianne is murdered, and then Linda disappears.”
“It’s strange, all right. Did you read yesterday’s newspaper? The woman who claimed to see Nurse Tekla?”
Nurse Ellen began to carefully remove the bandages from Irene’s face. It still hurt. “Yes. Who would say a thing like that?”
“There seems to be a homeless woman hanging around. Do you know anything about a homeless woman on the property?”
She paused to think about what Irene had said. “A homeless woman? There can’t be too many of those. No, I haven’t heard anything. What does she look like?”
“Short and thin. Wearing a pink knit cap and a man’s coat.”
“She could be the one I saw at Burnsite.”
“Burnsite?”
“That’s what we call it around here. Kind of a joke. There used to be a huge doctor’s mansion close to the hospital. It burned down eleven years ago, and the grounds were made into a parking lot for the employees.”
“I see. No one wanted to rebuild instead?”
Nurse Ellen stopped cleaning Irene’s face for a moment and bit her lower lip. For the first time in their conversation, Irene had the feeling that Nurse Ellen was deciding whether or not to tell the truth. Finally she said, “Mrs. Lowander went nuts and said that Carina had set the place on fire.”
“Isn’t Carina Mrs. Lowander?”
“She’s Mrs. Lowander Number Two. Barbro was Sverker’s first wife. He and Barbro moved into the mansion one year after old Dr. Lowander died. They were barely settled in the place when Dr. Lowander filed for a divorce. Barbro was totally devastated.”
“Do they have any children?”
“Yes, John and Julia. John lives in the States, and Julia’s there this year as an exchange student.”
“So Barbro stayed in the mansion by herself?”
“No, she left, and Sverker lived there alone.”
“Why would Carina set fire to the place if she planned to live there with Sverker?”
“That’s just it. She didn’t want to live in an old mansion. According to Barbro.”
“So she decided to burn the place down? That sounds far-fetched.”
“Yes, everyone else thought so, too. Barbro was unbalanced at the time, so nobody paid much attention to what she said.”
“So the house burned to the ground?”
“Yes. Oh, people managed to save a few things, but Carina refused to have them in the new place, so Sverker put them in the attic here.”
“Are they still here?”
“Most likely. I saw the suitcases they were in when I went to get the Advent lights last year. That part of the old attic was never renovated. It’s just used for storage.”
“Was that where Nurse Tekla hanged herself?”
“Yes.”
Irene decided to change the subject and go back to Mama Bird.
“You said that you might have seen the homeless woman near Burnsite?”
Ellen Karlsson relaxed again. “Yes, about two weeks ago. It was around six in the morning. I’d gotten here extra early. I still had things to finish from the night before. I just caught a glimpse of her underneath a streetlight. Then she disappeared into the park.”
“You never saw her again?”
“No.” The nurse cocked her head and inspected Irene’s cleaned wounds. “It’s healing nicely. You will still need one bandage, but the rest can be covered with surgical tape. You’re keeping up with your penicillin, I trust?”
Irene nodded obediently. “Did you know Dr. Lowander’s first wife, Barbro?”
“Oh, yes. She was a medical secretary here at the hospital. After the divorce, though, she took a new job at Sahlgren Hospital to avoid Carina. You see, Carina also had a job here.”
“What did she do?”
“Physical therapist. Sverker and Carina met here.”
“But Carina doesn’t work here anymore either, right?”
“No, she started to work in wellness care instead. She’s leading the fitness program for Corporate Health Services. I’m sure it suits her perfectly. She can hang out with people she likes.”
There was a sharp tone in that last comment, but just as Irene was about to follow up on it, someone knocked on the door. Ellen Karlsson didn’t have time to speak before the door flew open and Anna-Karin stuck in her head.
“Hi, I just got a call. The other night nurse has the flu, and Siv Persson is still out. So what do we do now?”
Nurse Ellen’s soft, friendly face suddenly sagged. Her exhaustion was audible in her voice. “Oh, dear Lord. I have no idea. I’m almost at my limit. I’ve already covered Linda’s shift twice.”
Anna-Karin thought quickly. “I’ll call Kallberg Hospital and see if they have anyone in the pool that can be sent over.”
The image of a swimming pool filled with nurses flashed through Irene’s mind. Along the edge a desperate group of personnel administrators and exhausted hospital employees were trying to fish for people. Nurse Ellen’s stern voice snapped Irene back to reality.
“Please excuse me, Irene, I have to run. You can take the tape off on Sunday. Bye, now.”
The next moment Irene was left alone in the tiny examination room. She got up from the table she’d been sitting on and walked over to the window, which looked out on the park. Right beneath her was the lilac arbor and the garden shed. Although the leaves were gone, it was still hard to see its tarpapered roof. Mama Bird’s nest was well hidden. Irene looked past the park to the heavily visited cluster of evergreen trees. Beyond them she could see a three-story apartment building. She could see a car or two passing by on the road below. The traffic crossed the stream via a narrow bridge, on the other side of which she could make out a streetcar stop. This was probably the route Mama Bird used to get here in the evenings. She came by streetcar from town, got off at the stop, made her way over the bridge and through the park to her nest.
Maybe they ought to keep watch by the shed and try to wait for her? If they couldn’t find her today, this would be a last resort. Still, it would cost time and resources, and it looked as if the woman had other hideouts as well. What if she didn’t show up several nights in a row? They’d have to check in with the superintendent if they couldn’t find her.
IRENE FOUND TOMMY PERSSON in a secretary’s room by the reception desk. He was talking on the telephone, the notebook page in front of him scribbled full.
“By lot? And then how do they find out about it?” He listened to the voice on the other end of the line, rolling his eyes when he spotted Irene. “I see. And what if they have no address? … You can’t? You can’t do anything about it? … I see. Thanks so much.”
Tommy slammed down the receiver and sighed dejectedly. “This is crazy. There are human beings in our society who officially do not exist. They’ve been administrated out of existence.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been calling around to our welfare offices and asking them if they know Mama Bird. They’re helpful at
