“Are there any other doctors at this hospital, or is Lowander the only one?”
Nurse Ellen had stood up to unlock the medicine cabinet. She drew some fluid into a syringe and tapped it with her fingernail to clear the air bubbles. “We have an internist at the polyclinic who serves also as a consultant on more complicated surgery,” she answered. Then there’s a consulting X-ray specialist as well as a full-time anesthesiologist. You know, the doctor who puts you under before an operation. His name is Konrad Henriksson. And of course we have Dr. Bunzler, who is our plastic surgeon. He’s very good.”
“Isn’t Dr. Lowander a plastic surgeon?”
Nurse Ellen looked at the superintendent with her bright brown eyes. Irene noticed that her boss began to blush.
“No, he’s a general surgeon. But since there is less call for general surgery, he’s started to do some minor plastic procedures as well.” Nurse Ellen held the needle up to the light to inspect for any remaining air bubbles.
Masking a grin, Irene followed up, “So he doesn’t do rhinoplasty?”
Nurse Ellen glanced at Irene. She said with a slight smile, “No. If you’ll excuse me?”
The nurse swept out of the room brandishing the syringe. The chief inspector frowned. “What the hell? Rhino what?”
“Rhinoplasty,” Irene said.
“What’s that?”
“Something that should not be done on a day like this,” recited Irene in a singsong voice. “According to Anna-Karin at the ICU.”
Andersson took a deep breath. “And weren’t you supposed to be there already?”
Irene gave a flip salute. “Aye-aye! But there’s one more thing first.”
She went to the bookshelf mounted on brackets above the desk. She’d seen the title Medical Terminology in faded gold letters on a green linen spine. She pulled down the book and searched under rh. “Aha! Rhinoplasty is a nose job!” She shut the book with a bang, turned on her heel, and marched through the office door.
Sighing, the superintendent looked at his watch, which showed 2:47. Nurse Linda was long overdue.
THE ICU WAS chaotic. Nurse Anna-Karin was arguing with someone on the phone. “If there’s no more O- positive, you have to send O-negative! The patient is hemorrhaging! Last hemo was eighty-three!”
Her cheeks were bright red from urgency. Her short hair stuck out in all directions. The fact that she kept running her fingers through it wasn’t helping.
“All right, then! Send it by taxi!”
The receiver banged down. Irene could hear Anna-Karin’s quick breaths. The nurse lifted her head and spied Irene. She jerked up her palm and said, “Stop! We don’t have time for questions! The rhino’s turned into an emergency!”
Irene glanced at the same bed where Nils Peterzen’s body had rested a short time before. A man in green scrubs and a middle-aged nurse were bent over the patient who now occupied the bed. Irene assumed that the man in scrubs was a doctor, but he wasn’t Dr. Lowander. Irene walked to Anna-Karin and said in a low voice, “Linda hasn’t come in for her evening shift. Do you know where she might be?”
It took a second for Anna-Karin to realize the implication of the inspector’s words. She showed real surprise. “She’s not here?”
“No. And there’s no answer at her place.”
The nurse’s surprise turned to worry. “That’s strange! Linda’s never late. Maybe she had a bike accident? Maybe she’s hurt?”
“We don’t know, but we’ll have to find out. Do you know where we can find her partner?”
Anne-Karin stiffened and pressed her lips together. What a perfect witness, Irene thought. This girl can’t hide anything. Since it looked like she wasn’t going to answer, Irene pressed on more firmly. “It would save time if you tell us now. We’ll find out anyway. And after what happened here last night, it looks strange that you’re not helping us.”
The nurse shrugged. “They broke up. He moved out last Saturday.”
“They separated?”
“Yep.”
Irene felt a real sense of worry regarding the nurse’s whereabouts. It had hardly been twenty-four hours since her colleague had been murdered.
“What’s the guy’s name, and where does he live now?”
“Pontus … Pontus Olofsson. I have no idea where he’s living now. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Linda much since they broke up.”
“Anna-Karin! More cyclosporine! Same dose!”
The doctor’s command cut their conversation short. Anna-Karin hurried to the medicine cabinet. At the same moment, the older nurse looked up from the bed and ordered, Call surgery and have them send Bunzler down here at once!
Now was not the time to question Anna-Karin further, Irene realized. She’d have to come back later.
OUT ON THE floor, there was palpable worry in the air. Nurse Ellen spoke for everyone: “I wouldn’t normally be worried, but after last night … and Linda’s never late to work. There must be some explanation for all this!”
She’s right, Irene thought. We have to find Linda Svensson. “Where does Linda live?” she asked.
“Let me think.… Karralundsgatan. The building number is in the department address book.”
The nurse pulled open the top drawer of the desk. She shuffled through a few papers until she found a black address book, paged through it, and then wrote down an address on a slip of paper. “Are you going right over? I mean, maybe she’s sick or something.”
Irene nodded.
Superintendent Andersson cleared his throat. “Yes, you go check on her. I’ll remain here in case she shows up. And all emergency rooms should be contacted.” He looked at the nurse.
Nurse Ellen smiled gently at the superintendent. “Then I hope that you can make those calls yourself. I have a mountain of extra paperwork.”
Before Andersson had a chance to reply, Nurse Ellen whisked out the door. Irene grinned slyly as she, too, waved good-bye and headed off.
IRENE HEARD THE doorbell echo through the apartment, but no one came to the door. She hadn’t expected that anyone would. She bent down and looked through the mail slot. Her eyes met another pair of eyes, turquoise blue and wide open. She heard a sharp intake of breath and jumped back as the lid of the mail slot banged shut.
Meeeow … hiss, came from behind the closed door.
Irene giggled quietly. She looked around to make sure that no one on the floor had witnessed her smooth move. The public wouldn’t understand a police officer having a heart attack during a confrontation with a Siamese cat.
But the cat gave her an idea. There were two more doors on the ground floor of the apartment building. No one answered when she rang the bell on the door to the right. Undeterred, Irene rang the bell to the door on the left. The nameplate on it said R. BERG. Irene could hear a rustling sound on the other side before the brittle voice of an old woman called, “Who is it?”
Irene did her best to sound friendly. “I’m Inspector Irene Huss from the police.” She held her ID to the door’s peephole. Apparently the elderly lady inside was convinced, because Irene heard the rattling sound of a safety chain being pulled back and then the thud of a dead bolt. The door opened an inch. Irene leaned forward and tried to appear harmless.
