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 Peterzén’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. Löwander. 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 Bünzler 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.… Kärralundsgatan. 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.
Chapter 5
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.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Berg—”
“Miss. Miss Berg.”
“Excuse me. Miss Berg. We’ve received a call at the station about a cat howling incessantly in the apartment next door.”
The door opened, and Irene could get a better view of the apartment’s inhabitant. There wasn’t much to see. The elderly lady was less than five feet tall. Her scanty white hair was pulled together at the back into what looked like a rat’s tail. She was bent and so thin that she seemed almost transparent. Her frail hand with its blue veins quivered on the door handle, a movement that traveled through her entire body.
“It wasn’t me that called. But I’ve certainly heard that cat. It’s been going on since early this morning. Doesn’t bother me, though. I hardly ever sleep these days.”
The elderly woman’s voice was surprisingly steady and clear, but she seemed barely able to stand. Irene felt she had to hurry her questions. “What about its owner? Have you seen or heard her?”
“No. Miss Svensson is a nurse at Löwander Hospital, and I never know what her hours are,” the old lady said.
“I see. When was she home last?”
The wrinkles on the small face puckered in thought. Then she smiled, such a large smile that her dentures slipped.
“Last night.” Miss Berg paused for a minute to suck her teeth back into place. “She was home late last night. She always plays her music too loud. I’ve argued with them. The young man has just moved out, but I used to argue with him, too. We have a rule. After ten they’re supposed to turn down the music. They usually keep to the agreement.”
“Did Linda do that last night?”
“Yes, two minutes past ten, she turned the music down. Then she turned it off and left.”
“When was that?”
“About eleven-thirty.”
Irene felt worry harden in her chest, but she worked to hide it so she wouldn’t upset the old woman. “Does Linda usually go out so late?”
“Sometimes she goes out with Belker.”
“Who’s Belker?”
“The cat.”
Of course the cat.
“She takes him out in a little harness,” Miss Berg explained.
“Did she return very late last night?”
“Come to think of it, I didn’t hear her come home at all. The first thing she does when she comes through the door is to turn on the music, no matter what time it is. Sometimes the TV, too. At the same time.” Miss Berg snorted to emphasize her opinion about this noise pollution.
Irene thought about her own fourteen-year-old twin girls. She said nothing at all.
The old woman continued. “I haven’t heard any more music or anything else coming from there since she went out last night. And I didn’t hear her arrive home. I usually do.”