THE PEA SOUP WAS COMING TO A BOIL ON THE STOVE AND big bubbles surfaced in the large pan. A pleasant aroma spread. Anna-Greta put in some diced carrots and bits of ham, adding thyme to make it a bit spicy. And even a little Cederlunds Punsch followed before she realized what she was doing. Martha leaned over the pan and tasted.
“Um, smells good, but a little more salt and pepper perhaps,” she said and smacked her lips. She put the spoon down and pushed the pan away. Anna-Greta nodded, added some more spices and shook a bit of marjoram over it all. She tasted it.
“Yes, this will be good. And we’ll have crackers to go with it, and cheese, of course. Now all that remains is to set the table for the others.” She put the pan back on the hotplate. Martha opened the cupboard and started to take out the dishes. Anna-Greta watched her with a wide smile. They had been together in the kitchen for more than an hour and it felt as if something new and great was in the offing. When she had put out all the plates and silverware, she sat down to catch her breath.
“We’ve got some great challenges ahead of us, and without you, Anna-Greta, we can’t deal with them,” said Martha. “We must get at the big money, and it’s a case of make or break.”
She rested her head in her hands and asked Anna-Greta to give her an update on their money transfers and everything about Bielke’s business dealings. Then she let Anna-Greta talk away without being interrupted. What was so wonderful about Martha was that she didn’t care about prestige, but was happy to listen to others. In the end, they had sat down together in front of the computer and studied motor yachts for sale to find out what boats like that cost. They had googled cabins, interiors and swimming pools, and seeing all the massive wealth had been something of an eye-opener. The motor yachts moored in Cannes, Antibes and Saint-Tropez were literally floating palaces. But when they tried to trace the owners, they met with difficulty. Almost all the valuable boats were owned by companies. The same applied to their neighbor’s most expensive boat in Saint-Tropez, a six hundred million-kronor yacht with several decks and a helicopter pad. If Anna-Greta hadn’t been so clever at navigating through cyberspace, they would never have traced Bielke’s company, but after a few searches they had discovered that it was called Aurora Yacht Inc. and was registered in Georgetown on the Cayman Islands.
“No wonder he’s never at home in Stockholm. He’s fully occupied,” said Martha pointing at the picture of the luxury yacht. “Heavens above, what a life!”
“If only we could get hold of that boat, then we’d have some proper start-up capital for our Vintage Village or, at any rate, for the restaurant,” Anna-Greta said. “The only question is how. This is going to be our toughest challenge yet.”
“We can get Nils to drive the boat, Rake’s son is a seaman, remember.”
“Yes, what a good idea.”
“Then we must train with yoga and gymnastics so that we’ll have the strength to hold on if the sea is rough,” Martha went on.
Anna-Greta nodded, although not quite as enthusiastically.
“If we steal from a tax evader, then we aren’t hurting anybody, but we can make a lot of people happy,” Martha continued. “Bielke has three luxury motor yachts so one more or less doesn’t make any difference, does it? And since he hasn’t paid tax on them, he won’t find it easy to report the boat as being stolen.”
“The perfect crime again! You’re a genius, Martha,” ex-claimed Anna-Greta and then they laughed loud and long together. Martha saw herself sneaking around in Saint-Tropez and stealing boats while the sun shone and the wind stroked her face. The League of Pensioners would go BIG TIME, very, very BIG TIME!
“Life is a precious gift and every day a glimmering possibility,” she said and she threw her arms out wide in a generous gesture.
“Yes, sure, but we have a little problem,” Anna-Greta cut in. “We must sell the boat otherwise we won’t get the money.”
Martha fetched the bread and put out the last of the silverware on the table.
“But you know what? I’m sure we’ll think of something that’ll work. There is always a buyer. Let’s eat now. One thing at a time. No crime without good food and planning.”
“Exactly, and with a glass of punsch with the soup we’ll probably get Brains and Rake to go along with the idea too,” said Anna-Greta, going to fetch the punsch glasses.
“Mind you, it’ll be difficult with Brains,” Martha sighed. “He’s always on about us getting married.”
“Um yes, tricky that,” said Anna-Greta coming to a halt with the glasses in her hands.
“Yes, the thing is that men always want to have control over you. Like herding cattle into a pen and locking the gate.”
“Why not suggest to Brains that you can get married beside the Mediterranean. Then he’s bound to follow along to Saint-Tropez. Just think what a romantic marriage that would be.”
“But then I must do it for real. No, I can’t deceive him.”
“You can’t have everything, you must make small sacrifices—” said Anna-Greta, before breaking off abruptly and rushing across to the stove. The pea soup was about to boil over and she quickly took the pan off the hotplate. Then she put in a little extra thyme and stirred the peas. “You know what? Bielke doesn’t pay any tax at all and yet he has three boats worth more than one and a half billion kronor. The jewel is moored in Saint-Tropez. That one is just waiting to be stolen. That can be worth a nice wedding? Please Martha . . .”
Now there was silence, a very penetrating silence, and Martha started to walk around the kitchen table over and over again. She didn’t seem at all at ease and Anna-Greta suddenly had a guilty conscience for having put pressure on her. When Martha was rounding the table for about the tenth time, Anna-Greta stood in her way and held her arms out to stop her.
“Martha, dear, it was just an idea.”
“Yes, yes I know. Stealing a motor yacht on the Riviera is of course a good idea, but I’d never get married for the sake of it. Besides, we ought to get our activities up and running here in Sweden first. We can’t just go from robbery to robbery without sharing the proceeds. Our robbery money must benefit others, otherwise we are just simple crooks. So if we start by renting premises instead of buying, then we can give money away immediately. And if we fetch the drainpipe money from the Grand Hotel too, then that will suffice to pay the rent, the fittings for the restaurant and wages for the staff. When all of that is up and running, then we can start on bigger robberies—like stealing motor yachts and the like.”
“Hello, there. Won’t that food be ready soon? I’m starving to death!” Rake’s voice could be heard from the other side of the door.
“Yes. Come on in,” said Martha opening the door for the others. “We were just doing a little planning.”
“Hear that, Rake? It sounds ominous,” said Brains with a glance at his friend.
“Nothing fancy, just a few new crimes,” said Martha, who had happened to have heard, and she winked in Brains’s direction. Anna-Greta took off her 1950s spectacles, breathed on the lenses and polished them carefully with her handkerchief.
“You know what, now you sound like those criminals who think they will never get caught.”
“That’s right. Believe me, we are never going to get caught,” said Martha.
“Hmm,” said Brains.