No, it couldn’t be true! Nurse Barbara trembled with indignation. The criminal choir gang was on its way back! They had evidently been model prisoners and after a few months in an open prison they would be living at Diamond House again. The problem was that they had paid for their rooms all the time they’d been away and, according to the social welfare office, she had no possible grounds to refuse them. On top of it all, Ingmar hadn’t considered it a problem—on the contrary, he had been very pleased.
‘What luck for us,’ he had said. ‘Now the spotlight will be on us. The media will be bound to follow the oldies and write articles. Can you imagine better publicity? Diamond House will be so well known everywhere that we can hike up the charges. Darling, see the possibilities!’
Nurse Barbara had tried to explain that the five were a decidedly poor example for others, and she had warned of the chaos they would create. But he seemed unable to grasp what she meant.
‘But Barbara, dear, it is your job to deal with that sort of thing. That’s what you get paid for. Surely you haven’t forgotten your job description: “to see to the welfare and well-being of the old pensioners”?’
‘But not criminals!’
‘They have atoned for their crime and have every right to return to society. Now we shall show how well we take care of the poor old outcasts. We shall give them all the care and support they need.’
‘But they did actually run away.’
‘Yes, precisely. Take care of them, sweetie, give them tender care. Care, you see, is the word the council wants to hear.’
‘What?’ Nurse Barbara gasped for breath. ‘But weren’t we meant to cut costs?’
‘A warm word, a loving pat of the hand … that doesn’t cost anything. As long as the press keeps an eye on us, we shall be perfect. Our retirement home must be a model of excellence. This will be a perfect model for when I open our new retirement homes. I have two deals coming along and there is a lot to do. We need to rationalize. I thought that you could prepare the transaction and take care of the administration. Meanwhile, Katia can take over Diamond House.’
‘Are you suggesting I give up Diamond House?’ A thousand thoughts rushed through Barbara’s head. Had she really heard that correctly?
‘No, no, just for the time being. Don’t think too much about it, darling. Soon you will have a top management position. Three retirement homes will mean more profit than one, and now that I am going to get divorced I’ll need the money. Then, dearest, you’ll want to join me in all this, surely? I need more people in management. As partners. You and me.’
He hugged her and she forgot everything else. He had at last spoken of divorce and indicated a future for them together. When he put his arms around her and whispered hot words in her ear, she pressed the palm of her hand against his chest and whispered: ‘Soon, Ingmar, soon it’ll just be us.’