The woman with one blue and one brown eye went out into the hall, picked up her bag and her coat, walked downstairs and got into her car. She started the engine and turned on the radio. They are missing, but no one will find them, will they? Not everyone is capable of having children. Who gets to decide? Who decides who can have a child? Some people lose a child. Who gets to decide? Who decides who will lose a child? It’s not my real job. Not this. No, no one can say what my real job is. Yes, some people know, but they won’t tell.
The woman with one blue and one brown eye changed radio stations. It was the same everywhere. The girls are still missing and nobody knows where they are. Where are those girls? Are they still alive? Is someone holding them captive? How many girls do you need? How many children do you have to have? Two point three, isn’t that the norm? Normal? So you’re not normal if you don’t have children? What if you can’t have children? The woman with one blue and one brown eye drove slowly out of the city centre. It is important to drive slowly if you want to be invisible. If someone were to stop your car, they might discover that it is not yours. That your name is not Malin Stoltz. That it is something completely different. That would not be good. Slow is better. Sometimes, you can hide in plain sight – at work, for example. Some people think you need an education in order to get a job. You don’t. You just need papers. Papers are easy to fake. You just need references. References are easy to fake. The woman with one blue and one brown eye turned off Drammensveien and drove up to the white brick building. She parked her car and made her way to the entrance. Ten minutes to eight. If you arrive on time and do your job, nobody asks any questions.
She opened the door and went to the staff changing room. Hung up her coat, left her bag in her locker and looked in the mirror again. I have two blue eyes. I’m a little girl with blue eyes. This is just for fun. My real job is completely different. As long as nobody says anything, everything will be just fine. Sometimes you can hide in plain sight. The woman with one blue and one brown eye tightened her ponytail and went to the nurses’ station.
‘Hi, Malin.’
‘Hi, Eva.’
‘How are you?’
‘I’m really good. And you?’
‘It was a long night. Helen Olsen felt unwell again. I had to call the ambulance.’
‘Oh dear, I do hope she’s feeling better.’
‘It’s fine. She’s coming back today.’
‘Good. That’s good. How’s your dog?’
‘Better. It wasn’t as serious as we first feared.’
I’m not ill. You’re ill.
‘Who’s on duty today?’
‘You and Birgitte and Karen.’
I’m not ill. You’re ill.
‘What is this?’
The woman with one blue and one brown eye looked at the notice above the coffee machine.
HØVIKVEIEN CARE HOME CELEBRATES 10 YEARS!
‘Oh, that’ll be nice. Big party on Friday.’
‘Yes, it’ll be fun, won’t it?’
‘Will you be there?’
‘Yes, of course. Of course, I’ll be there.’
You’re all sick. This isn’t reality.
‘Some of the girls talked about getting together for a drink beforehand. Are you in?’
‘Of course I’m in, sounds like fun. Do you want me to bring anything?’
‘Talk to Birgitte, she’s organizing it.’
‘Right, I will.’
‘Can’t wait!’
‘Me neither.’
‘Have a good shift, Malin.’
‘Thanks. Drive safely. Say hi to your husband.’
‘Thank you, I will.’
The woman with one blue and one brown eye poured herself a cup of coffee, sat down and pretended to read the newspaper.
Chapter 36
Mia Krüger was wearing sunglasses and sitting on the top floor of the hotel where the breakfast buffet was laid out. She had a pounding headache and couldn’t remember much about how last night had ended. She had propped Susanne up as they walked back, but they would appear to have stumbled into one more bar on their way. Where had they been? Mia knocked back a glass of orange juice and forced down a few bits of bacon. She felt childishly sick and remorseful. Had she drunk dialled Holger? A nagging feeling at the back of her head told her that she had decided that she absolutely must tell him what she had discovered, that it couldn’t wait. Never mind. Susanne appeared from the Ladies, practically crawling back to the table. She looked even worse than Mia; she had barely sobered up.
‘We have to stop doing this,’ Susanne sighed, as if she had read Mia’s thoughts.
She collapsed on to the chair and clasped her head.
‘Absolutely,’ Mia nodded. ‘Bad company.’
‘Are you saying I’m bad company?’ Susanne said with a frown.
‘No, no, that’s not what I meant. We’re keeping bad company, it’s not our fault.’ Mia smiled.
‘Actors. Bunch of self-obsessed chimpanzees. Who cares? Incestuous bunch, sleeping with each other, gossiping about each other – they think that other people care who got which part, and what he thinks about what she thinks about what he thinks that the director is sleeping with this one instead of that one.’
‘Get it out of your system.’ Mia chuckled behind her sunglasses.
‘It’s all bollocks. ìLook at me! Look at me! Look at me!î It’s as if we never left the school playground.’
Mia had come so close to a breakthrough last night; the pieces had been just about to fall into place. All she wanted to do was shut herself inside her hotel room today, immerse herself in the material again. This was what she liked best. Losing herself in a case. Disappearing deep inside it. That was where she belonged. It was a good place to be.
‘Shit, we have a cos and prop rehearsal at noon today. It had completely slipped my mind,’ Susanne said.
‘Cos and prop?’
‘First rehearsal with everyone in costume and all props in place.’
Mia nodded and looked at her watch.
‘You’ll make it, it’s only ten thirty.’
‘Why had you made a note of the opening line of Hamlet yesterday?’
‘It’s work,’ Mia said. ‘I can’t talk about it.’
‘I understand.’ Susanne nodded. ‘I just thought it looked a bit strange.’
‘Perhaps,’ Mia said.
‘Is it about the missing girls?’
‘I can’t discuss it, Susanne.’
‘I told someone at the theatre that I knew you. Was that wrong?’ Susanne confessed quickly.
‘No, that’s all right. Why?’
‘There’s a girl in the cast. Pernille Lyng. Plays Ophelia. She’s the aunt of one of the missing girls. She’s completely cut up about it.’
‘I see,’ Mia said.
‘Yes, Andrea is her niece. Did you know?’
‘I can’t tell you, Susanne.’
‘No, of course. I just think it’s strange, that’s all.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘That Andrea disappears just as Hamlet is about to open, and that you have the opening line written on a piece of paper. I thought there might be a link.’
Mia smiled and put her hand over her friend’s.
‘Let’s not talk about this any more. It sounds as if you have enough drama in your life already. These are just coincidences, they have nothing to do with each other, OK?’
‘OK.’ Susanne nodded. ‘I shouldn’t drink, it makes me paranoid.’