As a security measure, she shut the laptop and pushed it under the duvet at the foot of her bed. She was afraid she might otherwise end up pushing it onto the floor, and that couldn’t be allowed to happen. The next task was to attempt to take the few steps to the wall behind the bed where there was another alarm button. She could hold on to the nightstand—the problem was that it was on wheels, so it might roll away if she supported herself on it. She would have to try and walk without support, or possibly slip to the floor and crawl there.

She didn’t get any further than that in her planning before the door opened and a long shadow was cast over the floor. She squinted and tried to fix her gaze on the visitor’s face. He shut the door behind him and looked around—probably to ensure that they were alone in the room. Then he picked up a visitor’s chair that was leaning against the wall and unfolded it. He stepped forward to where Sandra was sitting on the bed, positioned the chair in front of her and sat down. Only now did she manage to get her eyes to focus on the visitor’s face, and the realisation of who it was hardly helped set her at ease.

The disaster had come to pass. She was completely defenceless—drugged, probably poisoned. That had to be what had happened. Her senses had suddenly weakened, and several key bodily functions had collapsed at the same time, although her brain was still capable of thinking clearly. And the man who appeared at the very moment she was attempting to contact the outside world in a final desperate measure seeking rescue from her hopeless situation was none other than Jan Hallin.

70. Kerstin

70

Kerstin

SHE ENDED UP standing there with the phone in her hand. What was happening to Sandra? Had she been having a stroke while they were talking? Kerstin sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case, but in the unlikely event that it was, then it could hardly happen in a better place than Visby General Hospital. She tried to persuade herself of that.

Provided, that was, someone was informed of the unfolding situation. As she had already told Sandra, all she had to do was summon the doctor. The alarm button was never further away than any old wrinkly with poor mobility could reach.