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…?’
    ‘Then, and not before, you’ll be told the Big Secret,’ Martha answered. It was important that, for now, the plans were only known by herself and Brains. She didn’t want things getting out of control, and as her mother always said, too many cooks spoiled the broth. Besides, she quite liked having a secret that only she and Brains were privy to. It was nice for them both to have a reason to spend time together without the others.Brains wasn’t exactly the most conventionally attractive man she had ever met, but Martha had started to admit to herself that sometimes brains really were worth more than beauty.
    Nurse Barbara put the dumb-bells aside and adjusted her sweatband. It was strange how the gym had a faint smell of smoke. She went over to the treadmill and pressed the button to start it up. In fact, it was just here and in the cupboard with the weights that the smell was strongest. She stepped up onto the treadmill and started to jog. There were no windows in the gym, so the smell could hardly come from outside, unless the ventilation system was faulty.
    She didn’t really care for all this gym stuff, but she wanted to make an impression on Director Mattson. He had said that she had a beautiful body, and she wanted to live up to that. If she was going to reel him in, then she must look pretty and have firm thighs. Everything had gone all right so far, although there had been rather a lot of secret meetings lately. Most of the time they had to meet at work, because he had his family. But sooner or later he would leave his wife, Barbara was certain of that. After all, he had told her that his marriage was finished and that he and his wife were married in name only. ‘Since I met you, my darling, I am happy for the first time in my life,’ he had said to her. Nurse Barbara smiled. Director Mattson, or Ingmar, as she called him in their more intimate moments, had told her that they belonged together. She could just imagine what it would be like if they could go off on holiday again, or, even better, if she could live with him. She might even become a partner inhis business. For the time being, she would have to make do with those stolen moments at work and the conference trips that they went on together. But if she could make Diamond House even more profitable than it already was, he might see her worth, and get divorced quicker. She stretched out on the mat and wished that he was lying there beside her. She and Ingmar. An official couple. She must make sure it happened soon.
    When she got up from the floor, she caught sight of something. A white hair? Weird. None of the staff had white hair, nor did any of the cleaners. And nobody else used the gym, did they? Barbara almost puzzled over the matter, but instead went back to her dreams of life with Director Mattson.

Seven
    The next day the friends went across to Martha’s room to have one of their alloted daily coffees. It was easier for them to sneak around now that Diamond House only had three staff members. On arrival, they found the TV turned on. When they had got their cups of coffee and had sat down on the sofa, Brains turned up the TV.
    ‘You simply must see this program,’ he said. ‘It’s a documentary about Swedish prisons.’ He drew the curtains.
    ‘Usch, no,’ complained Anna-Greta. This really wasn’t her sort of program.
    The five friends drank their coffee with the usual dash of cloudberry liqueur, and had seen little more than theintroduction when the atmosphere in the room became charged with anger.
    ‘It’s incredible that such things can go on,’ exclaimed Christina, waving her nail file. ‘Just look—the criminals are better off than us!’
    ‘And besides, it’s our taxes that pay for them,’ Anna-Greta snorted.
    ‘Now, now, some of the tax money pays for the care of the elderly too,’ Brains pointed out.
    ‘Oh no, not much. Local councils would much rather build sports halls than retirement homes,’ Anna-Greta