The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again! (39 page)

‘A bit of grub and a sauna would just fit the bill,’ Tompa decided, with Jörgen and the others soon expressing agreement. Relieved, they started to take off their sweaty leather
waistcoats and dirty boots.

‘Right then, we girls will go and prepare the food,’ said Martha, and she started to walk up towards the road. ‘Rake, you can help us to get the grill going.’

Rake nodded and followed after the ladies while Brains and the bikers got undressed. They threw off their clothes in the room outside the sauna just like Brains, and then went in and sat on the
benches. Brains poured some water onto the hot stones and put all his concentration into not spilling it. Even so, he did spill most of the water because, to tell the truth, he had never been so
nervous in all his life. Here he was, sitting naked with six drunken Bandangels bikers, as Martha had instructed. What idiotic idea had she thought up now? Did she care so little about him that she
could put him at such risk? Brains tried to keep his spirits up by talking about motorbikes and trips he had made when he was young. Besides, he and Rake had put a whole crate of beer in the sauna
outhouse earlier that day, and now and then he nipped out to fetch a few bottles which he handed round. The atmosphere became all the jollier and everybody was having a good time, although it
gradually got far too hot. Brains ladled some more water onto the stones and loudly announced: ‘Time for a swim, boys, right?’

‘It’s hot in here,’ Tompa agreed and the Bandangels members made their way, on somewhat unsteady legs and with merry shouts, down towards the bay. At that moment, Brains
suddenly remembered that the luxury boats were no longer there and started to panic. Now Tompa and the other lads would see what had happened.

‘Listen, guys, it’s much better to swim from the shore over there,’ he said and pointed in the other direction. ‘Just run across and throw yourselves in!’

‘That’s it. I’ll race you!’ Tompa roared out.

‘You go and enjoy yourselves, you youngsters. I must take it a bit easy and have a shower instead,’ said Brains, and he stayed behind.

‘We’re grilling a large joint of lamb. Do you want chips to go with it?’ Martha called out from higher up the slope.

‘Oh yeah, that’d be great,’ Tompa bawled merrily and took the lead down to the beach. ‘Last one in is a sissy!’ he shouted out, and then dived in head first. Brains
watched, and when they were all out of sight, he put on his clothes and hurried up to the road.

‘Roast lamb!’ he shouted, and that was the signal to the others. Straight away, Rake, Christina and Anna-Greta came out from behind the bushes and hurried to the sauna. They grabbed
the bikers’ clothes and boots as quickly as they could and stuffed them into large carrier bags from the supermarket. Then they ran as fast as they could up to the minibus where Anders and
Emma were just unhooking the trailer.

‘Have you got the old clothes’ trunk?’ Anna-Greta asked when she climbed into the bus.

‘Yes, we’ve put that inside,’ Emma answered, a little out of breath.

‘The luggage too?’

‘Yes, we’ve packed everything,’ said Anders.

‘We’re ready, then. Time for action!’ said Brains, and he opened the bonnet and put back the spark plugs while Martha climbed in and took up position behind the steering wheel.
Many a year had passed since she first got her driving licence, but she knew how to steer. As soon as Rake and the girls were installed on the back seats, she started the engine and grabbed the
steering wheel. The minibus roared into action, and turned so quickly that they almost ended up in the ditch and jerked to a halt again.

‘Goodness, it is fast!’ said Martha, and she opened the car door so that Brains, too, could jump in. ‘Hang on, everybody!’

‘Yes, what do you think we’re doing?’ Rake muttered, taking a firm grip with both hands on the door handle. ‘Why didn’t you let Anders drive?’

‘He’s got the Volvo. He and Emma have just driven off with the last of our stuff and they’re waiting for us further on.’

The previous evening, Martha and her friends had realized that they must leave the old house and had decided to hide at a place where nobody would look for them, let alone find them. Rake was in
charge when they dug up the gold in the garden, but as they were in such a hurry, they were rather careless. The plants had grown so many roots that soil and worms as well as manure and seeds
followed along in the rush, and even half of an ants’ nest full of pismires. But, finally, Rake and Christina could level out the ground again and put all the gold in new black rubbish bags
which they – with considerable effort – managed to pack in the car.

It had not been easy to make the decision to leave their house, and Martha mourned the fact that she couldn’t take her gym equipment with her. Rake had smiled and looked unusually jolly.
Clothes, toiletry articles, kitchen equipment and everything else they needed, it was all squeezed into the car which, in the end, was so full that Anders and Emma hardly fitted in themselves. But
now the brother and sister would, at any rate, be waiting for them at the car park just after the Skuru Bridge, so that they could travel together. If everything went according to plan, that
was.

Martha drove out towards Värmdövägen at a crazy speed and, already on the first straight bit of the road, she pulled out her mobile and handed it to Christina.

‘Please phone the police!’

Christina keyed in 112.

‘Is that the police? Well, it’s about the money from the Handelsbanken robbery. You can fetch the money and the villains at Myrstigen 3, Norra Lagnö,’ Christina said,
disguising her voice. ‘The boys are in the sauna at the moment and, if you’re quick, you’ll be able to nab them straight away. The money? That is hidden inside a shop dummy. It is
slightly burnt, but don’t let that fool you. That’s where the thieves have hidden their loot. Hurry now, before those villains have time to escape!’

Christina ended the call and pulled out the pay-as-you-go sim card.

Lillemor gave a start when she heard the police sirens. Her head ached and she regretted that she had yet again drunk too much cheap wine. That she never learned. Nowadays she
didn’t have a good head for alcohol. Anyhow, it was too late now and she had already slept away the whole day. Clumsily, she rinsed her face in cold water and went into the living room to see
what had happened. She opened the door to the terrace. Oh, there were the boys’ motorbikes, how nice – they had followed her advice and returned from Copenhagen. How strange that they
had parked their bikes by the ditch down the hill. And the police sirens, what a dreadful noise! It sounded almost as if the pigs were on their way to her house! A moment later, the sirens were
silenced, and two police vans screeched to a halt and deliberately blocked the road. What was going on? Admittedly, the Tarot cards had said that she would experience some exciting events this
week, but this was really a bit much! Lillemor went to the edge of the terrace to get a better view.

The police officers jumped out of the vans with guns in their hands and ran down towards the sauna by the bay. It took a while before she took in what was happening, but then she immediately
went out onto the road. She looked down towards the beach just in time to see how Tompa, Jörgen and the others were running up the hill with the police after them. They were all sweaty and red
and ran as fast as their legs would carry them, with the towels around their waists fluttering like washing on a clothes line in a storm. One after the other, the wet towels fell to the ground but
the boys kept on running. In the end the police caught up with them and managed to handcuff each and every one. Lillemor had never seen so many half-naked, sweaty guys at one time, let alone all
chased by the police. She stared at Tompa and felt sorry for him when two burly officers pushed him into the van together with the other boys from Bandangels. Then the police checked that nobody
was hiding up in the yellow house.

Up there, they didn’t find any more bikers, but they did find a shop dummy with burnt leather clothes. It looked really hilarious when a policeman came down the hill pulling the shop dummy
behind him. And then, just as he was approaching one of the police vans, something weird happened. The head fell off and a bundle of banknotes fell to the ground. Banknote after banknote was caught
by the wind and it was quite a while before the policeman realized it.

The driver wound down his side window and shouted: ‘Blomberg, damn it, be careful with the dummy. Can’t you see the banknotes? The money from the robbery, that’s what she said,
the woman who phoned. And just look at that! I think she was right!’

‘Yes, yes, OK!’ Blomberg muttered.

‘But run after those banknotes, then, and pick them up!’ Carlsson gesticulated wildly.

‘And you can shut up!’ Blomberg retorted, but, nevertheless, he ran after the money, put it back in the dummy and obediently screwed the head back on. Then, still swearing, he
carried the dummy the last few paces to the van and asked Carlsson to unlock the back doors.

Lillemor stared. Perhaps not so much at the police as at the half-naked Tompa in one of the vans. While she studied his flabby body, she consoled herself. She hadn’t succeeded in seducing
him, but perhaps she hadn’t missed so very much after all.

The Volvo with its trailer roared along at a decent speed on Värmdövägen and it was not long before the Skuru Bridge appeared before them.

‘You must turn off after the bridge,’ said Emma, and Anders nodded. Below them the water glistened and the fancy old country houses – reminiscent of the one they had just
abandoned – climbed up the steep banks. On the horizon they could see the first yachts of the season and the shores were rich in greenery. Soon nature would be at its most beautiful, but just
now they didn’t have time to enjoy it. They were on the run, and the oldies would come at any minute. As soon as they had passed Skuru Bridge, Anders turned off to the right, then took
another right turn and finally came to a halt beside the ditch. He kept the engine running.

‘Righto, now all we have to do is wait,’ he said.

‘I’m getting out for a smoke,’ Emma answered, and she lit a cigarette, opened the door and stepped out. She put the lighter back in her pocket, inhaled the smoke and started to
cough. They could have been out sailing now, but instead Martha had instructed them to ‘prepare the next phase’. They were accomplices in a crime, and now she was reminded of that fact.
Thank God there wasn’t so much more to do. Soon the League of Pensioners would leave the big city and be able to lead a peaceful existence. And Emma did have little Malin to look after,
didn’t she? There was really a bit too much criminal activity, and five or six oldies to look after, too. On the other hand, Martha had actually given her a million, so later in the summer
that sailing holiday would indeed come about. Anders got out too, cadged a cigarette and lit it. They stood there smoking quite a long time while they waited.

‘Do you think we’ll have a calmer life when they leave town?’ he asked.

‘Well, to be honest, with that lot you never know what can happen.’

‘No, you’re right about that. Never!’

When Martha skidded to a halt in the car park she saw, to her relief, that Anders and Emma were ready and waiting. They had fastened a sticker to the Volvo with the name SENIOR
CLEANERS and everything seemed calm. She drove up beside them and wound down her side window. The two stubbed out their cigarettes.

‘Everything’s ready, but it was a tight fit getting the cleaning trolley in,’ said Anders, pointing at the Volvo.

‘And what about the plastic bags?’

‘Oh yes, everything’s under control, we put them in the trailer.’

‘Fine, then we’ll change places,’ said Martha, and she got out of the minibus. Christina got out too.

‘Goodbye, everybody, and keep your fingers crossed that it’ll all work out. See you!’ she said and she waved to the others in the back seats.

‘Yes, we wish you good luck,’ said Brains and Anna-Greta in unison and Rake leaned forward and urged Martha to take good care of Christina.

‘But of course, you can rest assured,’ she answered. ‘We have actually practised this, Christina and me. Practised in secret.’

So when Anders and Emma left the Volvo estate and got into the front of the minibus, Martha got in the driver’s seat of the Volvo. She started the car and was just about to drive off when
Christina grabbed the door handle.

‘Don’t forget me,’ she said, and she squeezed herself in with her mop and brush and pan.

‘No, no, no way, and that’s excellent that you’ve got all your cleaning equipment,’ Martha mumbled, ashamed because, being in such a hurry, she had almost set off without
her friend. ‘You do have your pills to keep your blood pressure up?’ she asked to be on the safe side, because you never knew with Christina, who had a tendency to faint as soon as
things started to get complicated. ‘Of course,’ said her friend, looking in her pockets. But the pills weren’t there, she had indeed forgotten them. But then, thankfully, she
became so irritated that her blood pressure went up anyway.

Martha took the lead into Stockholm with the minibus discreetly keeping its distance two or three cars behind her. When they got close to the Historical Museum, Anders steered in towards the car
park on Narvavägen to wait while Martha turned into the museum and parked in the yard. There she opened the car door and she and Christina got out of the car as best they could. They went
round to the back doors, opened them and pulled out the cleaning trolley with the rubbish bags, dusters, cleaning fluids and two red buckets. Martha looked around her, noticed some children on
their way in through the entrance, but otherwise it was all quiet. Christina put the cleaning materials on top of the rubbish bags and then the two elderly cleaning ladies walked towards the
entrance. When they were about to go inside, Martha noticed something strange about Anders’ car. She stared at it a long time before she saw what it was. On one side it said SENIOR CLEANERS
but, on the other, they had put the sign saying CONTROL UNIT FOR STANDARDS IN RETIREMENT HOMES. Oh dear, oh dear, they’d got it wrong in the hurry, but Martha consoled herself with the fact
that Control Unit for Standards in Retirement Homes and Senior Cleaners did at least sound as if they might be part of the same organization. With renewed courage, she and Christina went in through
the door and made their way to the Gold Room.