That was as far as he could get. He put down the pad. He would talk to Larsson the following day. That would mean he’d have to drive back to Ostersund. Once he’d done that, he could return to Boras. As he was getting ready for bed he wondered if he should ask Elena whether there was any chance of her being able to take a week off work and fly south with him. But he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle that. The choice between having her company and being alone would be a hard one to make.
He went to the bathroom, opened his mouth, and stuck out his tongue. The lump was not visible, but it was there. He studied his face and thought that he looked pale. Then in his mind’s eye he put on the uniform he’d seen in Berggren’s wardrobe. Tried to remember the ranks they’d had in the SS—Rottenfuhrer Lindman, Unterscharfuhrer Lindman.
He took off the invisible peaked cap and washed his face. By the time he left the bathroom the Western had almost finished. The man who had escaped the lynching party was sitting with a big-breasted woman in a log cabin. Lindman reached for the remote control and turned off the TV.
He called Elena’s number. She answered almost immediately.
“I’m leaving here tomorrow. I might even be back home by tomorrow evening.”
“Don’t drive too fast, will you?”
“That’s all, really. I’m worn out. We can talk when I get home.”
“How’s it going?”
“How’s what going?”
“You, your health.”
He said he didn’t have the strength to discuss how he was feeling, and Elena understood.
He drank another glass of wine before settling down in bed. I have one more visit to make, he thought as he was falling asleep. I have one more person to see before I talk to Larsson, and then I can put all of this behind me.
He woke up before dawn with excruciating pain in one of his cheeks. He was also running a temperature. He lay still in the darkness and tried to wish away the pain by sheer willpower. But it didn’t work. When he got out of bed, he felt another stab in his cheek. He found a tube of painkillers and dissolved two in a glass of water. He wondered if he’d been lying awkwardly during the night. But he knew that the pain was coming from the inside. The doctor had warned him. He might suddenly find himself in pain. He emptied the glass and lay down again, hoping the pain would go away. But things got no better. 7 A.M. passed but he was in too much pain to go down for breakfast.
After another hour, he couldn’t stand it any longer. He looked up the telephone number for the hospital in Borås and had a stroke of luck. His doctor answered as soon as he was put through. He described the pain he was in. She said she would write him a prescription and call it into the pharmacist in Sveg. If that didn’t ease the pain, he was to call her again. Lindman went back to bed. The doctor had said she would call Sveg immediately. He decided to try to put up with the pain for another hour. Then he would drive to the pharmacy. He lay still in bed. All he could think about was the pain. At 9 A.M. he got up, dressed, and went downstairs. The receptionist wished him a good morning. He smiled and left his key on the desk.
He got his pills and took the first dose immediately. Then he went back to the hotel. The girl handed him his key.
“Are you unwell?” she said.
“Yes, I’m in a bit of pain,” he said. “But it’ll pass.”
“You haven’t had any breakfast. Would you like something in your room?”
“Just coffee, please. And some extra pillows.”
He waited until she arrived with a tray and two more pillows.
“Give me a call if there’s anything you need.”
“You were upset last night,” he said. “I hope you feel better now.”
She didn’t seem surprised. “I noticed you in the doorway,” she said. “It was just a momentary weakness. Nothing more.”
When she was gone, Lindman lay down on the bed and wondered what a “momentary weakness” entailed. It occurred to him that he didn’t know her name. He took another pill.
After a while the pain began to ease. He looked to see what it said on the box. Doleron. There was a red warning triangle on the package. He noticed he was feeling drowsy, but he also thought that there was no greater happiness in life than the ebbing away of acute pain.
He stayed in bed for the rest of the day. The pain came and went. He dozed off and again dreamed of the pack of wild dogs. It was late afternoon before it became clear that the pain was going away rather than just becoming more bearable. Although he hadn’t eaten anything all day, he wasn’t hungry. Shortly after 4 P.M. his cell phone rang. It was Johansson.