“Oh no, has he also been fired?”
“He was let go this afternoon. That was why I took him home. I didn’t want him to be alone. They called it a restructuring, but everyone knew that was a lie. A young bitch from human resources had the pleasure and I promise you she enjoyed it. Good God, she was awful. Like hatched from the business school in their brand-new fall collection of polished arrogance and powdery morals. She even brought flowers with her, and do you know what she talked about?”
Simonsen shook his head.
“Envy.”
“Envy?”
“In a long, self-indulgent monologue. She was envious of the new freedom he was getting, envious of all the possibilities he had for choosing a new life, envious of the fact that he would now be able to sleep in in the mornings, envious of his severance pay, envious of all kinds of other things, all the time as her victim abased himself. He talked about his Androcur treatment, about how he sends most of his salary to his sons each month without ever hearing from them, about his remorse, yes he pleaded and cried but that didn’t help in the least. The witch was oh so sympathetic and also envious of his courage to show emotions. People enjoyed and smiled at her scornful remarks. He had known some of them for fifteen years. I don’t know what to say other than that those people…”
He came to a halt, at a loss for words. Simonsen also said nothing, and only the soft hum of the electricity could be heard. After a while he tried again.
“Those people and the ones who started this … it’s just wrong. Evil and horrible, I can’t find any other words for it.”
The patient moaned, as if he wanted to indicate his agreement. The man didn’t reply.
Simonsen felt exhaustion creep over him. If he sat there much longer he would fall asleep. He said, “What did you mean by ‘now here’? Are there more?”
“You’ll experience her soon enough. She’s almost the worst.”
Simonsen did not have to wait long. Suddenly, hair-raising laughter filled the room and a woman’s voice screeched through the loudspeakers, like high-pitched screams from another world. The patient woke up and began to sob briefly but soon fell asleep again, as full of medicine as he was. Simonsen had jerked up like a spring and calm returned only slowly. He felt a nauseating disgust.
“What in the world was that?”
“A devil who doesn’t think that he deserves to sleep, I think.”
“What is she shouting?”
“I don’t know exactly. Something about being the daughter of the night, the one who never rests, and that she has an eternal rage. I don’t understand the rest.”
“That’s madness. Why don’t the hospital staff put an end to it?”
“I’ve been to see the nurse on duty and told her off four times but no one knows where the voice is coming from or else they don’t care. Maybe they’re even in on it, I don’t know, but it’s hard to take.”
Simonsen noticed an unfamiliar—even foreign—desire to hit not something but someone. To go after the nurse with a couple of jabs first to one and then the other side of the head and to see her flee down the corridor in her ugly dust-yellow clogs. This only for starters. At once he realized that he was afraid. Afraid of the hidden society he was unable to uncover. The conspiracy without a face, the public mood, which followed its own unwritten laws—frightening in its hatred and worse in its indifference. In the absence of anything better, he kicked the wall in frustration and banged a heating pipe so that it rang out through the room. The man on the bed shivered nervously.
“Dammit.”
He didn’t even know himself if he was lamenting the situation or the noise that he had caused. Then he tried with all his mental efforts to turn to something more constructive.
“Are you the one who can help me with the telecommunications information?”
“Yes, that’s me, and I got your message. This morning I was a bit lukewarm, but definitely not anymore, so you’ll get the help you’re looking for.”
“What about the other companies, that is, your competitors. Can you help me there as well?”
“There’s no database in the telecommunications sector that I don’t have access to. Us security people work together and we cooperate, but I’ll need a contact person on your end to get into the citizen registry and the like. We can make further arrangements tomorrow.”
“I’m glad, but I thought of another thing that I’m not even sure can be done.”
“Tell me what it is.”
Simonsen told him. The man didn’t seem surprised.
“What telephone number did you have in mind?”
Simonsen told him and the man took a cell phone out of his pocket. The blue light of the display lit up his face. Simonsen was able to get a good look at him for the first time and thought that he didn’t even know his name yet. The man’s thumbs were working with a teenager’s speed, and when he was done, he nodded a couple of times.