Free The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg Page A

strokes before the lights started flashing. She stopped, got out of the pool and went back to the change room. There, the lamps were all off and it took a while before the lights came back on again. She tried her plastic card. She couldn’t open the boxwith it. She smiled to herself, put on her bathrobe and went out to reception again. The lights were on there.
    ‘My safe won’t open,’ said Martha.
    ‘We’ll fix it,’ the receptionist answered.
    ‘But where shall I put my valuables?’
    ‘You can leave them here,’ said the receptionist, and she pointed to the storage cupboard right behind her, a robust white-painted metal one. ‘But surely your things are already locked away in your safe?’
    ‘Oh, yes, I’d forgotten,’ said Martha.
    ‘Well, how was it?’ Anna-Greta wondered a few moments later when Martha had returned to the suite. She and Christina had not yet finished breakfast and were still sitting in their dressing gowns. Christina held up Martha’s knitting.
    ‘This was on the sofa. For once could you just finish your knitting so that we could dare to sit down without getting pierced?’
    ‘Sorry, I always forget. It’s going to be a cardigan,’ Martha said as she tidied away the yarn and knitting needles. She poured a cup of coffee for herself. There were no limitations here, so she could drink as many cups as she liked.
    ‘When the safes didn’t work, the receptionist put the valuables in the storage cupboard behind her, just as we thought,’ said Martha.
    ‘Good. How many valuables will fit in there?’ Anna-Greta wanted to know.
    ‘Quite a lot,’ said Martha vaguely.
    Christina looked sceptical, took a chocolate wafer and waved it in her hand.
    ‘You seem satisfied, but we have made a big mistake,’ she said. ‘We came here to steal from the rich, but have ourselves occupied the most expensive suites.’
    There was silence for a few moments as Christina’s words sank in.
    ‘It isn’t easy being a crook for the first time,’ Martha said defensively, and she, too, helped herself to a chocolate wafer. Times like this justified some chocolate.
    ‘We ought to have booked another room and waited until a really big star came along, a rich, famous artiste, a king or a president,’ Christina maintained.
    ‘It’s a lot to think about at our age—being on the run
as well as
committing a robbery. We have to take one step a time,’ said Martha.
    ‘But on the upside, the price of gold is high at the moment. Three thick gold bracelets would be a hundred thousand kronor straight away,’ said Anna-Greta, proud to show off her speedy mental arithmetic.
    ‘Don’t forget that the robbery needs to be big enough to get us into prison,’ Christina pointed out. After realizing that Rake thought prison really was a good idea, Christina was now much keener on it.
    ‘We’ll go down to the spa at lunchtime when it’s crowded. The storage cupboard in reception will be bulging with gold by then,’ said Martha.
    The others agreed. When they were dressed, Martha went down to see Brains for a final run-through. He showed her his drawings.
    ‘This is where I have short-circuited it,’ he said, putting his finger on the paper. ‘It’ll be a while before anybody findsthe break in the circuit of the safes,’ he went on, pointing at some strange-looking lines. ‘And the wiring to the pool and the steam room is only temporarily repaired. Two seconds flat, and I can cut off the lot. Duct tape is fantastic!’ He looked so delighted that Martha was reminded of a boy in front of a video game.
    ‘And what if things don’t go according to plan?’
    ‘Something could go wrong, but if it does, then we simply need to make a new plan. And I’ve got some spare tools as well,’ he answered, putting his hand on the sports bag.
    There was a knock on the door and Rake came in. He looked sleepy and smelt of garlic. He caught sight of the two small plastic bags that lay on the table.
    ‘Be careful with the