poisonous, but she forced herself to bear it. He was repeating the same phrases, time after time. She could not understand what he said, over and over again, like a mantra, just something that started with 'In . . .' and perhaps also the word 'them'.
She heard a door opening. Then the man in the bunk bed reacted as if he had been punched. He turned his face away and curled up. When she touched his shoulder he gave a start and drew away.
Louise sensed somebody standing behind her. She turned round, as if afraid of being attacked. It was a woman, of about her own age, grey-haired. She peered short-sightedly at Louise.
'I didn't know we had visitors?'
The woman's accent reminded Louise of when she visited Scotland, and met Aron for the first time.
'I've been here before, and was told that everybody is welcome.'
'And everybody is welcome. It's simply that we prefer to open doors ourselves for visitors. The rooms are dark, there are thresholds, people can stumble. We show our guests round.'
'I had a son who used to work here, Henrik. Did you know him?'
'I wasn't here then. But everybody speaks highly of him.'
'I'm trying to understand what Henrik did here.'
'We look after sick people. We take care of patients that nobody else bothers about. The helpless.'
The woman who had yet to introduce herself, took Louise by the arm and led her to the exit. She is being gentle with me, but the claws are there, Louise thought.
They emerged into the bright sunshine. The black dog was lying in the shade of a tree, panting.
'I'd like to meet Christian Holloway. My son spoke about him with great respect. He adored him.'
Louise felt uneasy about lying in Henrik's name, but she felt obliged to do so if she was going to get any further.
'I'm sure he will get in touch with you.'
'When? I can't stay here for ever, doesn't he have a telephone?'
'I've never heard of anybody speaking to him on the telephone. I have to go now.'
'Can't I stay and watch you at work?'
The woman shook her head.
'Today's not a good day. It's treatment day.'
'That would be an especially good time.'
'We are responsible for seriously ill people, and we can't just let anybody wander around when we're busy.'
Louise could see that she was wasting her time.
'Would I be wrong in thinking you come from Scotland?'
'From the Highlands.'
'What brought you here?'
The woman smiled.
'Roads don't always lead to where you think.'
She shook hands and said goodbye. The conversation was over. Louise went back to the car. The black dog watched her longingly, as if it would also have liked to leave. Louise could see the grey-haired woman in the rear-view mirror. She was waiting for Louise to drive off.
She returned to the hotel. The albino sat in the empty dining room playing his xylophone. Children were playing in the sand with the remains of a dustbin. They were beating the bin as if giving it a good hiding. The man in reception smiled. He was reading a well-thumbed Bible. She felt dizzy, everything was so unreal. She went up to her room and lay down on the bed.
Her stomach was in uproar. She could feel it coming and managed to get to the toilet before it came gushing out of her. She had barely returned to bed before she was forced to hasten up again. An hour later, she was running a temperature. When the cleaner came, Louise managed to explain that she was ill, and needed bottled water and would then like to be left in peace. An hour later a waiter from the dining room appeared with a small bottle of mineral water. She gave him some money and asked him to return with a large bottle.
She spent the rest of the day running backwards and forwards between the bed and the toilet. By dusk she had no strength left. But the attacks seemed to be receding. She managed to get up on shaky legs and go down to the dining room to drink tea.
She was about to leave when the whispering man in the dark room came back into her consciousness.
He wanted to speak to me. He wanted me to listen. He was ill, but much more than that, he was scared. He turned away from me as if to emphasise that he hadn't made contact.
He wanted to talk to me. Behind those glittering eyes of his was something different.
It suddenly dawned on her what he had been