The Lavender Ladies Detective Agency: Death in Sunset Grove by Minna Lindgren

arrangements are.’
    ‘He has to have some way to figure out who we are. Otherwise he’ll be afraid to open the door,’ Irma explained, then continued to yell. ‘Siiri Kettunen and Irma
Lännenleimu want to see you, Mr Raudanheimo! I have short hair in a perm and I’ve become a bit plump as I’ve got older, but I was very slender when I was young, and I have a blue
dress, a real pearl necklace, and lovely earrings with real diamonds in them, and Siiri always wears long trousers and one of those . . . is that thing a cardigan?’
    Siiri was starting to get nervous about the ruckus Irma was making. She glanced around crossly and noticed Virpi Hiukkanen at the end of the long hallway. Virpi gave her an icy stare and walked
calmly towards them. Irma didn’t notice her ominous form approaching and continued shouting. Virpi was just a few metres away and Siiri couldn’t get any words out; she tugged on
Irma’s sleeve in a panic.
    ‘We’re not Erkki Hiukkanen!’ Irma shouted into the lock, just as Virpi reached them. Siiri shrank like a schoolgirl in the head teacher’s office.
    ‘That’s enough of this nonsense. Here at Sunset Grove it’s important to leave the residents in peace and to create an atmosphere of tranquillity,’ Virpi said, forcing her
face into a calm smile. Then she suddenly broke into a yell. ‘What is wrong with you two? Why are you shouting at the door of a total stranger? Who gave you permission to be here? You seem to
have no concept of the principles of Sunset Grove! We are committed to the privacy of every resident and this behaviour is ridiculous. You’re endangering the safety of the entire institution
with your silly whims. Do I have to call the police, or an ambulance, to keep you two in check?’
    Virpi looked at them threateningly and adjusted her large, plastic-rimmed glasses, as if to add to her air of authority. Siiri started to feel dizzy and had to grab Irma’s arm.
    ‘I think I’m going to faint,’ she said, but she managed to stay upright with Irma’s support. Her vision grew foggy and she had to focus what little strength she had on
breathing.
    ‘This place doesn’t ensure privacy, it ensures privation!’ Irma yelled, helping Siiri into a Biedermeier chair. ‘Siiri’s having a heart attack because of you! There
are all kinds of shady things going on in this institution and all you do is spy on healthy people in the hallways! You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Where is Olavi Raudanheimo? Where have you
put Reino Luukkanen? What’s going on around here?’
    Siiri wasn’t having a heart attack. It was probably just the arrhythmia that she suffered now and then. But that was no joking matter, either, and she really did feel like she might black
out at any moment. It was a lucky thing that there were chairs left by dead people in the hallways at Sunset Grove for situations such as these. When she opened her eyes Irma was holding her hand
and Virpi Hiukkanen was standing a couple of metres away looking frightened. Virpi didn’t try to help her, she just gnawed nervously on her chewing gum, took a phone out of her pocket, as
though she had something important to do, and moved off without another word.
    ‘And they say caregiving is a calling,’ Irma puffed, pulling a flask of whisky out of her handbag. She made Siiri take a gulp and wiped her brow with her lace handkerchief.
‘It’s not the one Reino mangled,’ she reassured her.
    They thought that Virpi had gone to fetch a blood pressure cuff, since nurses always thought that anything troubling an old person could be made better by taking their blood pressure, but when
she didn’t return after a quarter of an hour, Irma led Siiri back to her apartment. She helped her lie down on the bed, took off her shoes, and laid her nap blanket over her. Then she went to
the front door and tried to call for help because Siiri was very pale and still wasn’t breathing normally.
    The basic fee at Sunset Grove