The Chateaubriand. You said you would share this with me, my dear.’ 11
She appeared to give a tiny shudder. ‘I know it’s trite, silly, but I
don’t think I could eat a thing.’
‘Mavbe the moles will come out of their burrows tomorrow,’ van Effen
said. ‘I’m still hoping that they will keep their promise and make
contact with me.’
Annemarie stared at him, almost blankly. ‘You must be mad,’ she said in
a low voice. She seemed genuinely puzzled. ‘Either they’ll come and give
you the same treatment, perhaps worse, perhaps dispose of you
permanently, or they won’t come at all. After they carried out that
savage attack on those poor men they could have examined them and found
out that they were policemen. They must have been carrying something that
would identify them as policemen, even guns. Were they carrying guns?’
Van Effen nodded. ‘Then they’ll know you are a policeman because they’ll
know you,must have had them followed since they left the Hunter’s Horn.
You like the idea of suicide?’ She reached out and touched de Graaf’s
wrist. ‘You mustn’t let him do it, sir. He’ll be killed.’
‘Your concern does you credit.’ It was van Effen who answered and he
seemed quite unmoved by her plea. ‘But quite uncalled for. The villains
don’t necessarily know that I set the tails on their tracks. They might
not even have noticed them until long after they’d left the Hunter’s Horn
and would have no reason to connect me with them. That’s one thing. The
other thing is the fact that though the Colonel is your father’s friend
that doesn’t give the father’s daughter the right to advise the Colonel.
A fledgling policewoman. A Chief of Police. It would be laughable if it
weren’t so presumptuous.’
She looked at Win, her eyes hurt as if she had been struck, then lowered
her gaze to the tablecloth. De Graaf looked at van Effen, shook his head
slightly, then took the girl’s hand.
‘Your concern does do you credit. It does. But it doesn’t give me much
credit in your eyes. None. Look at me.’ She looked at him, the hazel eyes
at once solemn and apprehensive. ‘Van Effen is absolutely correct. The
foxes have to be flushed from
77
their covers and this, at the moment, seems the only way to do it. So
Peter will go – I would never order him to go – and with my consent. Good
heavens, girl, do you think I would use him as live bait, a lamb to the
slqughter, a Daniel in the lion’s den, a tethered goat for the tiger? My
word, I do have a way with metaphors. I guarantee, my girl, that, when and
if the meeting does take place, both the Hunter’s Horn and the surrounding
area will be alive with invisible armed men. Invisible to the ungodly.
Peter will be as safe as a man in a church.’
‘I know. I’m silly. I’m sorry.’
‘Pay no attention to the Colonel’s comforting words,’ van Effen said. ‘I
shall probably be riddled with bullets. Police bullets. Unless it’s
pointed out to them that I’m in disguise. Ironic if thcy shot the wrong
man. Same outfit as before. Just let them concentrate on the black glove.
That’s me.’
A waiter approached their table. ‘Sorry, Lieutenant. There’s another call
for you.’
Van Effen was back inside two minutes. ‘Well, no surprise, surprise. The
FFF, again, mysterious message, no doubt stepping up their demoralizing
campaign. They say there could be some havoc wreaked along the North
Holland Canal tomorrow at Alkmaar at 9 a.m., but they have made no
guarantee that there will be. All they have promised is that there will
be some quite considerable activity.’
De Graaf said: ‘That was all?’
‘All. I see. Seems utterly pointless and meaningless. What the devil do
you think they’re up to now?’
‘It’s not pointless. That’s just the point – to make us wonder and worry
about just what the devil they are up to now. They want to create
uncertainty, confusion and demoralization and it would seem to me that
they’re going the right way about it. Speaking of the FFF, sir, how was
your pleasure trip to Texel this afternoon?’
‘Complete waste of time. I was accompanied, as you more or less
predicted, by a bunch of old women.’
‘You don’t intend to be at Alkmaar at 9 a.m. tomorrow?’
‘I intend to be in Amsterdam at 9 a.m. tomorrow. What am I supposed to
do? Lurk around and nab anyorte who looks as if he
78
is acting suspiciously, such as gloating over the scene of the crime?’
‘An unpromising course of action. You’ve got friends in the University,
sir. Specifically, in the linguistics department?’
De Graaf said to Annemarie: ‘I’m supposed to look startled at this sudden
switch and ask “why on earth do you ask that?” ‘ He looked at van Effen.
‘Well, why on earth do you ask that?’
‘I listened to the FFF’s tapes in the Tekgraph’s office earlier on this
evening. A woman’s voice. A young woman, I would say. And not Dutch, I’m
sure.’
‘Interesting. Very. Back to our mysterious foreigners again. Any educated
guesses as to the country of origin of the caller?’
‘That’s the trouble, sir. I speak the odd language, sure, but I’m not
what you might call an educated linguist. Regional accents, nuances,
pronunciation- that is quite definitely not my field.’
‘And you think the university could help?’
‘It’s a chance, sir. As you say, no stone unturned. The tapes are in my
office.’
‘I’ll do what I can. You may as well get to your feet, Peter. A
purposeful waiter comes your way.’
Van Effen rose, met the waiter, spoke briefly and moved on. When he took
his seat again, he said: ‘The opposition is stirring. Whatever opposition
that might be. That was my hotel, the Trianon. Message relayed through
the office of course.’
De Graaf said patiently:’And how long have you been staying in the
Trianon, Lieutenant? You have been evicted from your own apartment?’
‘The register book says that I have been there for two weeks. I arranged
that about five o’clock this afternoon.’
‘Dear, dear. Falsifying register books is a civil offence.’
‘I’ve no time to be arrested at the moment. Romero Agnew or one of his
men must have been very busy phoning around and have at last located me
as staying at the Trianon. They have posted a watcher in the shadows –
in a little old Fiat, actually. I have arranged for another watcher to
watch the original. Well, I can’t disappoint them. I shall turn up there
later on tonight.’
79
‘You lead an active life,’ de Graaf said. ‘I assume that you do not intend
to spend the night there?’
‘You assume correctly, sir. I shall park my car at the back of
the hotel, where I shall be picked up by a police taxi and
deposited at the front door. T hen I pass through the hotel, exit
by the rear entrance and drive home. It’s a nuisance, no more.’
‘And here, again,’de Graaf said,’comes your own private and personal
nuisance. My word, you are popular tonight.’
Van Effen looked, sighed, rose, spoke briefly to the waiter again and
disappeared towards the teiephone booths.
‘The same opposition stirs yet again,’ he said on his return. ‘Ah, a
brandy. Thank you, sir. That was Sergeant Westenbriink – Vasco. Message
again via the office, of course. Agnelli has been in touch with him. They
would, they say, very much like to meet me at ii a.m., tomorrow morning.
Same place. This can mean one of two things.’
‘I know what it means,’de Graaf said. ‘Either they’re on to us or they’re
not on to us. It is quite possible that they had no idea that they were
being shadowed ever since leaving the Hunter’s Horn this afternoon. On the
other hand it’s perfectly possible that they did know. If they did, they
can have only one purpose in wanting to meet you, to see how much you know,
what danger your knowledge offers and how best they can eliminate this
danger. It should, I imagine.. be all very discreet. And, if they suspect
you and suspect that you in turn suspect them, they’re being clever, for in
that case one would have expected them to opt for a neutral rendezvous, for
if they suspect you’re an undercover policeman or working as an agent for
the police then they must automatically suspect that the Hunter’s Horn is
a police hang-out. But, of course, to go elsewhere would be to tip their
hand that they know.’ De Graaf sighed. ‘All very devious and complicated.
Designed to spread confusion and doubt on all hands. Maybe they’ve been
taking lessons from the FFF. Or vice versa. Another brandy, Peter? No? In
that case I suggest we be on our way. I expect we shall be having a rather