van Effen, appearance returned to normal, sitting there, his eyes had
momentarily widened, his lips momentarily parted and a slight but
noticeable amount of colour had left his checks, and not momentarily
either. Almost certainly van Effen was the only person who had noticed
the fleeting sea-change that had overcome Agnelli, but, then, probably,
van Effen had been the only person who had been looking for it.
There were also four men on the other side of the negotiating
table; the two ministers, de Graaf and van Effen, and they had
nothingto say either, and this for two excellent
reasons: there was nothing they could immediately say that
would be in any way helpful and all had to admit to themselves
that Riordan had expressed his viewpoint with a certain degree
of logical persuasion, however unreasonable, threatening and
preposterous his accompanying demands might have been. It
was Aaron Wieringa, glancing in turn at each of his three
companions, who broke the silence.
189
‘Before I speak, gentlemen, have any of you any comment to make?’
Van Effen said: ‘I have.’
‘Lieutenant?’
‘Mr Riordan has been surprisingly reticent about one thing. He hasn’t
said why he wants afl British influence removed from Northern Ireland.
If we are to negotiate on his behalf I think we should have the right to
know something of his motivation, his intentions. It may be that his
intentions are so awful, so appalling, that we would risk any disaster-to
our country sooner than comply with his wishes. We have, of course, no
reason to believe that Mr Riordan wW tell us the truth.’
‘The point is weU taken,’Wieringa said. ‘Well, Mr Riordan?’
‘There’s no point in swearing that IT tell the truth, because any liar
would say the same.’ Riordan had again risen to his menacing height, he
seemed to find talking easier that way. ‘I have talked about the
ninety-nine point nine per cent of good and decent people in that
war-torn country who are utterly dominated by the point one per cent of
those maniacal killers. Our sole objective is to eliminate this point one
per cent and enable the people of Ulster to resolve their own future in
an atmosphere of calm and peace and quiet and hope.’
‘Elknination?’Wieringa said cautiously. ‘What precisely do you mean by
that?’
‘We will exterminate the evil bastards on both sides. We will excise the
cancer. Is that blunt enough for you?’ Riordan sat down.
‘It sounds like a high purpose,’ van Effen said. He made no attempt to
disguise the contemptuous disbelief in his voice. ‘Noble and humane. Let
them resolve their own future. Hardly ties in, does it, with your earlier
statement that Northern Ireland wifl never be governed by representatives
of the two communities? Has it not occurred to you that if the most
conceivably rabid IRA leader were sitting in that chair he would talk
exactly as you are talking now, in order to achieve the same end as you
are seeking – to get the British out of Northern Ireland at all costs.
What assurance do we have that you are not, in fact, that rabid IRA
leader?’
Igo
‘You have none.’ This time Riordan had riot risen from his chair and his
voice was remarkably calm. ‘I can do no more. If you cannot see that I
detest the IRA and all its manifestations, you must be blind. I am so
appalled at the suggesdon that I cannot easily find words to counter it.’
There was another and even longer silence, then Wieringa said: ‘I believe
one calls this an impasse.’
‘Impasse, as you say,’ Riordan said. He was still seated, the time for
rhetoric had apparently passed. ‘But surely there are certain salient
factors that should resolve the impasse. Oostlijk -Flevoland, for
instance. Leeuwarden. The Noordoost polder. Wieringermeer, Putten,
Petten, Schouwen, Walchcren and others. And I did mention that we have
the Royal Palace mined?’
‘The Palace?’ Wieringa said. He didn’t seem particularly overcome.
‘Tonight’s little demonstration was just that. A little demonstration.
just to prove how pathetically easy it is to circumvent your alleged
security precautions.’
‘Save your breath, Riordan.’ Wieringa’s voice was curt. No ‘Mr’ this
time. ‘The time for threats is past. Only moral considerations remain.’
‘Fifty-fifty,’ van Effen said.
Wieringa looked at him for some moments, then nodded.
‘My way of thinking, too. Thank you, Lieutenant. It is difficult to
decide to drown one’s country on the basis of a gamble.’ He looked at
Riordan. ‘I am empowered to make decisions. I will call the British
ambassador. He will call the Foreign Office in London. We shall make a
radio announcement – worded in a suitably cautious fashion, you
understand. Those three things I can promise. The outcome of the negoti-
ations, of course, are not for me to predict or influence. That is
understood?’
‘That is understood. Thank you, Minister.’ There was no hint of triumph,
not even satisfaction, in Riordan’s voice. He stood. ‘Your integrity is
a byeword throughout Europe. I am content. Goodnight, gentlemen.’
No one wished him goodnight in return.
191
After the departure of Riordan and his associates there was silence in the
room until Wieringa had put through his; telcphone call. When he had
replaced the receiver, he sipped delicately from “, brandy glass, smiled
and said: ‘Comments, gentiemen?’He was a remarkably calm
‘It’s outrageous, disgraceful and dastardly,’ Dessens said, loudlly and
predictably. Now that the need for action and decision-making was over,
he was all fire and fury. ‘Tlie good name, the honour of the Netherlands
lies in the dust.’
‘Better, perhaps, than that its citizens should lie under the
flood-waters,’Wicrinp said. ‘Colonel?’
‘You had to consider the balance of probabilities,’ de Graaf said. ‘Your
decision, sir, was not only the correct one: it was the inevitable one.’
‘Thank you, Colonel. Lieutenant?’
‘What can I usefully add, sir?’
‘Quite frankly, I don’t know. But, according to the Colonel -and it is,
I must say, a most handsome admission on his part -you are closer to
those villains than anyone else in Amsterdam.’ He smiled. ‘I do not, of
course, use the word “closer” in a pejorative sense.’
‘Thank you, sir. I’d hoped not.’
‘You’re not really very forthcoming, are you, Lieutenant?’
‘A certain uncharacteristic diffidence, sir. I may be the senior
detective-lieutenant in the city, but I’m pretty junior in this exalted
company. What do you want me to be forthcoming about, sir?’
Wieringa regarded the roof and said, almost inconsequentially: ‘I had to
make a pretty important decision there.’ He dropped his gaze and looked
at van Effen. ‘Did you believe Riordan?’
Van Effen picked up his glass and considered it without drinking from it.
He was obviously marshalling his thoughts. Then he said: ‘Four points,
Minister. There are two things I believe about Riordan, one point I’m not
sure whether to believe or disbelieve and a fourth where I definitely
disbelieve.’
‘Ah! Hence your cryptic remark 4clifty-fiftyl)?)
‘I suppose. First, I believe he is definitely not IRA.’
192
‘You do, Lieutenant? In that case, am I not entitled to ask why you pushed
him?’
‘Confirmation. But I was sure before. That speech of his -that impassioned
and violent denunciation of the IRA and all its methods. You’d have to be
an exceptional actor to get that amount of hatred into your voice: but
you’d have to be an impossibly good one to have a pulse beat like a
trip-hammer in your throar.’
‘I missed that.’ Wieringa said. He looked at de Graaf and Dessens. ‘Either
of you gentlemen -‘ He broke off at their mute headshakes.
‘Secondly,’ continued van Effen, ‘I believe that Riordan is not the leader,
the driving force, the man in charge. Why do I believe that?. I can’t give
a shred of evidence, of proof. But he’s too fiery, too unbalanced, too
unpredictable to be a general.’
‘You wouldn’t fight under him, van Effen?’ Wieringa was haff-smiling, half
curious.
‘No, sir. There’s someone else. I’m certain it’s not Agnelli. I would take
long odds it’s not O’Brien – he’s got sergeant-major written all over him.
I’m not saying it’s Samuelson. He’s an enigma, a mystery. But his presence
is totally unexplained and when any presence is as inexplicable as that
then a very big explanation would seem to be called for.
‘Where I’m uncertain whether to believe his story or not, is about Northern
Ireland. Riordan said his only aim was to eliminate the monsters. His voice
did carry what might have been regarded as the authentic ring of sincerity
and, as I’ve said, I don’t believe he’s all that good an actor.’ Van Effen
sighed briefly, shook his head and sipped his brandy. ‘I know this is all
rather confusing, gentlemen. Let me put it this way. I believe that he
believes what he says, but I don’t believe that what he believes is
necessarily true. It’s one of the reasons why I’m convinced he’s not the
king-pin. Two things. He was caught outright in a flat contradiction yet