Dessens like a Christian who had just been given his first preview of the
lions in the Roman arena.
Wierinva said: ‘What little item, Colonel?’
‘This.’ De Graaf handed him the paper, put his elbow on the arm of his
chair and his hand to his forehead as if to hide hi s eyes from some
unspeakable sight.
‘High explosives,’ Wieringa read out. ‘Primers. Detonators. Grenades.
Ground-to-ground missiles. Ground-to-air missiles.’ He looked at van
Effen consideringly but with no signs of consternat;on on his face. ‘What
is this?’
‘A shopping list. I was going to ask the Colonel to get it for me.’
Desserts, who had adopted precisely the sanne attitude as de Graaf, made
a slight moaning sound. ‘As you are the Minister of Defence, the Colonel
would have had to approach you anyway. I’d also like to borrow an Army
truck, if I may. With a little luck I may ever, be able to return it.’
Wieringa looked at him, looked at the paper in his hand, then back at van
Effen again. ‘Balanced against this shopping list, as you call it, the
loan of the odd army vehicle seems an eminently reasonable request. All
this I can obtain without any great difficulty. I have heard a
considerable an, ount about you, van Effen, and I have learnt a great
deal more tonight. I would hes;tate to question your judgement.’ He
thought for a moment. ‘I think I would question my own first, so I don’t
question yours. No doubt it’s just idle curiosity on my part, but it
would be nice to know zohy you require those items.’
‘The FFF seem to be short of explosives and offensive weapons, so I have
promised to supply them with some.’
‘Of course,’ Wieringa said. ‘Of course.’The Defence Minister appeared to
be virtually unshockable; certainly, nothing showed in his eyes. Nothing
was to be seen in the eyes of de Graaf or Dessens either, but that didn’t
mean that they were
198
shock-proof. their shading hands still cut their eyes off from the
dreadful realities of the harsh world outside.
‘They also seem to be short of explosive experts, so I volunteered my
services.’
‘You know something about explosives?’
De Graaf reluctantly uncovered his eyes. ‘He knows a great deal about
explosives. He’s also a bomb disposal expert. I wish,’ he said bitterly,
‘that this was something simple, like defusing a ticking 5oo-kilo bomb.’
‘Yes, sir.’ Van Effen was addressing de Graaf now. ‘I’ve also recruited
George and Vasco, Geor-ge as another person versed in the way of
explosives and Vasco as a trained missile launcher. You will understand
that I did not have time to consult you on those matters.’
‘You can’t think of everything,’ de Graaf said dully. He discovered, to
his apparent astonishment, that his brandy glass was empty and set about
rectifying this.
‘Nothing illegal about recruiting those two men, Mr Wieringa. They’re
police sergeants. And they weren’t recruited – they volunteered. They
know the dangers. There’s nothing to be done about the explosives, sir,
but if you could have an annourer deactivate the missiles I’d be very
grateful.’
De Graaf lowered his glass. ‘So would I. So would L’ Not much in the way
of life had come back into his voice.
Wieringa said: ‘I suppose I’m just being idly curious again but why are
you and your two friends taking these appalling risks?’
‘Calculated risks, sir. I hope. The reason is simple. The Colonel has
said that we have gained an entr&- into the FFF. That’s not quite
accurate. We have been accepted – or appear to have been accepted – on
the fringes. We’re just on the outer strand of the spider’s web. We don’t
know where the spider is. But if we deliver the requested items, we’ll
find out. They’re not likely to leave missiles and missile launchers in
a safe deposit box in the Central Station.’
‘Impeccable logic, van Effen, impeccable logic. Except, of course, for
one tiny little flaw.’
‘Sir?’
I%
‘The spider may gobble you up. The scheme is mad, quite mad – which is the
only reason it might just succeed. I’d be intrigued to know where and when
you arranged this.’
‘About an hour and a half ago. Over a drink with Agnelli.’
For the first time, Wicringa’s monolithic calm cracked.
‘Over a drink with Agnelli? Agnelli? Agnelli! One of those men who have
just left?’
‘I was Stephan Danilov then. Well, can’t think of anything else so, with
your permission, I’ll be on my way. The weather forecast should be
interesting tonight – latest reports say floodlevel danger inside the next
forty-eight hours might even exceed that of February 1953. That will be the
time for our friends -and it doesn’t leave a great deal of time for
negotiations with the British Government. You will remember that I said I
didn’t believe in Riordan’s short-range threats: I’m convinced that the
long-range threat, the massive flooding of the country, has been arranged
and is totally real. One small point, Colonel. Riordan’s allegations
against the integrity of our customs. They’re ludicrous. I know that. You
know that. The world doesn’t. I’m convinced that the transfers are taking
place in the lisselmeer, Waddenzee or the open see. It’s a Navy job. God
knows we’ve got a bad enough name already as a gun-running entrepot: I
wonder what it will be like when all this is over.’ Van Effen smiled.
‘Still, it’s not a job that can be handled by a junior police officer: only
the ministries of Defence and Justice can cope. Good-night, gentlemen.’
‘Moment, Peter, moment.’ It was de Graaf and his distress was apparent.
‘Surely there’s sonwthing we can do to help?’
‘Yes, sir. There is. Do nothing. Absolutely nothing. Any attempt to help us
will probably help us into our graves. Those are clever and desperate men
so please, please, don’t try anything clever and desperate yourselves.
Don’t have the truck followed, not in any way, no matter how clever you
think you are, nothing. No helicopters, no blind barrel-organist, nothing.
And nothing so futile and puerile as fitting a concealed location
transmitter bug to the truck – unless they’re mentally retarded, it’s the
first thing they’d look for. Nothing. Do nothing.’
‘We take your point,’ Wieringa said drily. ‘Nothing.’ His
200
tone changed. ‘But from what you’ve just said, Lloyd’s of London wouldn’t
insure you for a ninety-nine per cent premium. But you go. For the last time
– why?’
‘You heard what. Mr Dessens said – the good name and honour of the
Netherlands in the dust, and you with its citizens full fathom five. We
can’t have that, can we?’
‘Your sister?’
:What about my sister?’
The Colonel told me tonight. God only knows how you carry on as you do. I
couldn’t. Kidnapped.’
:She’s part of it.’
I would not care to be the unfortunate man who abducted her when you meet
up with him.’
‘I’ve already met up with this unfortunate man.’
‘WhatV For the second time Wieringa’s self-control deserted him, but he
recovered quickly. ‘When?’
‘Tonight.’
“WhereF
Here. Agnelli.’
Agnellfl’
‘I should have shot him full of holes? There’s a law against it. I’m a
policeman. I’m supposed to uphold the law. Sworn to it, in fact.’
He left. Wieringa said: ‘I begin to believe some of the stories about van
Effen. The not-so-nice ones. God, Arthur, that’s his sister. No blood in
his veins. None. Ice.’
Yes, sir. Let’s hope Agnelli has not hurt Julie.’
What do you mean?’
‘Then he’s a dead man. Sure, sure, van Effen’s sworn to uphold the law –
but only in front of witnesses.’
Wieringa stared at him, then nodded slowly and reached for his glass.
201
Eight
At noon on that February day the streets of Amsterdam were dark as dusk. At
noon on that same day the streets were as deserted as those of any long-dead
city. The cloud cover dri’ven by that icy northern wind must have been black
and heavy and thousands of feet in depth but it could not be seen: the
torrential slanting rain that bounced knee-high off those same deserted
streets limited visibility in any direction, including vertically, to only
a few yards. It was not a noontide for the well-advised to venture out of
doors.
Van Effen, George and Vasco were among the very few who seemed to be
singularly ill-advised. They stood in the porchway of the Trianon hotel,
sheltering from the monsoon-like rain behind the side glass panels. Van
Effen was subjecting Vasco to a critical examination.
‘Not bad, Vasco, not at all bad. Even if I hadn’t known it was you, I don’t
think I would have recognized you. I’m quite certain I would have brushed
by you in the street and not given you a second look. But don’t forget that
Romero Agnelli had the opportunity of studying you very closely over the
table at the Hunter’s Horn. On the other hand, the clothes you wore on that