'Why ask?' he said. 'I couldn't refuse anyway. A civilian has to assist a policeman at the first request. That's the law, isn't it?'
Grijpstra smiled as well.
'That's the law. But a civilian can refuse if there is any risk to the safety of his person. So we are only asking for the boat. You don't have to come with us. Just explain to us how we should handle your yacht.'
'That's all right,' the man said, 'I'll come with you. I may be of use. I can handle the boat and I used to be an officer in the commandos. My name is Runau.'
They shook hands.
De Gier had gone back to the car, grinning to himself. He brought out the carbine and its six spare magazines, the searchlight and a rope with a heavy metal hook attached to one end.
He had to make another trip to fetch the large tin marked with a Red Cross.
'I hope we won't have to use the tin,' he thought.
'You didn't have to bring all that,' Runau said when de Gier clambered aboard. 'I've got everything on this boat. Everything except the carbine of course.' He took the weapon from de Gier and handled it lovingly. 'Long time since I've had one in my hands. Much nicer than a rifle but not as deadly. I used to be pretty good with a carbine.'
'Give it here,' de Gier said. 'We shouldn't lead you into temptation.'
Runau laughed. 'You aren't tempting me. I wouldn't aim it at a man, not even at a bird. I may have been a commando but I respect life.'
'So do we,' Grijpstra said. 'You wouldn't have any coffee aboard, would you?'
'Plenty of coffee,' Runau said, and started the yacht's engine. De Gier untied the mooring rope and the slender vessel nosed its way toward the lake.
'Were you going to spend the night on the water as well?' Grijpstra asked.
'Yes,' Runau said grimly. 'My wife and I don't get on very well lately. I don't always go home after work. It's peaceful out here.'
'I see,' Grijpstra said.
They watched de Gier rummaging about on the yacht's deck. De Gier was still grinning to himself.
'Your colleague seems to be enjoying himself,' Runau said.
'He does. He is an adventurer. This is different to patrolling the streets. He is still a little boy at heart and he reads too many books.'
Runau moved the throttle and the yacht increased her speed noticeably. 'We all are little boys at heart,' he said.
'Hmm,' Grijpstra said. 'Will you be divorcing your wife?'
Runau was looking straight ahead. He looked suddenly tired.
'I think so.'
'Any children?'
'No,' Runau said. 'We haven't been married very long. She is very young, we were going to wait.'
'I see,' Grijpstra said.
'Nice night, isn't it?' de Gier asked, sticking his head into the cabin. He was rubbing his hands. 'Show me where the coffee is and I'll make it.'
De Gier busied herself with the small paraffin burner. When the coffee was ready Runau switched the engine off and they listened.
'Can't hear anything,' Runau said. 'He must have gone the other way. His engine is noisy and the sound carries far on the lake. We'll bear north for a while, he won't have gone south toward Amsterdam, not if he wants to get away. Has he really murdered somebody?'
'We think he has,' de Gier said. 'He may have been dealing in drugs and we think he has killed his partner. Hung him, making it look like suicide.'
'Hung him?' Runau asked. 'That's a nasty way to kill somebody. I thought a Papuan would prefer a knife, or a bow and arrows, or a blowpipe.'
'He stunned him before he hung him,' Grijpstra said.
'That hotter he is sailing, is she fast?' de Gier asked.
Runau shook his head.
'Not very fast. This boat is much faster, but the botter is nicer. She has a lot of character, that boat. Must have cost him money too. A restored boat, some sixty or eighty years old, but the engine is brand new.'
'This is a nice boat too,' Grijpstra said.
'She is all right,' Runau said, 'but I would prefer the botter. This is just a little thing for pleasure. I work for the municipality and I don't earn very much. I had to save for years to buy this one but I should have bought a bigger boat. 'I'd like to cross the ocean one day; this boat will never make it. The botter could make it, if her deck is sealed properly.'
Grijpstra laughed. 'Van Meteren may be on his way to New Guinea. We better warn the Water Police to watch the locks in the dike.'
'He won't make the dike,' Runau said. 'We'll find him before he does. Pity I don't have a radio on board.'
'That's all right,' de Gier said. 'The Water Police have been alerted. We'll catch him on the lake, unless, of course, he makes for another port and gets off his boat.'
'He won't,' Grijpstra said.
Runau had switched the engine off again and raised a finger. They listened.
'You hear?'
'Yes,' they said. The heavy plof plof plof of the diesel engine was clearly audible.
'Bah,' Grijpstra said, 'we need a radio now. The Water Police are watching but they don't know what they are watching.'
'There she is,' Runau said.
The boat was no more than a black dot on the horizon. Runau got his binoculars and the dot became a little bigger.
'He has a rifle,' de Gier said suddenly.
'A what?'
'A rifle,' de Gier repeated, 'a Lee Enfield rifle. He must be a crack shot with it and I am sure he has hundreds of cartridges.'
'But how…?'
'Smuggled it from New Guinea,' Grijpstra explained. 'We knew he had it but he said it was a souvenir and we let him keep it. Never be kind to anyone. Now he'll kill us with his souvenir.'
'We have the carbine,' de Gier said.
'No match for a Lee Enfield,' Grijpstra said. 'Tell you what-let's just follow him, keeping out of range. It may take a long time but the Water Police will come eventually.'
'You could go back to the coast,' Runau said, 'and make contact with the Water Police. They have some small planes as well.'
'No,' de Gier said, 'I prefer to catch up with him and tell him to surrender. He is a reasonable man and he will have to give himself up. If he starts shooting we can always duck.'
R'unau laughed. 'That's commando talk. I am with you.'
They were both looking at Grijpstra.
'All right,' Grijpstra said.
'More coffee,' Runau said and filled their cups. 'I am beginning to enjoy this. Better than filling in forms at the office.'
The hotter was visible now. They saw the thick line of its single mast and a thin short line at the rudder.
'That's him,' de Gier said and lifted the carbine. 'He must know that it's us.'
He aimed the carbine's barrel at the moon and fired. 'We are in range already,' Grijpstra said. 'If he knows how to handle his rifle he can have us with three bullets.'
They heard the shot, van Meteren's bullet wined past them.'
'That's a warning shot as well,' Runau said. 'Two meters off at least.'
