'Have a cigar,' Minette said. 'Do we still have those long thick cigars, Alice? They were in a big box, with an Indian on the lid, remember?'
Alice brought the box, opened it, put it on a low table next to the corner chair, which de Gier had chosen judging it to be the safest place in the room, and sat down on the carpet, within touching distance of his leg.
'You will have a cigar, won't you, sergeant?'
'Yes,' de Gier said. 'Please.'
The small white hand touched the box, slid over it and picked out a cigar. She caressed it, looking at him languidly, and then rapidly peeled off its plastic skin and licked its end, darting the tip of her tongue in and out. Her small regular teeth showed when she saw that he was watching her. Her long eyelashes came down slowly and then, smiling wickedly, she stuck the cigar into her mouth, turned it around and bit off its end.
'Here you are, sergeant.' She lit a match.
'Yes,' de Gier said, 'thanks. You two girls were with a Mr. Bezuur last night we were told.'
'It's hot in here,' Alice said. The air conditioner is on the blink. They keep on fiddling with it but it never works when you want it to. You should get a new one, Minette. Do you mind if I take off my blouse, sergeant?'
She took it off before he could say anything. She wore nothing underneath. The breasts were pretty, very small and firm. She stretched and untied her hair, which flowed down her shoulders, and she adjusted the strands so that her nipples were covered. De Gier stared.
'Yes,' he said. 'It's rather hot in here. Outside too. Putting the windows down doesn't help much either. Now how long were you two with Mr. Bezuur, yesterday? Do you remember the exact times? When did you get to his house and when did you leave?'
'Bezuur?' Alice asked. 'Who is Bezuur?'
'That's Klaas, of course,' Minette said. 'The fat fellow. You were all over him all night, remember?'
'Oh,' Alice said. 'The piggy man. You were all over him, not me. I only danced about while he drank, and ate. He ate a whole ham. Bah. I am glad he wasn't pawing me. Why don't you get some of your clothes off, sergeant? I can sit on your lap, you'll hardly feel my weight.'
'You don't need me in here,' Minette said and pouted. 'Do you want me to go into the other room?'
'No,' de Gier said quickly, 'no, no. Stay right here, and I am not taking my clothes off either. For God's sake, can't you two answer a simple question? When did you get to his bouse and when did you leave?'
'Now, now,' Alice said, and moved closer. 'Don't be uptight, sergeant. We won't make you pay, you are safe in here. Nobody will mind if you stay an hour. It isn't the right day for work, is it?'
'When…' de Gier asked, and half-rose from his chair.
'We got there about nine last night and we left early this morning. Around five o'clock it was, I think. A taxi took us home.'
'And Bezuur was with you all die time?'
'Sure.'
'Weren't you asleep some of the time?'
'He was there while I slept,' Minette said. 'Right next to me.'
'Sure?'
'Yes. He put his fat leg on me, I couldn't get it off. It stopped the circulation in my ankle and I had to massage it.'
De Gier looked down. Alice had been inching herself toward him and was now rubbing herself against his leg.
'Yes,' she said. 'He was there. I was asleep on the couch some of the time bat I saw him when I woke up. He was there just like you are here now. Sit back, sergeant, I am going to sit on your lap.'
'No,' de Gier said, and got up.
She followed him to the door. He was standing with his back against the wall, holding his notebook.
'I want your full name and Minette's name. I'll have to write a report.'
'Is that piggy man in any sort of trouble?' Alice was standing very close again.
'Not really. We just want to know where he was last night.'
She waited while he was making his notes, gave him their names and dates of birth.
'Profession?' de Gier asked.
'You know!' Alice said. 'We are callguis.'
'Prostitutes,' de Gier wrote down. 'I've got to go now. Thanks for the information.'
'Come back,' Alice whispered quickly. 'I live two floors up, number five-seven-four. Give me a ring first.
I won't charge you.'
'Sure,' de Gier said and slipped through the door.
'Like hell,' he said a little later, cruelly pushing the gear lever of the Volkswagen. Like bloody hell, a policeman-friend to help her out when she gets into trouble. But she made me feel randy, the little bitch. Just the sort of thing for a day like this.
He had to stop for a traffic light and gloomily watched a big Mercedes which had pulled up next to the Volkswagen. There were two middle-aged men in the back of the car, dressed in suits and ties. They were both smoking cigars. De Gier saw one of them blow out a little cloud of smoke, which disappeared immediately, sucked away by the airconditioning in the car. He looked at the soggy end of his own cigar, and tossed it out of the window, watching it spark as it hit the tarmac. The driver of the Mercedes winked at him. He had pushed his cap to the back of his head, and was loosening his tie.
'Hot, eh?' he asked.
De Gier nodded.
The two men in the back of the car were laughing about something.
'Your passengers are cool enough,' de Gier said.
'They are cool,' the driver said, indicating the glass partitioning with his thumb. 'I am not.'
The light changed and the Mercedes accelerated.
'Bounders,' de Gier thought. Two bounders and one little sucker to whizz 'em around.'
He was thinking about Alice again. Grijpstra had his Nellie. He forced himself to think about something else. He saw the spiked ball, trying to visualize its flight as it approached Abe Rogge's window. Someone was directing the ball, using a device. But what was it? He tried to visualize the device but it blurred as he focused.
11
The Commissaris looked at the young woman who, red-eyed, perched on a highbacked chair, was studying a stain on the wallpaper. They had dispensed with courtesies and he would have to make an opening.
'We were informed that you were friendly with Abe Rogge, miss. Perhaps you can tell us something about him. Any information will help. We know a little about the way he was, but not enough. Someone went to a lot of trouble to kill him. There usually is a strong connection between killer and victim. Perhaps you can help us to find out what bound the two together.'
'Yes,' the woman said, and sniffled. 'I understand. Poor Abe. How did he die? I didn't know until the police phoned me this morning. I didn't dare to phone Esther. She must be very upset.'
Grijpstra gave her an abridged version of what the police knew. He left out the gory details.
'Horrible,' the woman said.
She calmed down after a while. Her two visitors looked harmless enough and were sipping coffee and smoking cigars, careful to tip their ash into the saucers of their cups. She remembered that she hadn't put an ashtray on the table and got up to fetch one. The two men didn't look out of place in the small modern fiat on the top floor of an apartment building. The commissaris commented on the view. He identified some of the church towers and when he made a mistake, she corrected him.
'Yes,' she said. 'I understand now. You have come to me because I was his girlfriend, or one of his girlfriends rather. I didn't mind, not very much anyway. Abe could be charming, he knew how to flatter me, and perhaps I didn't want him all for myself. I am reasonably content with my routine. Abe would have upset it if he had
