nowhere. I no longer belonged, but I was still around. Do you feel what I was feeling?'
'To be nowhere?'
'Free,' de Gier said. 'Aren't we served koffie? In Fries-land we were served koffie everywhere.'
'KoffieT the commissaris said.
'It just means coffee,' de Gier said. 'As I knew. I bought these books yesterday, before we set out, in a store specializing in foreign languages. Swahili, North Borneo-ese, even a Blackfoot Indian grammar. Blackfoot Indians use only verbs. They conjugate a table. Not bad, eh? Seeing that even tables do constantly change. But I happened to need Frisian, which they stocked. They stock just about anything in that store.'
The commissaris telephoned and ordered coffee.
'Grijpstra is a lout behind the wheel,' de Gier said. 'He kept twisting and turning, but perhaps that's the right thing to do, for Friesland twists and turns too. The alleys in Leeu-warden all bit their own tails. We got lost a lot, and the local police found us and rode ahead, to take us to their headquarters. The Leeuwarden Police are housed in a cube, and some distance from the city, so that they can drive into their hunting ground in a straight line, but once they're in, they'll be going round and round again.'
'Did you enjoy the Belgian endives, sir?' Cardozo asked.
'No,' the commissaris said. 'Then what happened, de Gier?'
'Douwe was no good,' de Gier said. 'His wife is a nice lady. Her name is Mem, meaning 'mother' in Frisian. She poured a good cup of koffie'
The coffee was brought in. De Gier accepted the tray and served the commissaris and Cardozo. 'There you are. Did you make some progress, Cardozo?'
'Found Scherjoen's car, on Prince Henry Quay. Same brand as the commissaris's, but probably in better shape, for you two must have ruined the commissaris's Citroen already. Scherjoen's car has been towed in. A pistol was found in the driver's door pocket. Old-model Mauser. Not recently fired.'
'Was Douwe rich?' the commissaris asked.
'Owned a country estate, which is now Mem's. There are no children.' De Gier described the hawthorns, the evening lowing of a cow (a plaintive but beautiful stretched sound, suspended above a wide meadow), and the superior architecture of Frisian country buildings.
'Rich,' the commissaris said. 'And you liked his wife?'
'Her true name is Krista,' de Gier said, 'and she does have Christ's eyes, and a crown of thorns. Maybe she has lost the thorns now, because of Douwe's death.'
'Details,' the commissaris said. 'Give us more.'
'It's so otherwise out there,' de Gier said. 'Beautiful, detached; the colors, sir, the shades are so subtle. Remember the Jehovah's Witnesses, when they come to the door? Resurrection? Heaven on future earth? Heaven is there now. No crime, unfortunately-very little for the likes of us to do. The nobleman Lasius of Burmania acts as the chief constable of the capital-only acting, of course; maybe heaven is a stage too-what a wonderful man he is, truly civilized, correct in every situation. He wanted to know what Grjjpstra might be doing there. Frisians don't go wrong, and if they do, they slide down the dike first, so if we look for misbehavior, we should watch them here. Not that we were unwelcome- that noble man Lasius of Burmania didn't give me that impression. Grupstra was even given a house. For free. The house belongs to a Frisian adjutant who's on holiday at present.'
'So you really know nothing,' Cardozo said.
'Should I know more?' de Gier asked. 'Grypstra won't allow me to do any work. I'm on paid leave, I understand. There's no need for me. Okay, maybe to do some shopping. I'll be going back in a minute. It's handy, Grypstra said, to have me around, perhaps. But there's nothing I'm supposed to do. That's why I observed all that exceptional beauty. If you're not involved in the activity, you sort of float, and while looking down much can be seen. You follow, Cardozo?'
'No,' Cardozo said. 'Ary and Fritz, sir?'
The commissaris collected his assembled facts. 'Mere suspicions so far,' the commissaris said, 'but Jelle Troelstra is a reliable informant. Let's see what our electronic equipment, activated by the simple pressing of a few well-placed buttons, can do for us by way of confirmation.' He picked up his phone. 'Dear? Here are die names of two suspects, bank robbers. Please have them checked by the computer. The suspects are from the south. Will you do that for me? Please?'
'The south?' Cardozo asked. 'Exiled Frisians?'
'The tip came from a Frisian,' the commissaris said.
The phone rang. 'Down?' the commissaris asked. 'Thank you, dear.' He replaced the phone.
'We do have some old files stored in the loft,' Cardozo said, 'due to be destroyed, but die shredder has been down. Shall I have a look?'
When Cardozo returned he was carrying dented file drawers and folded cards. He also produced some photos. 'This is Ary, this is Fritz, both of them known to be violent and armed, but recently freed after serving long stretches.'
They read the cards, de Gier and Cardozo standing at either side of the commissaris. 'Bad boys,' de Gier said, 'but what are they to us? They'll be operating well beyond our limits. Douwe is fine; his corpse got into our hands here, and there's a hot trail to be followed. Ary and Fritz drank Frisian jenever at chez Troelstra. Their thoughts were bad, but we can't catch their thoughts.'
'I'll have to pass it on,' the commissaris said. 'Pity. Why don't they commit their crimes in Amsterdam, like everybody else?'
'At a cattle market,' de Gier said. 'Just imagine.' He read a little more. 'Armed robbers.' He shrugged. 'Can't even catch them if they operated here. The new instructions state that in the case of armed robbery, an Arrest Team has to be alerted. The team will rush in with machine guns, and use sharpshooters peering through telescopes placed on cranes. They'll rumble about in armored vehicles. They'll be dressed in bulletproof vests. Their movements will be controlled from a mobile command post. Strategy. Tactics.'
'Dear?' the commissaris asked through his phone. 'Chief Constable Lasius of Burmania, Municipal Police, Leeuwar-den. Please?'
'In the old days,' the commissaris said, 'we'd just follow a robber. We'd tap him on the shoulder. We'd address him in a polite way. Then we'd take him along.'
'Was it really like that?' Cardozo asked. 'But the robber would be carrying a pistol, surely. We can't do anything if we don't outnumber him twenty to one. With an Uzi submachine gun. Or an HK-33 SG/L rifle with infrared light. Or an MP-5 automatic pistol with shortened barrel. Or a bat-ttecar-type Shorland, an armored UR- 416, or at least the modern Sankey minitank. Scout cars placed around the corner, ready to start, all weaponry aimed, backed up by squads of the Military Police, special lads, Red Beret training, pushed slowly forward and backed up again by a SWAT team of the State Police. Sharpshooters on all rooftops.'
The commissaris answered his phone. 'Can't be reached? Get me the State Police, please. The commander, if possible. Yes, Leeuwarden again, I imagine that their headquarters will be in the capital too. If you please, my dear.'
'You can't remember that far back, Cardozo,' the commissaris said, 'but in the past we were quite peaceful. The idea was not to disturb the peace even further. When we made an arrest, we never employed more than a few police; we believed in small numbers.'
'Colonel Kopinie is out of his office?' the commissaris asked. 'Do try the Military Police there, dear. If you please.'
'I could perhaps take a look,' de Gier said. 'A cattle market is open to the public. You think that Ary and Fritz will case the location soon? Cattle markets are on Friday, right? So they'll hit the dealers the Friday after. I might be there, an interested spectator. In Friesland I can be a civilian again.'
'Your police card is nationally valid,' Cardozo said.
'Sure,' de Gier said, 'but you haven't been there yet. Friesland is so otherwise.''''
'You can grab anyone when you see a crime being committed,' Cardozo said. 'Just suppose that you happened to be strolling about in the market and Ary and Fritz robbed the dealers and I happened to be there too because, say, I was staying with you. You do have a house out there, there'll be a spare room.'
'Not at all,' de Gier said. 'Grijpstra is the only one who'll be working. He doesn't need the disturbance that you'll bring along. Do something here, Simon, and don't get in the adjutant's way out there. If he sees you around, you'll be in real trouble.'
