She got up as he walked into the cafe hardly limping; perhaps the sudden leap from car to tram had disturbed the pattern of his usual morning pains. 'Dear,' Miss Antoinette said, 'I did so worry about you.'
The commissaris nodded to the skeletal barman. 'Morning, Bert.'
Miss Antoinette skipped up to the bar, displaying a long perfect leg through a split in her tight skirt. 'A jenever, please, nice and cold, and a vodka and tonic with ice for me.' She carried the drinks back, put them down, and whirled on the gleaming floorboards. 'Do you like my outfit? Aren't I realistically wicked now? Like the short skirt? Don't you just love the low blouse?' She bent down.
The commissaris looked away. 'Splendid, dear.'
'Do look,' she whispered. 'The bra is transparent. Willem bought me lots of clothes yesterday, it took forever trying them on. Do you think this is my true self?'
The commissaris looked. He coughed discreetly. 'Most attractive.'
She bobbed her head. 'You like my hair too?'
'Wonderful.' The commissaris raised his glass. 'Your health. Should you be drinking in the morning?'
'I can do anything now,' she said breathlessly, 'I am a spy. I bring you information. Nobody followed me here. Willem trusts me.' She pouted. 'I don't know whether the news is so good.'
The commissaris sipped his drink, shuddering at the impact of alcohol dissolving into his blood. 'News is neutral, dear, it can be used either way. First tell me what you had to do to gain Willem's trust.'
She laughed. 'So easy. Men are vain. I flattered him. I said he impressed me, that I had heard so much about him, that my work with you was boring, that I wanted to see his gorgeous club. He came and picked me up.'
'Did Willem drive his Daimler?' the commissaris asked. 'A large low green car?'
'A Daimler?' Miss Antoinette asked. 'I think it was a Rolls-Royce, old-fashioned, square and black, with a uniformed driver.'
'Yes,' the commissaris said. 'You liked that? Then what did you have to do?'
Miss Antoinette thoughtfully tinkled the ice in her glass. 'Oh, nothing much. I thought it would be like that book O. Have you heard about Lady O? The beautiful young lady who surrenders to evil? And the evil men pick her up in a Rolls-Royce and she has to take her panties off and swear she will never wear them again, and she has to sit on the cold leather seat? I love that story, but Willem just talked about what I would be earning. Ten times my police pay, and in cash, tax-free. He gave me a lot of money straight off.'
'There are no free lunches,' the commissaris said. 'He put his hook in you. Did Willem take you to his brothel?'
'Later,' Miss Antoinette said. 'First he took me to his home. He has such a beautiful antique house. I'm staying there now. Do you know he collects rare works of art? And that he has wines a hundred years old?'
'You drank old wine,' the commissaris said. 'What were you wearing?'
'My office suit with the starched blouse. I wanted to look demure. Willem is stealing me from you. I wanted to look like your property.'
'You're not my property,' the commissaris said.
'I still am,' Miss Antoinette said, 'but Willem doesn't know. I had to call him Willem and he calls me Toine. You want to call me Toine too?'
'No,' the commissaris said. 'We have a formal relationship, Miss Antoinette.'
She touched his leg under the table. 'We do? In my new role?' She tried a low giggle that came out well. 'I'm a vamp. I vamped Willem. It was really quite easy. I don't even have to work in the Society's club and he keeps promising things. We're going to stay at some castle in Spain and I get to fly to Calcutta.'
'What's in Calcutta?' the commissaris asked. 'That's one of the hellholes of the earth. Smuggling, maybe?'
She bent toward the commissaris again. 'Yes, isn't that exciting? Willem says he can deal with the customs here, but first he has to take care of you. He's really scared of you, you know. That's the bad news. He wants you out of the way.'
'But I am,' the commissaris said.
'He doesn't trust you,' Miss Antoinette said. 'He believes you're still active, but he isn't sure. I think he'll try to kill you if he feels you haven't given up.'
The commissaris grinned. 'And the castle in Spain? That must be Ten Haaf's place. Have you heard about Ten Haaf?'
She shook her head. 'Shall I ask?'
'No,' the commissaris said. 'Don't solicit any information. Ten Haaf fancies himself a master criminal, now retired. Willem and I knew him when we were still students. Another silly man. I think Guldemeester went to Marbella.'
'Marbella? Isn't that on the south coast of Spain?'
'The land of the happy,' the commissaris said. 'The happy and the bored.'
Her hand was on his knee again. 'You should be careful. Willem said that accidents will happen. Grijpstra and de Gier already had an accident. How are they now?'
'They'll be up and about in a few days,' the commissaris said. 'Meanwhile, I'll wait. So Willem's nervous, is he? Fear will make him stumble.'
'You still plan to raid the club?' Miss Antoinette asked. 'Please don't destroy the building, it's so beautiful in there. Day after tomorrow might be good. Fernandus will take me to his other club, at the Vinker Lakes, I haven't been there yet. This other man will take care of the place here, a baron.'
'De la Faille?'
'Yes, I met him. He hasn't met any of you yet, so he won't be suspicious.'
'Bart met me,' the commissaris said, 'but he was still a boy then. I could change my appearance somewhat. You think the club will be busy then?'
'Yes,' Miss Antoinette said. 'I heard Fernandus and de la Faille talk. De la Faille looks like de Gier- he's tall and handsome and sporty and better-mannered than the sergeant, and has the same mustache but darker, and I think he's gay.'
'My dear,' the commissaris said, 'since when is de Gier gay?'
'De la Faille is very gay,' Miss Antoinette said. 'I felt it in the way Willem introduced me to him. Willem acted as if de la Faille were harmless. Willem is possessive, don't you think?'
'Did Willem…' The commissaris studied his drink. '… eh, possess you?'
'Yesterday, a little,' Miss Antoinette said, 'after we had bought the clothes. He bought me other clothes too, sort of old-fashioned, with a high lace collar and a long skirt, and I had to walk around his bedroom and take them off again and he called me 'Miss' and was kind of silly. I don't know what Willem was getting at. He behaved like a little boy.'
'Oh, dear,' the commissaris said,
'Maybe he's too old to do much,' Miss Antoinette said. 'Are you too old?'
'Absolutely,' the commissaris said. 'Miss Antoinette, I'm too old.'
'Even to do a little?'
'Too old to do absolutely anything.'
'Well,' she said, 'you could watch.'
'Bert,' the commissaris shouted, 'more alcohol, please.' Bert shuffled over and made the jenever jug's silver spout tinkle.
'You don't want to watch?' Miss Antoinette asked.
The commissaris swallowed and shuddered. 'You and Willem?'
'Just me?'
'No.' The commissaris took out his tin of cigars, looked at it briefly, and put it back in his pocket.
'I have this book of photographs,' Miss Antoinette said. 'They show men who watch women in expensive hotel rooms. The women sit or stand around, or they lie on antique beds, all calm and relaxed, and the men watch them. The men are always dressed. Sometimes they have their backs to the women but then they look into mirrors, very elegant mirrors, with gold frames, and there are flowers in the room, roses, and the men smoke long cigars and drink cognac, maybe.'
The commissaris drank his spiced gin.
'I don't think watching is very fatiguing,' Miss Antoinette said, 'but it could be exciting, don't you agree?
