‘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.’
‘What? For the second time Wieringa’s self-control deserted him, but he recovered quickly. ‘When?’
‘Tonight.’
“Where?’
Here. Agnelli.’
‘Agnelli!’
‘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.
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 driven 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 porch way 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 occasion were so outlandish that he probably didn’t spend much time examining your face. It will serve.’
Vasco had indeed undergone a considerable metamorphosis. The long blond locks that had straggled haphazardly over his shoulder had been nearly, even severely, trimmed and parted with millimetric precision just to the centre left. His hair was also black, as were his eyebrows and newly-acquired and immaculately shaped moustache, all of which went very well with his shadowed, thinned-down cheeks and heavy tan. All dyes were guaranteed waterproof. He was the maiden’s conceptualized dream of what every young army officer should look like. Shirt, tie, suit and belted trench-coat were correspondingly immaculate. ‘They could use him in those army advertisements,’ George said. ‘You know, your country needs you.’ George, himself, was still George. For him, disguise was impossible.
‘And the voice,’ van Effen said. ‘I’m not worried about Agnelli, he’s hardly heard you say more than a few words. It’s Annemarie. I don’t know whether she’s a good actress with her emotions under control or not, but I rather suspect not. It would rather spoil things if she flung her arms round your neck and cried “My saviour!”’
‘I have a very bad cold,’ Vasco said hoarsely. ‘My throat is like sandpaper.’ His voice reverted to normal and he said morosely: ‘Whose throat wouldn’t be in this damned weather. Anyway, I’ll be the strong, silent type: I shall speak as little as possible.’ ‘And 1,’George said,’shall lurk discreetly in the background until one of you have advised the ladies — if the ladies arc indeed there — of my presence. But make it fast.’
‘We’ll make it as fast as we can, George,’ van Effen said. ‘We appreciate it’s a bit difficult for you to lurk discreetly anywhere for any length of time. And I have no doubt whatsoever the ladies will be there.’ He tapped the newspaper under his arm. ‘What’s the point, in holding a couple of trumps if you don’t have them in your hand?’
The FFF’s latest announcement had been very simple, direct and to the point. They had now with them, they said — crude words like ‘abducted’ and ‘kidnapped’ had been studiously avoided — two young ladies, one of them the daughter of the nation’s leading industrialist, the other the sister of a senior police officer in Amsterdam. They had then proceeded to name names. Condolences, the FFF had said, had been sent to both parents and brother, together with assurances that they were being well cared for and expressing the pious hope that they would continue to remain in good health. ‘I do look forward to meeting those card players,’ George, said wistfully. ‘Crafty bunch of devils, aren’t they? I wonder what American university — or it could be Irish — offers a combined course in terrorism and psychology?’
‘They’re not exactly mentally retarded,’van Effen said. ‘But, then, we never thought they were. Another push up the back for the arm of the government — and another push into an even more impossible situation. just ending their message with those prayerful good wishes. No threats, no hints of reprisals or what might happen to the girls, no possibility of torture or even death. Nothing. The old uncertainty principle in full operation again. What, we are left to wonder, do they have in mind. That’s left to us — and, of course, it’s only human nature to come up with the worst possible scenario. Bad enough to have the country threatened with inundation, but for the tender-hearted and romantic — and even among the so-called stolid Dutch there are an uncommon number of those around — the thought of what dreadful terrors may lie in store for two beautiful and innocent young damsels could be a great deal worse.’ ‘Well, there’s one consolation,’Vasco said. He was practising his in extremis voice again. ‘I’m sure that’s the last threat about your sister’s well-being that you’ll be getting, Lieutenant.’ ‘Stephan,’ van Effen said.
‘Stephan. I know. But I won’t apologize this time.’ Vasco’s voice was back to normal. ‘Once I clap eyes on that lot there’s not the slightest chance I’ll forget.’
‘My mistake,’van Effen said. ‘I’m the person who’s doing the forgetting — about your undercover years. I agree with you — there’ll be no more threats to Julie. By the same token, I don’t even think they’ll bother to try to extract any money from David Meijer. Apart from the fact that they appear to have unlimited funds of their own, David Meijer is much more important to them as David Meijer — the man who, however unofficially, has very much the ear of the government and is in a position to influence them, to swing whatever decision may be under consideration. Not that I think that the government has any decision under consideration. I think that matter has been effectively taken out of their hands now. The ball, in the American phrase, is now very much in the court of the British.’
‘I wouldn’t very much like to be in the position of the British either.’ George said. ‘They face a position that, if it’s possible, is even worse than the one our government had to face. Are they going to be dictated to, even by proxy, by a bunch of what are essentially no more than terrorists, no matter what lofty motives they may ascribe to themselves? What will happen in Northern Ireland if they did pull out — would there be strife, and murder, even massacre that might cost more than any lives that could or would be lost in the Netherlands — and, of course, we can have no idea of how many lives that might be — hundreds or hundreds of thousands. Or do they just dig in, refuse to move and sit back and let the Hollanders drown and make themselves the lepers of the world, ostracised, perhaps for generations to come, by all nations — and although this is a wicked old world there must be still quite a few left — who still subscribe to some ideals of decency and humanity?’
‘I do wish you’d shut up, George.’ Rarely for him, van Effen sounded almost irritable. ‘You put the damn thing all too clearly. In a nutshell, it’s a toss-up between what value is put on the lives of x number of citizens in Ulster against number of citizens in the Netherlands.’ Van. Effen smiled without much mirth. ‘It’s difficult to solve an equation when you don’t even have a clue as to what the factors are. Imponderables, imponderables. The physicists who ramble on about the indeterminates and uncertainties in quantum mechanics should have this one dumped on their laps. Me, I’d rather spin a coin.’
‘Heads or tails,’ George said. ‘What way do you think the coin would land?’ 11 have absolutely no idea because, of course, no one eve” knows which face 01 the coin is going to show. But there’s one factor that is at ‘Least faintly determinate, even although that is wildly uncertain, and that is human nature. So at a wild guess, just as wild as guessing at the toss, I would say that the British would give in.’
