Further along, a doorway led into a modern study, with beautiful display cabinets holding more expensive ornaments, a brown couch and wooden chairs, a desk with a computer monitor, and a wooden floor covered in a square brown rug. It was spotlessly clean, Pieter thought as he stood there taking in the scene, beautiful and very plush. The window by the desk had shattered and spilled glass onto the wooden surface, and a draught gently blew snow through the opening. A lamp standing in one corner cast a gold haze over the room.
At the far end there was a huge glass wall and door leading to the bedroom, and beside them a set of steps leading up to the attic presumably. In the bedroom there was a large double bed, some potted plants and side-tables and furniture, as well as a bookcase, a cream carpet, and overhead a ceiling with wooden beams and more spotlights.
Pieter stepped over and passed through the glass doorway, and he stood looking at the bed.
He found his mind going back to the period during the spring when Lotte had stayed with him for several nights, having concocted some story about problems with her boss at work (a ruse as it turned out, for the person was in fact her older brother Bart). They had grown close for a time for his head was a mess back then, with pressures of work and the terrifying case that had gripped the city for several weeks taking their toll, and Lotte had breached through his defences to seduce him and visit him at night.
Thinking about it now he felt stupid, almost as though it hadn’t happened, for reality had become mixed up with his feverish nightmares until he wasn’t sure what was true and what wasn’t. More than six months on and he still didn’t fully understand everything.
Pieter mentally shrugged his shoulders and slipped back into the study.
The computer on the desk showed a screensaver of a woodland setting, but when he tapped a key at random the monitor came to life.
The IMSI-catcher programme was still running. He recognized his mobile number on the screen, and when he clicked on it a list of all the phone calls and text messages he had exchanged over the last few days appeared.
He recognized most of them, especially the ones between himself and Kaatje.
HEY, YOU FANCY TAKING A TRIP IN THE MORNING?
YES PLEASE ☺ WHERE ARE WE GOING BOSS?
IT’S A SURPRISE. I’LL PICK YOU UP AT YOUR PLACE. 8am SHARP.
He’d even tagged a smiley of his own on the end ☺
Huijbers had been right. He should never have involved Kaatje, a rookie cop fresh from passing out from the police academy at Eindhoven. Of course, at the time he had no inkling that Charlotte Janssen was behind the whole thing, otherwise he would never have brought her in on the case. But it was a decision that would have lifelong consequences for Kaatje.
Leaving the computer Pieter swung about to take a better look around when his foot caught the edge of the square rug covering the floor, nearly tripping him. Getting his balance, something caught his attention, a line scratched into the wood underneath where the corner of the rug had rolled back.
Pieter bent over and grabbed the thick mat, and a sense of deja-vu went through him as he recalled the foot-track spell left behind by the intruder in his attic room during the WEREWOLF case, but he grunted, tired of acting like a nervous old spinster, and he rolled it all the way back in an angry flourish.
Carved across the flooring in painstaking detail was an intricate design. A series of concentric circles and runic symbols, signs of the zodiac and crescent moons and ancient script with swirling letters and god knows what else. All beautifully worked into the polished wood floor.
Chapter 21
Visitation
Pieter waited until his colleagues arrived before heading back to his car. He briefly explained just what had happened, quickly telling them to put out an alert with a description of the motorcycle. He also showed the team leaders the various crime scenes: the apartment, the lane and the alleyway, and he pointed out the spent brass cartridge cases on the ground, and watched as a full search by the armed response unit took place, the armour-clad men moving from building to building, asking the residents to temporarily leave their homes while they made sure the place was safe and harbouring no more wanted fugitives. They even dragged the church caretaker out of his home on nearby Gedempte Sloot to open up the building to check inside. Satisfied that the whole place was clear, they next sealed the courtyard off and marked it out with little yellow flags and the forensic personnel began their work, moving through the scene dressed in white coveralls and looking like snowmen magically come to life.
Pieter went out by the smaller exit and walked across Spui Square, noticing that more police were checking out a second hire car parked nearby, which reminded him of the one outside his home with the IMSI-catcher. He went over to pass this information on to them and then drove back over to the hospital, his nerves still jittery. He couldn’t stop thinking about the large symbol beneath the rug.
Arriving just outside Kaatje’s room, he kicked himself. In all of the drama over the last hour or so he’d completely forgotten about bringing a few things over for her. However, on walking through the door, he was pleasantly surprised to find her sitting on the edge of her bed fully dressed and with her small overnight bag packed.
She turned her face on hearing him enter.
Pieter stood there confused, looking from her gauze-covered eyes to the bag.
“Hey, what’s going
