‘You’re involved in this now,’ said Munster. ‘Civil status?’
‘Eh?… Bachelor, of course – or widower, depending on how you look at it. We were going to divorce twenty years ago, but she died before all the papers were signed and sealed. Run over by a lorry in Palizerlaan. Bloody shocking business.’
‘Current address?’
‘Armastenplejn 42. But look here-’
‘Do you understand the seriousness of the situation?’ Munster interrupted him.
‘Yes. Well, no.’
‘We suspect you are intentionally withholding important information.’
‘I would never do such a thing,’ said Palinski, clasping his hands. ‘Not from the police, at least.’
From whom would you withhold important information, then? wondered Munster, and gave an impatient snort.
‘Is it not the case,’ he went on, ‘that together with the other three gentlemen you have won quite a substantial amount of money, and that is what you were celebrating at Freddy’s last Saturday evening?’
‘No.’
Palinski looked down at the table.
‘You’re lying,’ said Munster. ‘Shall I tell you why you’re lying?’
‘No,’ said Palinski. ‘What do you mean? Huh…’
‘Listen to me now,’ said Munster. ‘Last Saturday there were four of you. Now there are only two of you. Leverkuhn has been murdered, and Bonger has disappeared. There is a lot to suggest that he is no longer alive either. But you and Wauters are. There are only three possibilities.’
‘Eh?’ said Palinski. ‘What do you mean by that?’
His head had begun shaking now, Munster noted, and he realized that what was about to happen was likely to be what Moreno had predicted. It was surely only a matter of time before he threw in the towel, but it seemed only fair to let his colleague look after the confession itself. More gentlemanly, if nothing else: that was why he hadn’t wanted to draw lots, after all.
‘Three possibilities,’ he repeated slowly, holding up three fingers in front of Palinski’s eyes. ‘Either you and Wauters have done them in together-’
‘What the…?’ exclaimed Palinski, rising to his feet. ‘Come now, Intendent, you’ve gone far enough!’
‘Sit down!’ said Munster. ‘If you didn’t do it together, it must have been Wauters on his own.’
Palinski sat down and his jaws started moving but no words came.
‘Unless of course you did it yourself!’
‘You’re out of your mind! I want to talk to a… Oh no, no, no! You’re suggesting that I…’
Munster leaned forward over the table and his eyes drilled into his victim’s.
‘What conclusion would you draw yourself?’ he asked. ‘Four elderly gentlemen win a large sum of money. Two of them decide to get rid of the other two in order to get a bigger slice of the cake. Or perhaps it’s one of the four who intends wiping out the other three and getting the whole lot for himself. Doesn’t it make you feel a little uncomfortable, herr Palinski, knowing that two of your friends are dead? Don’t you lie awake at night wondering when it will be your turn?’
Palinski had gone white in the face.
‘You… you… you…’ he stammered, and Munster thought for a moment that he was going to flake out.
‘How well do you know this Wauters, in fact?’ asked Munster. ‘Isn’t he a newer member of the gang than you other three?’
Palinski made no reply. He tried to swallow, but his protruding Adam’s apple stopped halfway.
‘Because if you’re not afraid of Wauters, I have to conclude that
‘I have never…’ protested Palinski. ‘I have never…’
But there was no continuation. Munster’s reasoning had come home to him now, and it was obvious that his paradoxical predicament was dawning on him.
‘We’ll give you five minutes to think this over,’ said Munster, pushing his chair back. ‘If I were you I’d avoid any more evasive answers when we return.’
He pressed the pause button. Stood up, left the room and locked the door.
It only took a few minutes for Moreno to conclude the business. A certain degree of feminine concern in the questioning and a hint of compassion in her eyes were evidently exactly what Jan Palinski’s soul aspired to after Munster’s bullying.
‘For Christ’s sake,’ said Palinski, ‘what the hell did he mean? Surely we wouldn’t… I wouldn’t…’
‘Come clean,’ said Moreno. ‘You can’t keep quiet about it any longer now. It will only do you more harm if you do, can’t you see that?’
Palinski looked at her like a dog that has disobeyed its master.
‘You think so?’
‘Yes, certainly,’ said Moreno.
Palinski wrung his hands and sucked in his lips. Then he straightened his back and cleared his throat.
‘It was Wauters,’ he said.
‘Wauters?’ said Moreno.
‘Who said we should keep quiet about it.’
Moreno nodded.
‘He thought…’
Moreno waited.
‘… He thought that we would come under suspicion if it became public knowledge that we’d won.’
‘How much?’ asked Moreno.
‘Twenty thousand,’ said Palinski, looking shamefaced.
‘How?’
‘In the lottery. Wauters bought the ticket, it was his turn. We were going to get five thousand each… But with Leverkuhn out of the picture it’s almost seven.’
‘And minus Bonger, it’s ten,’ said Moreno.
‘Yes, by God,’ said Palinski. ‘But surely you don’t believe it’s as your colleague suggested? Surely you can see that we would never do anything like that?’
Moreno didn’t reply. She leaned back on her chair and observed the nervous twitches in Palinski’s face for a while.
‘Just at the moment we don’t think anything at all,’ she said. ‘But you are in no way cleared of suspicion, and we don’t want you to leave Maardam.’
‘Good God,’ said Palinski. ‘It’s not possible. What the hell is Wauters going to say?’
‘You don’t need to worry about that,’ said Moreno. ‘We’ll take care of him. As far as you are concerned, you can go now – but we want you back here tomorrow morning so that you can sign the transcript of what you’ve said.’
She switched off the tape recorder. Palinski stood up, his legs shaking.
‘Am I a suspect?’ he asked.
Moreno nodded.
‘I apologize… I really do apologize. If I’d had my way, we’d have told you this straight away, of course. But Wauters…’
‘I understand,’ said Moreno. ‘We all make mistakes. Off you go now, this way.’
Palinski slunk off through the door like a reprimanded and penitent schoolboy – but after a few seconds he reappeared.
‘It’s Wauters who has the lottery ticket,’ he said. ‘He hasn’t cashed it in yet. Just so that you know.’
The he apologized again and left.
Detective Inspector Moreno noticed that she was smiling.
