Chapter 39
Bramaud paced angrily into their direction: “what is going on here? Why are you interrogating people without my permission?”
Dryly Abdi answered: “as long as you are a suspect in this case, you will not get access to the case.”
“That is not what I have agreed with Ian. You heard him yourself. And since when am I a suspect? I just arrived for heaven's sake."
“Ian's authority in this case disappeared the moment that we proved that Jonathan did not die a natural death in an accident but was murdered. Pieter has proven that beyond doubt last night. Automatically that makes the death of Vladimir also suspicious. And I am the only one who decides who is a suspect and who is not.”
“I will take this up with Ian, this is unheard of,” he yelled and disappeared again.
Pieter looked at Vladimir's computer, still closed in front of Abdi.
“Shall I ask how you got that thing?”
“Don't worry Pieter. I did not steal it. Nor do I want to set up Marsha. Vladimir himself gave it to me last night, together with his passwords. He called it his insurance in case something would happen to him. I even offered him protection but he waved that away by saying that whomever was behind it was not acting that fast.”
“He made a fatal mistake.”
“He did. Vince and my teams did not sit still last night. I can assure you that you are not the only one who has not slept enough. Ah, there is my next witness. I think you already know him quite well.”
Pieter looked aside and to his surprise he saw Brian coming their way.
“Oh-oh,” was the only noise that Pieter could produce.
Abdi found the situation quite amusing. “Yes, he filed a complaint against you. In return, I informed him that in our matriarchal society a man who beats his wife gets castrated so he'd better stay quiet. I think he got it. Anyway, he is here to support or kill one of my own theories. I am curious.”
“So am I, so am I,” Pieter said, not looking forward to the confrontation, castration-threat or not.
The atmosphere around the table could not be called cordial. But Brian's testimony was clear. After the incident with Pieter's fist, he had been taken care of by some of the fellow bar frequenters. Then he had run upstairs to his room to freshen up and put on clean clothes. Afterwards he had returned to the bar. The ambience there was still high-spirited and the drinks flowed lavishly. And yes he recognised Vladimir as one of the men in the bar. 'But,” he added, “Weird enough for a Russian he drank orange juice and sparkling water.”
One of the two women, the blonde, acted very flirtatiously and took personal care that the glasses were constantly filled. She even had ordered the bartender to ensure there was an uninterrupted supply of bottles. Around midnight the bar was closed but they had been able to convince the bartender to give them some bottles of whisky and vodka to continue the party in a room. The four disappeared to the fifth floor. From that moment on he had not seen them anymore, till he heard the news during his breakfast.
He rubbed his painful nose.
When he had left again, Pieter asked: “so we have a witness that Vladimir was sober the whole night, at least till he disappeared from the bar, that Iveta was in an amorous mood and that Marsha did drink a little too much. And that young Juergen let loose the beast also. Sounds like a great party, but it does not explain why Vladimir fell drunk into the pool.”
Abdi nodded slowly: “It is strange, isn't it?”
He bent forward to Pieter and tapped on his hand: “that is why I have my own little theories. Brian has just confirmed one. But first I want you to do one more thing for me.”
Pieter looked hopefully.
“Move to your new house. And make sure that you are back at eight.”
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The Abacus Equation Page 45