The Rattle-Rat
Page 28
"Cigarette?" de Gier asked.
"Just one," Jane said. She lit his with her lighter. "Did you read the morning paper?"
"Not yet."
She came back with the paper. "Weren't you in Friesland last year? Here, read for yourself. A fatal accident, a colleague was the victim."
Grijpstra grabbed the paper from her hands. "Not Hylkje. Stupid girl. Always speeding."
"Not a woman," Jane said.
Grijpstra read aloud: "'Adjutant Sybe Oppenhuyzen, Municipal Police, Leeuwarden,'—that's him—'temporarily on sick leave'—temporarily, ha!—*died because of an accident yesterday.' Ah, I see what the journalist is trying to say, the asshole."
"They're always trying to show us up," Jane said. "That adjutant was on sick leave but he was healthy enough to work on his roof, and he slipped and fell. Hello, Cardozo."
Cardozo placed a shoe box on Grijpstra's desk. "You'll never guess what I have in here, Jane." He carefully lifted the lid with one finger. Jane bent down. Cardozo pulled the string that dangled on his side of the box. A rat's skeleton jumped out of the box. The rat rattled. Jane ran from the room.
"Haha," Cardozo laughed. "Good joke, eh? Samuel's friend and I made this. Remember Eddy? We buried him and dug him up again. The skeleton was in perfect condition."
Grypstra and de Gier, who had embraced each other, let go.
"I heard him rattle," de Gier squeaked.
Cardozo produced a tape recorder from his pocket.
"Get out," Grypstra shouted. 'Take that mess with you."
"Don't come back today," de Gier shouted.
The commissaris came in. Cardozo replaced the box on Grypstra's desk. "Watch this, sir."
The commissaris jumped into de Gier's arms.
"Good joke, don't you think?" Cardozo asked. "We worked on it for hours. Very tricky, to hinge all the skeleton's parts. Did you hear the rattle?"
The commissaris's shaking finger pointed at the door.
Cardozo walked toward the corridor.
'Take the box, Constable," the commissaris said loudly.
Cardozo came back and picked up the box.
"You weren't really frightened, were you, sir?" de Gier asked.
"Just testing Cardozo," the commissaris said, lighting a cigar at the wrong end. "Always keep them in suspense. He thought I wouldn't be frightened, so I pretended I was. That'll teach him a lesson."
"I don't quite follow you," Grypstra said.
"I do," de Gier said. "Cardozo is much too sure of himself. He needs doubt. The commissaris provides doubt."
"Of course," Grypstra said. "Very subtle, sir. You could have fooled me. You're a perfect actor."
"You two drive me crazy," the commissaris said.
He stalked out of the room.
"Your hero," Grijpstra said.
De Gier closed his eyes. "He has so much to teach."