"What's the name of this particular rich geezer?"
"I don't know."
DeKok smiled an encouraging smile.
"You're not very good with names."
Antoinette Graaf shook her head.
"Names mean nothing to me. I'm only interested in people and who they are. I remember how they live, how they think, and what sort of feelings they have."
DeKok leaned closer.
"Just one more question, then we'll take you home." He sighed deeply. "When you found Robert sitting on the stoop at Nassau Quay, did you notice anyone nearby?"
"Close to us?"
"Yes."
Antoinette shook her head.
"No. But there was man on the other side of the water, across the canal. He looked in our direction. Later he walked for a while in the same direction as Robert and me."
"Can you describe him?"
She looked vaguely into the distance, as if trying to remember.
"No," she said pensively. "I didn't pay much attention. Besides it was dark and he didn't try to close the distance between us. As I recall he wore an expensivelooking overcoat."
Elated, Vledder slapped the top of his desk several times.
"I told you," he gushed. "It was Matthias Heusden. He came here wearing that tailored coat."
DeKok rubbed the back of his neck.
"You're right," he said, his tone sluggish. "Matthias Heusden came here wearing custom-made clothing."
Vledder's eyes glistened.
"It all fits together," he said excitedly. "Heusden must have chased Robert from the house. They got to opposite sides of Nassau Quay at about the same time. Had Antoinette not stopped, he would have killed Robert then and there."
DeKok pursed his lips.
"Possibly," he said after a long pause.
Vledder laughed.
"It happened just that way," he insisted. "It's about time we force Henri Tombs to tell us where he's hidden Therese! She's the key to it all."
DeKok looked up
"And if we cannot force Henri Tombs to comply?"
Vledder looked surprised.
"We charge him with a felony-obstruction of justice."
DeKok ignored the remark. He stretched an arm out in Vledder's direction.
"To put my mind at ease," he said, "you were going to find out what we have on the car accident in which Everet Tombs died."
Vledder grinned broadly.
"Oh, yes. We were looking into the curse on Therese."
DeKok nodded.
"Well?" he asked.
Vledder shook his head.
"Nothing to it. Aside from the fatality, there was nothing unusual about the car accident. There was no evidence of a crime. I mean the vehicle hadn't been sabotaged. Everet's vehicle was broadsided by another car in an intersection. The boy died instantly. The driver of the other car also died on the scene. His autopsy revealed an alcohol content of 3.7 on the current scale."
DeKok whistled through his teeth.
"That's at least a bottle of gin."
Vledder nodded.
"It's a wonder he was able to get to his car and get the key in the ignition. Henri Tombs requested a closer investigation. There appeared to be no connection whatsoever between the two men." The young inspector looked at his colleague. "Is your mind a little more at ease now?"
DeKok did not miss his partner's mocking tone.
"Thus, no mystery," he said simply.
Vledder shook his head.
"As I said before, it was a car accident-happens all the time."
The telephone on DeKok's desk rang. As usual Vledder reached over and answered it. He listened and made some notes. Then he replaced the receiver.
DeKok looked expectant.
"Who was it?"
"Maria Goose."
"What did she want?"
Vledder swallowed.
"DeBeau is dead."
17
Vledder swiftly maneuvered the old police car through traffic. Despite the late hour the streets were busy. The inner city of Amsterdam never sleeps.
Vledder ignored several red lights, to DeKok's displeasure. When Vledder accessed the highway out of the city, he managed to coax the antique VW past seventy miles per hour. The car shuddered and rattled.
"Wow," said Vledder, "they really did a good job of overhauling the engine."
DeKok placed a hand on the driver's knee.
"Think about my pension," he urged. "I've paid into it for a long time."
Vledder glanced aside.
"Maria Goose's voice sounded a bit panicky," he apologized. "She asked if we could come as quickly as possible." He did ease his foot off the gas pedal, and DeKok slid farther down in the seat.
"Dead is dead," he growled. "DeBeau isn't going anywhere." He pushed his little hat deeper over his eyes. "Even our first-aid education won't help us now."
A series of traffic lights near Diemen caused significant delay. Vledder nervously banged the steering wheel with his fist.
"Why have stoplights at night? What nonsense."
DeKok rubbed his nose.
"As long as we have people like you on the road at night..." He did not complete the sentence.
Vledder shot him an angry look but said nothing.
After a long silence, DeKok sat up a bit straighter.
"Where are we going?"
"Baarn."
"Baarn? Are you sure?"
Vledder nodded. "First exit after Eemnes." Then added in an irritated voice, "I wish they would number the exits, as they do in the States. Eliminates the guesswork."
DeKok ignored the remark.
"Why is Maria Goose in Baarn?" he asked.
"She's with her daughter."
"And they have a dead DeBeau with them? Why?"
"Who knows," exclaimed Vledder, exasperated. "I made a few quick notes. Before I could ask for more details, she broke the connection."
"But don't you have some system whereby you can call back the number that just called?"
"Automatic redial," admitted Viedder. He looked sheepish. "I didn't think of that."
"Did someone inform the local police?"
Vledder shook his head.
"I don't think so. Mother Goose in her panic seems to equate you with the whole police concept."
DeKok fell silent. A hundred questions came to mind, but he realized that it was senseless to bother Vledder. He slid down in the seat again and dozed off.
Vledder shook DeKok awake.
"We're here," he shouted in his ear.
With a groan DeKok straightened out in his seat.
"Where?" he asked sleepily.
Vledder pointed to a white-painted villa through the windshield. It was set back from the road about forty feet. Yellow moonlight cast random tree shadows on the walls.
"This has to be it," said Vledder. "8 Princess Marie Lane."
Suddenly alert, DeKok pushed his hat back.
"What an ugly house," he said in a disparaging tone. "It's cold and eerie, like a haunted house. Nothing, not a shipload of fine cognac, could induce me to live here."
Vledder grinned.
"I don't think they want you in Baarn. Only respectable people live here."
DeKok nodded his agreement and stepped out of the car. He walked slowly down the gravel driveway, followed by his partner. He reached the front door. As soon as he rang the bell, the porch light came on. The door opened.
Without restraint, Maria Goose threw herself at DeKok. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on both cheeks.
"Oh God, oh God," she panted. "I'm so grateful to see you!" She shook her head. "I cannot endure it another minute. The dead guy...he just sits there, looking at me."
DeKok freed himself from her embrace with some difficulty.
"Where is Therese?"
Maria Goose thumbed over her shoulder.
"I put her to bed with a few sleeping pills. The child was almost hysterical."
DeKok n
odded his understanding. Then he looked at her sharply.
"How did you get here?"
"Therese called me. `Mother, please come at once. They killed DeBeau,' she said."
"What time was that?"
"Almost two hours ago. I drove here at once."
"You knew she was here?"
She nodded.
"Once Henri Tombs settled her here, Therese called me."
"And what did you find?"
"A hysterical Therese and a dead DeBeau."
"Then what?"
"I called you."
"Nobody else?"
"No."
DeKok walked down the corridor.
"Where is DeBeau?"
Maria led the inspectors to a spacious room dominated by a high hearth. There was an imposing leather chair to the left of the hearth. The young man's body rested in the deep upholstery, slumping to one side. DeKok recognized DeBeau immediately from Lowee's description. The large brown eyes stared lifeless.
DeKok approached the body. A single glance convinced him the man was dead. There was considerable blood loss. The stains on the shirt indicated the victim had taken three bullets in the chest.
DeKok looked at Maria.
"Has a doctor seen him?"
Maria shook her head.
"DeBeau did not want Therese to warn anybody."
DeKok looked up with surprise.
"He was still alive?"
Maria nodded.
"During the day, DeBeau never left the house. Tonight he wanted to take a walk before going to bed. As he stepped outside, a man came from behind the trees across the street. He walked closer and shot. DeBeau got to the house and fell into this chair. He must have known it was the end for him. He begged Therese to stay with him. She did. Only minutes later he died in her arms."
DeKok bit his lower lip.
"Internal bleeding," he murmured. "He was beyond saving." He made a hesitant gesture in the direction of the body. "Was, eh, was DeBeau a friend of Therese? Her boyfriend?"
Maria nodded.
"We managed to keep it a secret from everyone."
A sad smile fled across DeKok's face.
"Even from me?"
"It was an agreement between Therese and me. I couldn't violate her trust. She didn't want anyone to know."
"Why?"
Maria gestured angrily.
"Therese was afraid to lose him, afraid something would happen to him."
"She thought he could suffer the same fate as Robert and Everet Tombs?"
Mother Goose swallowed.
"No man could be close to Therese. Something bad always happened."
"How did she get to know DeBeau?"
She smiled sadly.
"After Matthias sold Therese to Manfred Nettelhorst, the rich pig sent a couple of bodyguards to Emperor's Canal to guard Therese."
DeKok took a deep breath.
"Marius and DeBeau."
"Yes, Therese was immediately besotted with DeBeau. She loved him deeply, but didn't dare show it. She confided in me." She looked up at DeKok with a sad face. "I am her mother. What would a mother not do for her child's well-being? I brought them together."
"You risked a great deal."
Maria Goose shook her head in desperation.
"I never thought of that," she cried frantically. "They were both so happy with each other. DeBeau told me he planned to go back to France because he feared Nettelhorst. I personally brought him to Therese."
"Here in Baarn?"
"Yes. I thought it was a safe hideout for him as well."
"Clearly it was not." It sounded like an accusation.
Maria's eyes filled with tears. She stretched out an arm toward the corpse.
"This is the act of a maniac. Who else would be crazy enough, demented enough to shoot a child.. .he was such a handsome boy." Shaking, she took the old inspector by the lapels of his raincoat. "You've got to find him quickly, DeKok. People say you have a gift. Don't do it for me, but for my child. My Therese can't live like this any longer."
DeKok detached her hands from his coat.
"Go to the kitchen," he said sternly, "and make us a cup of coffee."
When Mother Goose had left the room, DeKok leaned over the victim. Carefully he pushed the body forward and looked at the back. Then he replaced the corpse in its original position.
DeKok shook his head.
"Nothing to see. There's no penetration of the back. The bullets must still be in the body."
Vledder looked at him gravely.
"He wasn't shot at close range, then. The shooter was farther away than Robert's was."
DeKok nodded agreement. He leaned over the victim once more. He took a thick black wallet from inside the jacket. He handed it to Vledder.
"See if you can find a name."
Vledder shook out the contents on the seat of another chair and sorted carefully through the papers.
"I have here a French identity card in the name of Charles Montagne, twenty-eight years old, residing in Lyon. He was a baker by profession."
"Is the document genuine?"
Vledder pursed his lips. He examined the document closely.
"I think so," he said. "I see nothing to indicate it was altered. The photo is a good likeness."
"The name DeBeau is not mentioned?"
"I couldn't find anything with that name."
DeKok grinned.
"Little Lowee was right again. DeBeau is a nickname." He pointed at the wallet. "Any money?"
Vledder nodded his head.
"About two hundred euros and a bundle of eurochecks." He pointed at the corpse. "Should I replace the wallet? The Baarn police will also want to know who he is."
DeKok nodded.
"Be sure you note the information from the identity card, though."
Vledder took out his notebook and made entries. He returned the contents to the wallet and placed it in the inside pocket. For a moment he looked at the face of the victim.
"You know who he looks like? Harold Buis."
DeKok looked up with a question in his eyes.
"Who is Harold Buis?"
"A colleague. I'm sure you would recognize him. We attended the course for inspectors together at the academy. He had been a shooting instructor. Now he's with the immigration police."
DeKok nodded.
"Of course. He wore a moustache. He always told me I would never learn to shoot. Now that you mention it, Buis and DeBeau look like brothers."
Vledder pointed at a telephone on a low table on the other side of the hearth.
"You want nie to call the Baarn police? We're about through here, aren't we?"
DeKok shook his head.
"Let's wait. Let's have a cup of coffee first."
He approached the victim and closed the staring eyes. Then he followed Vledder out of the room.
It was dark in the corridor, but at the end a light came from under a door. The inspectors approached the light and opened the door.
Maria Goose leaned with both arms on the kitchen table. Next to her was Therese, who sat with her knees up, arms around her legs.
DeKok's mouth fell open. He was momentarily flustered by the radiant beauty.
"Therese de la Fontaine," he stammered, "there have been moments I doubted your existence."
18
Maria Goose stood up to pour coffee. Vledder helped with sugar and cream.
DeKok took a chair and sat next to Therese at the table. He was close enough to see the traces of grief and sadness on her beautiful face.
"You couldn't sleep?" he asked gently.
She shook her head.
"The pills didn't work. I just tossed and turned. Finally I got up."
DeKok nodded quietly.
"Grief takes time to fade."
She closed her eyes.
"A long time, I think."
DeKok's face mirrored her sadness.
"You called him DeBeau?"
"Yes."
"Di
d DeBeau say anything before he died?"
Therese reached for the coffee but then pulled her shaking hands close to her body.
"I heard loud noises outside. DeBeau stumbled toward the house. His eyes were so scared. He said he'd been shot. I didn't know the noises were shots. He fell into the chair. Then I saw the blood on his shirt."
"Did he mention a name?"
"No."
DeKok held his head to one side.
"But DeBeau saw his killer?"
She nodded.
"He said a man suddenly came from behind a tree and shot him."
DeKok bit his lower lip.
"Did DeBeau describe the man?"
She sighed deeply.
"He didn't have time. `Stay with me,' he said. He kept repeating it." Tears filled her eyes. "Inspector DeKok, DeBeau was a kind man, gentle and understanding."
DeKok let her be for a moment. He remained silent, frozen to his chair. He ignored the coffee in front of him. He understood fully the need to proceed very carefully. Therese's nerves were stretched to the breaking point. An inadvertent word could cause her to lose control. He needed a few more intelligent answers, needed her to stay with him.
"Did Matthias Heusden know that you were in love with DeBeau?"
"I never told him."
"Why not?"
Therese looked in her mother's direction.
"I didn't trust Matthias. He did everything possible to stay on Manfred Nettelhorst's good side. Manfred allowed no other men near me."
"That was part of the contract?"
"Yes."
"And you agreed to that?"
She shrugged her shoulders.
"I didn't have much to say about it. Matthias made all the arrangements. He thought he'd achieved something grand, but the arrangement was ludicrous. It kept me from competing in any beauty contest. It was out of the question to attend a party, even to be visible. Manfred expected me to live a cloistered life. Every once in a while I had to show myself to him. That was it." She gestured nervously. "In return I got the house at Emperor's Canal, a lot of money, and fine clothes." She fell silent and rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers. "There were so many silly conditions, it was impossible to take it all seriously."
She stared into the distance.
DeKok took a cautious sip from his coffee. He placed a finger over his mouth, cautioning Maria and Vledder to stay silent. After a while, Therese began to speak again.
DeKok and the Dead Lovers (Inspector DeKok Investigates) Page 12