Free A Far Justice by Richard Herman Page A

scheduled for an interview on TV this evening at Hilversum,” Hank explained. “I’d like you and Aly to be there. Just hold hands and look very worried.”
    “It’s not far from here,” Jason said. “We can drive you there.”
    “Hilversum is the home of our national radio and TV,” Aly added. “That’s where the major studios are. It may be late before we’re finished, so why don’t you stay with us tonight?”
    “I’d be delighted,” Hank said.
     
     
    Hank sat in Aly’s car while she opened the garage doors. Cassandra was back, her voice low and matter-of-fact. “You’ll be interviewed by Harm de Rijn, Holland’s most popular newscaster. He’s intelligent, sophisticated, and is highly critical of our foreign policy. We suspect he’ll concentrate his questions on why Americans are against the court and why you were removed as Melwin’s assistant. We fed him the information about Melwin but don’t know if he’ll use it. You might have to lead the discussion that way. Hold on, here’s something new that was just released. Alphonse Relieu, the court’s senior president, announced the trial will start on December first.”
    Hank sat upright. “Son of a bitch! That’s five weeks away.”
    “Wrong response,” Cassandra counseled. “Play on the rush to judgment and the lack of independent defense counsel. Refer to it as Star Chamber proceedings that totally violate the spirit and intent of the court.”
    “Justice run amok.”
    “Exactly,” Cassandra replied as Aly climbed in behind the wheel.
    “Pardon?” Aly asked.
    “Just talking to myself,” Hank answered. “I do it all the time.”
     
     
    The Hague
    Gus cycled through the four TV channels he was allowed to watch. He checked his clock. It was nine o’clock Monday evening and the Dutch news was buzzing with the breaking news on his trial and the delayed interview with Hank Sutherland. Why the delay? he wondered. Finally, Harm de Rijn’s reassuring countenance appeared on the screen. He was sitting in a news studio with Hank seated across a small table sipping the ever-present cup of coffee. Jason and Aly were sitting next to him and looking very worried as de Rijn introduced them. The family angle is a nice touch. It was obvious why de Rijn inspired trust and confidence in the Dutch. He was the gold standard for the modern Dutch burgher – fifty-something, handsome, with a mass of carefully styled gray hair, bright blue eyes, and an honest and open, but very serious face. Gus turned up the volume of his TV to catch every word of the interview. Come on Hank, he thought. We need a homerun.
    “As you no doubt have heard,” de Rijn said, looking intently into the camera and speaking in Dutch as sub captions in English crawled along the bottom of the screen, “the International Criminal Court announced late today that the war criminal Tyler’s trial will start in five weeks and that our guest, professor of law Doctor Henry Sutherland, has been removed from the defense team by the defense counsel, Alex Melwin.” He turned to Hank and spoke in English as the sub captions changed to Dutch. “Thank you for being here and I apologize for the delay in starting this interview. But given the intense interest in this case, we did want to broadcast live at a time most of our viewers would be watching.”
    Gus banged his hand on the table, finally understanding. You delayed the interview until all the players coordinated the spin.
    A quick smile played at the corners of Hank’s mouth. “Thank you for the excellent dinner while we waited. One of the pleasant surprises I’ve discovered is that Dutch cuisine is truly world class.”
    De Rijn took the compliment graciously and keyed off it. “It was the least we could do. As you have also probably discovered, we Dutch are much more attuned to world events than Americans.”
    “Now that’s a true statement if I ever heard one,” Hank conceded. “Everyone over here seems to know about the