Free Brother Kemal by Jakob Arjouni Page A

for him – and then he turns up here again?’
    Something told me that this question didn’t come out of the blue. Valerie de Chavannes had an idea, and it had not occurred to her only this minute.
    ‘I don’t think that will happen. And if it does – I can offer you my services. You know my fee.’
    She didn’t respond to the last remark. ‘Why don’t you think it will happen? He’s seen the villa, so of course he thinks we’re exceptionally wealthy. And how often does a man like that come so close to real wealth? He’ll try getting whatever he can out of us.’
    ‘Well, yes, but he’s done that already. He’s made advances to both the ladies of the house, I gave him a bloody nose for one of those occasions, what can he do now? Steal your letterbox, I suppose. I can always get that back if it’s worth it to you. But as I said: Abakay will be going to prison, I assure you he will.’
    For a moment she looked desperate, as if I were slow on the uptake. Then she glanced quickly at the neighbouring properties to the right and left of the villa, at the open front door behind her and up at the windows – no sign of life anywhere there – took two steps towards me and whispered, ‘And suppose he tries blackmailing me? He can do that from prison, or get some friend of his to do it.’
    ‘Blackmail you? Hmm …’ I scratched my throat with one finger and asked, in as neutral a tone as possible, ‘But what could he blackmail you with?’
    ‘How do I know? He’ll simply think something up. There’s always something that could be used.’
    ‘Well, there aren’t a thousand possibilities. Either you’ve committed some kind of crime – cheated the taxman on a grand scale, something like that, and you’re being pestered about it with emails, recorded phone calls –’
    ‘Or as I said,’ she interrupted me, ‘he’ll think something up. Something that could conceivably be true and ruin my reputation – that sort of thing’s been known to happen.’
    ‘Hmm. For instance, that he had an affair with you?’
    ‘For instance. And then I’ll have to prove it isn’t true. It’s just crazy!’
    ‘Yes, that would indeed be crazy.’
    We looked at each other for a while. Then I said, ‘And what are you suggesting to me now?’
    She swallowed, and a pleading expression came into her eyes – a plea for understanding, help, pity. When she slowly opened her mouth, her lips were trembling. ‘You said just now you gave Abakay a bloody nose. Well … I’m wondering how far you would go in that direction …? For payment corresponding to the job, of course. I mean – Abakay is a nasty piece of work, you said so yourself, and I know what a bastard he is …’
    I was less surprised than might have been expected. For one thing, it wasn’t the first time I’d had such an offer put tome; for another, there’d been something of this nature in the air all along. Valerie de Chavannes wanted Abakay to disappear from the face of the earth.
    ‘Do you know what he said when he was leaving after that supper here, and we were alone in the hall for a moment? He told me I’d never sleep easy again until he had a large slice of my cake. And by
cake
, of course he meant the house and what he thinks I have in the bank. Then, two weeks later, my daughter disappeared. Do you understand? Even if he goes to prison for two or three years – what are two or three years to a man who thinks he has the opportunity of a lifetime? And we are weak people, soft art lovers, people who read books – we don’t stand a chance against someone like Abakay. Suppose he goes to The Hague to see my husband tomorrow, tells him lies of some kind, maybe threatens him or even beats him up? My husband would give him anything he asked. Out of fear, and what else could he do? Call the police? Nothing has happened yet. What was it you said this morning? At sixteen Marieke has the right to go out with a man. And don’t tell me there are no drugs