Free The Rattle-Rat by Janwillem van de Wetering Page B

door pocket. Old-model Mauser. Not recently fired."
    "Was Douwe rich?" the commissaris asked.
    "Owned a country estate, which is now Mem's. There are no children." De Gier described the hawthorns, the evening lowing of a cow (a plaintive but beautiful stretched sound, suspended above a wide meadow), and the superior architecture of Frisian country buildings.
    "Rich," the commissaris said. "And you liked his wife?"
    "Her true name is Krista," de Gier said, "and she does have Christ's eyes, and a crown of thorns. Maybe she has lost the thorns now, because of Douwe's death."
    "Details," the commissaris said. "Give us more."
    "It's so otherwise out there," de Gier said. "Beautiful, detached; the colors, sir, the shades are so subtle. Remember the Jehovah's Witnesses, when they come to the door? Resurrection? Heaven on future earth? Heaven is there now. No crime, unfortunately—very little for the likes of us to do. The nobleman Lasius of Burmania acts as the chief constable of the capital—only acting, of course; maybe heaven is a stage too—what a wonderful man he is, truly civilized, correct in every situation. He wanted to know what Grjjpstra might be doing there. Frisians don't go wrong, and if they do, they slide down the dike first, so if we look for misbehavior, we should watch them here. Not that we were unwelcome— that noble man Lasius of Burmania didn't give me that impression. Grupstra was even given a house. For free. The house belongs to a Frisian adjutant who's on holiday at present."
    "So you really know nothing," Cardozo said.
    "Should I know more?" de Gier asked. "Grypstra won't allow me to do any work. I'm on paid leave, I understand. There's no need for me. Okay, maybe to do some shopping. I'll be going back in a minute. It's handy, Grypstra said, to have me around, perhaps. But there's nothing I'm supposed to do. That's why I observed all that exceptional beauty. If you're not involved in the activity, you sort of float, and while looking down much can be seen. You follow, Cardozo?"
    "No," Cardozo said. "Ary and Fritz, sir?"
    The commissaris collected his assembled facts. "Mere suspicions so far," the commissaris said, "but Jelle Troelstra is a reliable informant. Let's see what our electronic equipment, activated by the simple pressing of a few well-placed buttons, can do for us by way of confirmation." He picked up his phone. "Dear? Here are die names of two suspects, bank robbers. Please have them checked by the computer. The suspects are from the south. Will you do that for me? Please?"
    "The south?" Cardozo asked. "Exiled Frisians?"
    "The tip came from a Frisian," the commissaris said.
    The phone rang. "Down?" the commissaris asked. "Thank you, dear." He replaced the phone.
    "We do have some old files stored in the loft," Cardozo said, "due to be destroyed, but die shredder has been down. Shall I have a look?"
    When Cardozo returned he was carrying dented file drawers and folded cards. He also produced some photos. "This is Ary, this is Fritz, both of them known to be violent and armed, but recently freed after serving long stretches."
    They read the cards, de Gier and Cardozo standing at either side of the commissaris. "Bad boys," de Gier said, "but what are they to us? They'll be operating well beyond our limits. Douwe is fine; his corpse got into our hands here, and there's a hot trail to be followed. Ary and Fritz drank Frisian jenever at chez Troelstra. Their thoughts were bad, but we can't catch their thoughts."
    "I'll have to pass it on," the commissaris said. "Pity. Why don't they commit their crimes in Amsterdam, like everybody else?"
    "At a cattle market," de Gier said. "Just imagine." He read a little more. "Armed robbers." He shrugged. "Can't even catch them if they operated here. The new instructions state that in the case of armed robbery, an Arrest Team has to be alerted. The team will rush in with machine guns, and use sharpshooters peering through telescopes placed on cranes. They'll