all. An infection of the facial nerve: if the nerve doesn’t work half the face becomes paralyzed, the eyelid won’t close anymore, it becomes difficult to chew, and half the mouth droops, the way it does when you’ve been to the dentist. The paralysis wears off by itself, however, and the face becomes normal within a matter of weeks.”
“And what causes this palsy, sir? A nervous shock?”
“No, sergeant. A draft. I had been driving with an open window. Did you think the man was having a stroke?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Maybe you were hoping that, eh, sergeant? Because you wanted to think that we had found our man.”
De Gier smiled apologetically.
They met Grijpstra in one of headquarters’ corridors. The adjutant held up the wedding ring. “Not a very tight fit, sir, but not a very loose one, either. The corpse was almost frozen, so maybe the experiment was without value. When I left her, her arms were sticking straight up as if she couldn’t bear my walking away. Brr. That morgue is a nasty place, sir. I saw at least ten bodies of young people dead of drug overdoses or malnutrition caused by drugs, and they were bringing in more as I left. The attendant said that they are mostly foreigners and all of them nameless and unclaimed.”
“Quite,” the commissaris said gently. “Let’s go to my office.” Cardozo’s report with the statements of the two old ladies was on his desk and he read it to the detectives.
“That sounds good enough, sir.”
“Yes. Tell you what, sergeant, why don’t you and the adjutant go and visit this baboon man now. I’ll raise Cardozo on the radio and visit Mr. de Bree with him. Cardozo has done good work so far and a visit may lead to the fruition of his efforts.”
They left the commissaris’s office together and the detectives watched their chief march to the radio room, a dapper little figure in a long empty corridor.
“There he goes.”
“There he goes. He seems a little fiercer than usual. What’s bothering him, do you think?”
Grijpstra shrugged. “Let’s catch that baboon.”
They got into the old-fashioned elevator.
“Now where would this ape fit in?”
“Baboons are randy animals. The ones I have seen in me zoo were always either actually busy with or seemed to be thinking about it. He could represent the sexual aspect of this disorder.”
“So could Francesco,” de Gier said as they entered the garage. “A beautiful little Italian, they are very popular with our womenfolk.”
Grijpstra wasn’t listening.
“Baboons are dangerous too, he may rush us. Are you armed?’
“Of course. I’ll drop him the minute I see his tail twitch.”
They were both grinning when they got into the Volkswagen, but they were discussing lunch by then, and mean-while, back in the morgue, Elaine Garnet’s arms still reached for the ceiling while a grumbling attendant was trying to push her box back into the refrigerator.
\\\\\ 9 /////
G RUPSTRAS MOUTH OPENED FOOLISHLY AS HE WATCHED the sergeant’s body float elegantly through the fresh wind-swept air above the Amstel River, and it snapped shut as de Gier hit the river’s greenish, garbage-littered surface and broke through it and disappeared. A disorganized swirl of bobbing objects remained. Grijpstra saw the bottletops, condoms, beer cans, and torn stems of waterweeds taking position in a more or less defined circle that moved to the quayside, and he cursed. Then he jumped. But he jumped away from the river and when he landed he ran. The Volkswagen wasn’t too far off. The radio came on as he poked its button and the microphone’s cord nearly broke as he yanked it free.
“Headquarters, Three-fourteen.”
“Headquarters,” the imperturbable female voice said.
“An emergency. We are on the Amsteldijk and a suspect has just got away in a motor launch. Could you locate the nearest water police vessel and connect me directly?”
“Understood. Wait.”
Grijpstra counted. Eleven seconds. A very long
“And what causes this palsy, sir? A nervous shock?”
“No, sergeant. A draft. I had been driving with an open window. Did you think the man was having a stroke?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Maybe you were hoping that, eh, sergeant? Because you wanted to think that we had found our man.”
De Gier smiled apologetically.
They met Grijpstra in one of headquarters’ corridors. The adjutant held up the wedding ring. “Not a very tight fit, sir, but not a very loose one, either. The corpse was almost frozen, so maybe the experiment was without value. When I left her, her arms were sticking straight up as if she couldn’t bear my walking away. Brr. That morgue is a nasty place, sir. I saw at least ten bodies of young people dead of drug overdoses or malnutrition caused by drugs, and they were bringing in more as I left. The attendant said that they are mostly foreigners and all of them nameless and unclaimed.”
“Quite,” the commissaris said gently. “Let’s go to my office.” Cardozo’s report with the statements of the two old ladies was on his desk and he read it to the detectives.
“That sounds good enough, sir.”
“Yes. Tell you what, sergeant, why don’t you and the adjutant go and visit this baboon man now. I’ll raise Cardozo on the radio and visit Mr. de Bree with him. Cardozo has done good work so far and a visit may lead to the fruition of his efforts.”
They left the commissaris’s office together and the detectives watched their chief march to the radio room, a dapper little figure in a long empty corridor.
“There he goes.”
“There he goes. He seems a little fiercer than usual. What’s bothering him, do you think?”
Grijpstra shrugged. “Let’s catch that baboon.”
They got into the old-fashioned elevator.
“Now where would this ape fit in?”
“Baboons are randy animals. The ones I have seen in me zoo were always either actually busy with or seemed to be thinking about it. He could represent the sexual aspect of this disorder.”
“So could Francesco,” de Gier said as they entered the garage. “A beautiful little Italian, they are very popular with our womenfolk.”
Grijpstra wasn’t listening.
“Baboons are dangerous too, he may rush us. Are you armed?’
“Of course. I’ll drop him the minute I see his tail twitch.”
They were both grinning when they got into the Volkswagen, but they were discussing lunch by then, and mean-while, back in the morgue, Elaine Garnet’s arms still reached for the ceiling while a grumbling attendant was trying to push her box back into the refrigerator.
\\\\\ 9 /////
G RUPSTRAS MOUTH OPENED FOOLISHLY AS HE WATCHED the sergeant’s body float elegantly through the fresh wind-swept air above the Amstel River, and it snapped shut as de Gier hit the river’s greenish, garbage-littered surface and broke through it and disappeared. A disorganized swirl of bobbing objects remained. Grijpstra saw the bottletops, condoms, beer cans, and torn stems of waterweeds taking position in a more or less defined circle that moved to the quayside, and he cursed. Then he jumped. But he jumped away from the river and when he landed he ran. The Volkswagen wasn’t too far off. The radio came on as he poked its button and the microphone’s cord nearly broke as he yanked it free.
“Headquarters, Three-fourteen.”
“Headquarters,” the imperturbable female voice said.
“An emergency. We are on the Amsteldijk and a suspect has just got away in a motor launch. Could you locate the nearest water police vessel and connect me directly?”
“Understood. Wait.”
Grijpstra counted. Eleven seconds. A very long
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