The House of Dolls Read Online Free PDF Page A

laughed.
    ‘Vos would have got you straight. Be grateful he went crazy before he got the chance.’
    Theo Jansen nodded. Before he set up on his own Michiel Lindeman was senior partner in one of the biggest city law firms. Alongside none other than Wim Prins, the new vice-mayor of the city council. The man who got into office by promising to clean up Amsterdam. That made Lindeman more valuable than ever.
    ‘Get me out of here,’ Jansen said. ‘Book me a meeting with your old friend Prins. We can sort things out. Reach an accommodation. He knows we’re never going away. Tell him he can trust a Dutchman. We’ll both run that Surinamese bastard out of town. Then things can be peaceful again.’
    Lindeman shook his head and sighed.
    ‘You’re a criminal, Theo. Wim Prins can’t click his fingers and get you out. Even if he could . . .’
    He went quiet.
    ‘What?’
    Lindeman stared at Rosie Jansen and said, ‘Tell him.’
    She seemed uncomfortable for some reason.
    ‘Things are different, Dad. What was ours . . . maybe isn’t any more. I did my best. I’m not you. Half the men we had are with Menzo now. Those that aren’t are dead or gone.’
    ‘Not all of them. I get to talk to people inside. I’m not alone in there.’
    ‘Those people in jail are lying sons of bitches,’ she hissed. ‘Menzo’s putting words in their ugly mouths.’
    Jansen could feel himself getting mad.
    ‘What’s lost I’ll take back. I’ve done it before.’
    The lawyer looked round the room, pointed at the shadowy corners.
    ‘See, Theo. There you go. Talk first, think later. What if this place is wired?’
    Jansen shifted on his chair, felt his big shoulders move the way they did when a fight was coming.
    ‘If they tapped into a private conversation between a man and his lawyer they’d never get to use it. I don’t pay you to be insulted.’
    Besides, there was no mike in the room. This was Amsterdam. The courthouse. They did things properly. Carefully. Legally. The Dutch way.
    ‘You pay me to get you out of here,’ the lawyer replied. ‘To keep you out. If they think for one minute there’s going to be a war that won’t happen.’
    ‘I’m not guilty!’ Jansen slammed his heavy fist on the table. Then more quietly, ‘Not for that shit Mulder pinned on me.’
    Rosie Jansen reached over and took gentle hold of his clenched fingers.
    ‘We know that. They do too. I want you home. I want you to stay there. You had your time—’
    ‘My time?’
    They’d talked this through before. Reached a deal. He could see it now.
    ‘You’ve got enough legitimate businesses to keep you comfortable for the rest of your life,’ Lindeman said in a dry, tired tone. ‘Rich and safe. Zeeger’s affidavit doesn’t make you innocent. The best we can hope for is release on bail on the basis of an unsafe conviction. You need to give them something that will get us an appeal. I want to be able to say in private you’re out of De Wallen. Menzo’s taken most of the firms you ran there anyway—’
    ‘Stolen!’ Jansen bellowed. ‘Thieved behind my back while I was rotting in jail on some trumped-up—’
    ‘It doesn’t matter,’ his daughter cut in. ‘It’s happened. You can’t turn back the clock. No one can.’
    ‘I’m your father, Rosie. Don’t you know me?’
    Her warm hand tightened on his. Her dark eyes shone at him, pleading.
    ‘You can’t. If you try they’ll put you back in prison. Me too maybe. It’s not just Wim Prins on our backs now. The government’s coming down on us. Times are changing. They won’t let things pass the way they did.’
    ‘Throw them some money. That usually works.’
    Lindeman shook his head.
    ‘A lot’s happened in two years. Change of party since you went inside. Change of mood. Not just in the council. Everything we grew up with’s falling to pieces. You’re a dinosaur, Theo. Time to get out of the way before the comet hits.’
    Jansen blinked.
    ‘You think I’ll just roll over and let