The Japanese Corpse Read Online Free PDF Page B

times with de Gier. "And the girl may be lying through her teeth."
    The commissaris grinned. "You think so, adjutant?"
    "No," Grijpstra said, "I think I believe her, and there was blood in the car, and a bit of skull. Somebody is dead."
    "Maybe she killed him herself," de Gier said, "and this is just a long story to put us on the wrong track. Murderers have come to see us before."
    "You think so, de Gier?" the commissaris asked.
    "No, sir, I don't think so, I think she was speaking the truth as she saw it. But I've been known to think wrong before."
    "Yes," the commissaris said, "but for the time being she will be with my niece who is an intelligent woman. She lived in Hong Kong for many years with her husband who was the head of a trading firm. And during the war the Japanese interned her in a small camp for women and children. My niece was the head woman and the guards dealt through her only. She even learned to speak a little Japanese. Miss Andrews will be observed closely while she is in hiding and the local police can keep an eye on the house. I'll phone them later today."
    "Ah," said Grijpstra, "that's different. And she hasn't got her passport, so she can't rush off somewhere. Do you think the Americans will help?"
    "Certainly. And if this tip about drugs going to Germany opens a lead they'll be grateful. They know drugs travel through Amsterdam to the army camps near Cologne and Bonn, and the CIA is supposed to break the traffic. They are working with us."
    "If Cardozo is traveling with the girl I'd better take charge of the detectives tonight," de Gier said. "I'll give them copies of the second snapshot. We can track those two jokers, but they won't be here by the time we are ready to arrest them. They'll be on a Japanese Air Lines plane back to Tokyo. We'll have to be quick, sir. Shall I alert the military police at the airport?"
    "Yes," the commissaris said, "but the suspects will probably fly through Brussels or Paris and we are too late to alert the Belgian and French police, although we might try to do it by Telex. Why don't you do all that, de Gier. I will contact the ministry of Foreign Affairs, maybe they are interested, and I can also speak to the Japanese consul here in Amsterdam. Grijpstra, you take the girl to the train and tonight you can snoop around too. See if we've got something on the manager of that restaurant. Go and question him anyway. We'll shake them a little."
    "Sir," the detectives said and left. The commissaris picked up his phone again.
    "A Japanese matter?" a clerk at the Foreign Office asked. "Our ambassador to Japan is here for a few days, perhaps you would like to speak to him, sir? He is in the building somewhere; I can locate him for you."
    "That would be nice," the commissaris said, and waited. He had to wait for a long time, while the clerk kept on telling him at two-minute intervals that he was still trying to find the ambassador. The commissaris smoked a cigar and looked at his plants on the windowsill. The geranium was doing well, he thought; it had sprouted two new branches during the last month, each branch supporting a heavy load of succulent leaves and bright red flowers.
    "Commissaris?" a heavy voice asked.
    "Yes."
    "I am the ambassador. What can I do for you."
    The commissaris described his case and the ambassador asked a few short questions. "Yes," he said in the end. 'This is very interesting, and not just from a criminal point of view. Maybe this will give us our chance, a chance I have been looking for for a long time now. Can you come to The Hague? Tonight perhaps? We could have dinner somewhere."
    The commissaris rubbed his legs. The pain wasn't too bad.
    "Yes," he said. "With pleasure."
    "I'll be waiting for you at the Foreign Office," the ambassador said, "down in the lobby, at seven o'clock. What do you look like, commissaris?"
    "I am small and old," the commissaris said, "and I'll probably be limping."
    "Right," the ambassador said.
    The commissaris dialed the