The Square of Revenge Read Online Free PDF Page B

In had sold his dented BMW three years earlier. You needed an expensive private garage in Bruges since it was impossible to park on the street, and Van In had decided after one too many tickets that it simply wasn’t worth it.
     “Good morning, Commissioner Van In,” said Benny Lagrou with a toothless smile from behind the reception desk.
    “Morning, Benny. Has De Kee been here long?” asked Van In nonchalantly.
    Lagrou was old school, a heavy drinker and a gossipmonger. De Kee had taken him off the beat five years earlier. His usual job was “Lost Property,” known among his colleagues as “Siberia.”
    “Did he call you in for the Steen Street robbery?” he said evasively.
    “How long has he been here?” Van In reformulated his question.
    “He stormed in half an hour ago,” Lagrou whispered in a conspiratorial tone. “And I don’t think he’s in a good mood.”
    “Is he ever?” said Van In.
    Lagrou grinned. More gums.
    Van In pushed open the dividing door and took the stairs to the third floor. He was alone. Most people took the lift.
    Chief Commissioner De Kee, a former barber who had worked his way to a Master’s in criminology, responded almost simultaneously to Van In’s discreet knock on the door.
    “Enter.”
    The chief commissioner was behind his desk. He was short, like most dictators. He had put on his uniform for the occasion. Exceptional, since most of the time he wore expensive tailored suits. Vera, his mistress, painstakingly monitored his look.
    “Take a seat, Van In,” said De Kee in a toneless voice. He peered at him through non-reflective lenses in an eighteen-karat gold frame. He wasn’t comfortable with his son-in-law’s absence. He preferred to keep Van In on the sidelines.
    “Cigarette?”
    “Please,” said Van In.
    De Kee slid a packet of Players in Van In’s direction, tax-free, naturally. Van In took his time. De Kee ran his fingers nervously through his thinning hair. A child could tell he was under pressure. He saw that Van In had noticed and immediately pulled down his hand.
    “I want you to take control of the case, Van In. The most important thing is discretion. By that, I mean you should be as little trouble to the Degroofs as humanly possible. If you want to question anyone, don’t do it here at the station. Do I make myself clear?”
    “Of course, sir.”
    Van In knew that De Kee was indebted big time to Ludovic Degroof, as were three-quarters of the local politicians in fact.
    “It’s also not essential per se that the culprit or culprits be arrested.”
    De Kee was clearly uncomfortable with these words. Van In was astounded.
    “And why not, if you don’t mind my asking?”
    De Kee took off his expensive glasses and rubbed the corners of his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. Van In was asking the kind of questions Deleu would never think of asking. But he had little choice. Someone had to set up an investigation.
    “Pieter, my friend,” he said in an unctuous tone. “Mr. Ludovic Degroof hates this sort of publicity. If you catch the culprits, fine. If you don’t, no problem. Degroof is asking for a thorough police report, officially recording his losses and nothing more. He doesn’t want us to waste a lot of time and energy on the case.”
    De Kee’s sudden informality made Van In particularly suspicious. The chief commissioner always used titles and surnames.
    “In other words, he needs us to recuperate his losses from the insurance,” said Van In pointedly.
    De Kee brushed off his remark with a gesture of indifference.
    “How long have you been in the force, Pieter?” he asked as Van In stared at him in amusement. “Eighteen, nineteen years?”
    “Nineteen,” said Van In.
    “Almost twenty, Pieter,” said De Kee, correcting him. The cunning fox had a tremendous memory for detail and liked to flaunt it. “I presume you’ve seen a few things in your time?”
    Van In nodded. He had heard this line before. Politics were usually