Janwillem De Wetering - Blond Baboon

He put the brandy snifter down and brought out bis handkerchief, wheezing into it energetically. “Our baboon, spending his nights on Gabrielle’s couch while the young lady gradually sucks his soul away, wasting his days back in the furniture business, lodged safely in Bergen’s office, swiveling around on the president’s chair, taking care of things.”

“The Carnet Company will probably have to declare bankruptcy,” Grijpstra said tonelessly, as if he were reading from a report.

“Oh, yes. Unless they have somebody on their staff who can take over, but that’s rather doubtful. Or Gabrielle… no. I don’t mink she can do it. But the baboon can, easily. And he would be rich too, I don’t think he would need more than a few years to get the company back on its feet and the bank would be sure to back him. Remember what Bergen told us? The bank liked the baboon.”

“Why do you think the baboon refused to become the company’s president, sir?” De Gier’s voice was flat too.

“The opposite, dear boy.” the commissaris said. “The opposite. Surely you’ve noticed.” The commissaris blinked and took off his spectacles. “You must have noticed. You are leading an old man on. Or do you want me to confirm what you have already concluded yourself?”

“Please confirm it, sir.”

“What would the average man do if something frightened him? He would run away, wouldn’t he? He would prefer to get away from whatever was causing him pain or anxiety. And if he could get hold of it he would try to kill it, or hide it somewhere deep in his mind so that he couldn’t get close to it again, and so that it wouldn’t be able to get at him. But the baboon recreated what he feared and kept his enemies in easily accessible places, on the wall of his apartment and in the cupboard. He set up his fear in such a way that it could charge him. You saw the rat’s tail hanging out of that painting, de Gier. You must have, for you are frightened of rats yourself. Would you have a painting of a rat in here? And would you make it more gruesome by allowing the hellish fiend to let his tail hang out, right into the intimacy of your home?”

De Gier’s face didn’t move. His large eyes were staring at the commissaris.

“No. Don’t answer me, you don’t have to. We are discussing the baboon. He likes to do the opposite of what seems to be expected of him, and perhaps he evades the trap that way. He accepted neither Elaine’s nor Gabrielle’s offer. And yet he had worked for the Carnet ladies for ten years, had been their chief salesman and their close friend, their lover even. They were offering him the whole caboodle, lock, stock, and barrel, with themselves thrown in. And Gabrielle’s offer was even better than her mother’s had been, for she is an attractive young woman.”

Cardozo had woken and had pushed himself up against the bookcase.

“A most reasonable offer. The intimate pleasures Gabrielle can dispense plus a firm that, if properly managed, should yield half a million profit a year over and above a director’s salary.”

The commissaris coughed as if he had said too much. His eyes strayed back to the balcony. De Gier had replaced the plants that had been either torn or swept right out by the gale. A profusion of begonias covered the balcony’s cast-iron railing and their top leaves shimmered in the moonlight like small, succulent, live coins.

“Another brandy, sir?”

“Just a nip, a small nip, I must really be on my way.”

The crystal decanter appeared once more, and the commissaris sniffed the fragrance of the thick liquid pouring into his glass.

“Your health, sergeant. Yes, the baboon was worm meeting. We won’t meet him again. He was sucked into the case by a lonely woman’s desires, a woman he might not have liked very much once he got to know her too well. I didn’t like Elaine Camet either. Fortunately I didn’t have to, she was dead when we began. Bergen was worse. I should have liked him for he needed our help, but I couldn’t make the effort. A fool, sergeant, of the worst variety.” He looked into his glass. “Perhaps because he lived on the surface, doing what he thought was proper, following the stream without ever bothering to consider where it was taking him. Well…”

“Has Mr. Pullini gone back to Italy, sir?”

The commissaris brightened up again. “Oh, yes, I took him to the airport this morning, after we had breakfast in the Pulitzer, a very enjoyable breakfast. You haven’t met him, sergeant, have you?”

“No, sir.”

“Pity. A dangerous man in a way but good to be with. We had a marvelous time in his hometown together. Papa Pullini visited Francesco in jail last night. Francesco isn’t comfortable but he is reasonably contented. Nobody in Italy should ever find out what happened to him here. He is supposed to have gone on an extended business trip and will be back at the end of the year.”

“He will only get a few months, sir?”

The commissaris nodded. “Yes, the prosecutor wasn’t too impressed with our charges, fortunately. The charges will stick, of course, they are well documented. Mr. de Bree’s statement, Gabrielle’s statement, Francesco’s own confession, Cardozo’s report about the cigars. The defense hasn’t got a chance, but even so, just a few months, I would say, and we’ll be able to escort Francesco to the airport before the year is over. A beautiful case in a way, a textbook example of provoked manslaughter. It will probably be known as ‘the Italian furniture dealer’s case’ and will be used in examinations.”

“And Dr. Havink, sir?”

“Dr. Havink? I thought you would ask me about Mr. de Bree. I would think mat de Bree’s crime was worse than Dr. Havink’s. I find it very difficult to feel compassion for a man who tries to kill an animal by poisoning. But he did it out of love for another animal, our good friend Tobias. Interesting, very. I hope the judge will probe the case deeply and I’ll be in the court listening. Yes, that would be most interesting. I hope he’ll get that elderly female judge, she has a brilliant mind.”

“I would like to hear more about Dr. Havink, sir,” de Gier said slowly. “I read your reports, but you didn’t waste too many words and you made the arrest on your own.”

The commissaris drained the rest of his brandy and smacked bis lips. De Gier reached for the flask. “No, sergeant, very kind of you, but no more. Well, what can I tell you? A greedy man. It’s amazing mat medical specialists with high incomes can be mat greedy and also that stupid. They can’t see their own motivation in spite of all the intelligence they are undoubtedly equipped with. He told me mat he practiced his little tricks because he had to pay for his equipment, all mat computerized electronic gear he needs for his brain tests. He assured me that the equipment was benefiting humanity. Nonsense. The city doesn’t need Dr. Havink’s gadgets, our hospitals ate over-equipped already, and our crippling taxes are partly due to our paranoid fear of death. Why should we have private clinics where already available equipment is duplicated?”

“Yes, sir, but how did you get him?”

The commissaris waved at the begonias. “Ah, the good doctor was so easy to trap. I couldn’t use Bergen’s skull anymore, it was too badly damaged, so I used my own. I have a friend who is a neurologist and I asked him to arrange for an X-ray of my head. Easy as pie, sergeant, easy as pie. My skull showed no calcifications. Oh, sure, it showed some, but nothing abnormal. Nothing behind which a nasty little tumor could hide. Then I went to Dr. Havink, who had never met me, and registered as a patient suffering from intolerable and chronic headaches. He hemmed and hawed and told me mat he would need to photograph my skull. Very well. He did and showed me the photograph. Sure enough, a white spot. And the whole rigamarole about the tumor. Of course it might be nothing, and if it was something it might be harmless, but still, one never knows. Better to be on the safe side. Surely. So would I undergo further tests? Yes, yes, yes. Please. The results of the tests were negative and I was sent on my way again. No mention of money, for I had told him I worked for the municipality and had given him my insurance policy’s number. No trouble there.”