Sun of the Sleepless (13 page)

Pieter grinned again and pointed to a black painted entrance door with a panel to one side containing a series of buttons and labels.

'Of course, just here, apartment 51C. I assume that Miss Verker is expecting us?'

Stopping a moment to look at the entrance door, Dale swivelled about to answer with a somewhat embarrassed tone.

'Actually, no, I didn't call ahead. I just arrived here as soon as I could. I figured that if she's at home then I'd catch her and if not, then I'd have to follow up anyway.'

He shrugged non-committedly.

'Very well,' nodded the Inspector, 'would you like me to do the introductions? Who shall I say you are working for?'

The question had fazed Dale for a second and he had to think for the appropriate answer.

'I'm just an embassy official, a liaison officer. You do know that we're here to pick up a stolen book, right?'

'Yes, I understand, I believe it was stolen from one of your museums, not so?'

Pieter pursed his lips and nodded with a slight grin on his face.

'Right,' Dale nodded back, aware that Inspector van Riel of the Dutch Police may have been humouring him a little too much, 'and once we have the book we can all go home.'

'Quite so!'

Pieter buzzed the bell for apartment 51C and they waited in silence for a few seconds before the tinny speaker crackled into life and a female voice asked something in Dutch.

Although Dale had a working grasp of the language, he could not make out the barely audible words emanating from the panel and he looked at Pieter questioningly before the Inspector leaned down and responded into the small microphone aperture.

Whatever he had said, it must have assured the girl as the electronic lock buzzed noisily and Dale stood aside as Inspector van Riel pushed the door open and entered.

They climbed the steps to the first floor and as they neared the landing a door swung open, framing a tall and attractive red haired young woman as she appeared from her apartment to greet them.

'Inspector van Riel, I thought our appointment was for next week, didn't you say Tuesday at four o'clock?'

Pieter became conciliatory and nodded in affirmation.

'Yes, sorry Miss Verker, you are quite correct, however, this visit concerns an entirely different matter.'

He side-stepped on the narrow landing so that she could see Dale.

'This is Mr. Mallory from the American Embassy here in The Hague and he needs to speak with you, may we come in to have a quick chat?'

Gertrude's face assumed a look of suspicion and Pieter quickly moved to assure her.

'There is nothing to worry about; you are not in any trouble. Shall we go inside?'

He nodded through the door into the gallery kitchen.

Smiling weakly, Gertrude stood back, holding the door open flat against the wall to allow them to pass, pointing inside to guide them.

'Straight through the kitchen and turn right into the living room. Would you like a coffee?'

Pieter removed his cap and waved it back over his shoulder in acknowledgement.

'Yes, that would be very nice. Mr. Mallory?'

Dale looked at Pieter and then turned to smile at Gertrude.

'Yes, thanks, black no sugar.'

A few minutes later, Gertrude brought in a tray of steaming coffee mugs some creamer and a small dish of sugar, she indicated a low table to Dale who grasped her meaning and dragged it into the space between the two sofas set at right angles in the room, allowing her to put the tray down and place each mug onto a cork coaster.

Slinking onto a sofa all to herself, Gertrude faced her guests, indicating that they should sit down again; Dale relaxed back comfortably and Pieter bobbed down onto the sofa next to him but started shuffling forward to perch on the edge of the soft cushion, setting his cap on the padded armrest next to him.

 She spoke first, directly to Dale.

'So, you're not here to extradite me to the United States?'

Pieter was quick to respond, cutting off Dale as he felt him tense, about to speak.

'Miss Verker, the American Embassy has informed us that they believe that you are in possession of a book originally stolen from one of their museums,' he raised a hand to placate her as he saw a look of concern flash across her face, 'no need to worry, there is no suggestion that you stole the book; it is understood that you have received it quite innocently.'

He looked towards Dale, 'Mr. Mallory?'

Taking a moment to respond, Dale fidgeted slightly and edged himself forward from his somewhat laid back position.

'Yes, er, yes, the book is called
Dirigo Lux
and was taken from our Library of Congress in New York, it was noticed for sale on your internet shop and, well, we're keen to get it back.'

The room remained quiet and Dale felt the need to fill the silence, he cleared his throat with a light cough.

'As Inspector van Riel indicated, we know that you had nothing to do with the original theft and of course, you have received this item completely unawares that it was stolen and in light of this the US Government is willing to pay you compensation for your trouble in the safe return of the book.'

He glanced at Pieter and looked back to Gertrude expectantly.

'You'll be fully compensated for any financial loss.'

Gertrude's bemused gaze flickered between Dale and Pieter.

'I have the book, but I have already sold it, yesterday evening. The buyer will be coming to collect it next week.'

Pre-empting Dale's response, Pieter quickly responded.

'That is quite alright, we can speak with the buyer if you wish; we can explain what has happened and take care of that for you.'

Dale had tensed again and leaned forward urgently.

'You do still have the book though, right?'

'Of course,' Gertrude shrugged, 'would you like me to get it for you?'

She levered herself up to lean over the backrest and indicated the space behind her sofa and the large rear window.

'It is right here!'

Breaking into a grin, Dale felt a rush of relief. He had half expected a much more convoluted turn of events.

'Yes, yes please, that would be great.'

Gertrude pushed herself off her seat cushion and walk around the sofa, ducking down behind the backrest to disappear from view. Dale and Pieter heard a plastic lid being peeled back from a container and a whumping sound as books were evidently being sorted and the covers were falling flat against each other. Presently, she triumphantly held aloft a heavy looking book covered in what seemed to be suede, the colour reminiscent of creamed coffee.

'Here it is!'

As Gertrude walked back around the sofa and held out the book to him, Dale rested his hands on his knees in expectation. He reached out and took the offered tome and was surprised at how heavy it felt although he was quickly impressed by the tactile surface of the leather covering.

'It's a nice book.'

Gertrude smiled as she eased back onto her sofa, cocking one leg beneath the other.

'Yes, and nearly three hundred years old so be very careful with it.'

Craning over to examine the front cover, Pieter was quickly intrigued by the gilded representation of the sun on the front.

'Your museum will be very happy now I am sure.'

Dale stared at the book, not quite sure about the level of reverence that he was supposed to feel since his overwhelming emotion at this point was relief at being able to salvage some free time from the afternoon as he had initially planned.

Gertrude suddenly spoke and broke his train of thought.

'How much compensation will you pay me?'

Taking a second to get back on track, Dale looked at the girl but his lateral vision also caught the Inspector intently staring at him.

'Err, yes, compensation. Well, we will obviously cover your losses in terms of the cost of the book and as a show of gratitude for its return we would like to extend that to cover any inconvenience in not being able to fulfil your sale from yesterday.'

There was no hesitation in Gertrude's response.

'Two thousand Euros.'

Pieter van Riel smiled but managed to stifle the small chuckle he felt warbling in his throat, the Verker girl was certainly no pushover.

'Two thousand Euros?' Dale stammered. 'Well, that seems a little excessive, I mean, how much did you pay for the book in the first place and how much did you sell it for?'

He really did not feel like parting with such a sum of money for an old book, even though he had been authorised to offer over twice as much. That money could be put to better use.

'Two thousand Euros,' Gertrude stated slowly, not changing her tone or blinking as her steely gaze fixed Dale, 'that is my starting point for negotiation. It does not matter what I paid for the book, or how much I had sold it for. The important thing is that I have the book and you want it. You have not yet mentioned the reward that your museum must be offering; I would like compensation for my trouble and the reward.'

'Miss Verker,' Dale prickled, conscious that he was being rolled over, 'this book is stolen property, we could pursue this through the courts and retrieve it without paying you a cent, we're trying to compensate you but you cannot expect to make an unwarranted profit from this situation.'

Pieter felt rather than saw the urgent gaze of Dale boring into the side of his head as an effort was made to bring him into the conversation, however, the Inspector was not about to take sides.

'Well, Mr. Mallory, of course, if you wish to make a legal issue out of this then your embassy is quite within its rights to make a case for the retrieval of the book, in which case I am sure that Miss Verker would follow the direction of any legal decision regarding rightful property ownership.'

He glanced at Gertrude and she nodded acquiescence with a gentle smile.

'However, as I understand it, this is just an informal request for co-operation and Miss Verker is quite within her rights to negotiate to cover her financial inconvenience. It seems that such an important book stolen from a large American museum would attract a reward and I do not believe that this has been mentioned yet. I am sure that you can arrive at a level of compensation agreeable to Miss Verker.'

Although the last sentence was spoken as a statement, Dale watched the Inspector's eyebrows rise in expectation. What remained of the afternoon was slipping away again. He cleared his throat and knew that he just needed to comply to get this over and done with. He did not know why the book was wanted or needed by Jackson Revere but he had to follow instructions and he was not about to put a black mark against his record because of a failed price negotiation with money that was not even from his departmental budget. He nodded slowly.

'There is a reward, three thousand US dollars, about two and a half thousand Euros. If you're happy with compensation to the value you mentioned earlier, that makes a total of four and a half thousand Euros. Is that acceptable?'

Gertrude saw the Inspector smile at her and although he could not be accused of outright collusion, he had clearly helped her cause. She nodded appreciatively at Dale.

'That would be fine. You can transfer the funds and when it is complete you may come to pick up the book. I'll wrap it for you.'

The girl's choice of words made Dale blink a couple of times as he considered what she had said.

'Do you mean an electronic funds transfer? Miss Verker, I will authorise a government cheque as soon as I get back to the embassy, please, you needn't worry that you won't get paid.'

Dale was getting frustrated.

'Inspector van Riel, can you help me here?'

The Inspector closed his eyes slowly and nodded as he understood the confusion.

'I believe that you have worked here for a while Mr. Mallory, but you may not know that we do not really use cheques here in The Netherlands, it is normal to request an electronic transfer. If Miss Verker is agreeable, I could hold on to the book until you are able to organise such a payment?'

He smiled at Gertrude again.

'Police custody should ensure that it is kept safely until it has been paid for, don't you think?'

'No. No,' Dale repeated, his tone cracking and betraying his growing agitation, 'Miss Verker, I will organise a transfer from my own bank account. I will transfer the money to your account via my internet banking as soon as I get home, the Inspector here is a witness and I am sure he can track me down and arrest me for non payment. The United States Government is not trying to scam you - I am not trying to scam you! Please, let's just get this over and done with.'

He held his palms open, waiting for Gertrude's response as she mulled over the offer.

'Yes, alright - but would you still like it gift wrapped?'

Dale shook his head, incredulous at being taken for a ride.

'No, that is fine, just a plain box will do.'

Jumping up from her seat, Gertrude deftly snatched up the book from Dale's lap as he glanced at the Inspector and shook his head in dismay.