The Public Prosecutor by Jef Geeraerts

The Public Prosecutor by Jef Geeraerts

Author:Jef Geeraerts [Geeraerts, Jef]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781904738657
Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press
Published: 2009-08-31T18:30:00+00:00


14

At two thirty, after the director of Marlowe & Co. had more or less come to terms with the shock he had received with the help of a couple of serious whiskies and the application of a technique he called “self-brainstorming”, he telephoned the Belgian Opus Dei prelature from a public callbox close to his office in a fit of paranoia, reinforced by the whisky. He was put through to Baron Hervé van Reyn, who had just returned from prayer in the chapel with the other numeraries. Fifty Ave Marias in honour of the month of Mary. Van Reyn spoke diplomatically of his appreciation for the documents and enquired once again about the invoice. The director first let van Reyn talk and then told him what had happened in elliptical police language, hiding nothing.

“I see,” van Reyn mumbled sceptically. “And… er… are we facing an impasse, Mr Marlowe?” (He used the name mockingly.)

“To be honest, I would prefer to talk with you personally, Perálta—”

“Completely out of the question,” van Reyn retorted. His head shuddered and his lips twisted as if he had just eaten something unpleasant, a notorious aristocratic tick he found impossible to suppress when confronted with the inane reactions of common folk.

“But I must insist, Perálta,” the director persevered, “I must warn you—”

Van Reyn was immediately on his guard. “Is that right? And can you tell me why?”

“If you insist on the telephone…”

Van Reyn hesitated. He sensed that something serious was going on, but there were few things he found worse than losing face, a unmitigated betrayal of the family motto Droit et en avant.

“Fine, I’m listening,” he said with evident reluctance.

“The bottom line is this…” the director continued, choosing his words with caution, “the documents you received from us within the framework of your assignment have been rendered unusable.”

“In what way?” van Reyn interrupted in a high-pitched tone.

“Look, monsieur, let me tell you what the consequences would be for you should you decide to use them against my advice…”

“Mm…”

“We know, in the meantime, that the police investigators have informed the target of the incident in which a dog and a horse were shot.”

“Thanks to the unbelievable gaffe of one of your, er… detectives.”

“These things happen, monsieur,” the director replied with little enthusiasm.

“So you’re siding with that… that… I’ve no idea how to refer to such individuals.”

“They were both fired on the spot.”

“And so far we haven’t made an inch of progress.”

“May I continue?”

“Please do.”

“Well, the fact that the target is the Public Prosecutor of Antwerp places him in a privileged position to dig up everything there is to be dug up about the case, if you get my drift.”

“No, I don’t… er… get your drift.”

“We cannot use the photos under any circumstances.”

“And why not?”

“Because blackmail on the basis of those photos might elicit a completely different reaction than we might have expected. The man is aware of certain information, which, should he wish to dig deeper, might point in our direction. Then we’ll be left holding the baby and the authorities will turn their attention to us.



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