The crowd murmured angrily.
“How could you, London?”
“Can’t you see they’ve bonded already?”
“Can’t you see how much Dewdrop already loves Amy?”
The hostility was palpable. London had found it bad enough to realize that some passengers actually suspected her of murder. This almost seemed worse.
“Besides” Amy added, almost in tears now. “You got to keep your dog, didn’t you?”
London stifled a discouraged sigh. “Amy, the amount of paperwork involved in taking an animal out of one country into another is just staggering. Surely you know that.”
“Well, you managed to skip all that,” Amy said in a pathetic voice.
“No, I didn’t,” London replied. “Sir Reggie came aboard with Mrs. Klimowski, remember? And she had all the paperwork she needed to bring him from the United States. When she was killed, it only made sense for someone aboard the ship to adopt him. But this …”
“It isn’t fair,” Amy murmured, picking up the animal again and holding it close.
Again, Amy’s complaint was echoed by others in the group.
London added, “Besides, this kitten probably already belongs to someone who is worried sick about it.”
A male voice spoke up from nearby.
“I’m pretty sure that is not a kitten.”
London turned and saw Cyrus Bannister standing there, with Audrey clinging to one arm. They had pushed through the crowd and were staring at the creature.
Cyrus disentangled himself from Audrey and held out a hand toward Amy.
“Let me have a look.”
“Not a kitten?” Amy was visibly stunned.
She handed the animal to Cyrus. It was small enough to fit in his right hand.
“It’s just as I thought,” Cyrus said, examining the animal carefully. “What you’ve got here isn’t a kitten at all, or even a close relative. It’s not even native to Europe. These creatures normally live in the Sahara Desert and semi-arid regions in the Sinai. I’d be willing to bet that this one is missing from a zoo.”
“What is it?” Amy asked weakly.
“This is a baby fennec fox,” Cyrus told her. “I’ve heard of fennec foxes being kept as exotic house pets, but it’s a practice I personally frown upon. Full-grown fennec foxes feed on small rodents, lizards, insects, and birds and their eggs—not a diet anybody here is in a position to supply. And this is hardly a hospitable environment for such an animal. Besides, this one is too small to be away from its mother.”
A murmur of surprise passed through the group.
“The poor little thing,” Audrey added. “And think about how worried its mother must be.”
Looking a bit relieved at this news, Elsie said, “I’ll get on the phone and see if I can find out anything about a missing zoo animal.”
“You should do that,” Cyrus said with a nod. He handed the little creature back to Amy, then turned and gave London a bitter stare. With that, he stalked out of the lounge with Audrey at his side.
They’re still mad at me for mentioning his name to the police, London realized.
In a way, she couldn’t blame them, but she did wish she could ask Cyrus some questions. For example, how had his interview with the police gone this morning? And why had he been so fascinated by the Van Gogh painting of tulips in the Rijksmuseum? And what was he refusing to tell her about it?
Meanwhile, she had a more immediate matter to deal with.
Amy was just standing there holding the little animal close, with a tear running down her cheek.
“Come on, Amy,” London said, taking her colleague gently by the arm. “Let’s sit down and talk.”
Amy nodded with a stifled sob and followed London to a table where they could talk more privately. When they sat down, she put the little fox on the table and pulled out her cell phone.
“Amy, I’m awfully sorry about this,” London said. “I know how much I’d hate to have to give up Sir Reggie. But if Cyrus is right and this really is a lost zoo animal …”
“He’s right,” Amy said with a sigh. She held up the cell phone, showing a photo of a fennec fox and her kits. The young ones looked just like the animal on the table. The adult had a long fox face and huge ears.
“I really can’t keep her,” Amy said, wiping away another tear. Then she looked up at London and added, “Sometimes I really hate working on this ship. You’re the one who gets to have all the fun and adventures.”
London couldn’t help but chuckle a little. She knew that Amy harbored a grudge because London had gotten the position of social director that Amy had wanted. But her new career had certainly not been all fun and adventures.
“Amy, right now I’m a murder suspect,” London said. “I have to clear my own name. And not even for the first time.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” Amy said.
“It hasn’t helped that you’ve been going around telling everybody that I found the dead body in the red-light district. And now half the ship suspects me of murder and God only knows what else.”
Amy just stared at the baby fennec fox, which had gone to sleep on the table.
“Do you really think I killed anybody?” London asked.
Amy shrugged slightly.
“Probably not.”
“Amy!” London said with roll of her eyes.
“OK, definitely not.”
At that moment Elsie came over to them.
“I made some calls and found out that Cyrus was right,” Elsie said. “A keeper at the Artis Zoo accidentally left an enclosure open, and a mother fennec fox and her two babies got loose. The mother and one baby have already been found, but everybody has been worried sick about this one. They’ve been afraid it might have gotten run over or fallen into a canal or …”
“Or gotten snatched up to be a house pet,” Amy said, finishing Elsie’s thought. “I understand.”
“A couple of zoo employees are coming right over to pick the animal up,” Elsie said.
As Elsie walked away, Amy petted the little animal.
She said, “Well, Dewdrop, I guess we’ll be saying goodbye pretty soon. I hope you’re happy in the zoo. At least you’ll be back with your mama.”
London looked at her watch. She still needed to get off the ship, to get to the bottom of the mystery of the murdered art restorer. But she felt that her conversation with Amy wasn’t finished.
“Amy, what’s been going on with you lately?” she asked. “You’ve been acting oddly, darting around, even hiding. What’s going on?”
Again, the concierge just stared at the fox in silence for a moment.
“OK, if you must know,” she finally said. “I’ve been doing everything I can to stay away from Emil.”
“I thought so,” London said. “But why?”
“Well, Emil and I were just starting to have a little thing together …”
“Yes, I know,” London said, queasily remembering how she’d caught them making out in the library.
“It was fun at first,” Amy continued. “Part of the fun was trying to keep it secret. But I realized pretty quickly that it wasn’t going to work out. I mean, we’re just so different, Emil and me. He’s so stuffy and intellectual and uptight, and I’m … well, so cheerful and spontaneous, such a free spirit.”
London managed not to sputter with laughter.
Amy, a free spirit?
“So I broke it off,” Amy said. “Or at least I tried to. London, Emil is positively obsessed with me. He just won’t leave me alone.”
London struggled to make sense of what she was hearing.
“Are you sure about that, Amy?”
“Oh, I’m absolutely sure. And do you know what he did yesterday? He went out and bought some very expensive blue-and-white antique plaque thing that he set up in the library and showed off to everybody. Now, why do you think he did that?”
But before London could reply, Amy continued, “He bought it for me, of course.
”
London’s eyes widened with disbelief.
“Did he tell you that?” she asked.
“No, not yet. But why else would a man buy a piece of china?”
Without pausing for an answer to her question, Amy chattered on, “It’s obviously a gift for a woman he has a crush on. Which would definitely be yours truly. Haven’t you noticed how he’s been acting? The man is lovesick. London, what am I going to do? I can’t keep avoiding him forever, but I don’t want to hurt his feelings. How can I let him down easy? And how can I tell him I don’t want that plaque? I don’t even like it very much.”
London’s mouth had dropped open. Whatever else might be going on between Amy and Emil, London knew almost for certain that Amy was wrong about the plaque—and probably about a whole lot else.
For starters, that “piece of china” was considered a valuable work of art, and she was certain that Emil had bought it for himself.
He had told her, “I have wanted an authentic Delfts Blauw ever since I was a little boy.”
“Amy, listen to me—” London began.
But before she could continue, she heard a man’s voice behind her.
“Mevrouw Rose, I need to have a word with you.”
London turned and saw Hoofdinspecteur Braam standing there with crossed arms and a stern expression on his face.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Feeling apprehensive, London stood up from the table. She found the sudden arrival of Hoofdinspecteur Braam a bit unnerving. It didn’t help that Amy cried out, “London, have the police come to get you?”
She saw other faces in the lounge turning toward her to see what was happening.
“No, I think they’re just here for a little chat,” London replied, wondering what kind of rumors everybody would be spreading now. She left Amy sitting there with the little fox on the table in front of her and followed Braam across the lounge to a table near a window.
Although she wasn’t surprised that Braam wanted to talk with her again, she felt a pit of worry in her stomach. Her discomfort grew when they sat down together, and he just sat silently gazing out the window.
Finally, he spoke to her in English.
“Such a lovely view of my city. I don’t often get to see it from this perspective. Amsterdam looks so peaceful from here, doesn’t it? It is hard to imagine how something so ugly as murder ever taking place here.”
London could hear a note of irony in his voice.
As if he’s toying with me, she thought.
“Of course,” he continued, “the Nachtmusik seems to bring murder with it wherever it goes. I wonder why that is. Do you think you could explain that to me, Mevrouw Rose?”
“I’m afraid I can’t,” London said. “All I know is that you still seem to suspect me of a murder I didn’t commit. And I don’t know what to say to convince you otherwise.”
Braam leaned back and tilted his head.
“It might help if you explained your activities this morning. I happen to know that you went ashore in order to … well, snoop I believe is the word for it in English. I stopped by the Zacht Coffeeshop a little while ago to have another word with the owner, Meneer Cornellison. He told me you had come by to ask him some questions.”
London stifled a surge of alarm that the hoofdinspecteur had been checking up on her activities. Had he really come here to arrest her?
“That’s true,” she replied as evenly as she could.
“Now why would you do a thing like that?”
“To help you solve the case.”
Braam scoffed.
“I don’t remember asking for your help,” he said.
London took a deep breath to settle her nerves. She realized that she’d better be upfront with the hoofdinspecteur. More than that, she figured it was probably a good idea to stop acting afraid of him.
Anyway, I’m not in the mood for games, she thought, as irritation overcame her anxiety.
“You didn’t ask for my help,” London said. “But if you persist in wasting time and energy investigating me when I didn’t do anything, you can’t blame me for pitching in to put you straight. I want to find Meneer Dekker’s killer as much as you do. Maybe even more so, since so much is at stake for me.”
Braam peered at her silently for a moment. London sensed that gears were turning in his head as he tried to figure out what to make of her. And in a way, London could understand his mystification. From what he’d told her yesterday, European law enforcement was abuzz with rumors about her.
London decided to keep right on being bold and direct.
“Tell me, Hoofdinspecteur Braam—what sorts of stories have you heard about me? If rumor has it that I’m some sort of international serial killer, why do I keep investigating the murders I’ve committed? And what about the culprits I’ve been catching? Are they really innocent, and I’ve been framing them? Have I been doing it so brilliantly that I’ve fooled the police in Gyor, Salzburg, and Regensburg? Is that what you’ve been hearing?”
Braam’s brow knitted thoughtfully. Although he wasn’t saying so, she suspected that the rumors he’d been hearing had been just about that crazy.
I’m an “urban legend,” after all, she thought.
And she knew that one thing urban legends had in common was they got more and outlandish as they circulated.
But she detected a change in Braam’s demeanor. Maybe, she thought, she was getting through to him. Maybe, hearing this scenario from her own lips made it seem less plausible.
Finally, Braam said, “So what have you learned so far?”
London stifled a sigh of relief. It seemed good that he was asking for her help. But was it really? Was he still trying to play a game of cat and mouse with her?
She said, “Well, Meneer Dekker didn’t exactly have many friends in De Wallen, and at least a few enemies—Meneer Cornellison himself, for example. Surely you haven’t ruled him out as a suspect.”
Braam let out a grunt of affirmation.
“I am considering many possibilities,” he said. “Who else did you visit during your little investigative outing this morning?”
London hesitated for a moment.
Just how upfront should I be? she wondered.
Maybe too much honesty would get her into trouble. But keeping her mouth shut didn’t seem to be an option.
She said, “I talked to a young sex worker who goes by the name of Kaneel Lied. Her real name is—”
Braam interrupted, “Yes, I know—Ingrid de Kuiper. So, you paid her a visit too, eh? You have had a rather busy day so far. Did she tell you anything of interest?”
London sensed a shift in Braam’s attitude, as if his curiosity about her was starting to outweigh his suspicions.
“She told me that Meneer Dekker was obsessed with her and that he wanted her to marry him.” London said. “She was shocked and probably a little scared and told him she didn’t want to see him anymore. He didn’t take it well. But I’m sure she told you all this as well. Are you thinking of her as a suspect?”
Braam shuffled his feet. London wondered whether he was to decide how much to open up to her, now that she seemed to be opening up to him.
Finally, he said, “My instincts tell me that Mevrouw de Kuiper does not have the makings of a killer.”
London was glad to hear this, for Ingrid’s sake. She too couldn’t believe that the intelligent young woman who was putting herself through college by working in Amsterdam’s sex trade had killed anybody.
And yet …
London shivered as she realized—she did know something that Braam didn’t know. It had to do with Ingrid’s older sister, Femke. When Femke had opened up about it, Ingrid had asked her why she hadn’t told her story to the police.
“Why do you think I didn’t tell them?” Femke had replied.
London suddenly wavered. She’d liked both of the sisters, and she didn’t want to get either of them in trouble. If she told Braam about the conversation, he would certainly put
Femke on his suspects list.
But maybe he should, she thought.
After all, London had no way of knowing whether or not Femke might be the killer.
Choosing her words carefully, London said, “When you visited Ingrid, did you also meet her sister Femke?”
Braam nodded.
“Yes, she’s security guard at the Botanical Garden. What about her?”
“Well, Femke told me something that I happen to know she didn’t tell you,” London said.
Braam’s eyes widened with interest.
“And what was that?” he asked.
“One day Pier Dekker came around to the houseboat where the sisters live. Ingrid wasn’t home, but Dekker talked with Femke. He tried to talk Femke into helping him get back into Ingrid’s good graces.”
“What did Femke tell him?” Braam asked.
“I don’t know, she wouldn’t say,” London said.
“Do you think she may have threatened him?”
“I really have no idea,” London said.
But maybe that isn’t true, London thought, remembering what Femke had told Ingrid about Dekker.
“Even if he hadn’t gotten killed, he wouldn’t have come around bothering you anymore.”
It sure sounded as though Femke might have threatened the man.
Braam stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“Interesting,” he said. “I appreciate your sharing this information—that is, if it is information and not just something you are making up to deflect suspicion from yourself.”
London managed not to roll her eyes with exasperation. She still hadn’t convinced Braam of her innocence.
Meanwhile, she noticed that across the lounge two uniformed zoo employees had arrived at Amy’s table with an animal carrier. As they coaxed the fennec fox kit away from Amy, the concierge wiped her eyes but didn’t put up any resistance.
That’s one problem solved, London thought.
She also realized that she had a question of her own to ask the Hoofdinspecteur.
“Maybe you could tell me something,” London said to Braam. “I happen to know that you came around the ship this morning to talk to one of our passengers, Cyrus Bannister. What did you find out from him?”
Misfortune (and Gouda) Page 17
