Into the Night: Inspector Rykel Book 2 (Amsterdam Quartet) by Jake Woodhouse Page A

had been all over it, and Jaap remembered the politician had even used it to his political advantage.
    And tricky. Jaap had been under pressure to make an arrest, and while he’d genuinely believed that Teeven, a minor player in a drugs outfit based in Amsterdam Zuid, was involved, he’d had a nagging feeling that there was something wrong, something which didn’t quite fit.
    But given the outrage whipped up in the press the trial was pressed through fast, and Teeven went down for murder.
    And now, before being killed, he’d got out and just happened to spend the last few days sitting in a cafe a clog’s throw away from Jaap’s houseboat.
    I can’t have Floortje staying with me now
, he thought as he walked.
    Saskia was going to be down in Den Haag next week so she didn’t have to travel back and forth for the trial. There was a house for prosecutors to use right by the ICTY, and Jaap realized he’d feel a lot happier if Floortje was down there with her.
    And Saskia wasn’t going to like that at all.
    The air was cooling rapidly in the shade on his side of the canal. Skin on his forearms goose-pimpled up. He turned off on to Leidsetraat, heading south. A tram screamed by, metal on metal.
    Saskia answered on the third ring.
    ‘Any news?’
    ‘On your witness? No, but I’ve got something else I need to talk to you about.’
    ‘I can guess already.’
    He could sense she was exasperated. She’d been with him long enough, and then with Andreas, to know what was coming.
    ‘Look, I’ve thought about this. I could see if we could get someone to help out—’
    ‘Hire someone, you mean?’
    ‘Yeah, I’ll pay for it, and—’
    ‘I don’t want to do that, I’m going to be busy.’
    ‘I know, which is why you need someone. There’s room at the house you’ll be at, right? So whoever we get could live in.’
    ‘There
are
four bedrooms, but that’s not really the point. Why can’t Floortje stay with you?’
    Jaap took a breath. He could smell something frying in rancid fat from the fast-food joint he’d just passed.
    ‘The thing is, I’m thinking of moving out for a few days, there’s that problem with the floor? I had someone take it up yesterday and they think they may have to tank the whole hull. And I’d rather get it done sooner than later.’
    Why do I lie so easily?
Jaap wondered.
    ‘Well, someone’s got to be the responsible parent. I guess it’ll have to be me,’ she said and hung up before Jaap could reply.
    Great
, he thought.
Just fucking great.
    Trying to bring up a child which he’d not had time to prepare for was never going to be easy. That he was having to do it with his ex made it even harder.
    There were too many people around, too much movement and noise. He needed to think and ducked into the first side street he came to, passing a shop selling bonsai trees. He stopped and looked at one, its delicate branches reminding him of his time in Kyoto.
    It’d been tough.
    In fact it had nearly driven him crazy, but he’d come out of it with a sense of calm and purpose which he’d not felt before.
    And then, with Karin’s death, it had gone.
    He wondered if it would ever return.
    His pocket buzzed and he answered his phone, seeing it was Roemers.
    ‘What have you got?’
    ‘A couple of things. The Twitter maniac has posted again, there’s a picture of two heads. I’m sending it over to you now.’
    ‘And what’s the other thing?’
    ‘Unlocked the phone, not much on it. But there’s something you need to see.’
    Jaap got a weird taste in his mouth. His neck felt too long.
    ‘What is it?’
    ‘I don’t want to ruin the surprise because it’s—’
    ‘Just tell me.’
    ‘Okay, fine. It’s a photo taken early this morning.’
    Jaap knew what was coming.
    He didn’t want to hear it.
    ‘Looks to me like Tanya, and I’m pretty sure she’s leaving a houseboat. In fact, it kinda looks like your houseboat.’

11
    Saturday, 8 May
18.52
    Tanya stared at the red letters on the