The Fourth Figure by Brian; Pieter; Doyle Aspe

can’t keep this up,” she said, her laughter now out of control. “I’ve got to pee.”
    Van In shrugged and lit another cigarette. He noticed the longing look in Jonathan’s eyes and slipped him the pack. The boy looked around skittishly then helped himself. Guido dutifully dusted the crumbs from the tablecloth and dropped them in the empty basket.
    â€œNow that I’m here, wouldn’t this be a good time to have a look at your new music center?”
    â€œMusic center?”
    â€œIn the den,” said Guido emphatically.
    Van In nodded. “Tell Hannelore we’re in the den?”
    Jonathan nodded. Van In closed the door behind him.
    â€œOkay, Guido, get on with it.”
    Guido told him about the telephone call from the police physician. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Jonathan.”
    â€œOf course.” Van In collapsed onto the sofa and threw his legs onto a side table. “After everything Jonathan told us last night, I’m not really surprised.”
    â€œAnything interesting?”
    â€œThis and that.”
    Guido sat next to Van In. “Tell!”
    â€œTrui Andries used to be a member of a satanic sect. She left three months ago along with Jonathan and Jasper Simons.”
    â€œThe man who wrote the letter we found in Trui’s apartment?”
    Van In nodded.
    â€œAnd the sect wasn’t happy?” asked Guido.
    â€œThe three of them have been getting threats ever since.”
    â€œFrom the sect leaders?”
    â€œI assume so, but they’ve been smart enough to keep it anonymous. Jasper Simons couldn’t handle all the intimidation and became very depressed. He’s on the mend, apparently, but no one knows how he’ll react to Trui’s death. Jasper and Trui were planning to get married soon. Jonathan told me at the station that Trui had been his girlfriend, but he later admitted the truth about Jasper and Trui’s relationship.”
    â€œAnd Jonathan?”
    â€œJonathan’s a devout Catholic these days, Jasper the same. Jonathan turned his back on the Satan stuff and wants to be a monk. Trui supported him. … She was his rock.”
    Guido rubbed his mustache. The world was getting weirder by the day. There were extremists all over the place. What had happened to the happy medium, the golden mean? “I didn’t know monks-to-be were allowed marijuana.” He smirked. “But who am I to judge? If the police can do it, why not the monks too?”
    Van In sensed a dig. “I was trying to win his confidence, Guido.”
    â€œSo you believe his crazy story.”
    Van In leaned back on the sofa and put his hands behind his neck. Guido may have been a little old-fashioned, but his capacity to relativize was up there with the best. Maybe he was right. Maybe Jonathan’s story was crazy. But why would Jonathan lie? He had no reason, and his sadness at Trui’s death was clearly genuine.
    â€œStories like that have been doing the rounds quite a bit of late. It’s the turn of the century. Sects are popping up all over the place. The end of the world is nigh, Guido, and everyone is trying to deal with the thought of it in one way or another. Some choose sin; others strive to be holy.”
    â€œIt’s because they read so much crap in the papers. If one of them publishes an article on UFOs, everyone and his mother has seen one the next day.”
    Van In sighed. “True or not, we now know for certain that Trui Andries was murdered, and that the murderer mixes in satanic circles.”
    â€œWhat are we waiting for? We have Jonathan, don’t we?”
    â€œThat’s the problem. It took us all night to get precious little information out of him. The boy is a closed book. Every time we mentioned a name, he broke into a sweat and started to panic.”
    â€œThen let the shrinks take care of it,” said Guido, unable to muster much