Little Sister Read Online Free Page B

five Vos gave up on the paperwork and the minute hand on his watch and the two men walked Sam down Elandsgracht at a constant
steady pace. They made the terrier’s supper on Vos’s houseboat, watched, laughing, as he wolfed it down then strolled over to his bed in the stern and fell fast asleep.
    ‘Have we earned a beer now?’ Van der Berg asked.
    ‘Not really,’ Vos said. ‘But who cares?’
    Two minutes later the pair of them were perched on rickety stools at the counter of the Drie Vaten staring warily at a new bottled beer Sofia Albers had bought in from a microbrewery
start-up.
    ‘I hate change,’ Van der Berg declared.
    ‘But do you like the beer?’ she asked.
    He sipped the pale ale again and said, ‘It’s different. Does that answer your question?’
    The door opened and Laura Bakker came in and stood over them, arms folded.
    ‘We’re trying Sofia’s new beer,’ Vos told her.
    ‘Was that your idea of a joke?’
    ‘Ollie Haas?’ Van der Berg said. ‘The Timmers case? The Cupids?’
    ‘The Cupids,’ Sofia muttered and headed for the kitchen, shaking her head.
    ‘No joke, Laura,’ Vos added. ‘You can’t have read through all those files. Not so quickly. Not even you—’
    ‘What files? I’ve spent an hour and a half chasing thin air.’
    The two men sipped at their beer and waited, knowing no comment on their part was required.
    ‘I went to the digital archive first,’ Bakker declared. ‘Nothing. Then the paper archive. All that’s there are a few statements, a handful of photos and a set of
psychiatric reports on the two sisters who survived.’
    Vos nodded at the table by the toilet. It was empty as usual.
    ‘Four people were murdered,’ Van der Berg said. ‘Father, mother, daughter. Then the guitarist in the band. There’s a lot more to it than a few files.’
    ‘I’m telling you, Dirk. I know how the system works. That’s all there is.’
    Sofia came and placed a fresh bottle of the new beer in front of her then retreated. Van der Berg poured the drink.
    ‘I’ll take a look in the morning,’ he said, handing her the glass. ‘Sometimes these things lurk in places a newcomer like you might not know.’
    ‘How many decades do I need to spend here before I cease to be a newcomer? Look. I went through the archive records. I can see they were there. Lots of them. They got marked for deletion
five years ago. By—’
    ‘No,’ Vos insisted. ‘That’s not possible. Technically it’s still an open case. Not that anyone’s—’
    ‘They’re gone! I’m telling you. It’s there on the file. De Groot marked them down for deletion one week after he became commissaris. Every investigative report that Ollie
Haas wrote has been erased by the system. Every paper copy shredded.’
    Van der Berg raised his glass and peered at the clear chestnut liquid. Sofia arrived with four freshly boiled eggs and a saucer of salt. Then she returned with Vos’s washing neatly folded
and ironed in a wicker basket. He handed over a twenty-euro note and said thanks.
    ‘I like this beer,’ Van der Berg announced. ‘I think it’ll make the perfect marriage with an egg.’
    Laura Bakker closed her eyes and whispered, ‘Oh the life we lead.’
    Beyond the window the Prinsengracht was busy with early-evening traffic. Tourist boats full of visitors gazing out at the city on the water. The world seemed quiet and at peace.
    ‘Let’s deal with this in the morning,’ Vos said. ‘I’m sure it’s all just a . . . misunderstanding.’

7
    Simon Klerk gave them a bag and left them to pack their things. Then the girls went to the accommodation block and said goodbye to the other nurses and the two men in the
security office. After that they went to the kitchen and kissed the two big friendly women who worked there. The cooks wept and that brought tears all round.
    ‘Time,’ the nurse said after a while.
    The kitchen women got a small audience together and pleaded for one last song. The girls