DeKok and the Sorrowing Tomcat (24 page)

Vledder looked at him with a confused look on his face.

“I don't understand that.”

“You remember what you said when we found the corpse? Why did the killer leave the money in the trunk. Tax-free money, you said.”

“Yes.”

“It was a good question, but the thrust of the question was wrong.”

“How's that?”

“We should have asked ourselves why whoever killed Thornbush placed the body on a bed of bank notes. And not just a quantity of bank notes, but
exactly
seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or the equivalent, anyway.”

“You mean that the amount had a certain significance?”

“Yes. We even touched upon it, briefly. We mentioned that seventy-five percent was still missing. You see, that was crucial. It meant that exactly twenty-five percent was in the trunk. You understand? Thornbush had been placed on top of
his
share.”

Vledder beamed.

“Dammit, yes. From that it followed that there
had
to be three others.”

DeKok nodded.

“But not just that. It also meant that in killing Thornbush, other motives, besides money, were a consideration. Under normal circumstances, any gang of four, would have divided the spoils into three after the demise of one of their members. But that didn't happen. Charles Thornbush received his full share. He
and
his share were then transported to the villa at the Amstel, to the Bent house. Why? As we know now, Bent had nothing to do with the entire mess. But Sandra Bent was a different kettle of fish altogether. She was presented with her lover, complete with his share of the loot … but he was dead as a doornail.”

DeKok rubbed his eyes with the back of hand.

“That type of cynicism could only be conceived by the brain of a jealous woman.”

His voice sounded bitter. For a long time after that they remained silent. Wet snow was sticking to the outside of the window. Vledder was the first to break the silence. There was a deep crease in his forehead, something that usually happened when he concentrated deeply on something.

“But I don't understand how she could kill her husband. After all, she
did
love him very much. What was the direct cause for that?”

DeKok sighed.

“She found the tickets for Houston.”

“What?”

“Yes. Tim had told her about the dagger and the murder of Pete Geffel. From that moment on she looked at her husband with new suspicion. She followed him unobtrusively and discovered that he had plans to abscond with the entire loot. When she then, more or less by accident, found the airplane tickets she suddenly realized the how and the why of the entire plan. She realized that she had been lied to and that she and her brothers had been used in order to enable him and his paramour to flee to South America. That was too much, that was the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. She took one of the weapons that had been used during the hold-up and waited for him in the hall. In her heart she doubted herself. She did still have a faint hope that she was mistaken. She hoped that, perhaps, the second ticket was for her. But Thornbush ignored her, didn't even notice her in the hall. At the moment that he was about to leave with his suitcases, she called him back and shot him from close by.”

DeKok rose from his chair and ambled through the room. There were two other beds, but both were unoccupied. He stopped in front of one of the windows and stared at the snow. Vledder looked at his broad back.

“Did you find the missing money in the garage?”

“No, not in the garage, but in suitcases under the bed.”

“Not in the garage?” asked Vledder, astonished at the revelation.

DeKok turned toward him.

“No.”

Vledder swallowed.

“But … but, then
why
did she shoot me when I wanted to go to the garage?”

“The cat was there.”

“The cat?”

DeKok nodded slowly.

“Thornbush also had a cat, from before his marriage. But Mrs. Thornbush didn't like cats, is allergic to them. The animal wasn't allowed in the house. That's why the cat lived in the garage. It had a basket, a box and was fed there. Thornbush did take good care of his cat. The animal was very much attached to him. When Mrs. Thornbush conceived the plan to deliver the corpse of her husband to Sandra Bent, she dragged the body to the garage where the blue Simca had been parked all this time. She took the suitcases from the hall and coolly counted out exactly one fourth of the loot. When she arrived in the garage with the money, she received the shock of her life. The black tomcat was seated on the chest of her dead husband and howled its sorrow for all to hear.”

“Rather strange,” sighed Vledder, “one expects it from dogs, somehow. But it explains the cat's fur on his clothes.”

DeKok nodded slowly.

“Yes, the poor dumb brute was the only one to mourn his passing.”

Books by A. C. Baantjer
:

Murder in Amsterdam

DeKok and the Sunday Strangler

DeKok and the Corpse on Christmas Eve

DeKok and the Somber Nude

DeKok and the Dead Harlequin

DeKok and the Sorrowing Tomcat

DeKok and the Disillusioned Corpse

DeKok and the Careful Killer

DeKok and the Romantic Murder

DeKok and the Dying Stroller

DeKok and the Corpse on the Church Wall

DeKok and the Dancing Death

DeKok and the Naked Lady

DeKok and the Brothers of the Easy Death

DeKok and the Deadly Accord

DeKok and the Murder in Seance

DeKok and Murder in Ecstasy

DeKok and the Begging Death

DeKok and the Geese of Death

DeKok and Murder by Melody

DeKok and Death of a Clown

DeKok and Variations on Murder

DeKok and Murder by Installments

DeKok and Murder on Blood Mountain

DeKok and the Dead Lovers

DeKok and the Mask of Death

DeKok and the Corpse by Return

DeKok and Murder in Bronze

DeKok and the Deadly Warning

DeKok and Murder First Class

DeKok and the Vendetta

DeKok and Murder on the Menu

DeKok and Murder Depicted

DeKok and Dance Macabre

DeKok and the Disfiguring Death

About the Author
:

Albert Cornelis Baantjer (BAANTJER) is the most widely read author in the Netherlands. In a country with less than 15 million inhabitants, almost one out of every four people has bought a Baantjer book. More than 40 titles in his “DeKok” series have been written and almost 4 million copies have been sold. Baantjer can safely be considered a publishing phenomenon. In addition he has written other fiction and non-fiction and writes a daily column for a Dutch newspaper. It is for his “DeKok” books, however, that he is best known.
Every
year more than 700,000 Dutch people check a “Baantjer/DeKok” out of a library. The Dutch version of the Reader's Digest Condensed Books (called “Best Books” in Holland) has selected a Baantjer/DeKok book seven (7) times for inclusion in its series of condensed books.

Baantjer writes about Detective-Inspector DeKok of the Amsterdam Municipal Police (Homicide). Baantjer is himself a former inspector of the Amsterdam Police and is able to give his fictional characters the depth and the personality of real characters encountered during his long (38 years) police career. Many people in Holland sometimes confuse real-life Baantjer with fictional DeKok. The careful, authorized translations of his work published by InterContinental Publishing should fascinate the English speaking world as it has the Dutch reading public.

ISBN 1 881164 61 6

DEKOK AND THE SORROWING TOMCAT. English translation copyright © 1993 by Intercontinental Publishing, Inc. Translated from
De Cock en de treurende kater,
by Baantjer [Albert Cornelis Baantjer], copyright © 1977 by Uitgeverij De Fontein, Baarn, Netherlands. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Intercontinental Publishing, P.O. Box 7242, Fairfax Station, VA 22039.

eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].

A condensed version of this book appeared in the original language in
Het Beste boek
(Best Books), a publication of Uitgeversmaatschappij The Reader's Digest. Copyright 1981 by Uitgeversmaatschappij The Reader's Digest N.V., Amsterdam & Brussels.

1st American edition: May, 1993

Hardcover edition: June, 1993

Also published as soft-cover edition under ISBN 1-881164-05-5

eISBN 9781250085047

First eBook edition: April 2015