Mind Murders

It was a Friday night in the summertime. Grijpstra and DeGier were faced with a stuck window. They had overstayed their shift and the weekend had really started. Police constables may have thrown a handicapped man into a canal. The constables are called Ketchup and Karate. Grijpstra and DeGier take off in search of Rea Fortune since her belongings have vanished. They interview their suspect, Frits Fortune. His wife had wanted him to sell his business and he did not want to. It would vary his routine. A corpse is found on the roof of his house, that of his dog Babette. The detectives run down Fortune's relatives, Aunt Coba and Uncle Henry. They are dressed in antique unisex. They say that as a child Fortune had beheaded his toy bear. Grijpstra believes that Rea Fortune is a woman of unfulfilled fantasy. Ketchup and Karate, the constables, contend that Fortune's relatives are mad. One of the characters reports that everyone has gone to the beach to annoy the tourists. Amsterdam seems deserted. Rea Fortune appears. She is charged with attempted murder of her husband. Perhaps Mrs. Fortune was merely persuading her husband to sell his business. DeGier is giving up smoking and his suffering is detailed in the book. At one point he wants to snatch a nearly full pack of cigarettes from someone. Two dead people have been found in trunks of cars in Amsterdam. The first was an accidental death, an overdose. The other death was from natural causes, an ulcer. Ulcers may be caused by a malfunctioning of the mind. It turns out that the police officers had seen the second person staggering on the previous day. DeGier goes to see a female constable, Asta. Mr. Boronski, the ulcer case, was found dead in Karl Muller's car. Muller said the men did business together. DeGier and Asta interview Muller. Asta takes notes. The two interview the hotel manager. Asta points out that the hotel is hollow, not what it seems. DeGier plays flute and Grijpstra plays some drums he has gotten from the police lost and found department while they discuss the Boronski case with Asta. The two police officers, trailing Muller, catch some street muggers. Asta arrests Muller. She goes into the canal to retrieve Muller's dropped case. The officers suspect cocaine. First they had a murder and no corpse and now they have a corpse and no crime except for drugs which is not their department. German police officers appeared to subject Muller to some rough interrogation. The Commissaris describes to DeGier and Asta how fear strengthened one man and destroyed another. The solution is that someone did a secret favor. This series is tops. The author is masterful.