‘The law won’t stop people dying. The figures for suicide show that. What it does do is remove the possibility that someone wishing to end their life can discuss their wishes with family and friends and move to a conclusion without threat of legal intervention. Instead what you get is the discovery of a loved one having taken an overdose, hanging themselves while you’re out, or being gassed in a car with the exhaust pipe taped inside. As with abortion, the law doesn’t change the outcomes, it just makes the process a whole lot more unpleasant and undignified.’

Gillard blew a sigh, feeling he had got nowhere. Time to step back. ‘All right, Dr Molenaar, can you tell me what kind of suppliers you have on your network?’

‘You mean what kind of termination? Well, we only police them to make sure they do what they’re supposed to do. Which is kind of difficult – you can hardly ask a dead person to fill out a customer satisfaction survey. Many provide a death by the sea. The pounding of tropical surf nearby, a glorious sunset, a fantastic hotel. However, we are aware of numerous erotic and sex-related outfits. Our research indicates that it’s mainly men who are interested in these. One of our most popular is right here in Amsterdam, a farewell party for one, involving three very beautiful, uninhibited and imaginative escorts.’

‘That’s little more than prostitution, then.’

‘It’s a lot more, believe me. Remember that the orgasm was always termed “the little death”. La petit mort as the French say. Everybody wants a bigger bang, of whatever kind. A couple of years ago we arranged a personal crucifixion surrounded by hired worshippers, which turned out to be one of the most awkward and thus expensive arrangements we have ever tried to source. Overall, there are as many variations in how people want to die as in how they want to live. Some clients just want to be cuddled, sometimes by two or three others, as they die. Occasionally, one wants to be eaten. There was quite a famous cannibalism case in Germany years ago. And if that’s your thing, why not?’

After Gillard had hung up, he realised that he’d learned an awful lot about assisted suicide, but almost nothing about the case he was investigating. Could Dr Chen really have paid to be killed in that extraordinary way? Or was the reality simply that he had paid for one service and received another, entirely different? He couldn’t imagine anybody would pay to have the breath squeezed out of them, but then he would have never guessed that anyone would pay to be crucified. In one respect, he had to admit, Dr Molenaar was right: any court case to try to force Charon Stichting to disclose details would take months to arrange.

He needed answers more quickly than that.

Chapter Twenty-seven