‘No, I haven’t begun running back the cat. I thought I’d contact you first, just in case a million euros had somehow slipped your mind. One of the deposits did come with a message, though. It reads: “From one Hunter to another, with thanks”, and a capital “H” for “Hunter”. Does that mean anything to you?’

Louis knew that De Jaager had been planning to dispose of most of his physical assets. The old man had spoken of his intention to keep only what he needed and distribute the rest of the proceeds. Louis could not have imagined that some of the money would find its way to him, yet now it seemed apt. It was almost as though De Jaager had somehow anticipated what was to come and prepared the ground for retaliation.

‘Yes, it does,’ said Louis.

‘Should I be worried about the source?’

‘The source is dead.’

‘That wasn’t what I meant.’

‘No, he would have been careful. That money is clean.’

‘I’m glad to hear it. Carelessness costs extra. Now, how much did you want to move, and where?’

From memory, Louis named figures and accounts, and requested the transfer of the euro equivalent of $500,000 to prepaid credit cards, the cards to be made available for collection from a courier in Amsterdam. Golden said that he’d take care of it and hung up.

‘A problem?’ said Angel.

‘De Jaager sent me a million euros before he died.’

‘I always liked him. What’s a million euros in real money?’

‘Maybe a million-ten, a million-fifteen.’

‘If I’d known how wealthy he was, I’d have been nicer to him.’

‘I don’t think he ever placed much value on money,’ said Louis. ‘But that’s a rich man’s luxury, I suppose.’

Alex’s limo pulled up outside. Angel touched Louis gently on the arm.

‘At least we’re putting it to good use,’ he said.

Louis thought about De Jaager. He thought about Paulus, and Anouk, and the girl named Liesl. He recalled the latter from the library at the Rijksmuseum, glancing up at Louis and De Jaager as she and another girl, Eva, trailed a book dealer named Cornelie Gruner from the library’s reading room. Dead now, every one. For just a moment, Louis looked back on the path of his life and saw it littered with bodies.

‘Fuck it,’ he said. ‘Let’s go.’

Chapter XXIV