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‘Okay.’ He eyeballed her. ‘Let’s understand one another. I want an exact—an exact—printout of their itinerary before I leave these offices. I want to know where they were going at every stage of their journey and who they were going to meet. I want numbers, addresses—everything you have. And I mean everything.’
She stared back at him, her eyes getting colder by the second.
‘Is that understood?’
He knew she would have loved to lean over the desk and roar in his face. He was intrigued to see if she would snap. For a few seconds he watched her—he could see her contemplating whether to tell him to fuck off, but instead she picked up the phone and asked the receptionist to print off the itinerary. When she put the phone down she picked up Ma
‘Of course, Inspector. We are very keen to cooperate with the police…’ She held his card in the air and gave a one-sided, sarcastic smile. ‘…Even those who are not directly involved…The itinerary you require will be ready now. I am sorry I can be of no more help.’
Ma
‘You in any of these photos?’ he called to her as she marched ahead. ‘What about this one?’
He read the title: Orphans of the conflict. She turned sharply on her heels, her patience exhausted.
‘Were you ever a volunteer? You ever part of an expedition?’
‘No. I am not in the photos and, no, I have never been on an expedition. Follow me, please.’
They walked back through the line of desks and the receptionist handed him the file in a kittenish fashion. Ma
Katrien walked him to the door. Ma
‘Are you still pla
‘Yes, of course. We have commitments. We believe the crisis will be over soon.’
‘Do you? Let’s hope you’re right.’ He looked around him at the plush office—the latest Macs, the freshly brewing coffee. ‘You’re a charity, right?’ She nodded. ‘You must charge a lot to send kids into war zones.’
‘We do not send any of our volunteers into an area which is…‘
‘So you said—but that’s exactly what you did. And—by the way—you keep people in camps, policed and without citizenship, dignity, work or proper respect, you are creating a problem the exact problem that we have now. There are always people willing to die for a cause.’
He was about to leave when Dorothy appeared in front of them.
‘Excuse me, sir. Mrs Cremer—Magda—is she okay?’ Dorothy kept her eyes fixed on Ma
‘Just about.’
‘Please tell her that we are all praying for Jake…‘
‘Thank you. I will pass that on.’ Ma
‘It must be especially hard, coming so soon after the last time…’
‘The last time?’ Ma
‘It’s barely a year since her other son was killed.’
13
Ma
Sure, he’d had his fair share of one-night stands, some mistakes, plus a lot of good times. It wasn’t that Ma
Watching Magda cross the square now, Ma
‘Are you okay sitting outside?’ he asked.
‘Of course. It actually feels like spring today.’ She smiled but her eyes were full of sadness at the irony of the world coming to life. She was wearing the same jeans, the same fleece that she’d had on the previous evening. She had a beanie pulled over her head. She ordered a hot chocolate and sat down opposite him. There was some softness in her pale face today, thought Ma
‘Sorry. I am on strong painkillers. It makes me drift away. Sometimes I find it hard to come back and sometimes I don’t want to.’
Ma
He waited until the waitress brought her drink. Magda cradled her mug of chocolate and closed her eyes for a few seconds as she enjoyed a brief respite from the turmoil and savoured the sun on her face.
‘I went to the NAP offices this morning. I found the manageress, Katrien—the one Alfie calls “the Bitch”. I can see what he means.’ Ma
‘I can do that.’ Magda stirred her chocolate vigorously, her spirit returning.
‘I also want you both to look into NAP’s business. Find out what projects they have completed. There is a woman in the office called Dorothy Jansen.’
‘I know her. She’s a nice lady.’
‘Get her on your side and get her to pry into Katrien’s life, personal and professional. Who is she? I want to know everything about her and NAP. Find out everything you can about what they do. There is nothing like having an insider, Magda. Get Dorothy to help, discreetly.’