Read Online Into the Night: Inspector Rykel Book 2 (Amsterdam Quartet) by Jake Woodhouse - Free Book Online

with Oude Kaas and a fresh orange juice, and started to look through the logs for the past two weeks.
    It was tedious work, making a list of all the people who were in the station at the times the calls were made, and wasn’t helped by the fact that it was all handwritten in varioushard-to-read scripts. Legible writing wasn’t on the police’s list of key skill requirements. But after ten minutes or so a pattern started to emerge, a pattern she didn’t much like seeing.
    It can’t be
, she thought.
    ‘Hey.’
    The voice startled her – she’d got engrossed – and she looked up to see Frits and his wandering eye.
    ‘Looks interesting,’ he said, nodding to the papers.
    ‘Not really,’ said Tanya wanting to put them away so he couldn’t see but knowing that would look like an invitation to sit. Frits peered over towards the papers. She sighed inside and slid them together into one pile, dumping the whole lot back in the bag.
    ‘Yeah, I mean it’s just paperwork, right?’ he said, pulling out the chair opposite and sitting down. ‘Way too much of that going on.’
    Tanya didn’t know how old he was, but she figured he must be well into his fifties. His face was open, too open, and that, combined with his eye, made him a non-contender for best-looking cop of the year.
    He was the station’s main dispatcher, and while in theory he didn’t actually assign crimes to specific people – that was Smit’s job – more often than not he was the one who decided on who to call. Jaap had warned her about him, saying that she didn’t want to get on his wrong side or she’d get all the shit jobs.
    Seems like I already have
, she thought.
    ‘Mind if I join you?’ he asked, despite the fact he was sitting down already. He motioned to the waitress, who came over and took his order.
    ‘Be my guest,’ she said once the waitress had left. She got the feeling Frits didn’t get sarcasm.
    ‘So, you’ve been with us, what? Seven, eight months now?’ he asked, sitting back in the chair and looking at her.
    ‘Ten.’
    ‘You like it?’
    She wanted to get back to the logs. She didn’t want to sit here with Frits. ‘Yeah, it’s all right.’
    ‘So, bad luck about that case you got. The first officer on the scene swore it was a suicide or accident.’ He paused while the waitress deposited his coffee and stroopwafel on the table. He picked up the stroopwafel and put it on top of the coffee cup, like a lid. ‘If I’d known I’d’ve called someone else.’
    ‘You said there wasn’t anyone else available,’ said Tanya.
    ‘Yeah, well. I thought you could probably use a little boost in your clearance rate—’
    ‘You’re kidding.’
    Frits caught the sharpness in her tone and looked momentarily startled.
    ‘Yeah, I’m kidding,’ he said eventually. ‘There really wasn’t anyone else. And Smit requested you specifically.’
    He became interested in his stroopwafel, checking to see if the heat from the coffee had made it more pliable.
    Tanya didn’t believe him, but knew there was no point in pursuing it.
    ‘Well, it’s totally messed up my leave. I was going away with some friends, and now I’m going to miss it.’
    He didn’t get sarcasm and he probably didn’t do guilt either. But she’d try it out anyway.
    ‘That’s bad,’ he said, taking a bite. A crumb stuck to his top lip, then dropped off when he spoke again. ‘I’d hate to miss leave. I’ve got a holiday booked myself. Next month. I’m going—’
    He stopped as Tanya suddenly reached her hand into her pocket.
    ‘I put it on silent, but it always makes me jump,’ she said as she pulled out her phone.
    She glanced at the screen.
    ‘I’ve got to take this,’ she said and answered, listening for a few moments.
    ‘What, now?’ she asked. ‘Okay, I’m on my way. Tell me what happened.’
    She got up, jamming the phone between her shoulder and ear, grabbed the bag with all the papers in, mouthed sorry to Frits and left.
    Outside she