I created the principle characters in this story in a murder mystery called 'Double Take' (Gay, Authoritarian, 21 March 2013). I rather liked the characters as they were all based on real people. I especially liked Henk, who unfortunately I never got to go to bed with. So I wanted to bring them back again. This is the result. There are a few references to the earlier story, but it is not necessary to have read it to understand this one.
If you enjoy this story - or any others - remember that you can only read them if Nifty remains online. For that they need our cash. If we all give just a little, the site won't disappear and take our stories with them.
I would welcome any comments.
Double Dutch
Paul had been reluctant to take the barman job in 'Leather People'. But he had lived with his partner, Henk, in Amsterdam for nearly a year and did not like being without employment. Henk had said that it did not matter as he could earn enough money for them both. And Paul had spent a good part of the last months productively. His friend Ingrid had been teaching him Dutch and even Henk said that his accent was now more Amsterdam than English. But Paul wanted to work and when he saw the notice in the window during a visit to one of their favourite leather bars, Paul applied the next day and got the job. And as he told Henk, he would not have to do it forever.
Henk would sometimes come to the bar - usually in the week when it was not so busy - and sit and have a beer and chat to Paul. They would then go home to their apartment together when Paul finished his shift. It was 11.30pm on a Wednesday when Henk entered the bar. He sat on a stool and Paul opened a bottle of beer and placed it in front of him. He took some money from the metal tankard that held his tips and put it in the till.
When there was a lull in people wanting to be served, Paul went and bent over bar so that his face was near his lover. "You see that guy over there? The tall guy with the broad shoulders, denim shirt and jeans? I just don't get him. I don't think he is gay."
"Looking to replace me already?" Henk said with a broad grin on his face.
"Well he is rather hunky. So yes I thought I would chat him up a bit. He was not interested. I don't blame him for that, but loads of guys have made approaches to him and they have all got the brush off. They have been all sorts from heavy leather to twinks. Nothing. And he has not approached anyone, even though he keeps walking about."
"Well let's see if he likes me. Oh, if I am not home tonight, I will see you tomorrow." Paul gave him the finger as Henk got up and went in the direction of the man. He was back almost immediately. "He does not have very good manners either. I just said 'hello' and he told me to push off. Would you say he was American?"
"Possibly, but difficult to say from the few words we exchanged." At that moment the guy walked towards the bar, slammed his empty bottle down and walked out.
"Let's hope we don't see him again," Henk said.
"Oh I don't know.........." Henk squirted a little beer from his mouth at Paul who got it right in the face. "Getting jealous? Guess you will have to teach me the error of my ways when we get home."
"That's just what I was thinking."
The bar closed at midnight and Paul secured the money in the safe and locked up. Clearing up could wait for the cleaner in the morning. The two guys walked hand in hand back to their apartment on the top floor of an old 4 story house overlooking the Amstel river. Climbing 4 flights of steep stairs kept them fit, and after a year of it, Paul was no longer out of breath when they closed the door to their home. He was therefore quite ready for Henk as he took him in his arms and kissed him, probing his mouth with his tongue. Paul was keen to get Henk naked. He loved his firm body. So he tried to undo the denim shirt he was wearing under his black leather biker jacket. Henk brushed his hands away. "Part of your punishment is that we are going to take this slowly. I think you must have forgotten just how gorgeous I am to even look at anyone else."
Paul had a good idea what 'slowly' might mean, so he did not resist as Henk unclipped the handcuffs from his belt and fastened one bracelet to Paul's right wrist before taking his arms behind his back and fastening the right to the left. He gave Paul one more kiss and stepped back. Henk reached across to Paul's crotch and massaged the tenting in his tight leather jeans. "Maybe you are beginning to remember." He fastened a leather collar around Paul's neck and led him by the length of chain attached to it, into the bedroom. He pushed him towards the large double bed and Paul lay on it with his hands awkwardly behind his back but with his shoulders and head propped up on a pillow. Henk removed Paul's boots and socks and then undid his leather jeans and pulled them off, followed by his white jockstrap. Paul's cock was standing rigidly to attention, although waving very slightly in time with his pulse. Henk sucked his knob head as he undid the buttons on his shirt and exposed his nipples.
Paul had decided soon after they first went to bed together that he had to have piercings through his nipples that matched those through Henk's . It was a good decision as Henk knew exactly how to use them to give Paul the mixture of pleasure and pain that so aroused him. Henk tweaked and twisted his nipples while alternately kissing him and chewing his ear. Paul groaned in delight. Henk moved away from the bed and started to slowly remove his clothes. Although Paul knew every inch of his body intimately, it was still a joy as each inch of skin was exposed. When his jacket was off and his shirt undone, Henk started playing with the rings through his own nipples, although it was more pleasurable to him when Paul did it. He removed his boots and jeans and fingered his cock through the fabric before pulling down his underpants and standing naked before his lover.
"Do you think you have been punished enough? Will you be a good boy from now on?"
"Just let me at those nipples and I will show you how good."
Henk brought his chest towards Paul's face who moved forward to take the left nipple in his mouth. Henk reached behind him and undid the handcuffs. He broke away as Paul removed the last of his clothes and the leather collar. Henk climbed on top of Paul and they kissed long and deep, while each explored the other with his hands. Paul moved his knees up alongside Henk exposing his arse. By this time they both knew each other's signals and the exact contours of their bodies, and Henk moved his cock to the inviting darkness. He entered him with just the right force to make Paul groan and then to push back as if he wanted Henk's balls to follow his cock into him. They then set up a rhythm. Henk controlled his movements inside his boyfriend so that he could bring both of them to climax as near as he could manage at the same time. He felt Paul's body stiffen below him and increased the pace so as to propel more spunk into Paul's belly to add to the litres that he had put there over the last year. He pressed his body down on Paul so that his boyfriends warm spunk oozed between their bodies. As their breathing returned to normal they both looked deep into the others eyes and grinned.
Henk got off the bed and held out his hand. He led Paul to the bathroom and to the shower where they proceeded to wash each other. It was rare for these two lovers to ever wash their own bodies. As they dried themselves, Paul said "You know I still don't get that guy." Catching a mock grimace from Henk he added "Not that he is in your class."
Paul did not work every Friday so they frequently used that day to see their friend Ingrid who had been his twin brother Simon's landlady. They had met when he had come to Amsterdam after his brother's murder. She would cook for them and they would eat and drink and talk. Sometimes, if it got late, the boys would spend the night at her apartment cuddled up on the sofa, and the conversations would all start again over breakfast. It was an accepted custom that the boys would provide the dessert. Paul went to Vroom and Dreesman on Rokin, one of the Dutch capital's main streets, to buy a squidgy chocolate roulade, that he knew Ingrid would love, and a Dutch apple pie that was one of Henk's favourites. He had even bought a carton of readymade English custard to go with the pie, as Henk had liked it when Paul's mother had first made it for him when they went to visit his parents.
As he was walking out onto the Rokin, he saw the tall broad shouldered man he had seen in the bar two days previously. He had his back to him, but Paul was not one to forget an attractive body even when seen from behind. The man was walking alongside the tram tracks and was talking on his 'phone. He seemed to be watching someone or something. What happened next was over in an instant. A tram came up the track at speed ringing its bell to warn the pedestrians. As it came towards the man, Paul saw a much smaller guy in a dark blue hoodie walk up behind him. Their legs seemed to get entangled and the man fell into the path of the oncoming tram as the hooded man stepped across the tracks and was gone. There was no time for the tram to stop and it pushed the man's bleeding and broken body about 50 metres along the track before it came to a halt.
Paul just stood there dumbfounded at what he had seen. Inevitably some people were screaming and the motor traffic on the road that ran alongside the tram track came to a halt. Very quickly it seemed that two unmarked police cars had homed in on the accident. He recognised them as police cars from the flashing detachable blue lights that they had put on the car roofs. Then two marked police cars joined the scene. One uniformed policeman with a loud hailer asked anyone who had seen the accident to stay so that they could get a clearer picture of what had happened. Some people scurried away not wishing to get involved, but Paul stayed.
It was about 30 minutes before a policeman asked him what he had seen. By then the body had been photographed and taken away and the road traffic had begun to move again, although it would be a some time before the trams restarted. "I was just coming out of V&D when I noticed the man who died. I work in 'Leather People' as a barman and he was in the bar on Wednesday. He seemed out of place in the bar which was why I remembered him." Paul thought it best not to say that he remembered him because he fancied him. "He was walking alongside the tram track and talking on the 'phone and looking over towards the canal. I saw another guy come up behind him. Their legs seemed to get entangled and the bigger man tripped and fell into the path of the tram."
"Do you think he was tripped deliberately?" the policeman asked.
"I can't be certain but I think he might have been. After all the shorter guy did not fall and was able to get across the track and away before the tram hit."
"What did the smaller guy look like?"
"He was shortish. I would say about 1.65 metres. He was wearing baggy blue jeans, white trainers and a dark blue hoodie that was pulled up onto his head. I am sorry but I did not see his face. I did not see him again after the accident."
The policeman took Paul's details from his residence permit and told him that the police might want a formal statement.
Paul went home, still a little shaken. About 2 people a year are run down by trams in Amsterdam, but Paul had never thought he would witness one. When Henk came home from work he could see that Paul was upset. Paul told him what had happened. Henk suggested that they cancel their visit to Ingrid, but Paul said that she might cheer him up a bit. They both dressed in black leather jeans. Paul's were tight in all the right places. Henk's had leather thongs down the outside of his legs. They both put a white tee shirt which they wore under their matching black leather bike jackets. The two boys shared clothes as much as they could, so Paul wore their pointed Sendra cowboy boots and Henk the square toed harness boots. They walked to the Jordaan hand in hand and got to Ingrid's apartment at about 8.30. Paul kept turning round as he had a feeling that they were being followed. Henk said that he was imagining it. It was simply the day catching up with him.
Henk went in first to receive a warm hug and three kisses from Ingrid. Ingrid stopped after taking hold of Paul. "Whatever is the matter? You look terrible." Paul explained what had happened that morning. There was a bottle of wine open on the coffee table and she poured them all a glass and they discussed - as people do in such circumstances - the accident and the vagaries of chance in people's lives.
There was a ring on Ingrid's doorbell and she went to the window to see who was standing at the outside door. "It's Inspector de Jong. What on earth can he want?" she said. She pressed the automatic door opener, which the boys could hear buzz and the she opened the door to her apartment to wait for her guest. A minute or so later the familiar figure of the policeman stood in the doorway. He shook hands with Ingrid.
"Hello, Ms Bergman. I am sorry to disturb you so late. May I introduce Mr de Bruin?" Another middle aged man in a dark overcoat came into the view of Paul and Henk. De Bruin and Ingrid shook hands before she invited the two men in. The boys stood and introduced themselves to de Bruin and de Jong and they all sat down around the coffee table, with Henk and Paul on a sofa by the window and the other two men on a sofa opposite them. Ingrid sat on a chair between them and at the end of the table.
The two men refused refreshment. De Jong said directly to Paul "We hoped we would find you here." Paul looked at him for a moment.
"Why do I not believe you? The obvious place to see us was at our home. But then I think you followed us here. Am I right?" De Jong did not answer.
"I represent the AIVD which as perhaps you know is responsible for Dutch security," de Bruin said while holding open an identity document. "The person you saw killed - and we think it was almost certainly deliberate - worked for us. Can you tell me exactly what you saw on both Wednesday and today."
"On Wednesday," Paul began "he came into the bar at about a quarter to ten. I had not seen him there before. I think I would have remembered if I had. But then I only work 4 days a week. He stood at the bar for a while and as we were not busy I tried to chat to him. He did not seem interested and soon moved deeper into the bar. I noticed him walking around as if he were looking for someone. I saw several guys go up to him but he seemed to brush them all aside."
"When I arrived at about 11.30," Henk said, "Paul pointed him out to me. When I went to speak to him he told me to push off. He left soon afterwards."
"On Friday, I was coming out of V&D when I saw him about 40 metres away. He was walking alongside the tram track with his back to me. But I am sure it was the same man. He was on the 'phone and seemed interested by someone or something by the canal. Then I saw this smaller guy walk up behind him. I think he tripped him and he fell into the path of the tram. The smaller guy ducked in front of the tram and I did not see him again. I did not see his face, so I cannot even tell you how old he was."
"It was the same man. We know he was in your bar on Wednesday and he was on the 'phone to us when he died," de Bruin said. "We also had unmarked police cars in the area supporting him, although none of them saw the incident and no one remembers the man in the hoodie. Our man was working on an important case."
"In 'Leather People'?" Paul said.
"Yes indeed. He was convinced that the bar is used for rendezvous that are not, shall we say, in the best interests of the Dutch state. We think he was noticed there and killed as a result."
"Well he did stand out."
"What do you mean?"
"It's a gay bar. Men go there to meet other men. But he had no time for anyone. I had realised that he was probably not gay and wondered what he was doing there. Maybe others did too."
"Just so." De Bruin looked at each of the two boys in turn. "We are going to need your help. If we risk sending another of our own people into the bar, we might spook our opponents. I think they will be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary from now on. And we don't want to do that. It has taken us a long time to get this far. We need eyes we can trust in the bar. This case is very important. It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that our democracy and that of Europe could be at stake. So as I say we are going to need your help."
"Look I am not sure I want Paul to get involved in this. A man has died. And anyway strangers come and go all the time in Amsterdam. Just send someone who does not stand out. You must have some gay staff," Henk said.
De Bruin did not respond directly to Henk's point. "I think we will need the help of both of you. And the inspector tells me that each of you is highly resourceful." De Bruin turned his attention to Ingrid. "I believe that the authorities decided that you were not at fault when you shot Smits, Ms Bergman. But was it really necessary to shoot him dead? I have heard that he had dropped his gun before you shot him."
"That's nonsense," Paul said and looked as if he might get up and hit the visitor.
"Don't get excited Paul," Ingrid said. "That was what you might call a threat. My mother and grandmother would have recognised that tactic as one used by the Gestapo. I would tell you to fuck off and do your worst Mr de Bruin. But I am sure you have what you regard as equally persuasive arguments to use against my friends if this one does not work. I do wonder though whether democracy is worth saving if it is people like you that are given the task of protecting it."
"I am sorry, but my only consideration can be bringing this job to a successful conclusion. It really is vital and I will use any tactics I must to ensure success. Please believe that I am deadly serious."
"We will help up to a point," Henk said. "But I nearly lost Paul once and if we think it is getting too dangerous we will stop. We can always leave the country to get away from your bullying. Is that clear?"
De Bruin made a loud sigh. "I could ask if you have ever heard of extradition. But it might be best if we just get on with the business in hand now that I think we understand each other." He got 4 colour photographs out of his pocket and put them on the coffee table facing Paul and Henk. "Have you ever seen any of these men? In particular have you ever seen them in the bar?"
Paul picked up the photographs and looked at them closely. He guessed that they were all in their 30's. He thought they all might be attractive but it was difficult to tell as the pictures were formal poses such as those people have on their passports. "I don't think so. But then I have not worked at the bar for very long. You could ask the other bar staff."
"We know that all 4 have been to 'Leather People' in the last month. The man who was killed reported that to us. I would like you to keep your eyes wide open and call me if you see them. Call me straight away at any time of day or night." He gave Paul a card with just his name and a telephone number on it. "You may keep the photos."
Paul moved the photographs into a pile in front of him. "May we ask what is going on? What have these people done?" De Bruin was silent for a few seconds.
"I cannot tell you everything we know or everything we suspect. But I suppose you are entitled to some explanation. Although there is a very real threat from Islamic militants to many countries in the world, it is by no means the only threat. There are elements of what you might call right wing or nationalist extremists who wish to destabilise Europe and indeed the United States and other advanced countries. They see that as a root to political power that would enable them to implement their extreme agenda. We and our sister organisations in other countries spend a great deal of time and effort in countering that threat. And just like Islamic extremists, when you thwart one plot, or cut off one head, there is always another one to tackle. But the conspiracy we have seen unfolding is a special threat to the Netherlands and maybe even to Europe."
De Bruin picked up the 4 photographs and spread them out again. "All four of these gentlemen work at NATO headquarters in Brussels. They, and many others, travel up to Amsterdam in their free time for, shall we say, recreation. Brussels is such a dull city. This man," he said pointing to the first photo of a blond haired and obviously tanned man "is an American working for the US State Department on secondment to NATO. This man," pointing to the second which showed someone with a thin face and slightly receding hairline "is British and is supposedly from the UK Ministry of Defence, although we believe he might be MI6. This man, "he said pointing to the third photo that showed someone with dark hair and a dark complexion "is in the French army. And this man," he said pointing to the last photo of a round faced man, who judging by the thick muscular neck would be well built "is in the German military. We think they all are to the right of the political spectrum although that is not of itself a crime and is not uncommon for people of their background. But we believe that one of them is working for a sort of international Nazi Al-Qaeda that is actively trying to destabilise this nation."
"Could you not alert these peoples home nations security services to what you know and have them deal with their own citizens?," Ingrid asked. "You said yourself that all developed countries are working together to neutralise this common threat."
"In the first place, unless we have actual evidence of wrong doing, these 4 nations, who are all our close allies, would not take kindly to us spying on or accusing their nationals. And 3 of them are probably innocent. In the second place, as I said, this is a particular threat to the Netherlands and I cannot risk my smallish country becoming collateral damage in the machinations of the larger powers. Let me explain the nature of the threat. You will be aware that Queen Maxima was born in Argentina and is the daughter of a man who was a Government Minister at the time of the so called 'dirty war' in that country, which resulted in many deaths. There was some controversy in the Netherlands at the time of her proposed marriage to the then Crown Prince, to the extent that Parliament was split over granting permission for the marriage to go ahead. Such permission was required if he was to follow his mother, Queen Beatrix, to the throne. The Prince made it clear that he would rather give up the throne than give up his lady. A Dutch professor of Latin American Studies, Michiel Baud, was asked to look into her father's past. His conclusions, while not universally accepted, were sufficient to convince Parliament to allow the marriage. We believe that allegations are being passed by one of these men to a right wing group here in the Netherlands, that the Queen was involved in covering up her father's true involvement. We have some intelligence about this Dutch group. But we would not only like to dismantle it completely but also to find and neutralise the source of this disinformation."
"But if the allegations are not true, what harm can they really do?" Henk asked.
"It really does not matter if the allegations are true or not. The mere suggestion of a conspiracy might be enough to get people to take sides. Why do so many Americans believe that Lee Harvey Oswald was not a lone assassin even though the evidence is overwhelming? If these allegations reach the general public , there will be those that believe them and those that don't. The proportions will, I guess, depend on how convincing the allegations are. And they might manage to make them very convincing as our enemies have significant resources available to them. It could be enough to bring down our fragile coalition Government. An election held on this issue - indeed any election held at this time - could bring the extreme right wing parties into Government. This could cause civil unrest. Add to that the possibility that if the Queen came under sustained attack, the King might abdicate and take her and their daughters abroad. There could be chaos in this country. And if there are problems in the Netherlands, which is a significant player in the European Union, sorting out the Euro crisis might become impossible. Do I need to go on? We need to find the source of this material and put a stop to it once and for all."
"But why should Britons be involved?" Paul asked.
"You do have some extremist right wing parties although I accept that they are mostly made up of buffoons. They are not as serious or important as those, say, in France. But you have a lot of groups that would like nothing better than to see the EU disintegrate. And there is your on-going dispute with Argentina about the Malvinas."
"The word is 'Falklands'. If we are defending democracy let's not forget the expressed wishes of the people that live there," Paul said with obviously irritation.
"Then you will keep an eye out for these people?" Paul nodded. "One other thing. You said that our man was on the 'phone. No trace of his 'phone was found. You did not see it did you?"
"I can't say that I did. I think everyone, including me, was looking, or rather trying not to look at the dead body."
"We will leave you to your meal," De Bruin said. "I think it is better that we meet here rather than at your home. De Jong and the police have good reason to be visiting Ms Bergman as the Smits case has not been finally closed. Could you come here at 4.00pm on Monday in case either of us has any news?"
"My work means that I cannot be here before 5.00. So it will have to be then," Henk said.
The two men said their farewells and left. Henk gave the closing door a 'V' sign, and then sank back into the chair. "Oh bloody hell," he said. "I don't like the sound of this."
"Nor I," Ingrid added. "No one thinks of Maxima as a foreigner. She is immensely popular and more Dutch than the Dutch. But such great popularity is, I suppose, the easiest sort to fracture."
"Do you think there is any truth in the allegations De Bruin spoke about?" Paul asked.
"It is possible," Ingrid said. "There were a lot of Dutch people who said they knew nothing about what was happening to the Jews at the hands of the Nazis'. But anyone who kept their eyes open knew something terribly wrong was happening to their neighbours. And those that kept them shut did so on purpose and cannot later claim to be innocent. I guess the same is true of Maxima's father. But she was not responsible for what happened in that country. It is a Nazi philosophy to blame the children for the sins of their parents. And if there was any cover up, it is just as likely to have been arranged by the then Dutch authorities to smooth their way out of a difficult situation and to allow the marriage to take place. De Bruin is right. The truth or otherwise is not really relevant here."
The three friends kept coming back to the issue during the meal. But it was not a joyous evening and the boys went home early. When they got to bed, neither was interested in sex. So they just wrapped themselves together and went to sleep.
Paul worked on Saturday and Sunday evening from 7.00pm. He examined every customer he served closely in case he saw one of the four. But on Saturdays when the bar was busy there were 2 barmen so he did not get to see and serve everyone. Henk arrived at about 9.30 on both days. Paul did not think he was in any danger but liked the feeling that his boyfriend would do all he could to protect him.
On the following Monday, Henk and Paul met at a bar in the Jordaan at 4.30. As they drank a cup of coffee Paul asked "Why did you tell de Bruin that you could not get to Ingrid's before 5.00?"
"I don't know. I just did not like the way he was getting everything his own way. If it were not for Ingrid, I would keep them waiting an hour." They finished their coffees and arrived at Ingrid's at 5.00pm. They sat in the same seats as on Friday. De Jong and de Bruin had obviously been there for some time as they had drained coffee cups in front of them.
"We have the 'phone," De Bruin said somewhat triumphantly. "We managed to intercept it on the black market for stolen 'phones. It cost us 25 Euros. But that was money well spent." He got out another photograph which he put in front of the boys. It was a picture of a piece of paper with blocks of 6 numbers followed by a space before the next block, covering most of the page. "Do you know what this is? We found it on our man's 'phone."
"Is it a coded message?" Henk asked.
"We think so. But it is unbreakable."
"Unbreakable? With all the computing power you have at your disposal? The British managed to break the German Enigma code with minimal resources and the Germans said that that was unbreakable."
"In order to use computers or anything else to break a code, there has to be some logic to the encryption. Enigma was broken because the coded messages were made by a machine. And the machine, while very complex, had a logic behind it. If the Germans had done what our friends seem to be doing, then their messages would have been safe. I can see you don't understand. The first step in this encryption - if indeed it is a secret message - would be, say, to convert every letter in the alphabet to a 2 digit number. A could be 10, B could be 11 and so on. Other symbols and indeed numbers can be encrypted in the same way. If you then add a 6 digit random number to each block of numbers you have an unbreakable code, as there is no overarching logic behind it. It is as simple as that."
"Then how does the recipient decrypt the message?" Henk asked.
"If he has the same set of random numbers he simply subtracts the numbers from the coded blocks and is left with the original numbers that can then be decoded according to the letter to number formula. Where the random numbers come from is a matter of speculation. The two most likely are what are called 'one-time pads' - which are pages and pages of random numbers - and numbers derived from a book, such as the Bible. With pads, the person at each end of the message have the same one-time pad to code and decode the message. When one lot of random numbers have been used once, they are never used again. So there is never a pattern nor any logic that can be followed. If they are using that method then one of these group of numbers probably indicates which set of random numbers or which page of the one-time pad should be used."
"And using a book?" Ingrid asked.
"Well if you look on a piece of text in a book in the same way as the message, it could be translated into numbers by the same or even by a different method. One of these numbers could be used to indicate the book, the page and the which line to start from. As the words would be pretty random, the resulting numbers would be random. Again, add the two sets of numbers together. As long as both parties use the same text, the unbreakable message can be encrypted and decrypted."
"Then why didn't the Germans use such methods ?" Paul asked. It was clear that all 3 were fascinated by what de Bruin was telling them.
"Well they did. Indeed all sides in the war used these or similar methods. But they are very labour intensive. It takes a long time to encrypt and decrypt even a short message. A large volume of traffic cried out for an automated method. And that is why Enigma was invented."
"Then if the message is unbreakable, why don't the parties to our conspiracy just email the messages to each other rather than doing it in person? Surely that is unnecessarily dangerous."
"Firstly emails leave tracks. Secondly, there are systems looking at all our communications. If messages in unbreakable code are detected, the Americans in particular, get very agitated. Extremist groups like the one we are dealing with know that it is best not to bring such attention on to themselves. Exchanging messages in the old fashioned way is simplest and safest. But this message implies two things. It gives a reason why someone comes to Amsterdam to bring the message for delivery. But it also probably means that the two parties do not meet directly. If one handed a message directly to another, why bother to encode it? I suppose it is possible that the courier or couriers are not allowed to know what the message is. Or maybe they are afraid of being found with the message if they were arrested. Although having a message like this in an unbreakable code would be pretty damming evidence in itself. "
"Which method do you think they use to encode the message," Ingrid asked.
"My money would be on a version of one-time pads. We could, in theory, set our computers to take text from a huge range of volumes and use it to try to come up with the generated random numbers and then the plain text. It is a long shot, especially if an obscure text is used, but we might just get lucky. But assuming that the one-time pad numbers are truly random - and generating random numbers is not as easy as it sounds - then the code is truly unbreakable. And if you had, say, two computers with the first encryption code in a file and a file of the same and unique random numbers, then you could type in the message and the sending computer would give you the fully encoded message. At the other end the receiving computer would give you the plain text back again. When a random number had been used it would be automatically deleted from the file. You would have security and speed."
"If your man had the message on his 'phone, why did he not tell you about it?" Ingrid asked.
"Our operatives are trained to be very discrete over the 'phone. As I said all communications, including ours, can be intercepted. Just before he died, our man was arranging for someone to come to Amsterdam to get, what he said was important information. We assume it was this photo. But we do not know where he got it or exactly how long he had had it. Have you seen any of our men?"
"No," Paul replied. "But one thing has just occurred to me. Presumably you know on what days our men might have free time and therefore might come to the bar. For all I know you may even be following them. If you could let me know when you think they might appear, it might make my task simpler. And what happens if he comes on a day when I am not working?"
"De Jong said you were bright. We do know when they have free days and therefore might come. We do not have the resources to follow them as that would require a large number of people. I will be honest with you. We knew that none would to be here over the weekend. I wanted to test you to see how reliable you were. If you had told me that you thought you had seen this or that one, I would have known that we could not rely 100% on the accuracy of your information."
"You call that being honest?" Paul said.
"I take your point. The Brit and the German will be free for 3 days from lunchtime tomorrow. So either or both could be in on Tuesday or Wednesday. I know you are not working on Tuesday. Perhaps you could swap a shift? Or maybe the two of you could go for a night out? I cannot emphasise how important this is."
"OK," Paul said. "Shall we meet here on Thursday and I will let you know what happens?"
"Yes, but still call me if you think you see anything that might be important. But be discrete in what you say."
The two men left and Ingrid got out a bottle of wine and poured them all a glass.
"You're enjoying all this aren't you Paul?"
"I swear you know me better than my own mother does. Yes I am quite enjoying it. It is more fun than serving drinks. And perhaps like Maxima I want to be more Dutch than the Dutch. After all I intend to stay here with my man."
"I'm coming with you," Henk said.
"There is no need. I can look after myself. I won't do anything risky."
"It's not your safety I am worried about," Henk lied. "It is you being picked up by strange men." They all laughed.
Paul and Henk arrived at 'Leather People' at just before 10.00pm on the Tuesday. Paul had told Henk that if he was to have any chance of getting the attention of and talk to either of the men, he had better dress up. He should then at least be able to tell if they were interested in men in leather. He suggested leather chaps with a leather jock strap. Henk told him that he just liked showing his arse off. But as Henk liked him in that outfit he did not object too strenuously. For himself, he decided on camouflage trousers and steel toe capped boots.
Paul obviously could not walk through the streets with a bare backside. So he wore a pair of baggy jeans to cover himself. When he got to the bar he went to the cloakroom downstairs and put his jeans and his shirt into a locker. He put the Euro coin in the slot and locked the door. He kept his leather biker jacket on over his bare chest. The bar had had the bank of lockers put in about 6 months previously at the request of customers who wanted somewhere to put their things. But Paul noticed that 3 of the lockers, including the one next to his, were open but had no key in the lock. They were useless.
Paul went back upstairs to the bar and found Henk who was standing by a wall. He went up to him. "Hi there good looking. Want to come home with me tonight?"
"No. You are not really my type." He smiled at Paul and then pulled him towards him with his hands on his bare buttocks. They kissed. Paul stayed close to Henk as he picked up his beer from a shelf and took a swig. Then he put his mouth over Paul's and squirted some beer into Paul's mouth. Paul liked being fed.
Paul went and looked around the bar but did not see either of the men. He went back to Henk and they both positioned themselves so that they could watch who came into the bar. About half an hour later the curtain across the door parted and the German came in. He was wearing leather jeans tucked into a pair of German army jackboots. He also had on a white woollen polo neck jumper. He was carrying his jacket and a plastic carrier bag. Paul guessed that he was about 35 years old. His hair was very short and much shorter than in the photo's he had been given. He could see that he was very muscular. "I think he's mine," Paul said.
They watched him buy a beer and then go downstairs to the lockers. He came back without his coat or bag. He went and stood by a wall which left him in a shadow. Paul went over to him. "Hello. I've not seen you here before and I think I would have remembered you." It was an old and obvious opening gambit, that the Paul of a year ago would never have had the nerve to use. But that was the old Paul.
"I don't come to Amsterdam very often. My name is Michael." He held out his hand. Michael was not the name on the photo, but then people often told lies while prospecting in gay bars. Paul took his hand and introduced himself. Michael's grip was firm and he did not let Paul's hand go immediately. Paul felt a little uncomfortable and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. This made his jacket move and exposed his left nipple. Michael noticed and took hold of both rings. "I like a boy with pierced nipples. You can use them to make a boy very obedient. Are you obedient Paul?"
The signals were obvious and Paul responded. "Yes, sir, I am very obedient. I will do whatever you tell me."
"Good boy." Michael undid the top of his jeans and the zip fly and opened the top of his trousers revealing his cock and balls. His pubic hair was trimmed short and he had a shiny steel cock ring around his crotch. "Would you like to suck this boy?"
"Yes sir. Please let me suck it."
Michael put his hand on Paul's head and pushed him to his knees. Paul took the throbbing cock in his mouth and began to move his lips backwards and forwards along its length. Michael held his head in position. After a minute or so, Michael started to gyrate his hips to increase the speed on Paul's mouth. He came in 6 or 7 spurts in Paul's mouth who had no choice but to swallow the fluid. Michael exhaled a deep breath and pulled his cock out and pulled his leather jeans over it and did them up. He patted Paul, who was still on his knees, on the head and said "Good boy." Then he picked up his beer bottle and walked off into the bar.
Paul got up and went back to Henk. "Sorry. That was not what I wanted to happen," Paul said. "But one thing is for sure, he likes men." Henk did not reply. He had seen what had passed between the two and Paul guessed that he was not happy about it. "I am getting a bit hot," Paul said. I think I shall put my jacket in the locker. He went downstairs and opened the locker. He got his shirt out and put the jacket inside. He retrieved his euro coin that had been returned when he had turned the key to open the door, and put it back in the slot and locked the door again. He noticed that nearly all the lockers were now taken. He went back upstairs.
Henk and Paul tried to keep the German under surveillance until he left when the bar was about to shut. He had several encounters with men that were fairly brief - as had his with Paul - and usually involved someone doing something to the German.
The next day, Paul was working so he was behind the bar when the Englishman came in. He was thinner than he seemed in his picture and his hair had receded quite a lot since the photo was taken. But it was unmistakeably the same man. He did not stay at the bar so Paul had no chance to speak to him after he gave him a beer. But Henk was there to keep him in view.
Henk later told Paul that the man had gone down the lockers where he changed into a pair of tight white shorts and a white vest and white trainers. He had then gone round the bar trying to, as Henk put it, attract all the little boys, particularly the Asian ones. Paul knew that most of them were prostitutes and was not surprised when Henk told him that the Englishman had to pay for their favours. He only stayed an hour or so before he went and changed again and left the bar.
De Bruin and de Jong were both at Ingrid's when Henk and Paul arrived. When they were all seated with a cup of coffee in front of them Paul told them about what they had seen. He finished by saying "At least we can be pretty certain that both are gay, although I suppose they could be mixing business with pleasure."
De Bruin got out another photograph. "Do you recognise this man?" he asked.
Paul looked at it carefully. The picture had been taken at a distance in the street so he could see the whole man. He gave the impression of being tall and broad and he was very blond. Paul thought he was probably Dutch and probably from Friesland. Paul found him very good looking and his cock twitched. "I don't think so, but I really cannot be sure. Is he another suspect?"
"I hope you will understand that I cannot tell you how we know, but we think he may be the one who receives the messages on behalf of the Dutch group. He is well known to us as having extreme right wing views. He seems very attracted to the Nazi concept of the Aryan master race, probably because he thinks he is part of it." Could he have been in the bar on Tuesday or Wednesday and you missed him?"
"I am pretty certain he was not in on Wednesday. I would have seen him and served him when he came in. But he could have been in on Tuesday. We were both paying attention to the German."
"Well if you could add him to the people to look out for. As you know, it is a public holiday in Belgium on Monday, so we think all 4 or our suspects could be in Amsterdam over the weekend." He looked at Paul. "You don't seem to be listening to me Paul. It is important that you pay attention."
Paul looked at de Bruin. "I think I know how they could pass the messages. And it would mean that they need not even be in the bar at the same time." Paul's gaze turned to a point somewhere near the ceiling.
"Well?" de Jong asked.
"Oh sorry. The bar owner had a set of lockers put in downstairs so that people could keep their things in them safely. I noticed when I used one on Wednesday that there were 3 lockers that were open but had no key. I just thought that they were useless. But when I went back later to put my jacket in the locker, I noticed that the one next to mine, that had been open with no key, was closed and locked. What if that is the way they pass the messages? If two people each have a key. One can put the message in and another can take the message out. The two would not have to meet. And that would make our man the German," Paul said with triumph in his voice.
"This is only a theory" Henk said. "We have no proof that it is the method. But if it is, it might explain why they use 'Leather People' as it is the only bar I know of that has those lockers."
"Even if it is the method they adopt, it does not prove it was the German," de Bruin said". It is possible that the Frisian, whose name is Sander by the way, might have locked the door in case there was a delivery. He might not know exactly when one might be expected. Locking the door might also be a signal that all is well and that a message can be safely left. Are the lockers always open and empty when the bar closes?"
Paul thought a moment. "Not always. Some people leave things in the lockers and then maybe go on to another bar. If 'Leather People' is shut when they get back they might collect their stuff the next day. And some people just get drunk and forget. So it is not unusual for one or two lockers to still be in use. But people come and collect their stuff eventually."
"I will come and have a look at them tomorrow. What would be a good time?"
"I can meet you there at about 11.00. The cleaner will be about finished and I can say I need to re-arrange the bar. Watch for him to leave and then knock on the door."
Paul let himself into the bar with his key just after 10.30. He called out to Mik the cleaner who was from Slovakia. That was not his real name, which as far as Paul was concerned was long and unpronounceable. So everyone called him Mik, which were the first 3 letter of his real name. "I want to reorganise the bar a bit. Some of the more popular drinks are in the least accessible fridges." As a reason for his presence, it was a good one not least as it happened to be true. Mik had about finished his job and Paul gave him a beer which he sat and drank while they chatted and as Paul moved bottles around. At 11.00 Mik said he had to go. He had a number of cleaning jobs and needed to get to the next one. Paul let him out and then shut and relocked the door.
A few minutes later there was a loud knock. Paul opened the door and invited the two policemen in and then shut and relocked it. Both men looked around the place. Paul thought it was unlikely that either had been in a gay bar before. He wondered what they made of some of the explicit pictures on the walls. The bar looked rather seedy in daylight. But it had a great atmosphere when the lighting was dim and the bar was busy.
Paul led the two men downstairs and showed them the lockers. Two were still closed, although they were not the ones without keys that Paul had noticed the day before. De Bruin got out what looked like a small metal probe and opened the two lockers in turn and examined their contents. Then he relocked the doors. Paul showed him the locker without a key, which was now open and empty. "If you could get me a key to open these lockers, Henk or I could have a look inside when we find any of the ones without keys locked."
De Bruin looked at Paul and then gave him the metal probe. Paul tried it on one of the closed lockers and found it opened as easily as with a key. "But you must be careful. We do not want to frighten these people off," de Bruin said.
"Not to mention the fact that they have killed once and maybe because your man did exactly this," Paul replied.
Paul was working that evening. Henk insisted in going to the bar with him. The bar was very busy as it was on all Fridays and therefore there were two barmen on duty. Paul tried to keep an eye on anyone entering, but it was not possible to see everyone. Henk tried to act as a backup pair of eyes, but the volume of people made that difficult. Paul did notice the Frisian, Sander, enter the bar. He noticed the hair first, which was straw-coloured blond. Then he noticed the man's piercing blue eyes as he looked down from his 2 metre height. Paul smiled at him and asked him what he would like.
"Just a beer, please," the man replied.
As Paul got a bottle from the fridge and as he took the top off he said "You have the most amazing coloured hair. It is the sort of colour that you would imagine the gods themselves having. The man looked at him for a few moments with his eyes locked on Paul's. Then he relaxed and smiled. "What time do you finish tonight? Maybe you could come back to my hotel and we could get to know each other better."
"Another guy is due to replace me at 1.00am. Meet you outside then?"
"I'll be there," he replied and picked up his beer and walked away.
Paul saw Henk and waved him over." Call de Bruin and tell him that I have seen the Frisian and that I am going to meet him outside at 1.00."
"You most certainly are not," Henk said and then went out the door to make the call. He was gone several minutes. When he came back he hung around the bar until Paul could have a quick word with him. "De Bruin says that this is one of the best openings they have had on this case and wants you to follow it up. He is sending someone down with a GPS locator. It has a panic button on it, and de Bruin promises he could have someone with you in less than a minute. I really am not happy about this." Paul went back to work and Henk went deeper into the bar.
Paul did not like the fact that he was upsetting the person most dear to him in the world. But at the same time he was excited by being an actor in this conspiracy. And, while he could not care less about the guys hair colour, he really was very much his type. His cock twitched again at the thought of him.
Paul saw Henk once more that evening when he handed over the GPS locator. Henk did not say anything and looked decidedly unhappy. Paul's replacement arrived 10 minutes early and so Paul was standing outside the bar before 1.00am. The big man arrived exactly on the hour. Paul had noticed the tight pale blue polo shirt whose sleeves were tight around his big biceps. Paul could also see his large nipples through the material.
"My name is Sander, by the way. My hotel is just up here." They set off up the road. "I guess as a barman you have plenty of opportunities to pick up guys."
"Opportunity yes. But usually I prefer to get to know someone first. But you really did look like a Nordic god standing in front of me at the bar." Paul was hoping his comments would appeal to this man, if de Bruin's assessment of him had been correct. "I am flattered that you are interested in me."
"Let's say that this God likes to be worshipped."
They got to the hotel which was classy and expensive. When they got to Sander's room, Paul started to comment on the room. "Let's talk later. I want some action." He removed his polo shirt as he walked over to Paul. His chest formed a beautiful V to his waist. His nipples were large and erect and he had a thick matting of blond hair across his chest. He took Paul in his arms and kissed him. The kiss was not gentle or even erotic. It was aggressive and demanding. He let Paul go and said "get your clothes off" as he sat on a chair and removed his cowboy boots and then took off his jeans. He was not wearing any underwear and his large cut cock sprang out and pointed to Paul. His cock and balls were in perfect proportion to the rest of him - large and proud. Paul stripped as quickly as he could and they stood there naked looking at each other.
Pauls cock was a little inflated but nothing like the raging erection he always had with Henk. He played with it with his hand. "Sorry I am a little nervous. I am not sure I can take that cock. I am not used to one that big. Sander came over and gently kissed him.
"Don't worry," he whispered between small kisses, I know how to use it. I will be as gentle as I can." He forced Paul back onto the bed and fell on top of him. He kept up the small kisses while rubbing his hands over Pauls body and playing with his pierced nipples. "Move your legs to the side and raise your knees." Paul did this and he could feel the large cock head at his entrance. He knew this was going to hurt. He was used to having Henk in him and Henk's cock was not small. But by comparison this was a monster.
Sander was as good as his word and was surprisingly gentle. He inched his cock in and stopped when he could see that the pain was getting too great for Paul. It took several minutes before Paul could feel Sander's balls slap against his arse. Sander raised his head a little. "This is what it feels like to be fucked by the gods," he said with a broad smile. He began to pump his cock in Paul. The pain increased again and Paul hoped it would soon be over. But Sander took his time and must have fucked him for over 5 minutes before he let out a cry and screwed up his face and shot his load. Paul thought that there must have been over a dozen spurts in him. Sander stayed on top of Paul as if unable to move after such a climax. Paul could feel the tightness in his arse relax a little as Sander's cock contracted. Then Sander pushed his shoulders up with his arms. Paul could see the broad grin on his face. "That was very good. Just think, you are full of my ambrosia. And I have plenty more of that to give you tonight." Sander got off of Paul. They both got out of bed and went to the bathroom. Sander turned the shower on.
"Do you mind if I have a bath? I am a bit sore," Paul said. That was not Paul's real reason. He felt dirty.
After his shower, Sander went back to the bedroom while Paul soaked himself for over half an hour. He wondered if he should just leave. But he wanted to get some useful information out of the man in compensation for the painful fuck that he had not enjoyed. Eventually he got out of the bath and dried himself. He went back into the bedroom and could see Sander doing something on his computer. He had his back to Paul and did not see him come out of the bathroom. Paul went up behind him as quietly as he could. On the computer screen he could see two boxes displayed. In one were the 3 characters 'AXI' and below was a 6 digit number. Alongside the computer was a sheet of paper half filled with 6 digit blocks of numbers. Sander added the new one in the next space.
Sander must have become aware of the person behind him, as he swung round on his chair. Paul went up to him and sat on his lap and they kissed. He pushed his hand through the blond mans hair and said "It's the colour of pure gold." Then he kissed him again. Paul was aware that Sander closed the lid of the laptop even though he could not see it. And when they got up to go back to bed he noticed that the paper had disappeared as well.
They had sex twice more and Paul found both times painful and unexciting, although he did ejaculate on both occasions. Paul woke at about 5.00am and the blond man was sleeping alongside him. He carefully got out of bed and went to the bathroom . He sat on the toilet to think. He could try to find the message and get a picture of it. But if Sander caught him he had little doubt as to what the big man could and maybe would do to him. And in any case the message was unbreakable. He decided to leave as soon as he could and report back to de Bruin. And if it was only for a few minutes before Henk went to work he wanted to be held by him. He got into the shower and washed himself. As he was drying his body Sander came in.
"I have to go. I need to get some proper sleep as I have a long night tonight. Will I see you at the bar?" Paul asked.
"You might well do."
Paul went back into the bedroom and dressed. Sander kissed him. "I hope you want to come and worship your Nordic God again." Paul did not answer. He just smiled at the Frisian and left. Once out of the hotel he hurried back to their apartment. Inside there was no sign of Henk or any indication that he had been back that night. He started to panic. Had something happened to the man he loved? He wondered if he should press the panic button, but decided against that. Perhaps he should call de Bruin. But Henk had the card with the phone number on it. Where was he? He sat down for a few moments to think. He then decided he would go and see Ingrid. Might Henk have gone there? He had clearly been displeased with him and might not have wanted to go home. In any event Paul needed her advice and friendship. He left the apartment and went and found a taxi to take him to the Jordaan.
Even though it was early, Paul pressed the bell. He looked up and saw Ingrid looking back at him through the net curtains. She was still in her night dress. The door buzzed and unlocked. He pushed the door open and went in. He took the stairs two at a time. By the time he reached Ingrid's front door it was open. She stood to one side and Paul could see Henk with a duvet wrapped round his naked shoulders sitting up on the sofa and looking at him. He rushed over and sat alongside his lover and buried his head on Henk's chest. He sobbed as Henk stroked his hair.
They stayed like that for a few minutes. Paul heard Ingrid say that they obviously needed to talk and she would go and shower and then make breakfast. Paul raised his head and looked into Henk's eyes. "There s no need to say anything," Henk said. "You're here. That is all that matters."
"I need to say sorry," Paul said. "I thought I was playing James Bond and I did not think of you. I was wrong to go with him. It was dangerous and stupid. And I must tell you this. I did have sex with him and it was horrible. He is not you."
"I asked you to marry me last year. Do you still want to?" Henk asked.
"Yes, yes, yes. More than anything."
They were kissing and holding each other when Ingrid came back fully dressed. "I am getting too old for this. Let's have breakfast." They had bread and cheese and meat with coffee and fruit juice. Paul told them about Sander and what he had said. Unsurprisingly he said nothing about the sex he had endured. They were nearly finished when the door bell went again. "I guess we all know who that is." She got up and let in the two policemen. They came and sat at the dining table with the 3 others. Ingrid poured them coffee while the boys finished eating.
"You did well to get a picture of that message from out of the locker, Henk. Obviously we cannot decipher it. But it proves that they are still using 'Leather People' for exchanging messages. But you have no idea which of our 4 were at the bar?"
"I did not see any of them, although Sander, the Frisian, was there."
"I suppose he could have been the one to put the message in the locker. After all it is reasonable to see it as a two way communication."
"I don't think so," Paul said. "As you know I went back to his hotel room. I think I saw him preparing a message. On his computer screen was 3 characters and below was a 6 digit number which he wrote on a page that was half full of numbers. I think it might be his reply."
"That is excellent," de Bruin said. "It also suggests that while they are prepared to rely on the computer to encode and decode the message they do not want the whole message on the machine. So they do it in blocks. They really are security conscious. Now I can give you a memory stick that will automatically down load what is on his computer and you can............"
Henk interrupted him. "No. He is not going back with that man. Paul has told me how he thinks he is a Nordic God. He must be nuts. I will not have him put at risk. I am not even sure that either of us are ever going back to the bar."
De bruin looked at the two boys in turn. "Do I have to threaten you again? We need your help. We think things will be coming to a head in the next few days. This job is more important than either of you."
"Do what you fucking well like. I said no and I meant no. If you try anything against any of us I swear to you that I will make this all public through social media and, if I can, in the press and on TV." Henk's eyes were blazing.
"You could of course arrest us all and lock us away," Ingrid said in a quiet tone. "But then you will still not get what you want. You make me ashamed of my country. I killed Smits for what he did. Don't think I won't make you next if you hurt my friends. Be warned." Ingrid fairly spat out the last words.
"But if we are to disrupt this," de Bruin said "then it would be of enormous value if we could decrypt their messages. Paul must go back."
"I am not sure that we need to know what is in the messages to disrupt their plans," Paul said quietly. The other 4 in the room looked at him.
"What do you mean," de Bruin and Ingrid said in unison.
"Why don't we substitute our own message for any messages left in the locker?"
"But we don't know the code," de Bruin said.
"I did not say that the messages had to make sense. Just put in a piece of paper with numbers on it. If they cannot decrypt it to something that means something, they will have to find another way to communicate and to pass messages. That will surely give you a chance to use all your other resources to get onto them. If nothing else it will slow things down if time is short."
"Will you go back to the bar to do the switch, Paul."
"No he won't. I will. I am not risking him seeing that mad man again." Henk said.
"But I don't want you to go alone either. We can go together," Paul said.
The argument went on for a while before Ingrid stood and said. "You can both go. I think we can change Paul's appearance sufficiently so that no one will recognise him."
"What do you mean," Paul said.
"Well for a start we could give you hair the colour of the gods." Ingrid grinned at him.
The boys knew that Ingrid had many talents, but did not know that she could do hair. She sat Paul down with a towel around his shoulders and cut his hair spiky short. Then she applied hair bleach to his scalp. When she washed it off a few minutes later Paul had almost white blond hair. Henk, who had been watching Ingrid work with a frown on his face, held his boyfriend at arm's length and smiled. "I could quite fancy you if I was not already spoken for." They kissed briefly.
"I suggest you change your style tonight," Ingrid said. "I know it's a leather bar but go for something different and something flamboyant. How about tight red jeans and a dark pink shirt? If you wore a pair of high heeled boots with lifts in them, you would appear much taller."
"But then I will stand out. If Sander is there he is much more likely to notice me," Paul replied.
"No he won't. That is where many people make a mistake. You are much more likely to notice someone skulking in the corner, trying not to be seen, than someone who is in your face. He will see the clothes and not the person. Trust me."
The policeman had left before Ingrid started work on Paul's hair. Henk decided to ring de Bruin to check that he was prepared to pay for the disguise as he did not see why they should be out of pocket. He agreed and they went shopping. They came back and Paul modelled his new purchases for Ingrid. He changed in her bedroom and came out wearing bright red jeans that were very tight, cowboy boots with 3 inch heels, a pink cotton shirt and a red silk bandana around his neck. He walked up to Henk swaying his hips and said to him in a very slightly effeminate voice "Still fancy me sweetie?" Henk just pulled a face and shook his head.
Paul found the boots a bit difficult to walk naturally in. But he practised during the day. At 8.00pm the policemen came back. They congratulated both Ingrid and Paul on his transformation. They gave Henk a GPS locator and panic button to match the one they had given Paul. They also gave them several sheets of paper with numbers on them. "We have given you a 20 full and partly filled pages, so that you can match whatever you have to replace, " de Bruin said. "It is also possible that there might be a message both ways, but we think you have enough here for all contingencies. The pages contain a tiny device in the fabric of the paper that can be read at close quarters. We have programmed this device," he said holding up something that looked like a mobile phone "that will vibrate if the tagged pages come anywhere near it."
Henk took the device from de Bruin. "I will take this Paul. If you had a something that vibrates in the pocket of those jeans you might have an accident." Paul smiled and gave him a playful punch on the nose. Again, he thought, Henk was trying to keep him out of any possible danger. And it gave him a warm feeling inside.
De Bruin held out a small black metal button. "This is also a tracking device. It is magnetic. And it has a sticky on the bottom if you pull off this paper. I will give you 3 of these in case you find something or indeed someone to attach it to."
The boys got to the bar at about 9.30pm. Paul had wanted them to go separately, but the look on Henk's face made it clear that that was not going to happen. Paul was not recognised by the barmen when they went in, although he let Henk go up to the bar to buy the beers. They then stood against a wall in the middle of the bar where they had a reasonable chance - other people permitting - of seeing who came in. The bar began to fill up. At 10.30 they saw Sander at the bar. They had not seen him come in, although as he was holding his coat, Paul thought he had just arrived. He got a beer and went downstairs to the lockers. Henk had already been down, to put his things, including the coded pages, into a locker. He selected the one Paul had had before that was next to the one without a key.
"I have to see if he recognises me," Paul said and moved towards the stairs. He waited at the top until he saw Sander coming up. He stood to one side. As Sander passed him Paul said "Hello tall and handsome." Sander looked right through him. Paul went downstairs. The locker next to theirs was shut. He went back to Henk.
"Did you have to speak to him? That was stupid. Anyway what did you say? Whatever it was he looked disgusted."
"I said 'hello tall and handsome'."
"Why did you say that?"
"It just came to me. I think it is a line from a Mae West film, and you can't get much more camp than that." Henk smiled and gave Paul a brief kiss. "The locker is closed. Go and swap the message. I will stand at the top of the stairs in case Sander, or any of our other 4 appear. You will have to cope with anyone else who goes down yourself. I can hardly waylay everyone who might want to use the lockers."
Henk went downstairs and Paul positioned himself near the top. He was gone about 4 minutes. They moved back to their original position against the wall. "There were two pages. I have swapped them for 2 of ours."
The bar was now very crowded and it was difficult to see who came in and who went downstairs. Every half an hour or so, Henk went down and checked the locker. After the third repeat visit he came back and said to Paul "Someone else must be here. The message is not the one I left. There was a new three page message. I swapped that as well. It is a good job de Bruin gave us enough sheets. I guess it means that someone here might have the first message on them. I shall go and have a look around and see if the locator will help. You will stay here. Do not move for anything. And keep your finger on the panic button. I mean it Paul." Paul nodded and smiled at Henk.
It was nearly 30 minutes before he returned to Paul. "Nothing. I did not see any of our 4 and nothing vibrated."
"I saw Sander go downstairs a few minutes ago. He came back with his coat, so I think he might have gone." Henk went downstairs. He was back quickly.
"The locker is open. I think we should go. I want to take you home and do wicked things to you."
"I want you to do your worst to me, but we can't. We have to go back to Ingrid's. She will be worried about us. You know that."
"OK. But let's try not to stay too long."
When they got back to the Jordaan Ingrid's face gave away her relief at seeing the boys safe and sound. She hugged each of them and gave them 3 kisses. Then she did the same over again. They went in to find de Bruin and de Jong sitting on the sofa. They told him what had happened and what they had done.
"And Sander did not recognise me at all," Paul said. "Nor did the bar staff. You are a real genius Ingrid."
"We had people outside the bar. We detected that one of our messages was taken out by someone. We had a van parked in the street that contains a more powerful version of the locator and can therefore detect the bug from a greater distance. But it was dark and he got a taxi quickly, so we do not know which one of the 4 it was. Although my man did think that it was too big for the Brit. Although I guess he could have tried a disguise. We can only wait to see what happens now. Can you stay here until we get back in touch with you?"
The two boys looked at each other and Ingrid did not miss the disappointment on both their faces. She showed the policemen out. When she came back she said "I think we all deserve a drink. Just a small one. And then you will take my bed and I will sleep on the sofa."
Paul got up and went and kissed her. "You really do know me so well."
When they were both naked in bed Henk said "I don't really think we can do anything, do you?"
"Yes. You can hold me. I need to feel you close to me." They spent some time feeling each other's bodies in the darkness. Eventually Henk rolled onto his back, Paul put his head on his lovers chest and they both went to sleep with Henk's arm around Paul's shoulders.
The two policemen did not arrive at Ingrid's until nearly 5.00pm. "We have been monitoring the communications of all our men. None have called any of the others. But Sander did go to a computer shop on Leidseplein. He came out about an hour later carrying two laptops. Assuming he has found that he cannot read the message that was left for him, he might be trying to hand over a new computer to restart communication. Can you go to the bar again tonight? We might be able to close off this particular conspiracy completely. We could take Sander now as we should find him with our tagged message. So we could convict him and he might tell us more to save his own skin. He does not look a very strong character to me. That would disrupt things. And we think that the computer shop will have questions to answer. Both would be a fantastic achievement. But it would be best if we could get the source behind this conspiracy. No threats. But will you do it?" The two boys nodded.
That night went very much like the last. As it was a Sunday, the bar was less busy although there was still a reasonable crowd in. Paul and Henk saw 3 of the men arrive as well as Sander. The Brit was the only one they did not see. When Henk checked the locker after Sander had gone downstairs he found that as well as a message in code it also contained a laptop computer. He changed the message again and put a homing signal on the laptop. Henk went back to Paul. "I think I shall go outside and call de Bruin. He should know what has happened. No doubt he would like to apprehend whoever leaves with the new laptop.
He was gone for over 10 minutes. De Bruin had asked him to tell his people, who were close by, what had happened. When he went back in the bar he saw that Paul had been backed into a corner by the big blond Frisian. When he was about 10 metres behind the man, and with great difficulty, Henk made himself stop and think. Then he took a deep breath and shouted "Fire. The bar's on Fire." People started to rush for the exit. Henk picked up a heavy beer bottle and as Sander followed the automatic reflex to turn and see what the commotion was, he smashed the bottle in Sander's face. The bottle broke across his skull from the force Henk used, and blood spurted from his broken nose. Sander dropped the knife he had been carrying and put his hands up to his face. Without mercy Henk used his steel toe capped boot to kick him in the balls, and he fell to the floor. Henk stood over him with the broken bottle that he was holding in his hand by the neck. "If you move a muscle I will rearrange you Nordic looks for good."
Paul, who moments before was waiting for the knife to be plunged in him, came and stood behind Henk. "He recognised me. But I am OK. I am OK," he said. By now the bar was fairly empty and de Bruin and two younger men came to where they stood. The two men pulled the big blond man up, and even though he was trying to guard his broken nose with his hands, they handcuffed him behind his back and led him out.
"You could have ruined everything by that idiotic cry," de bruin said in a clearly agitated voice. In a quieter calmer voice he added "But fortunately our man had already retrieved the laptop, and we had a watch on all the exits including the fire exits. So we caught him red handed. Unfortunately it was the American."
"Why unfortunately" Paul said.
"Well the US gets very upset when their nationals, particularly Government employees, are arrested in foreign countries, whatever they have done. We will probably have to hand him over to them. But on the bright side they have ways of dealing with criminals and traitors in a way that our laws would not allow us to. So maybe it will be for the best. And it will earn us a few plus marks with the US security authorities. But why did you put everything at risk?"
Henk put his arm around Paul and kissed his cheek before replying. "You said that the King had been prepared to give up everything including the throne. I suggest you ask him why I did it." He led Paul outside. De Bruin just stood there shaking his head. Henk wondered whether it was possible for someone with his responsibilities to have any feelings for his fellow humans and still do his job effectively.