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'But... it's in Dutch.'
    'I am Dutch, Mr Spandrel.'
    'I don't know what it says.'
    'It is what you asked for. A receipt.' De Vries raised a wintry eyebrow. 'You doubt me?'
    'I... must be sure.'
    'Must you?'
    'Yes. I think I must.'
    'I think you must too.' De Vries gave another lopsided smile. 'I can also play games, you see? You write what you require.' He waved him towards the desk. 'I will sign it.'
    Spandrel walked over to the desk, de Vries keeping pace behind him. He sat down, the old man looming at his shoulder, and wrote.
    'Very good,' said de Vries when he had finished. 'But you have the date wrong. We are eleven days ahead of England here. And you are here, not there.' He took the pen, crossed out 25th January and wrote 5th February in its place. 'It is always better to be ahead than behind.' Then he added his signature. 'You are not an experienced traveller, I think.'
    'No,' admitted Spandrel, shamed by his mistake.
    'Dates can be confusing. It will still be January when you return to England. Those of us who make our profits and losses by the day' — he tapped his temple — 'keep such things in mind.'
    'Yes. Of course.' Spandrel folded the receipt and slipped it into his pocket.
    'Be sure not to lose that.'
    'I will be.'
    'When will you leave Amsterdam?'
    'As soon as possible.'
    'A pity, if this is your first visit. The city would repay a longer stay.'
    'Sir Theodore will be anxious for confirmation of the box's safe delivery.' Spandrel stood up. 'I must go.'
    'How will you travel?'
    'The way I came. By barge.'
    'You know the times?'
    'I confess not.' Spandrel was once again brought up sharp by his own stupidity. He should have enquired about the return journey to Haarlem on arrival at the city gate. But, in his haste to reach de Vries's house, he had forgotten to do so. 'Do you, mijnheer, by any chance...'
    'Keep them also in mind? No, I do not. But I employ someone who does.' De Vries strode to the door, opened it and bellowed into the hallway, 'Zuyler! Hier! Onmiddellijk! Then, leaving the door open, he marched across to the table on which the despatch-box lay. But it was not the box he was looking at. 'Why did Estelle show you my map of London, Mr Spandrel?'
    'She thought I would be interested.'
    'Why?'
    'Because I am a mapmaker by profession.'
    'How did she know that?'
    'I told her.'
    'You tell too much.' De Vries turned and regarded him thoughtfully. 'It is a bad habit. You should—' He broke off at Zuyler's appearance in the doorway.
    'Mijnheer?' There was a brief exchange in Dutch, then Zuyler nodded and looked at Spandrel. 'You are bound for Helvoetsluys, Mr Spandrel?'
    'I am.'
    'Your quickest passage would be by the overnight trekschuit direct to Rotterdam. It leaves at eleven o'clock, from the Oudezijds Herenlogement on Grimburgwal.' De Vries intervened in Dutch at this and Zuyler smiled faintly before continuing. 'Mijnheer de Vries suggests I take you there. He doubts you will find the way. The Herenlogement is an inn. You may wish to take a meal before your journey.'
    'Thank you. I'm sure I can find it myself.'
    'It would be my pleasure to escort you, Mr Spandrel.'
    'In that case...' Spandrel glanced from one to the other of them, 'I accept.'
    'Goodbye then, Mr Spandrel,' said de Vries. 'Tell Sir Theodore...'
    'Yes?'
    'Nothing.' De Vries looked at him unsmilingly. 'That is always best.'

CHAPTER FIVE
    Into the Darkness

    It turned out to be but a short walk from the de Vries house to Grimburgwal. Spandrel was nonetheless grateful to have a guide. The network of canals and bridges and alleys that comprised Amsterdam seemed designed to confuse the stranger, so similar was one part of the whole to another. He jokingly asked Zuyler if this were deliberate, but the Dutchman responded with dry seriousness that he thought not and had himself found London equally bewildering without being driven to suspect a plot against foreigners.
    Zuyler, of course, had only a swift return to his secretarial duties to