"PAUL CHEVROLET AND THE ULTIMATE HALLUCINATION" "Scotty was a strange fellow." "He didn't make much of a first impression." "But after he had looked at you with his brown eyes... you wouldn't forget him easily." "When he'd tell you what his job was, you'd think he was having you on." "Until he'd show you a minuscule business card." "Henk Hendriksen, investigator Amsterdam" "That's all it said." "The card stood out because of its simplicity." "He sat at his desk, waiting for a phone call from Savannah MacKnight." "It was 10 past 3 pm and he hadn't heard from her yet." "It was actually ridiculous that he had decided so quickly to receive her here." "She had taken him by surprise." "Soup!" "Soup!" "Mr Van Dam, get that jar off your head." "Childish shenanigans." "You'll get soup in 5 minutes." "Hello?" "Yes, darling, he called." "He'll be there around 4." "Make sure you'll be home too, Alexandra." "I'll be there around 6." "It's going to be nice." "Bye, darling." "In his weather-beaten Volvo 242L, Scotty was on the way to his ex-wife." "She had recently moved in with her new partner, a shifty dentist." "Scotty hated the man." "He had bad breath and was tight." "He was also acting like a father for Scotty's beautiful daughter, Stella." "It was, therefore, high time to visit his ex-wife... and discuss this with her." "Are you both coming tomorrow?" "I'm not coming, daddy." "It's not nice anymore when you're here." "Do you consider yourself a born story teller?" "I love telling stories... and I love stories that are told in a simple manner... to touch the heart of the listener." "That's why, for me, it's not about..." "experimenting with language... or with form." "What really interests me... is to tell my stories in serial form... almost like in a movie... and to try to keep my readers interested that way." "You seem to write with great ease." "Dad, come." "Has your work as a journalist contributed to that?" "Without a doubt." "I started as a journalist when I was seventeen years old... and I've always continued to work as a journalist." "I think it's very important... because it enables me... to use and understand language... and the tricks of the communication trade... the most direct way of expressing an idea." "Do you consider your novel The House of the Spirits... a magical realist novel?" "It's very hard for me to judge my own novel... or to say that it's part of a particular school." "Besides, the term "magical realism"... may have another meaning in Latin America... than in Europe." "To you, magical realism may be something exotic and strange." "To us, it's everyday life." "Many of the things that are happening in this novel... have happened to me personally... or have happened to people in my family." "It's the story of a real family... in a country that really exists... of a continent that is the way it is." "Full of magic." "Full of dreams." "Full of things that seem unreal and imaginary... but that are real." "Your second novel, Of Love and Shadows... almost seems a summary of your first one." "There is a dark side to it... but also a side that I would call romantic... there are beautiful love stories..." "Love and violence are two constants in my life..." "And they are two constants in the country where I live." "They're always there, like light and dark... in the lives of all of us." "It was, therefore, high time to visit his ex-wife... and discuss this with her." ""What do you mean you have no money?"... his wife screamed." ""You have to pay alimony and you haven't paid for three months."" "Calmly, Scotty explained he hadn't made much the last couple of months." "He hadn't had much work and could barely keep his car going." ""I don't care", his wife whined." ""Sell the old clunker."" "He explained to her that a private eye without a car... would never find any work." "She angrily threw a set of gilded dentures -a demonstration model- at him." "Scotty could just avoid the thing." "The damage was limited to a glass window of around 2000 guilders." "When he left, Stella walked him to the door." "Better stay away, she said." "You only cause problems." "Are you wearing that?" "I'd wear something else, wouldn't you?" "Quick, we're in a hurry." "I can already smell the ocean." "I'll spend the rest of my life at sea." "And when I'll die, I'll die at sea." "And do you know what I'll die of?" "I'll die of eating... an unwashed grape." "I'll die... with my hand... in the hand... of a handsome ship's doctor..." "young still... with a blond little moustache and a large silver watch." ""Poor lady", they'll say." ""The quinine didn't help her."" ""The unwashed grape took her soul to heaven."" "Escher, Parslow, LaSalle." "Hello?" "Must have been your mysterious lover." "Escher, Parslow, LaSalle." "Blow the horn again, Jelle." "I'll see you later." "It's going well, isn't it?" "Have a look, great response." "You'll be filthy rich." "Did you read the manuscript?" "Well, uhm..." "Hi, how are you?" "I'm talking to you." "The manuscript's not our kind, Leopold." "Just make sure we can release the new Scotty in time... so we can build on the success of this one." "How do you feel on the big day?" "I have a great idea." "I'll drop by this week for some pictures and an interview." "For Playboy." "Pim." "This is Babette." "She wants to interview you for Playboy." "Are you his ultimate hallucination?" "Charlotte." "Leopold, we're so proud of you." "Will you come over for dinner?" "I had a quick look at it." "I saw you changed the ending." "Much better." "Really great." "We'll see you soon." "Yes." "Elizabeth, let me introduce..." "Paul Chevrolet." "I enjoy reading your books." "Oh." "He has a manuscript that might be very interesting to you." "I'll get it." "Do you have a publishing company?" "Logos." "Never heard of it?" "Logos, yes, who hasn't." "I'd find it an honour if you'd publish me." "Who wouldn't?" "The Ultimate Hallucination." "It's in good hands with her." "This represents three years of my life." "It's a serious work and I want to publish it under my own name." "It's an essay about love." "First, I wanted to call it Ecce Homo Novo, in reference to Nietzsche." "Listen, darling." "You're beautiful and..." "Gerben, congratulations on your book." "Fantastic." "Hello." "I didn't invite you for this." "That's ridiculous." "Why else did you invite me?" "You know I'm a photographer." "It's free publicity." "I don't want any publicity." "Tomorrow." "Have dinner with me." "Great, see you tomorrow." "Bye." "Bye." "Hello." "Hi." "Scotty!" "What do you want today?" "Nothing special." "I just wanted to see you." "How did you get to know Boy Pappa?" "He got me straight off the school yard." "I was barely sixteen." "Didn't you know?" "Didn't you mind he was 50 years older?" "47." "Everything was great." "Lots of money." "Expensive clothes." "He taught me to eat oysters." "Boy Pappa, who everybody was so afraid of, had a tiny little heart." "Why don't you lie on the bed?" "You paid for it." "Shoes off." "That takes too long." "Beautiful." "Does it sell well?" "I can't complain." "Do you want a percentage?" "Of course." "Scotty looked at the picture and was immediately alarmed." "One of the men in the picture was definitely Boy Pappa." "The only stylish crook and con man who regularly came to the Netherlands." "Boy Pappa meant serious crime." "Scotty walked over to the couch and looked at voluptuous Dolores... with new amazement." "For a moment, he felt envious of 73 year old Boy Pappa." "Also known as Uncle Pappa, alias Big Boy B." ""Tell me about him", Scotty said to Dolores." "After some hesitation, she started talking." "They call him the Greek." "He works from Düsseldorf and Amsterdam." "He often travels to Miami and Las Vegas for business." "He runs two gambling joints in the city... and a couple of fancy brothels." "He's always surrounded by women." "Preferably 16 or 17 year old girls." "Did you have to add that?" "What a coincidence... that you call me Dolores in your book." "He gave all his girlfriends Spanish nicknames." "He had a Juanita, a Conchita, a Carmen." "Paloma." "I don't think he was Greek." "Paloma." "Yes." "Consolation for the inconsolable." "You've given me a fantastic idea." "Boy Pappa may not have been Greek." "They call him The Greek, but he's really Romanian." "Apparently, he has a Romanian father, but was raised in South-Africa." "They say his libido is limitless... and that he never sleeps more than once with the same woman." ""How do you know all that?", Savannah asked with amazement." "Amsterdam's a small city, a plantation." "Savannah MacKnight followed him with her eyes." ""I can pay you well for it", she said, lowering her voice." "She got a bunch of bank notes out of her handbag." "What about 10,000 dollar?" "While he lit a cigarette, he saw they were 100 dollar notes." "Suddenly, Scotty became very calm." "He slowly walked towards the windows, away from her and the money." "Savannah MacKnight had put the bank notes on the table... and sat down in a chair." "She waited calmly." "Scotty's intuition told him... that something was wrong." "10,000 dollar was way too much money for this job." "He picked up the notes and held a few of them to the light." ""The money is clean", Savannah said sharply." "Scotty looked straight into her eyes." ""Time will tell", he said calmly." "We've arrived." "Elizabeth, why don't you just tell me what you think of it?" "I can take it." "How old are you, Leopold?" "Almost 42." "But what does that have to do with anything?" "I think that your thoughts and ideas... are those of an adolescent." "I haven't had time to read your book thoroughly... so I didn't form a balanced opinion." "But I have the impression you've started something you're not mature enough for." "Shall I read a few passages to you?" "Let me see." "Here it is." "On a scale of all things in the universe... the idea of the eternal reciprocity of everything... must therefore be clarified again." "Time is eternal." "Every moment is eternal." "In the infinite vastness of nothing... nothing is greater than something." "Something is contained in nothing." "Not the other way around." "That's exactly what I mean." "And there are plenty of passages like that, dear Leopold." "You take the text out of context." "Oh, come on!" "You're absolutely talented." "But talent has to be honed." "It has to grow." "And each talent has its limitations." "These passages demonstrate that you're stuck in the cerebral." "And that your feelings didn't run very deep." "What would you know about that?" "It's getting late." "Don't!" "Get out!" "I want you to leave." "What happened, mummy?" "Who is that guy?" "Make sure he goes." "Why?" "Don't you love young boys?" "You go too." "And take that man with you." "I have to talk to her." "I wouldn't, if I were you." "She's rather upset." "What happened?" "A little misunderstanding." "Who are you?" "I'm Suzanne." "The lady who just retired in a state of indignation... is my mother." "She kindly requested me to take you with me." "Suzanne..." "Savannah..." "Savannah with me." "You're Savannah with me." "I've been waiting all my life for you." "Right." "You can sober up here." "Come lay with me." "No way, you stink." "I stink?" "You stink." "She stank... we stank..." "Boy Pappa!" "Get undressed." "Have they arrived yet?" "I think that's him." "That's it." "Please be careful with it." "Marina, I'm off." "I'll see you later." "I have to leave you again." "Do you need money?" "No, I don't need money." "I want you to work." "How much money do you need to work?" "Is 5 ok?" "Sure." "Grandad was never home." "For years, he kept a diary." "I got it when he died." "That's how I really got to know him." "And I got a lot of information from it." "How's your mother?" "Ask her." "I don't have much time." "Could you give this to her?" "Put it in an envelope." "Shall we check out the birds?" "It's very nice." "I think so too." "Originally, Charlotte was my girlfriend." "And my great love was the stage." "But Leopold was so jealous." "But I did go to your premiere." "Yes, with me." "I had the main part, Blanche." "Blanche DuBois, Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams." "He brought me white roses and asked me to marry him." "Yes, the same evening, before the reviews came." "Critics..." "Stupid critics." "He was a boy, just a boy." "When I was sixteen." "I made the discovery - love." "All at once and much, much too completely." "It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light... on something that had always been half in shadow." "That's how it struck the world for me." "But I was unlucky." "Deluded!" "Whoever you are, I've always depended on the kindness of strangers." "It's the last scene." "Then they take her to the nuthouse." "Why did she stop acting?" "Because she married me." "It's one or the other." "Shall we have coffee on the terrace?" "You have a lovely house." "I inherited it with everything in it." "The paintings belong to Charlotte." "What is yours?" "The trees." "He hates me." "Or why would he insult me?" "Of course there is such as thing as love-hate." "Maybe in some perverted way... no, the mere idea makes me..." "Leopold!" "Can you attach my necklace?" "Escher, Parslow, LaSalle." "Do you have a moment?" "Is it... is it you?" "Yes." "Are you saying..." "You with that little slut?" "You could have been her father." "And you her mother." "She always talks about you." "I'd almost get jealous of you." "She adores you." "But she worries." "She's afraid she doing everything wrong." "That she can't do it." "She can't do anything." "Charlotte." "Herman's having an affair." "Maybe you can find out... if she's tall, how old she is... if she has big breasts, if she's an actress..." "Little marmot." "Here's 3,000 guilders." "For your expenses." "Goodbye." "Bye." "Charlotte, what day is it today?" "July 11, and I didn't forget." "Scotty looks at the men." "One of them has to be the son of Boy Pappa, but who?" "He directs his attention towards a woman." "Then he notices it's Suzanne MacKnight." "Savannah MacKnight." "Escher, Parslow, LaSalle." "Good afternoon." "Suzanne, Leopold speaking." "I have no time now." "I'm..." "Scotty went to see his daughter's mother at her work." "Just as she was about to leave." "Quickly she said: "I don't have time for you"." "Good guess." "Scotty's wife had less and less time for him." "Except when he'd bring her the monthly alimony." "Talk normally." "Don't always hide behind those stories." "By the way, you owe me 15,000 bucks." "What do you want from me?" "I want..." "I want that you want that I... that you and I..." "Grow up." "Two Scotties." "Two times 18.90." "How are sales?" "Very good." "Can I do something for you?" "No." "What's wrong?" "We just lost 30,000 dollar." "Paul Chevrolet." "At least she's got this." "Ciao." "For a destitute Suzanne, from a longing Paul Chevrolet" "Hello, darling." "Hello, Suzanne speaking." "59.8." "It just came in." "Check the Dow Jones then." "Cheers." "No, they won't do that." "No, let them drop dead." "We can eat right away." "Sorry, I'm having dinner in town." "What about the food?" "Stick it in your hair." "Cheers." "Enjoy your dinner." "Piss-ant!" "To catch fish, one uses bait." "Once one has caught the fish, one can forget about the bait." "To catch rabbits, one uses traps." "Once one has caught the rabbit, one can forget about the trap." "One uses words to express meaning." "Once the meaning has been understood, the words can be forgotten." "Where do I find a person who forgets words, so that I can talk to them?" "Take me." "Take me!" "You have to take me." "I'm on fire." "Herman Du Bois, you promised!" "Look at me." "Can't we do like in the old days?" "No, stay there." "I can see something happened to you." "I need to know." "He was here again." "Yesterday." "I don't know how he came in." "You must have left the key in the door." "Yes." "I was asleep and I woke up." "And suddenly he was on top of me." "What did you feel?" "His warm breath." "Did you scream?" "No, that was useless." "No one could hear me." "Suddenly, he was inside me." "He was so sweet, so soft and so tender." "No!" "No, he took you violently." "He took me violently." "How often did you come?" "How often?" "Four times, just like him." "Not more often?" "Twelve times and he ten times." "What's wrong with you?" "You tell the stories." "Scotty's heart was beating faster." "His blood was boiling." "He was almost sure he was getting close to Boy Pappa." "Within five minutes he would be face to face with the wanted criminal." "With a sweaty hand, he grabbed his gun... the Detective Special he always carried." "He knew he had to stay level-headed... but he wasn't able to." "Would Boy Pappa allow a private eye from Amsterdam to outsmart him?" "Wouldn't his bodyguards shoot him on the spot?" "All these thought made Scotty insecure." "How about the book?" "Will you publish it or not?" "These 40 pages are excellent and these 120 are way below par." "If you can get the 120 pages at the same quality as the 40... then we'll publish your book." "Who do you think you are, silly woman?" "Can you take it easy, sir?" "You don't have to be afraid." "Elizabeth, you've convinced me." "Publish these paper scraps." "Suddenly, Scotty had lost track of his client, Savannah MacKnight." "At the Rembrandtplein, she had entered the Monuco bar... where he saw her talk to a sinister character." "Scotty had turned around, so as not be noticed." "And 30 seconds later, Savannah MacKnight had disappeared." "Now, he was certain she hadn't told him everything." "And that she had deceived him from the start." "Dear Suzanne, I don't understand the game you're playing with me." "I also don't understand your mother at all." "I think you're both crazy." "You two seem like characters from a book." "You don't seem to take part in real life." "I don't regret meeting you both, but I've had enough." "I'm about to leave your house." "Goodbye." "Leopold." "Can I borrow some money from you, Herman?" "I want to repay a debt to Willie." "Do you want to get back with her?" "If she'll want me." "How much?" "15,000." "I'll pay you back." "That's Alexandra." "What a beautiful daughter." "Must be worth living for." "Why don't you have children, Herman?" "With crazy Charlotte?" "I should never have married her." "If I hadn't, she'd have become a great actress." "Or so she says." "Leopold, I'm so jealous of you." "Of you and your talents." "Scotty." "It doesn't mean much." "My work that I find important, is considered vague bullshit." "And it's in the garbage bin now." "I always wanted something that only belonged to me." "Something that you had nothing to do with." "I wanted to beat you to it and I thought I had found it." "Marina." "The most beautiful girl in the world." "And then, one night, when I wanted to surprise her..." "I entered the house unexpectedly." "And I opened a door... that I shouldn't have opened." "Just like Blanche DuBois, in A Streetcar Named Desire." "The door should have stayed closed." "I saw that she didn't just belong to me." "I saw my Marina... kiss your Suzanne." "My Suzanne..." "MacKnight?" "With a woman?" "Yes!" "Elizabeth?" "Come in." "What a surprise." "Yes." "I was in the neighbourhood and I thought..." "I'll drop by." "Drop by, yes." "Oh, this is for you." "I never thought I'd see you here." "I felt rather guilty." "You suddenly tore up your book." "I do hope you have a copy." "Is that why you came?" "I understand that Suzanne and you... split up after a big argument." "Did she tell you that?" "No." "And I don't want you to think badly of her." "I'm her mother and I love her." "Even though she can have a big mouth." "She lost her father, whom she loved a lot." "And I haven't been a very good mother to her." "Don't apologise to me." "Let me finish." "This is very important to me." "I want you to understand why she is the way she is." "She married very young." "To get away from me." "He was English, rich, eccentric." "And involved in all kinds of shifty business." "He had an important position in Curacao, and therefore he needed a wife." "He already had a girlfriend as a love interest." "A Dominican, some sort of demimondaine." "In Curacao, Suzanne got hooked on cocaine." "It almost ruined her." "This nightmare ended when he drove his car off the cliffs." "In front of her." "Are you coming on to me again?" "I want you to know that I think you're sweet." "Alexandra, are you home?" "What are you cooking?" "It smells so good." "Taste?" "Good." "It'll be finished soon." "I'm successful." "He's successful." "He's successful." "Daddy!" "Daddy!" "Oh, don't look at me." "Dad, I want to read something to you." "I write to tell you..." "There is nothing to say now that you're gone." "The owls are howling in the deserted holes of earthly existence." "The useless beauty of the fragrant grass." "What do I do with a very clear sky... that produces stars with regular intervals, as if it's nothing." "And if one falls, what do I wish now that you're gone?" "You're talented." "A couple of days of rest." "Yes, doctor." "I'll drop by tomorrow at 12." "Yes, doctor." "Have a cup of tea, dear." "It'll do you good." "Please, take it." "Herman, why did you do that?" "Why am I not good enough?" "Oh God, forgive me." "Don't leave me alone." "Stay with me!" "Stay with me!" "Charlotte!" "Tell me what you know." "He was my best friend, damn it." "I have to know." "You're the key." "Do you think so?" "Please." "When I met him for the first time... he said he was someone else." "He said his name was Paul Chevrolet." "You're lying." "Why would I?" "He knew lots of passages from Scotty by heart." "I had no reason to doubt him." "Why do you tell me this nonsense?" "It's not nonsense." "When I told him I had met you... and that I knew he was deceiving me... he changed." "He started to act strange and ask strange things of me." "I had to tell him stories about how you went to bed with me." "How rough you were and how strong." "And how much you hurt me." "I know he caught you with Suzanne." "Caught me?" "Who says it wasn't his fantasy?" "Whoever reads this, is a beast." "He was a big 73 year old child." "He was looking for a mother." "And I let him use me." "As a whore." "He put me on a pedestal where I didn't belong." "And then I got pregnant by him." "I've never miscarried." "My child was born." "A boy." "But he took him away from me." "And gave him to his family, God knows where." "Maybe he'll walk in here in ten years or so." "He won't even know I'm his mother." "I hate Boy Pappa." "I've gone to bed with all his friends." "And then he was fed up... and left me." "You only notice when it's too late." "I hate him." "And if he'll ever drop by, I won't let him in." "If he's still alive." "Suddenly, Scotty didn't know where he was." "Life was leaving his body." "Boy Pappa's bullet hit him near the heart." "He saw the blood trickle between his fingers." "He heard distant, surreal music." "He fell forward." "Our hero Henk Hendriksen, nicknamed Scotty... crawled along the canal like a dog." "The humiliating fact that Boy Pappa had outsmarted him... was the last thing he felt." "Scotty died."