"Death in the Shadows" "Did you want to get in?" "No, I'm waiting for the bus to Oostdijk." "It should be here soon." "Yes." "There it is." "I'll get it." "Want to bet?" "Coming... coming." "Yes... yes." "Careful." "Shit." "It went really well." "We didn't break Evelien's record." "We will." "How is Evelien anyway?" "Fine." "Do you still see her?" "She called me the other day." "She lives in Amsterdam now." "I'm going home, Valerie." "I'm going too." "It's 12.30 already." "See you tomorrow at the exam." "Bye!" "Goodnight!" "I'm going too." "Not grumpy anymore?" "I prefer to be alone with you." "Saskia has helped me often too." "What's wrong?" "My mother said she'd take the last bus." "That bus is always late." "I'll dream of you!" "Bye!" "Bye!" "Hello, is your father home?" "I live here with just my mother." "Is she Mrs Jaspers?" "God..." "What happened?" "REGIONAL HOSPITAL WEST FRIESLAND" "Mellema." "Criminal Investigation." "What's Mrs Jaspers' room?" "One moment." "Mrs Jaspers is still in the emergency ward." "How long has she been here?" "She was brought in an hour ago." "Someone found her in the street." "Found her?" "Yes." "I thought she was hit by a car." "It was a hit-and-run." "Oh no." "Sorry, I thought you knew." "Wait." "God..." "We want to see her." "Is this your mother?" "THERE'S A PIZZA IN THE FRIDGE MOM" "Do you know where Valerie is?" "I think she stayed inside." "She doesn't want to talk about it." "Thanks." "Would you rather be alone?" "She's been lying there all that time." "In the middle of the road." "Maybe she was still alive." "That's that asshole's fault." "They should get him." "She's dead..." "I have to pass my exams." "Are you still taking them?" "Yes." "I don't want to stay here for another year." "Not on my own." "The worst is over." "You'll pass." "I'm sorry to disturb you but I need to know a few things." "From me?" "Can we talk somewhere?" "There." "Do you have family around here?" "I don't have any family at all." "Nobody?" "No, my mother was alone." "I have no siblings and my father died when I was very young." "And your grandparents?" "I've never known them." "I can vaguely remember one grandmother's funeral." "That's all." "Why do you want to know?" "There's a problem with the identification of your mother." "I did that, didn't I?" "Yes, but we want someone else too." "Did your mother have many friends?" "Not really." "Our neighbour, Mrs De Jong." "She was in a handicrafts club." "And she used to work at Van Maurik's lawyer's office." "She still went there sometimes." "Our doctor..." "Stroops." "He has to do the identification then." "Can you get me all your mother's papers?" "Why?" "I saw her." "That was my mother." "They examined your mother in the hospital." "We always do that in these cases." "The doctor said she's never had any children." "She can't have been your real mother." "Not my mother?" "That's impossible." "It's impossible that she's not my real mother." "It's impossible!" "POLICE" "Can you take that?" "I'll return it soon." "There's nothing in there." "Nothing?" "About me." "I was afraid of that." "She promised me a surprise." "A surprise?" "For my birthday." "I'm turning 18 this year." "She'd give it to me after my exams." "I thought she meant a holiday." "But maybe it was about this." "Maybe." "But there must be papers somewhere." "If they don't exist, she wanted to keep it a secret." "No, I don't believe that!" "She wasn't like that!" "She would have told me." "Now I want to know." "Who my real parents are." "Who I am." "If you have any questions, you can call me." "Thanks." "Bye." "I'm very sorry about what happened." "Have you had dinner?" "No." "Have dinner with me." "Did she never tell you anything either?" "Absolutely never." "She must have said something when she came to live here." "About where she was from, for instance." "I didn't see you very often at first." "I wasn't single yet." "And your mother almost never talked about the past." "She only told me your father died young, from an illness." "And that she was born around here." "In Obdam." "Did she still know people there?" "I don't think so." "At least, she never went there." "Shall I open the wine?" "Yes, the corkscrew's in the drawer." "How's your work?" "Good, very good." "At first, I was afraid it would go wrong again." "But I've been there for a few months and it's going better and better." "It's only a small office." "People leave you be." "And I can decide when I want to work." "Yes, you were home this afternoon." "Those policemen asked if I had seen anything." "But they didn't want to tell me anything." "Haven't they found that man yet?" "No, they don't even know if it was a man." "They'll find him." "I want to know more about my mother." "I almost don't know anything about her." "That's terrible." "No, it's not." "Don't worry about it." "You never know everything about someone." "That's normal." "Where did your mother go that evening?" "I don't know." "She didn't say?" "She went into the city." "I thought..." "she'll tell me later." "Now you don't even know what the name of your father is." "How can someone hide that information for 18 years?" "And why?" "You know her, Paul." "She wanted to protect me." "Or something like that." "Do you want another drink too?" "Can I help you?" "I'm looking for Mr Gerritsen." "The office is over there." "Yes?" "This is for Mr Gerritsen." "God..." "Trudy Jaspers..." "And who are you?" "Her daughter." "I'd better get Wim then." "Wait here, please." "Did you want me?" "Are you Mr Gerritsen?" "Yes." "I wanted to ask you something about my mother, Trudy Jaspers." "Never heard of her." "Your wife knew her." "She made a mistake." "We don't know any Jaspers." "Your name was in her agenda." "This is a garage." "Maybe she had her car fixed here." "She never had one." "Or a friend's car." "I don't care." "I don't know any Jaspers." "Now get lost." "Go waste someone else's time." "This is ridiculous." "Exactly." "And now get out." "What do you want now?" "Talk to your wife." "Get lost!" "She knows my mother." "Get out or I'll kick you out!" "You shouldn't have gone there." "Now they'll keep saying they don't know your mother." "But why?" "What does it matter if they knew her?" "What did you live off?" "My mother had a widow's pension." "Are you very sure of that?" "Is that wrong too?" "Yes." "Your mother was never married." "That's impossible." "When you get a widow's pension, you get a monthly cheque." "Have you ever seen one?" "My mother did everything at the bank." "They don't know about it either." "She deposited money every month." "On Thursdays." "She always went to town on Thursdays." "To do what?" "Shopping, to have a break." "That money must have come from somewhere." "It was a widow's pension!" "That's what she always said." "Do you want to drink something?" "And my father?" "He's still a mystery." "We can't find him anywhere." "How did she do it?" "Those papers are real." "By keeping it simple." "Jaspers was her real name." "Her parents' name." "She could never get in trouble by using that name." "She wanted to tell me all that." "But why did she keep it such a secret?" "I've got something for you." "Come in." "Do you want a cup of coffee?" "Yes, please." "I'll get it myself." "I borrowed that from your mother." "I didn't know." "You can probably use it now." "For the funeral for instance." "Yes, thanks." "If you need anything else, tell me." "Sorry, I only wanted to know if the people from the garage are here." "No." "If anything happens, let me know." "Is everybody here?" "Yes, the neighbours and people from my mother's handicrafts club." "The man at that table is notary Van Maurik." "And that's the doctor." "I want to talk to him." "Why?" "He must have examined your mother at some point." "Will you stay here?" "Yes." "Valerie!" "Are you leaving already?" "I'll be back in a bit." "Is there anything I can do?" "I mean, can I help you with anything?" "Did you know my father?" "Your father?" "I've never even seen him." "Your mother didn't work for me anymore when she married him." "Why do you want to know?" "No reason." "The police came to me with all kinds of strange questions about your mother." "If there's anything wrong with your mother, you can tell me." "There's nothing wrong with my mother!" "DEAR MOTHER" "Let's go upstairs." "When are you leaving?" "Right after my exams." "I'd rather not go." "But my parents already paid for the trip and they're coming too." "It's a present." "So I think I have to go." "I wish I could do something." "Why?" "Leave it to the police." "They think my mother did who knows what for that money." "She must have done something." "Nobody gets money for nothing." "We almost never had any money." "When we did, she'd buy things for me, never for herself." "Isn't it ridiculous?" "VAN MAURIK NOTARY" "Your mother did have friends of course." "She had her handicrafts club, for instance." "But I can't even remember their faces, let alone their names." "And later?" "Later I never heard from them again." "Did you ever hear about my father?" "Only when she called me to say he died." "Did she call you about that?" "Yes and also to tell me she was available for work." "That was very convenient for me." "Your mother was very reliable." "Didn't she say anything about my dad, when she came back to work here?" "He had died." "It was hard for her to talk about him." "She talked about you more." "She was very fond of you." "I'll miss her too." "I'd like to help you." "Do you have financial problems?" "No, I'm getting welfare." "Can you help me find my real parents?" "That won't be easy." "The police are working on it." "They do a better job than us." "There's a garage owner in Obdam, where my mother used to live." "He acted weird and mysterious." "Did you tell the police that?" "He claims he never knew my mother." "Leave those things to the police." "Don't get involved." "I want to know." "Valerie!" "Valerie!" "What time will you come tonight?" "I don't know yet." "Maybe I won't come." "But I'm throwing the party for you." "I don't feel like a party." "It'll be huge!" "And we have to celebrate that you passed your exams." "I don't know if I want to go to uni." "You're kidding." "I know what you mean, but you could at least try." "What am I going to do there without you?" "And tonight we'll forget about everything." "No... yes." "No, he tried to kill me." "Can you come right away?" "Yes, I'll wait here." "There's someone at the backdoor." "What are you doing here?" "I came to see Valerie." "I wanted to know if you needed any help." "Not now." "Then I'm off." "I'll see you later." "Bye." "With my mother, it went the same way." "We've kept that possibility in mind from the start." "From the start?" "There's something I've never told you, because there was no need." "The doctor said your mother was run over twice." "By two cars?" "Or twice by the same car." "I want to get away from here!" "I don't care where to!" "That's useless." "This can happen anywhere." "I don't understand." "We're still not getting anywhere." "Except that your mother had a brother." "A brother?" "Yes." "But we can't find him." "But he's still alive?" "He moved and he isn't registered anywhere." "That happens very often these days." "It's always the same." "I spoke to your doctor, to people from the garage... to the notary, anybody your mother knew." "They all say they don't know anything." "They all hardly knew your mother." "Except that neighbour." "Was that normal, the way she came in?" "She does that sometimes." "What does she want?" "Nothing." "She's divorced." "She keeps changing jobs." "She talked about those things to my mother." "She didn't know much either." "And the doctor?" "He said a GP only examines their patients when they ask for it." "That it's normal he doesn't know everything." "But this is about you." "It's not about your mother, it's about you." "But I don't know anything!" "I don't know who's doing all this." "It could be anybody." "It's driving me crazy." "Can't you stay with someone?" "With your boyfriend maybe." "He's going on holiday with his parents." "Somewhere else around here?" "I won't let them kill me." "I want to go away from here." "That's useless." "I don't care." "I want to go!" "Where did you sleep last night?" "In a youth hostel." "Why didn't you come to me?" "I wanted to get away." "Away from there." "But what will you do here?" "I'll see." "You can stay in our house." "In an empty house?" "What else can I do?" "You knew I was going." "Don't tell me I can't go." "One day before we're leaving." "I'll be alright." "It's better if you come to our house." "You'll be safe there." "And I won't have to worry as much." "You're only thinking of yourself." "Tell me what you want then." "I'm seeing Evelien tomorrow." "Maybe she has an idea." "God, no." "Go have fun in New York and don't waste your time on me." "It's nonsense!" "What do you want here on your own?" "No one can find me here." "I can imagine you wanted to get out of there." "And now?" "I think I'll go to uni after all." "You're crazy." "There are no jobs and no houses." "Everything's a total mess." "What's the point of uni?" "What do you do?" "I'm a singer in a band." "It's not a big success yet, but who knows." "Have you been doing that for long?" "No, not for very long." "First I lived with this guy..." "that was awful." "No drugs... he was just a guy anyway." "But I did get to know a lot of fun people." "I can take you to a few parties if you like." "I have to do something." "Or I'll go crazy." "First you have to recover a bit." "There are plenty of ways to do that." "That's not for me." "What else can you do?" "Hey, Ria!" "Happy birthday!" "Thinking of you." "Paul" "Dear Valerie, I've been trying to call you." "I've been wondering how you are." "Let me know if I can do anything." "Van Maurik." "Have you found out anything?" "We put out a missing person notice for your mother's brother." "And I'm keeping an eye on the man from the garage." "But it hasn't led to anything." "Did anything else happen?" "No." "Nobody asked about you." "Nobody came to your house." "Not even the neighbour?" "The neighbour?" "Why her?" "No reason." "Have you been doing your own investigation again?" "It was a coincidence." "I don't think it has anything to do with it." "It's better not to know certain things." "I don't believe that anymore." "I've got your mother's papers for you." "We're still looking into a few things, but you can get most papers back." "Do you remember this?" "Nothing at all?" "No." "That picture was taken at a cemetery." "I think this is my father's grave." "Or your real parents' grave, but I can't see which cemetery it is." "There's no way to see that." "We have to go." "Yes." "I'm having something to eat." "Come along if you like." "Do you eat here often?" "It's close and fast." "Aren't you married?" "Divorced." "What will you do now?" "Look around." "Make them know I'm back." "That's the last thing you should do." "I want to know why this is happening." "Me too." "But without letting you take any risks." "I have to know." "It's too dangerous." "I'll give you my private number." "You can always call me." "Be careful, please." "And happy birthday." "GENERAL CEMETERY OBDAM" "HERE LIES MY DEAR HUSBAND C.J.M. VERKERK" "Can I help you?" "I need some information about a few graves in the cemetery." "Why?" "I used to live here and I think I knew those people." "But I'm not sure." "Which graves?" "The first one is Wellink." "Hugo and Marga Wellink." "You can't have known them." "But you may have heard about them." "A lot was written about them back then." "The police said Marga shot Hugo and then herself." "There were rumours about bankruptcy and fraud." "All very sad." "Did they have children?" "I think they had a child." "A boy or a girl?" "I can't remember." "But the child would have gone to Marga's family." "So you can't have known it." "You probably remember the name because they were in the news." "And Verkerk?" "There was a Verkerk too in those days." "Chris Verkerk." "He died young from an illness." "How old was he?" "Around thirty." "I don't remember exactly." "It's so long ago." "But at least I know something." "I know almost nothing about the people who live here now." "I've never seen you here either." "I don't live here anymore." "My mother used to live here." "Trudy Jaspers." "Yes, Trudy." "I see her brother sometimes." "Does he live here?" "Yes." "I thought he had moved." "He's moved a few times." "But always in the area." "I never see him anymore." "He doesn't see anybody anymore." "Well, what do you want?" "I'm Valerie." "What?" "Valerie Jaspers." "I'll be damned." "Valerie?" "Did Trudy send you?" "No." "She's dead." "Come in." "Here." "That's me." "Yes." "What about Trudy?" "We all used to be friends." "Hugo, Trudy, Wim and I." "That's all that's left." "Paper for in the fireplace." "Misery." "What happened?" "Love and friendship all don't mean a thing." "We were always together." "We went to school together." "Dancing..." "those kinds of things." "Especially Trudy and Hugo were always together." "Until he met a rich woman and married her right away." "And that was Marga?" "Yes." "And Hugo was gone." "A couple of years later he showed up again." "With a baby." "He had started a business with his wife's money." "But everything had gone wrong." "Really wrong." "It was a huge scandal." "His wife had a breakdown." "A complete mess." "That's why Hugo took you to Trudy." "You know the rest." "And Trudy?" "She wanted to help Hugo." "And you." "That's what she was like." "She was really my mother." "For all those years." "Trudy was way too good." "She wanted to make us all rich." "She loaned money to Wim, for a garage." "She made sure I could go to uni." "Everything failed." "I couldn't do it." "Really." "So Trudy's money came from my parents?" "You didn't know about that?" "No." "I think she wanted to tell me this year." "I just turned 18." "Where are you going?" "I've never done anything, but now I have to." "But what?" "Come back tonight." "There's a light on." "Ring the doorbell." "Maybe he's not back yet." "Why is the light on then?" "Is there a backdoor?" "There he is." "That's him?" "Mr Jaspers?" "Mr Jaspers." "I'll come over as fast as I can." "Will it be long?" "I don't know." "I can't leave now." "We'll find that man tonight." "That's for sure." "Will you call me?" "As soon as I know anything." "I want you to go straight to your neighbour." "I'll see." "Valerie!" "Valerie!" "Help!" "Valerie?" "Valerie, what's going on?" "Valerie?" "Turn on the light!" "Do you want another coffee?" "How can anyone do something like that?" "He managed your mother's money." "He spent it all." "There's nothing left." "Your mother must have found out when she was at his place that night." "Selfish asshole!" "For that fucking money." "For someone like him it means more." "Fraud, jail... his entire life." "And the man from the garage rented out the car to him." "Yes." "He's talking too now." "But he still claims he didn't know anything." "Nonsense." "He owed the notary money." "So he'd rather shut up." "Yes." "So now you know everything." "And I can start again?" "Something like that." "REST IN PEACE DEAR MOTHER TRUDY JASPERS"