CRIMINAL CONVERSATION Author:NICOLAS FREELING Inspector van der Valk of the Amsterdam police had received an anonymous letter saying that a man named Casimir Cabestan had almost certainly met his death at the of a Dr. Hubert van der Post. The letter writer asked Van der Valk to meet him on the steps of the Amstel Hotel and to identify himself by dropping a newspaper. At the appointed mome... more »nt an elderly, distinguished man came out of the hotel, stopped on the steps, and, when Van der Valk had dropped is newspaper, came up to him and said, "I have a taxi waiting." The letter writer turned out to be Carl Merckel, the managing director of Lutz Brothers and one of the most important bankers, businessmen and powers in the city. He wanted Van der Valk to investigate Dr. van der Post, very quietly. Van der Valk did, unofficially, posing as a patient of the doctor. And, that was the beginning of a fascinating battle of wits.« less