About last night

Everything goes smoothly, the suitcase rolls off the conveyor belt as the tenth, the customs officer nods kindly and when I call the number of R, our regular taxi driver, he answers and is already waiting around the corner at departure hall 2.

As always, I chat with R and P, my daughter's girlfriend with whom I just spent three days in Barcelona, which starts with her ritual barrage of questions. She is a very curious girl. ‘Is it your dream job?’ ‘Would you rather be a private driver?’ R says he prefers this, it's more varied. He drives many guests to TV studios and has had almost everyone in his car. ‘Even Davina Michelle?’ There is hope in her voice. Unfortunately not, and Linda de Mol and Chantal Janzen have their own driver. Here too, the ‘boss above boss principle’ applies.

While I tell something about the outbound flight (dramatic) R excuses himself. A phone call. He has to take it. An extra ride. Unexpected. I continue talking and the ritual ‘phone call, extra ride’ repeats itself.

As R turns right into our little park, a news alert pops up on his phone. I notice he is no longer listening. I try to look at his screen, but it's too far away for my weak eyes so I wait. The seconds that follow feel like a minute. He turns his head towards me in slow motion. ‘Peter R. de Vries has been shot…’

It's going to be a long evening.

Read more about the Peter R. de Vries case? Here we wrote about the Holleeder tapes for dummies.