The whole performance around suspected Dutch ‘mafia’ boss Willem Holleeder is becoming increasingly like a tv thriller. Yesterday’s suspicious death of Bram Zeegers means a sixth man has been permanently removed from the scene.

The case throws up enough questions and red herrings to keep a script-writer busy for years. Why wasn’t Zeegers under police protection? According to media reports, he was about to be whisked away to a faraway foreign location on a witness protection programme.
And why would he commit suicide? Well according to yet more media reports, Zeegers was increasingly queasy about taking on a new identity, was broke and felt he had ‘looked the enemy in the eye’ when giving evidence last week.
Holleeder himself is the perfect lead, complete with scary nicknames such as ‘the godfather’ and less scary ones like ‘the nose’. He has an uncanny ability to organise media interviews from behind locked doors.
And what about the grenade attacks on the court building on the first day of the trial – who dunnit? The immaculate timing of Holleeder’s heart operation at the start of his trial would have been far- fetched even for the script writers of CSI.
Holleeder seems invincible. So will he be found guilty? The suspense is killing.