Pale Horses

by Jassy Mackenzie

  The chairwoman for the Da Vinci Towers residents’ association, Mrs Portia Ndumo, speaking from her holiday home in Umhlanga, said, ‘We are shocked and grieved to hear about this tragic incident and will take steps to make sure such a disaster cannot happen again. At our next meeting, the Da Vinci Towers Body Corporate will be looking at the feasibility of installing higher safety railings and security glass as a standard feature on all the balconies.’

  Epilogue

  Surely it couldn’t be her again?

  Setting down her soy latte carefully in its china saucer, Magdalena Eckhardt leaned forward, pressing her hands against the armrests of her well-upholstered chair, craning her neck to get a better look at the new arrival.

  It was her. The same woman she’d seen in here a fortnight ago. She even looked as if she was wearing the very same outfit, too. Black shirt, black jeans, brown hair tied back in the ponytail, not a trace of make-up.

  She’d had such a time discussing that woman with her book club friends. When Magdalena had described how the woman had looked at her with eyes that stared out from a tormented soul, every woman in the reading circle had told her they’d come out in goose bumps.

  Collectively, they had pieced together the story of what had happened. Clearly the woman was bereaved – hence she had been wearing black. She had lost her husband, or partner, and now, after a period of mourning, she was starting to date again.

  The man she’d been with last time had obviously been unsuitable. But this man – the one who at this very moment was sitting down in the chair opposite her – he looked like a far better prospect. An older gentleman wearing an immaculately cut suit and silk tie, with silver-streaked hair and a fabulous platinum Rolex watch. A wealthy man, for certain.

  He would take care of her.

  Look at the way they were leaning forward, closer to each other, as they spoke! The chemistry was there, no doubt about it. And the woman … she looked so much happier than she had the time before. More confident. Her head was held high and her eyes were sparkling. Yes, definitely – he was the one. There was no way she was going to interrupt them though. True love must take its course without her help. But her book club friends would be thrilled to hear this. Simply over the moon!

  As Magdalena got up to leave, she caught the woman’s eye just for a moment, and felt a warm glow of pure happiness as she gave Magdalena a conspiratorial smile.

  Jade turned her attention back to the grey-haired man sitting opposite her.

  ‘Thank you so much for giving me an overview of the futures market in this country, Mr Anderson,’ she said to the financial advisor from Trading South Africa.

  ‘It’s wonderful to have you on board as a client, Ms De Jong. We received your deposit yesterday.’

  Jade was surprised the investor wasn’t rubbing his hands together at the prospect of earning commission off such a large sum. She’d transferred every penny of the blood money she’d had in her account from the contract killing she’d done with Robbie. It was a sizeable amount.

  ‘Good.’

  ‘You mentioned that you would like to begin trading in single stock futures today?’

  ‘That is correct.’

  ‘Now I must explain to you how your funds will be allocated. Part of this deposit may be used to trade, but a portion will be held to cover your margins, should the market move against you.’

  ‘I understand that.’

  He produced a small electronic gadget identical to the one that she had seen Victor Theron use.

  ‘If you’d like some advice on where to start, I’ll be happy to offer it. At the moment we are fortunate to be in a rising market, which means that taking a long position will probably be advisable. The indexes for the past few days have been looking very positive. This is due to various reasons, including the strength of the rand, the drop in interest rates, and some other financial and also political factors. Markets, you see, are very much influenced by sentiment.’

  ‘I have heard that, yes,’ she said.

  He continued speaking but she tuned him out.

  She thought instead of the story that Zelda Meintjies had now completed, which would make front-page headlines the next morning. After finishing her research, Zelda had contacted the police and handed over all evidence, including her recording device. As a result, David, heading up a team of detectives and forensics experts, was even now arriving at Theunisvlei, where the mass grave would soon be exhumed.

  Meanwhile, in Jo’burg, Moloi and his team were busy making several arrests. By the evening, Jade knew that a number of senior managers from Global Seeds South Africa would be in police custody, as would Mr Engelbrecht from Williams Management. The image of that arrogant man being bundled into a police van made Jade smile whenever she thought about it.

  In the chaos that would follow when this news broke, one fact would be certain. Despite the positive trends in the market, the shares in Global Seeds were going to plummet.

  ‘So, have you decided where you would like to start trading?’ Mr Anderson asked her.

  Resting her elbows on the table, Jade nodded confidently.

  ‘I’d suggest a balanced portfolio to spread the risk …’ the financial advisor began, but Jade interrupted him.

  ‘I would like to put all my available funds in one position,’ she told him.

  He pressed some keys on his gadget.

  ‘Which one would that be?’ he asked.

  Jade thought briefly of Ntombi Khumalo and Zelda Meintjies. Two women who, having lost loved ones and now alone in the world, both deserved a very generous compensation payment. Thanks to the leverage available in the futures market, Jade was confident that the profits from a single, well-timed trade would set them both up for life.

  ‘I’d like to take a short position in Global Seeds,’ she said.

  Acknowledgements

  First and foremost, a huge and loving thank-you to my partner Dion, who is the first person to read every word I write. You are my inspiration, and you rock my world.

  Thanks to Frances Marks from Forzalibro Designs – the most amazing and entertaining editor in the world.

  A huge thanks to Fourie Botha and Fahiema Hallam at Umuzi for all their support and enthusiasm, to Hannah Ferguson and Camilla Ferrier from the Marsh Agency in London as well as Debbie Gill from Maia Publishing Services for the great work they have done on my behalf, and to the fantastic team at Soho Press in the USA, including Bronwen Hruska, Michelle Rafferty and Juliet Grames.

  The subject of genetically modified foods is one as fascinating as it is controversial. I did a huge amount of reading during my research, and in particular found the book Seeds of Deception by Jeffrey M Smith to be an enlightening read.