The Score
Page 37
“Zintle,” Zintle said firmly.
“Yes, yes, Zintle, sorry. You cared about her. She wasn’t perfect but she was good to all of us. This is proof that Gaba woman killed her like she did the other guest, but what good will that do? You’ve read the papers; she committed suicide. Why bring all this up, why drag Greenwood’s family into an investigation that didn’t even include her from the beginning, y’know? That would be cruel.”
He paused. “That’s … well, that’s not all. Those tapes also show Mamelo getting up to no good. Pinching things from her room, small trinkets; using her perfume; sneaking her boyfriend in when it was a quiet afternoon and they … had a jol on her bed. Unforgiveable. I can only guess that Rhonda hadn’t yet watched it before her demise, or there would’ve been serious consequences. It also … shows you. Not anything bad,” he rushed on when her face changed. “But after Rhonda died, you brought that journalist into her room, to see the body …”
“She helped me! She never did anything, I never did anything,” she sobbed.
“No, no, no! It’s nothing bad, I promise. If anyone else found out, though, you could be in serious trouble, love. That’s why I showed you this, so we could work together.” He squeezed her shoulder. “You’re so responsible, you’re the best one of our housekeepers. But we could use this. If we put these spy cameras in other spots and caught the other staff up to no good, we could tell Motaung. She’d clear out the rubbish and it would help The Grotto. She would know we were good people that she could trust. Team players. It would work in our favour.”
Zintle got it then. Now this secret meeting made sense. The deputy GM post was back up for grabs, soon to be advertised once the storm mellowed a bit more, and head concierge Trevor Davids had his eye on it. This arsehole didn’t care how watching that video affected her. He didn’t mind shoving her friend Mamelo’s betrayal in her face. The ladder was there, and he was itching to climb it.
She carefully moved his hand off her shoulder. The air in the room had disappeared. She rose and walked to the door. “I never liked sports, Mr Davids. So I’m not a team player,” she said quietly. “Ms Motaung takes running this place very seriously. So did Ms Greenwood. Maybe those cameras you found weren’t the only ones she installed. Maybe she, they, have more evidence about some other people, who knows what, and were biding their time.”
The triumph on Trevor’s face crumbled into mild shock. Zintle walked into the hall and turned back to him. “I’ve handed in my notice. Come month-end I don’t work here anymore.”
Before he knocked off that day, Trevor ran his fingers over the tapes and figurines, stashed away in his locker. It was over. And no-one else knew about them. He thought about the pile of waste the lodge amassed daily, which was collected and dutifully carted off to the incinerator. He rejected the idea as soon as he thought of it. There was no way he was going to burn this lot. With one vicious sweep of his hand, he dragged it all into his rucksack and zipped it up. Never discard leverage; never discount a rainy day.
Acknowledgements
Putting a novel together is a fulfilling as well as gruelling task. I’m hugely grateful to everyone who allowed me to impose upon their lives in order to push this manuscript through various draft stages.
My special mentions go to:
D. J. Cockburn and James Murua for scouring with eagle eyes, giving sound feedback and even occasionally saving my story from falling over its feet.
Karl Smith (I owe you a BMW!) and Stan Peabody (I owe you a beer), for their much-needed technical expertise, allowing themselves to be tortured for hours by endless questions, and kindly correcting me when it was clear I had no idea what I was talking about.
Samantha N. Ngcolomba, Jite Efuamuaye, and Paidamoyo H. Maenzanise for their help with translations and tweaking scenes, and Priscilla Chunda Sinombe for being a trusty reader.
The Botswana Police Service and the team of forensic pathologists at Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, for facilitating a glorious summer of postmortems. Especial gratitude goes to Dr Kaone Panzirah-Mabaka, who joked that I should spin a story around an interesting case we worked, which I now have. Thank you for immersing me in the language of the dead and listening to my harebrained theories.
My editors James Woodhouse and Caren van Houwelingen, thank you for your keen eye and commitment to getting this manuscript to readiness.
Summary
Vee Johnson has been banished. And to Oudtshoorn, of all places . . . for daring to be an investigative reporter. Vee and her sidekick, Chlöe Bishop, have barely checked into their lodge when two bodies are discovered. And so they uncover an underworld of cybercrime and corruption as all trails lead to Xoliswa Gaba, the enfant terrible of Cape Town’s IT industry.
Sex, drugs and BEE, The Score is an unflinching romp through what remains of the rainbow nation.
About the Author
Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Hawa Jande Golakai spent a vibrant childhood in her homeland Liberia. Due to the civil war in 1990 she bounced around the continent, and after living in several countries considers herself a modern-day nomad and cultural sponge. Her 2011 crime debut The Lazarus Effect was thrice nominated for literary awards. She is currently a laureate of the Africa39 Project, which celebrates 39 of the most promising contemporary authors under the age of 40 on the continent. She enjoys performing autopsies and investigating peculiar medical cases for her storylines. In addition to writing full time, she moonlights as a medical immunologist and health consultant. She lives between Monrovia and anywhere else she finds herself.
Praise for The Lazarus Effect
“What a wonderful debut. It’s brimming with intelligence, wit and real heart. Enormously entertaining.” – Deon Meyer
“Utterly refreshing … a brilliant and exciting debut.” – Cape Times
“A deftly packaged crime thriller.” – Sunday Times
“The Lazarus Effect breaks the conventions of its genre, setting it apart from the majority of contemporary crime fiction.” – LitNet
“A valuable addition to South African crime fiction.” – SLiP
Other Titles by HJ Golakai, also available in E-book Format
The Lazarus Effect
Kwela Books,
an imprint of NB Publishers,
a division of Media24 Boeke (Pty) Ltd,
40 Heerengracht, Cape Town, 8001
PO Box 6525, Roggebaai 8012, South Africa
www.kwela.com
Copyright © HJ Golakai 2015
All rights reserved.
No part of this electronic book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying and recording, or by any other information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.
Cover design by Russell Starcke
E-book design by Trace Digital Services
Available in print:
First edition in 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7957-0726-1
Epub edition:
First edition in 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7957-0727-8 (epub)
Mobi edition:
First edition 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7957-0728-5 (mobi)
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Motto
Prologue
Shifting of Shape Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Retreat Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Razor Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chasing Rainbows Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Softly, Softly Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Cha
pter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Blink Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
So … That Happened Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Book Summary
About the Author
Praise for The Lazarus Effect
Other Titles by HJ Golakai, also available in E-book Format
Imprint Page