by Sally Andrew
Dirk tried to chat to Lemoni, but was not very successful. We all tried not to talk about what had happened, which was also not so successful. Vorster had no luck finding a gun or a shell casing. And outside the laager of panel vans, Piet was having difficulty tracking, what with the stony ground and all the sheep spoor.
Luckily, I remembered there were some pumpkin fritters, still warm in the pot by the fire. I offered one to Lemoni, and it seemed to calm her down. Then I gave one to Jessie and to each of the policemen and women. There was one left, which I offered to Dirk.
He was about to reach for it, then he stopped himself and said, ‘Don’t you want it? You have it.’
We shared the last fritter.
‘Lekker,’ Jessie said, when there was space in her mouth for words.
Things improved from there. The police finished their search. Vorster found the track of a man running away from the panel-van laager. And Dirk got Lemoni to smile with some joke about a tortoise.
The police put up crime-scene tape around us. Then Ricus turned off all the headlights but one, and joined us in our circle of white plastic chairs.
‘Notice your breathing,’ he said.
Mine was a little rough even though I had been sitting still. It got calmer as I watched it.
‘Let your eyes see,’ he said.
I watched the small flames dancing in the fireplace, the heat rising up to the stars and moon above us.
‘Let your ears hear.’
The crickets were singing. There was the sound of two cars starting. Fatima and her husband drove off without saying goodbye. Piet came and called Ricus and then Johannes for interviews at the house. Reghardt showed him the knife and spoke words that I couldn’t hear. When it was my turn, Henk came to fetch me himself. The moon lit up the dirt road, and when we had walked a little way, Henk turned off his torch and took my hand.
‘I’m so sorry, Maria.’
‘It wasn’t your fault.’
‘I was on guard. And someone got killed.’
The owl hooted.
‘Again,’ he said.
Another owl replied to the call.
‘It could have been you,’ he said.
‘Did you find Kosie?’
‘Ja. He’s in the kraal. But he was sleeping so nicely next to the Colonel that we decided to leave him for now. I’ll come fetch him soon.’
‘I’m glad the Colonel liked him.’
‘I am going to catch whoever did this.’
‘Yes.’
‘I am.’
We were in front of the farmhouse now. It was old style, but nothing fancy. Thick whitewashed walls, tin roof, a small stoep, painted oxblood red.
Henk opened the front door, and I stepped inside. The lighting was dim: a desk light in the corner.
Henk said, ‘Ricus keeps the main lights off so he doesn’t mess with the cir-ca-di-an rhythm of his snakes.’
A patterned snake wiggled across the wooden floor in front of me.
‘Watch out,’ said Henk.
‘It’s okay. It’s only Esmeralda.’
‘You’ve been to the house before?’
‘No; she once came to the group. She gets lonely.’
The lounge had a couch, two armchairs, a wooden desk and a bookshelf. There was a door leading to a small kitchen with a wooden table and some metal chairs. Well, that was the normal furniture. In the sitting room was a tree in a big pot, and lots of shelves and stands with glass cases full of rocks and plants. And snakes. If you looked for long enough in the dim light, you could see snakes inside the cases. And there was a boomslang curled around the branch of the tree. There was also a glass case full of jumping crickets, and another one full of mice. The mouse one looked like a circus, with tubes that mice were running through, tightropes they were walking across, and a spinning wheel with a mouse inside it, exercising like it was training for a marathon.
‘That one’s name is Lunch,’ said Henk, as I looked at the mice. ‘And there’s Breakfast and Supper.’
I suppose snakes had to eat, but I felt sorry for the mice.
I was about to sit down in a cushioned armchair when Henk held my arm.
‘No,’ he said. ‘There’s a python on that one. Sit on the couch.’
I looked at the cushion and saw it was in fact a rock python curled in a spiral.
I studied the couch carefully before settling onto it.
‘You say you didn’t see anything,’ said Henk, ‘because of the smoke.’
‘Ja,’ I said. ‘I closed my eyes for a minute.’
Behind Henk was a big glass case in which a golden cobra was sleeping amongst some rocks. In a case next door to it was an olive-grey snake, coiled around a big white stone.
‘That woman, Ousies, makes a lot of smoke at the end of each session?’ said Henk.
‘Ja. It’s a cleansing thing.’
‘She did it every time? And it blinds you all?’
‘Well, ja. But it’s just a short time. And you could step back, I suppose, but we all stand close to the fire. I know it’s a bit weird, but it feels right. A lot of emotions happen in the meeting, and it’s like the smoke cleans you.’
‘And when those masked people came, they also made smoke.’
‘Ja, but a stinky yellow smoke.’
‘Do you think that there was maybe more smoke than usual tonight? Something extra added to the fire, perhaps?’
‘I . . . I don’t know. I didn’t smell anything funny. Just the herbs that Ousies puts on.’
‘What did you hear and see?’
Something moved behind Henk, in the cobra’s case. It was a little mouse.
‘Well, I heard that bang,’ I said. ‘At first I thought it might be a car backfiring. Johannes was working on a van; I guess I thought he might be starting it up. But then, when I opened my eyes and stepped away from the smoke, I saw Tata falling. Ousies caught him and was lowering him down.’
‘The bang you heard. Where did it come from?’
The cobra stirred, lifted its head up.
‘I thought it was from behind me,’ I said, ‘a bit to the left, but I might have thought that because that’s where Johannes was working. It was very loud. It could have been close, a gun in my own hand even. Or it could have been a few metres away. Tata was in front of me. It did seem like the noise was behind me, but I can’t be sure; maybe the sound echoed off the panel vans. I’m sorry, I’m not being very helpful.’
‘So you can’t say if the shot came from one of you in the circle or someone standing a bit further away, in the area of the panel vans maybe?’
‘No. I’m sorry. But I can’t believe anyone in our group . . .’
The cobra was watching the mouse. The mouse stayed very still.
‘How long have you known the people in this group?’ asked Henk.
‘Well, um, not long, just a week or so. But in the sessions, you learn a lot about each other. And we . . . care for each other.’
‘What about Johannes?’
‘What about him?’
‘Do you think it could have been him?’
‘Well, no. I mean the sound could have come from where he was working, but I just don’t believe he—’
‘Is he part of the group?’
‘No, he’s an apprentice mechanic. He works some overtime. He’s paying off the red panel van. And I think he’s there for our security too. He saved us that time when the satanists came. With that spanner trick. It feels safe to have him around.’
‘Was he there right away? After the shot?’
‘Um. I didn’t notice him right away. I was looking at Tata Radebe. But he was definitely there a minute or two later.’
‘So, he might’ve had time to dispose of a weapon.’
‘But why would he kill Tata?’
‘Maria. Forget about your personal feelings. We’ll look at motives later. For now I need to know what was physically possible. We found that knife of Jessie’s. That suggests Ystervark was here or that he ga
ve it to Johannes.’
‘Johannes said he doesn’t know Ystervark.’
‘I don’t believe him. He says he hasn’t heard of Slimkat either, but Slimkat’s been in all the papers. It’s a small community.’
‘Maybe someone shot Tata,’ I said, ‘then ran away into the darkness.’
‘Did you hear running, or a car driving off?’
‘I heard something, but I think that was you running to us. I don’t think I heard a car close by, but there’s the sound of the traffic from Route 62. When those satanists came, we didn’t hear them come or go.’
‘Do you think it was them?’
‘I don’t know. It could have been.’
‘They are likely suspects. I’ve sent men to pick them up. But I need to look at all possibilities. Were any of your group wearing gloves when you stood around the fire?’
I thought carefully. I could picture each of them. Fatima’s soft brown hands, Dirk’s rough ones. Lemoni’s with the evil-eye bracelet. Ricus’s hairy hands. Tata’s hands, black with wrinkles. Ousies’s hands as she caught Tata.
The olive-grey snake in the case next to the cobra lifted its head. It had shiny black eyes and a small hood on its neck. It watched the golden cobra, which was still watching the mouse.
‘No,’ I said. ‘No one had gloves.’
‘Then we will know soon enough with the gunpowder-residue test,’ he said. ‘Did anyone leave the circle?’
‘No. Are you thinking about someone hiding a gun?’
‘Ja. There’s such a pile of car parts, it could’ve been hidden in there. It could even be screwed into a body part of a panel van: something a mechanic could do.’
‘Ricus didn’t leave the fire. No one left.’
‘Someone could have thrown a gun behind them, and then Johannes hid it for them.’
‘That snake behind you, next to the cobra. It’s a black mamba, isn’t it?’
Henk didn’t look. He said, ‘Did you know that Ousies is the aunt of Johannes?’
‘Yes.’ I tried to swallow, but my throat was dry. ‘Did you know that her name is Geraldine Klappers?’
The cobra struck. The mouse was gone. The watching mamba let its head rest on its grey coils again.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
When we got back to the panel-van circle, Ousies was nowhere to be found.
‘Damn,’ said Henk.
Piet could see her tracks in the sand, but then they disappeared on the stony earth.
‘Keep looking,’ Henk told Piet, then he led Lemoni back to the house for her interview.
Jessie asked me, ‘Why would anyone want to kill Tata Radebe?’
She was bursting with questions, but it was hard to speak in private. The policemen were busy around us, and Dirk was still there too.
‘Let’s talk at the office tomorrow,’ I said. ‘I’m not thinking in a straight line.’
We heard a squealing from the house. Lemoni must have met the snakes.
Soon Henk was back, and Lemoni’s car was driving off.
‘Officer Vorster,’ said Henk, ‘take Mevrou van Harten home. And then fetch the Canine Unit. Try to get Killer and Diesel.’
‘The dogs,’ said Jessie. ‘You won’t hurt her, will you?’
‘Jessie, you go home now,’ Henk said. ‘Dirk van Schalkwyk, come with me.’
‘I’m going,’ Jessie said, picking up her helmet and giving me a one-armed hug.
I said goodnight to Henk and Dirk, and followed Vorster to his car. Ricus appeared out of the veld and held my hand in both of his. His hands were warm and calm. There was a lot to be said. Neither of us said it. One of the things we weren’t saying was goodbye. Ricus opened and closed the police car door for me, and as we drove off he stood in the light of the half-moon, watching and not waving.
* * *
At home, I ate some bread and apricot jam, diet tablets and my antidepressant. I had a shower, which washed off the dust but nothing else.
I fell into a heavy sleep with troubled dreams. Tata Radebe was riding a big kudu. The kudu was running fast, and Tata looked happy and strong. But they were heading towards a fire. Ousies was standing at the fire throwing on sticks and herbs that made it wild and smoky. I wanted to warn Tata to watch out for the fire. When I tried to call out, the smoke filled my lungs and took my words away. I tried to shout for Henk, but my voice shrivelled up like a burnt napkin on the fire.
I woke myself up so that I could breathe. The kudu was standing at my bedside, its spiral horns glinting in the moonlight, looking at me with Slimkat’s black eyes.
I got up, and it followed me to the kitchen, where I had a cup of hot milk with cinnamon and honey. The kudu stood at the kitchen door and looked across my stoep and my garden, out at the veld. I went and stood beside it and sipped my milk. The moon was setting now, and the gwarrie tree made a long shadow across the ground.
I went back to the bedroom, and the kudu followed me. And as I lay down, it stood at the window, looking out towards the chicken hok. I heard a cough that might have been a leopard, but the kudu did not react and the chickens stayed quiet, so I closed my eyes. It should have felt strange to have the kudu there, but I was glad of the company. It was watching out for me as I fell back into sleep.
I got tangled in my sheets and dreams again. I was at the group meeting. Tata was alive and sitting there with the rest of us: Ricus, Lemoni, Fatima, Dirk. Ousies by the fire and Johannes under a car.
A part of me was looking down on us from above, like the stars in Henk’s lullaby, and I could see the shapes of animals that were getting closer to our fire circle. There was a grey kudu with spiral horns, a white sheep with curled horns, and a red goat with straight sharp horns like you find on a thorn tree. And a long black mamba with angry eyes.
I knew there was danger coming, but again I could not find my voice to speak. I tried and tried, and I finally woke myself up saying, ‘Jessie.’
It was light, and the hadedas were calling in their rude, rough way.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
I let my chickens out of their hok and saw what looked like big rooikat tracks in the sand, but I didn’t study them. I had coffee, pills and bread and jam and headed into town. I was glad to see Jessie’s red scooter and Hattie’s car were already outside the Gazette office. I was impatient to talk to them, so I parked my bakkie dangerously close to Hattie’s Etios.
‘Maria, darling. How are you?’ said Hattie, giving me a hug but not creasing her cream top. ‘How absolutely dreadful this must be for you. Jessie’s been telling me all about it. Let me make you some coffee.’
‘They didn’t find her. Geraldine,’ said Jessie. ‘I spoke to Reghardt. They found a place where she’d crushed some herbs that threw the dogs off the scent.’
‘I can’t believe she did it,’ I said.
‘No,’ said Jessie.
‘But it seems such a coincidence . . .’ said Hattie. ‘They were looking for her in connection with Slimkat’s death, and now she pops up at another murder.’ As she spoke, I quietly took over the coffee making. Hattie’s tea is fine, but she never gets the coffee right.
‘But she’s a healer, not a killer,’ I said.
‘A person can be both, you know,’ said Hattie.
‘The Bushmen are the ones who have been attacked,’ said Jessie. ‘The police want to make a scapegoat out of Ystervark or Ousies instead of investigating the case properly.’
‘Well, it is suspicious that the knife was there. And that the old woman’s just disappeared,’ said Hattie. ‘Twice now after a murder. Very suspicious.’
‘I bet Ricus knows where she is,’ I said.
‘So, if she didn’t do it, who did?’ said Hattie. ‘Have they brought Ystervark in for questioning?’
‘They questioned him after Slimkat’s murder,’ said Jessie. ‘He went back up north for the funeral.’
‘Are you sure he didn’t come back?’ said Hattie.
‘Oh, Hattie, give these guys a break.’
/> ‘I suppose the police will look into it,’ said Hattie.
‘Johannes told Detective Kannemeyer that he doesn’t know Slimkat or Ystervark,’ I said. ‘But the detective doesn’t believe him. I just can’t believe anyone in my group could’ve done it.’
‘I can,’ said Jessie. ‘That bastard Dirk is capable of anything.’
‘Now, Jessie, he was cleared of the last murder,’ said Hattie.
‘Maybe he didn’t kill his wife, but he beat her.’
‘He feels very bad about what he did,’ I said.
‘Oh, come on, Tannie Maria. Don’t defend him. They all say that. You know that.’
I couldn’t argue with her there. Maybe Dirk had fooled me, like my own husband had fooled me so many times before. He’d say he was really sorry, then he’d do it again.
‘He was the one holding a gun,’ I said.
‘My, oh my,’ said Hattie.
‘But he said he didn’t shoot it. The police did tests for gunshot powder.’
‘When a gun is fired, it leaves gunshot residue on the fingers,’ explained Jessie.
‘Well then, we’ll know soon enough,’ said Hattie.
‘I bet it was him,’ said Jessie. ‘He was only going to that group because Anna pressured him.’
‘Well, at least he did go,’ said Hattie.
‘Huh,’ said Jessie. ‘I don’t understand why Anna is friends with him. She was in love with his wife, who he abused.’
‘She certainly used to hate him,’ said Hattie. ‘Yes, their friendship is a strange thing. Cemented by guns and alcohol, from what you two told me.’
‘They both loved Martine and missed her when she was killed,’ I said. ‘Remember how they sang “’n Liedjie Van Verlange” together? That Song Of Longing? In some ways, they have a lot in common, Anna and Dirk. Maybe that’s why she forgave him.’
‘Pff,’ said Jessie. ‘He’s an arsehole. Forgiving him is not going to change that.’
‘Maybe if he forgave himself . . .’ I said, offering a mosbolletjie rusk to Jessie.
She took my rusk but not my maybe.
‘Dirk was in the army,’ said Jessie, ‘in the bad old days. He’s a rat’s arse.’
