“We do have a half-sister. She also lives here in Johannesburg with her boyfriend.”
“Is she also a prostitute?”
Stevie dropped his head. “She didn’t use to be.”
“What do you mean ‘she didn’t use to be’?”
“She wanted to become a nurse. She studied at the hospital for a while—but we suspect her boyfriend made her turn tricks.”
“Why does she not just stay with you and Jimmy?”
“She would come and stay with us, but her boyfriend would come and fetch her. His is very big and strong. He would beat Jimmy if he tried to stop him.”
“Why does she just not go to the police and lay charges?”
“You don’t know what he is like. He is wild when he gets angry. He would sometimes come into our apartment in a rage and try to find my sister. Jimmy would hide her behind the couch. Then he would rape Jimmy instead, right there in front of me. Sometimes, he would the force my sister to watch as well. She would try and stop him, but he would just grab her by the neck and force her to watch. Jimmy says he is sick in his head. We are scared that he will kill Heidi one day.”
“Who?”
“Heidi, my half-sister.”
“How old is Heidi?”
“I don’t know. Older than Jimmy. I don’t know her that well. She and her sister grew up with their dad.”
“Where is the other sister?”
“Don’t know. She is only related to Heidi. They share the same father, but different mothers.”
Sauer jotted the sister’s name down in his book.
“What is her surname?”
“Jimmy would know. He keeps me away from them. He says they would be a bad influence on me.”
“So, why are you attending a Catholic school?”
“Jimmy sent me to Saint Mary’s.”
“A Catholic school? With nuns and all? I did not know they take the children of prostitutes.”
“Most of us are products of prostitutes.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Others are acquired immune deficiency syndrome orphans.”
“Who is the headmistress?”
“Mother Tilly.”
Sauer jotted the information down on in his note book. Then he looked at Hobbs who just nodded his head at Sauer.
Sauer could hear the whining wheels of the food cart in the hall outside their office. Just then, the food lady popped her head into their office. She was fat and round with a very cheerful face. She laughed at everything. Hobbs once said that she has only enough brain cells to laugh.
”Morn’in’ my favorite inspector,” she said to Sauer, who greeted her back like a long lost cousin.
“Today I have very special sandwiches for you. Just the way you always like it,” she continued cheerfully, ignoring the youngster on the couch.
“My friend,” Sauer said, “you come too late. I have already had breakfast.” He thought hard about the fruit salad he had for breakfast. Already his stomach was growling.
“Take something for later. You will be hungry again.” She picked up two thick-sliced sandwiches and held them in Sauer’s direction.
“Is that food?” Stevie blurted out.
“Yes, my dear. Would you like something?” she asked.
Stevie looked at Sauer and then at Hobbs.
“Give it to him,” Sauer said and forked out some money.
“How many may I have?” the boy asked.
“How many would you like?” Sauer asked. “Or rather, tell me when last you ate.”
“Two days ago.”
“Have three then,” Sauer said. The boy picked out three sandwiches and sat back on the couch. The cheerful lady waddled out of the office. Stevie ripped the cling wrap from the first sandwich and stuffed half of it in his mouth. His cheeks bulged with the sandwich. Sauer and Hobbs watched the boy stuffing one sandwich after the other into his mouth. He barely chewed before he swallowed. “Where would we find Jimmy now?” Sauer asked
That question confused the boy. “How must I know?” he answered. For the first time, he started looking around, wondering how he had ended up with the police. “Is he not with you?”
“No,” Sauer said, “he ran away. But we wondered if you would know where he would go and hide?”
“Hide? Why? He never does anything wrong?” the boy stammered.
“What do you mean he never does anything wrong?” Sauer asked.
“He is a good person. In spite of what he does for a living, he is a good person. He would never steal, and he takes me to church every Sunday morning.”
“Holier than thou, see plenty of those in our line of work,” Sauer said, more to himself. “We just want to talk to him, you know, ask a few questions.”
“He could be anywhere. In a dozen places,” the boy eventually said. “He has friends all over the place.”
“Okay, now I am going to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer them as truthfully as possible.”
Stevie nodded his head.
“You know that your brother was a prostitute. Right?”
Stevie nodded.
“You know that he had both male and female clients.”
“No, as far as I know he only does men. Jimmy had been gay since I could remember.”
“But he did go see women at their homes…”
“Yes, but that was to do their hair. Jimmy has always dreamed of being a hair dresser.”
Sauer looked at Hobbs who was now seated next to the boy.
“Do you have any idea where Jimmy found these women whose hair he did?”
Stevie though for a moment. “I know he found this one at this happy-clappy church he went to from time to time.”
“Did he talk to you about these women?”
“Most of the time. There were a few that he adored and that adored him. Most of them wanted him to give up his lifestyle.”
“What did he say about the happy-clappy one?”
“Just that she was extremely messy. He came home after doing her hair and said that our mother wasn’t even as filthy as that.”
That sounds exactly like the house in which they found Leslie Adams.
“Have you any idea if Jimmy had a book in which he kept their names?”
“No, not really. They would phone him and he would go to them. I never met or seen any of them.”
The two detectives pondered a while looking at each other. Then Hobbs took Jimmy’s Blackberry from his pocket.
“Come,” Hobbs said eventually, “we’ll take you home.”
On the way back, the boy sat in the middle of the two detectives. The Turtle roared down the road and the three were each busy with their own thoughts. The two detectives walked him up to the apartment. Jimmy had not yet returned. The door still hung on just one hinge as they had left it earlier. Hobbs and Sauer bent the other hinge back into place and the door could now close, but only just.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Saint Mary’s Catholic School was five blocks from where Stevie shared a hovel with his half-brother Jimmy. Sauer looked at the impressive cast iron gates. They were easily ten feet high. Barbed wire stretched over the top with an electric fence running in the middle. Sauer rang the intercom bell at the gate.
“How can we help you,” asked a sour voice.
Sauer introduced himself and asked if they could speak with Mother Tilly.
“A moment,” the sour voice said.
The gate swung open and Sauer drove the Turtle through the gates. He followed a brick road until he came to an equally impressive building, old, Colonial architecture. He stopped outside the building, and Hobbs and he got out.
“I did not know that there would be two of you,” said the sour voice.
“This is Captain George Hobbs,” Sauer said as he fished out his identification card. “I am Inspector Timothy Sauer.” He shook hands with the sour voiced nun. Hobbs did the same.
“Come on in,” sour voice said and waddled off like a penguin.
She did not introduce herself. She let them into the building. It smelled musty, as if something died there a long time ago. In the entrance hall, she pointed to chairs lined up against the wall and said, “Wait here.” Then she disappeared quietly into one of the corridors.
Seconds ticked by slowly as the two detectives watched the clock on the wall. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
They heard quick footsteps coming towards them. An old nun appeared. With her shoes on, she might be five feet tall. Her gray hair was neatly tied in a bun on her neck. Gold-rimmed glasses enlarged her blue eyes. Her light blue dress came to just above her ankles. Her face was friendly and her smile genuine.
“Morning gentlemen. I’m Mother Tilly. How may I be of help to you?”
“Morning,” Sauer said getting up. He introduced himself and Hobbs to the mother superior, not knowing whether he should shake her hand or kiss it. “We came here to ask you about one of your pupils.”
“Well then, we better be going into my office,” she said and walked through a massive door into a cozy office. Vases filled with flowers stood everywhere. A statue of Mother Mary stood between the flower vases.
“Which one of my pupils did what?” she asked with a smile after they got seated. “We don’t live in the best of neighborhoods you know.”
“We just want more information about Stephen Wesley.”
“Stevie Wesley? But he would not harm a fly!”
“Really? Tell us more.”
Mother Tilly looked at the two detectives for a moment over the top of her glasses and then said,: “Our school is not in the best of neighborhoods. On the contrary, I think we are in one of the worst neighborhoods in the country.
The children we try and educate here do not have very ideal conditions at home. Not by far. So our work is difficult and our progress slow. But once in a while we find new hope with one of our children. It is always a plus point when we can help one of those lost souls out of this hell hole.” She hesitated. “I’m talking about Stevie Wesley’s soul.”
“What about Stevie Wesley’s soul?”
“He is the one child that we managed to save. He was brought here ten years ago—a tiny bundle of bones. At first we though he was but a few months old. Turned out that he was almost two. That poor child had a terrible start in life. His older brother brought him to us wrapped up in a smelly blanket. He did not have any clothes. Did not know how to use a spoon. Had no toilet finesse. But we persisted with him, and today he is this school’s pride and joy. A story that will, hopefully, have a happy ending. Once he finishes his schooling he will be going off to university to further his studies.”
“In what field?” Sauer asked.
“Mathematics—he’s quite brilliant at it. He’ll probably end up doing engineering or accounting. We’ll see. We have already set up a trust fund for him.”
“What about his brother Dudley, alias Jimmy Love?” asked Sauer.
“Sad story that. Jimmy brought Stevie to us about ten years ago. Jimmy himself was only just ten at the time. We tried to rehabilitate Jimmy, but at that stage he was already wise to the ways of the streets—ten years old and hard as nails. Fitting back into a structured environment was extremely difficult for Jimmy, to say the least. Jimmy was lost to us. He became one of the many faceless, lost souls on the streets. Besides, the money on the streets is easy and good. We suspect he was forced into doing lewd, sexual acts by his mother—from a very young age. That is perhaps why he decided to save Stevie. But we do pray for his soul. Perhaps there will be a miracle one day. He does attend most of our services. He sees Stevie daily. Always encouraging him to study harder and harder. We will have to wait and see what happens, you know.” She took a sip of water from the glass in front of her.
“Jimmy is very involved in his brother’s life. He insists on buying him his textbooks, clothes and so forth. Since Stevie turned ten, he had been allowed out for weekends to visit his brother. He is due back today. We are leaving for the South Coast tomorrow morning early. Every year we take our children on a trip to the sea. We are trying to broaden their horizons. We will be back in the New Year.”
Sauer’s mobile phone vibrated in his pocket. He excused himself and walked into the entrance hall before answering.
“Sauer.”
“It’s me, Jimmy,” shrieked the high-pitched voice of Jimmy Love. “Help me, help. He knows I know and now he’s after me!”
“Who?”
“The killer—the one who…”
Sauer though he heard a thud in the background.
The phone went dead. Sauer looked at the number on the phone’s face. He dialed it. It just rang and rang before an answering service kicked in.
“My darling, I’m busy now. But never too busy to do you later. So, leave me a dirty message and tell me how you want it and I will do you as soon as I have a moment.” Beep.
So, Jimmy had more than one mobile phone. Sauer redialed the number. Nothing happened at first, then, “the number that you have dialed does not exist. The subscriber identity module card has already been removed.”
Sauer put the phone back into this pocket and walked back into mother superior’s office. He nudged his head at Hobbs, indicating that they had to go. “Sorry, we have got to go,” Sauer said from the doorway. They greeted the elderly nun as formally as possible and barged out the door.
“I had a strange call from Jimmy Love,” Sauer said as the Turtle roared the five blocks back to Jimmy’s apartment. “He said that he knew who the killer was and that the killer was now after him.”
“Wasn’t he just playing a prank?”
“Dunno, it sounded for real. I somehow don’t think it was a hoax.”
“Try that number again.” Sauer dialed it again. “The number you have dialed does not exist.”
“Whatever happened, the subscriber identity module card was already taken out of that phone,” Sauer said.
“At least we can still have the mobile phone traced.”
“Good idea. Phone the technical team to get on it as soon as possible.”
“We should also let all the stations know Jimmy’s description. In case his body does turn up somewhere,” Hobbs added.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sauer brought the Turtle to a stand-still in front of Jimmy’s dilapidated building. They ran the three flights upstairs and stormed down the hallway. Sauer shouldered the door open. Stevie was dressed now and busy tidying the room when the two detective barged in. “Where’s Jimmy,” shouted Sauer.
Stevie dropped the stuff in his hands onto the bed. “I don’t know,” he stuttered from shock. Hobbs walked through the apartment checking whether anybody was hiding in the built-in closets, the kitchen or bathroom. He walked back into the main room and shook his head at Sauer.
“Pack your things now. We are taking you back to Mother Tilly,” Sauer barked.
“But why? I only need to be back there this afternoon. Jimmy said we would go for ice cream before he takes me back.”
“Sorry, change of plans. We think Jimmy is in serious trouble and we need to take you back now. So pack!” Sauer barked.
They drove back to the school when Hobbs’s mobile phone rang.
“Hobbs.”
“Morning Captain, this is your favorite doctor, Joey Mayer.” She hesitated for a moment, and then continued when Hobbs remained silent, “Why don’t you come have supper with me tonight. That way I know you will eat something and that your liquid intake won’t be too much.”
“I don’t know if tonight is such a good idea. We might be working.”
“I know how you guys operate. You can work afterwards if you must.” Hobbs realized that she would have an answer for all his excuses. “Sure…I’ll be there at seven,” Hobbs said. She gave him the address and he just “um” and “ah-end” the rest of the conversation.
Sauer looked at him in anticipation, but Hobbs decided not to tell him anything. Sauer started singing, “Georgie’s got a date tonight.” When that failed to
get any reaction, he sang, “Georgie Porgy, pudding and pie, kissed the girls and made them cry.” Stevie started laughing out loud. He thought the two policemen were very funny, especially the big, blond one.
Hobbs did not react to Sauer’s taunting. He knew that if he did, it would just become worse. Instead, he just glared out the window.
“Fuck it George, tell me what’s happening. Don’t let me beat it out of you,” Sauer eventually blurted.
“I’m having supper with Doctor Mayer tonight. Okay?”
“Georgie’s going to grab a granny…” Sauer sang. “Better put on your Sunday best. Old ladies go for the more formal look.” He looked at his partner waiting for a reaction.
Hobbs ignored him.
“Georgie’s got a date tonight,” Sauer sang above the roar of the Turtle’s engine. “Hey Georgie,” Sauer said, “you need a few dating tips, you just ask me, okay?”
“What are you doing tonight?” Hobbs asked.
“The lovely Amy Watson is going to try her culinary skills out on me,” Sauer said.
“Is that girl hard up or what? Why you? A girl that pretty could get any man she wanted,” Hobbs teased.
“She probably could,” Sauer said, “but she just knows quality when she sees it. Besides, she is very grateful that I saved her from her demonic boyfriend. And what’s more, I think you’re jealous because she didn’t fall for you.”
Mother Tilly embraced Stevie when they dropped him off. “Tell my brother that he owes me an ice cream,” the youngster said when the two detectives left. The Turtle roared into the center of Johannesburg as the sun was setting in the west. It must be well past six in the afternoon.
Hobbs’s mobile phone vibrated in his shirt pocket. He spoke briefly. “They found a body matching the description of Jimmy Love.”
“Where?” Sauer asked as the Turtle jumped a gear.
“In the old Pretoria Street. That is back in Hillbrow. So let’s make a U-turn and go see what guts and gore awaits us. Apparently the body was found by a hobo in a drain pipe.”
“Hobo probably wanted to sleep in the pipe for the night.”
The Turtle had no siren fitted. That did not stop Sauer from laying on the horn and forcing other vehicles out of his way. Twenty minutes later they stopped at the scene. The normal crowd of onlookers was already gathered. The area was cordoned off. Sauer stopped the Turtle against a tree. A rookie walked towards them and told them where the body was found.
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