‘Well done, boss,’ Jannie said, staring at Hertzog with reverence.
‘Thank you, detective.’ Hertzog nodded in appreciation.
‘So now I guess the next step is confirming the identities of our three corpses.’ Jools looked at the others.
‘There’s no need for that.’ Trudouw said from the back of the Land Rover. The cops all stared at him in surprise. ‘I know who they are.’
***
‘You must understand ... what happened that night ... it changed all of us forever, in different ways. Dawid and Alistair seemed to get harder ... colder. De Wet became sullen and moody. Lloyd ... I don’t know ... Lloyd is just Lloyd. As for me, I felt as if I had lost something that night. Something precious and fragile. I became a re-born Christian. I attended church. I tried drinking. But nothing helped. I felt this sense of loss. There was this ... emptiness. I couldn’t get rid of it.’ He sighed. ‘I eventually tried to discover the identity of the girl ... and her two friends. I remembered their names. In the course of that evening she had told us they were from Orange Grove. I hired a private investigator. It wasn’t difficult discovering their full identities. You must understand, I wanted to make some form of restitution. I wanted to ... repent and redeem myself. A few days after ... that night, a missing persons report was lodged in Orange Grove police station. My guy managed to get a copy of the dockets. Over time he tracked down some of the relatives. Over the years I made various anonymous deposits into their bank accounts. The girl had an aunt in Vanderkloof. I helped her with her mortgage.’ He glared at the detectives. ‘I tried. I tried, dammit, to make up for what I did. But nothing took away this terrible feeling.’ He began sobbing. ‘Only when my Lizzie was born did I feel better.’ The detectives waited while he cried silently in the back of the vehicle. Eventually after several minutes he wiped his eyes and looked at Hertzog. ‘I can tell you their names.’
‘Your co-operation will be taken into account, Mr Trudouw.’
‘Just find my Lizzie, please, Captain. Even if it’s just to bury her body.’
Hertzog nodded. ‘I will bring her back for you. You have my word.’
On the Trail of a Killer
Ronny Kirshenbaum.
Joshua Katz.
Susan Billing.
Hertzog stared at the three names. He was standing in Major Bismarck’s empty office. Following the arrest of the Coffee station commander the South Africa Police had appointed a temporary commanding officer from Bloemfontein. He was arriving the next day. For now the office of the disgraced Bismarck was Hertzog’s temporary headquarters.
Hertzog sighed and closed his eyes. He released a quick prayer into the air. Finally, after weeks of equivocation, lies and deceit ... finally, he was within grasp of the killer that had terrorised the community of Coffee for so long. He traced a finger along the typed names. Maybe now, after more than twenty years, there would be justice for the three souls who had vanished without a trace in the winter of nineteen-sixty-six. Maybe now there would finally be restitution for the three young people who had suffered so grievously at the hands of five privileged boys. Jools interrupted Hetzog’s train of thought. ‘Shaun, I checked the list of missing persons from sixty-six. It looks like Trudouw’s man knew what he was doing. It matches.’ He held out a sheaf of papers. ‘Orange Grove police faxed over copies of the ID’s.’
Hertzog took the faxes and studied the ID photographs. For the first time he looked upon the faces of the three young adults who had died in the prime of their lives. The three youths whose vitality had been so bluntly extinguished in a small Orange Free State town.
‘It fits,’ Jools said. ‘As you know, Orange Grove is a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood.’
Hertzog nodded. ‘It’s so terrible what happened,’ he said after a moment. ‘That they died in such a gruesome way. That they died so far from loved ones. And that those same loved ones had been living with this dreadful uncertainty for such a long time.’
‘I hear you.’ Jools stared at his friend. ‘I knew whatever happened all those years ago was bad ... but I never expected this.’ They both looked at the grainy black and white pictures. After a long time Jools spoke. ‘I guess from now on our work is fairly straight forward, right? We track down any remaining relatives and see if we can pick up a lead that way.’
‘Hm-huh.’ Hertzog continued staring at the photos, frowning.
‘What’s wrong?’ Jools asked.
‘No, you’re absolutely correct. Right now this is the only avenue of investigation left to us. Except ...’
‘What’s bugging you?’
Hertzog sighed. ‘I just hope this is not another wild goose chase. We’ve been fooled before.’ Hertzog stared at the ID photos, grimacing. ‘I don’t know why ... but I feel like we’re missing something. Like there’s something right under our noses that we’re just not seeing.’
Silence.
Jools contemplated Hertzog’s words. ‘Okay. Let Dog and Chaz investigate our other leads while we track down the family members. At least that way we can cover all our bases.’
Hertzog nodded. ‘Agreed.’ He sighed. ‘I don’t think this demented killer is finished yet. I feel as if he’s going to strike one last time.’ He looked at Jools. ‘Let’s get going. The clock’s ticking. And we’re on the wrong side of the minute hand.’ He placed the faxes on Bismarck’s desk. ‘But first ...’
***
Hertzog waited a few yards from the OK Supermarket, the Defender neatly hidden behind a row of parked cars. It was a few minutes before lunch time. He glanced at his watch. Then eyed the entrance. A few moments later Jack Strydom came waltzing out and headed straight for his car. Hertzog nodded with satisfaction. His knowledge of human nature had rarely let him down through the years.
Not long afterwards he was in the canned food aisle, heading for the butchery counter. When Marike saw him she emitted a little whoop of delight. She ran out from behind the counter and hugged him fiercely. ‘I’m so glad you came around.’ She released him and stared at him intensely. ‘I didn’t know if I was going to see you again.’
‘Our investigation isn’t finished yet.’
‘Wow,’ she said, hardly hearing him. ‘You were incredible the other night. I’ve never seen anything like that in all my life. The way you commanded that hall ... it took my breath away.’
Hertzog smiled sheepishly. ‘Thank you.’
‘It’s amazing what’s happened in Coffee since that night. It’s been like some kind of catharsis. Like some kind of Catholic confession. People are ... I don’t know ... like some huge weight has been lifted off their shoulders. I don’t know, like it’s a new beginning. I think people are looking forward to the festival for the first time.’
‘What? The town’s still doing the festival?’
‘Well, it’s a bit late to cancel now. If we stopped the festival the town council would lose fifty thousand rand.’
‘I see.’
She smiled at Hertzog. ‘Aw come now. Everyone agrees it’s exactly what Coffee needs right now. If you read the papers it’s just murder and conspiracy. The Volksblad did a terrible front page story,’ she said, referring to the region’s main Afrikaans paper. ‘Besides, Andries Croukamp thinks all the bad publicity will be good for the festival. He expects thousands of people to come purely because of the ... the murders. You know what people are like.’
‘Andries Croukamp?’
‘He’s the former treasurer of the town council. He took over as acting mayor from Lloyd. I guess his obsession with the finances is probably the main reason why we’re going ahead.’ Hertzog nodded, frowning. ‘I don’t expect you to understand small town economics. This is not Johannesburg. Things have been so bad these last few years. It’s been a downward spiral.’ She dropped her head. ‘We’ve been worried that we may lose the butchery.’
‘Listen, I’m sorry,’ Hertzog said, taking her hands in his. ‘My focus is narrow, courtesy of my work. I’m glad for you. I’m really glad
for you.’
‘What’s going to happen with ...’
‘They’ve all been arrested and charged with various crimes. Unfortunately, Rockcliff will probably be awarded some kind of reprieve on medical grounds. The bail hearing is scheduled for later today. And considering their positions within the community I doubt whether they would be refused bail.’
Her features darkened. ‘It’s sad that someone like Alistair Rockcliff is going to get away with it.’
‘That’s politics.’ Hertzog ran his finger down her cheek. ‘Any case, I just wanted to come and see how you were doing. We’ve got a lot to do. I don’t think the killer’s spree is over by any means.’
Marike looked at him shocked. ‘Oh God, you’re not serious. That’s awful. I mean, everyone assumed the kidnappings happened because of some sort of revenge thing. And now that ...’
‘Whether the kidnappings stop or not, he’s done terrible things. And he must pay for it.’
She looked at Hertzog with child-like wonder. ‘I know you’ll catch him. I know you will.’
He squeezed her hands. ‘I will see you later. Please take care of yourself.’
‘Shaun.’ There was an urgency in her voice that arrested Hertzog. She pulled her hands from his and clasped them together. ‘I’ve had a hard life,’ she said, wringing her hands in anxiety. ‘I had a difficult childhood. I only married so I could escape that life. And ... well ... you know the rest.’ Hertzog nodded. ‘Happiness was something I read about in Mills and Boon novels ... or Cosmopolitan. It wasn’t something I ever really experienced for myself.’ She exhaled anxiously. ‘But ever since I’ve met you ... everything’s been different. I ... I don’t want to put any pressure on you, I mean, I would never ... but lately I feel ... happy. You’re the last thing I think of at night and the first thing I think of every morning.’ She cradled his face in her hand. ‘Please understand, I would never expect anything from you. But ... if ... if there’s any kind of possibility ... if maybe you feel the same ... I would give anything, I mean, I would literally give anything ... to be able to start over. I would do anything if I could start a new life ... with you.’ Hertzog began to speak. ‘Please, don’t say anything now.’ Tears welled in her eyes. ‘Please, I couldn’t bare it if you said ...’ She swallowed hard. ‘Think about it. Don’t tell me now.’
Hertzog stared at her for a long time. ‘I don’t have to think about it. My answer is yes.’ Marike burst into tears, and hugged him with fierce intensity, sobbing into his shoulder. ‘Thank you,’ she said, whispering. ‘You’ve given me more than I thought I would ever have. Thank you.’
Hertzog released himself from her intense grasp. And kissed her forehead. ‘When all this is done ... I will come for you.’ She nodded, smiling as the tears streaked around her lips and down her chin.
***
The next four days were a whirlwind of activity.
Jannie Duvenhage went back to Bloemfontein to hunt down a promising lead at a business wholesaler specialising in high end equipment. Chaz and Dog investigated the Tony Bredekamp angle while digging to see if they could unearth any additional dealings connected to the town’s disgraced elite. Jools and Hertzog focused exclusively on tracking down the surviving relatives of the three young adults, slain so brutally in the sixties. It was a tedious and labour-intensive task which involved literally hundreds of man hours. Taking one victim at a time, the MCU detectives needed to compile a family tree; track down each of the family members; and establish possible motive (or lack thereof) as well as alibis. In the days before cellphones or the widespread use of personal computers, this was a laborious, time-consuming task that could be accomplished only with the use of landline telephones and faxes. To aid them Hertzog had immediately co-opted a dozen of Coffee’s finest and organised them in a focused task team.
But still their progress was slow.
Investigating the male victims was relatively easy. As two young men from solid middle-class Jewish families it was easy to establish family trees and the family members were easily contactable. They began with Joshua Katz. His family was a bastion of the Orange Grove community. They were store owners who managed a series of clothing stores across the Vaal Triangle in the province of Transvaal. One by one all the male members of the large Jewish family were contacted. Having only recently learned about the fate of Joshua, many were surprised that they were being considered suspects in a series of kidnappings in the Free State. Others were openly vitriolic, lambasting the Apartheid government for its incompetence. However, little by little each member of Joshua Katz’s family was ruled out as a suspect. This occupied more than a day of the task team’s valuable time.
Ronny’s family was a different matter. The Kirshenbaums were fiercely liberal. Some were even overt Communists, a risky classification in Apartheid South Africa. Several female members of Ronny’s family belonged to the Black Sash, the female activist and resistance group that had proven to be a serious headache for the National Party government. In addition, a few of the men in Ronny’s family were members of the ANC and other banned political organisations. This meant that – at any given time – the locations of many male Kirshenbaums were unknown. It was a serious headache for Hertzog and his task team. Especially since the files concerning these family members were classified – and not available to someone as low down the political pecking order as a homicide investigator. By the end of the third day there were three male Kirshenbaums whose current whereabouts were entirely unknown. The task team had spent three frustrating days getting no closer to the truth. And time was running out. Hertzog instructed them to move on to the final victim, Susan Billing.
Investigating Susan Billing was even more frustrating than her male companions. Her family was nowhere near the size of the two Jewish males. But that was no help whatsoever.
‘This is a tangled mess,’ Jools said, standing at Major Bismarck’s desk. The acting station commander from Bloemfontein had agreed to let the MCU detectives continue using his office as their headquarters. Hertzog looked up at Jools, various reports and hand-written notes spread out before him. ‘It seems the girl’s mother was a disturbed woman with some substance abuse and relationship issues. Her name was Janet Dougherty.’
‘Dougherty?’ Hertzog asked.
‘Yes, exactly,’ Jools said, knowing Hertzog was referring to the discrepancy in the surnames. ‘She changed her daughter’s surname at least twice.’ Hertzog frowned at Jools. ‘I know,’ Jools said, shaking his head. ‘Like I said, it’s a tangled mess.’ Jools flipped through his notes. ‘According to our records she married at least six times.’
‘At least ...?’
‘Yep, her one marriage was annulled after it was discovered the ceremony was conducted by someone without the proper licence.’ He looked at Hertzog. ‘So I guess that one doesn’t count. Any case, Susan’s father is listed as one Edward van der Meer on her birth certificate. Janet divorced van der Meer two years later. Apparently in spite, she changed her daughter’s surname to the new husband’s name, Gerhard Rautenbach. She divorced him less than a year later. Then, about six months later, she married Ralph Smith. That rocky relationship, characterised by abuse and infidelity, ended almost three years later. He was in the process of adopting Susan. Apparently in another attempt at spite, she changed her daughter’s surname to that of husband number four, Jacques Billing.’
‘Dear God,’ Hertzog said. ‘She used her daughter as a weapon in her failed relationships.’
‘Yep. It looks that way.’ Jools flipped through the notes. ‘During this time she relocated about two dozen times, each time seeking new employment. She was dismissed several times on account of her alcohol abuse ... and at least once for allegedly stealing from her employers. Unfortunately we lose track of Susan – the sixties victim – somewhere towards the end of her high school career.’ Jools glanced at Hertzog. ‘The girl attended almost twenty schools during her youth.’
Hertzog shook his head ruefully. ‘Any word on Susa
n’s relatives?’
‘Well, Susan’s family records are chaotic, but after pouring through the records we discovered Susan had an uncle.’
‘Had?’
‘Yes. He was killed in a car accident about two years before Susan disappeared.’
Hertzog grimaced. ‘What about the mother, Janet Dougherty?’
Jools shook his head. ‘She was beaten to death in a domestic violence incident about nine years ago.’
‘Is that it? Is there no record of any other relatives? What about offspring? Did Susan have any children of her own?’
‘No. Nothing in the records.’
‘That can’t be it. Surely ...’ Hertzog jumped up, excited. ‘Wait a minute. Remember what Johann Trudouw told us. He said he tracked down an aunt in ... er ...’
‘Hell yeah. I totally forgot about that. It was in ... Vanderkloof.’
‘Yes. That’s it. Get hold of Trudouw. Get the name from him. Tell him every bit of co-operation will help his case.’
‘I’m on it,’ Jools said, storming out of the office.
Twenty minutes later he returned.
‘I’ve got it,’ he said. ‘He gave us a name and address.’
Hertzog took the scribbled note from Jools and grabbed a regional telephone directory. He flipped through the pages until he located what he wanted. He ran his finger down the list until he found her entry. ‘Dial this number.’
Jools grabbed the phone and dialled. He waited. And waited. ‘Nothing,’ he said, replacing the handset.
Hertzog frowned. ‘Is she still alive?’
‘Trudouw said he deposited a small amount about three months ago. The account was still active.’
‘Okay. Keep on dialling that number. Let me know when you get something.’
‘Consider it done,’ Jools said, exiting the office with the telephone directory.
Hertzog stared out the window, troubled. They had spent more than three days and had achieved virtually nothing. All the while a twisted deviant with a dark heart poisoned by vengeance was stalking the town of Coffee. Hertzog had no delusions. His stunt from the other night and the resultant confession would do little to soften the killer’s resolve. He sought another justice ... one not available from a court of law. All his experience and intuition told Hertzog the killer was poised to strike soon ... in a most spectacular way. Jools entered the office. ‘Anything?’
The Man in the Wind Page 25