“As long as it takes,” the other officer replied.
“When was the last time you spoke to your parents?” Albert Greyling continued.
“My mother phoned me just before take-off, to make sure someone would be meeting them. She didn’t want my father to have to wait long at the airport.”
“Why didn’t you fetch them?”
Gabriella frowned as if she didn’t understand the question.
“If you were so worried about them, why didn’t you go to the airport yourself, or at least go along?”
“I don’t like busy airports.”
“When was the last time you spoke to your father?”
“Last night.”
“What did you talk about?”
“The weather.”
Greyling crossed his legs and made himself comfortable, making it clear that he had all the time in the world.
She continued: “This and that. He asked about the business and we made dinner plans. He wanted to see some of his friends while he was here.”
“Can you give us the names of the friends?”
Gabriella smiled. “No, I can’t. Nobody has been invited yet. I’m not going to let you harass them with your bullshit.”
Nick suspected the effect of the drugs was wearing off. If he were Greyling he’d finish up before Gabriella was back to her normal self. Then he’d have his hands full.
“What was the reason for their trip to Cape Town?”
“A holiday.”
“This time of year?”
“Are you a travel agent? Do you usually advise people on the best time to take a holiday?”
Greyling shrugged and shifted on his seat. “Just asking. You’re the one who told me your father wasn’t well.”
“He wasn’t planning to climb Table Mountain.”
“So it was just a social visit to Cape Town, and no one had an inkling that something like this could happen?”
Gabriella nodded.
“Do you have any idea who could be responsible?”
“If I knew, there would be more bodies tonight.”
Nick didn’t know when he would be able to smile again, but Gabriella’s reply made the corners of his mouth twitch.
Albert Greyling turned to Ken. “Where were you this afternoon?”
“Do you want a list of all the places?”
“It would help.”
“At my office, in the city, at the airport and back in the city. Late afternoon I went back to my office.”
Nick felt his blood run cold when he saw Gabriella turn to Ken.
“What were you doing at the airport?” she asked.
“I had meetings with some of the export guys.”
“Who?”
“Andrew and Dewald.”
Gabriella picked up her phone from the coffee table and began to search for a number.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling Andrew. You’d better hope he confirms your story.”
Albert and his colleague watched Gabriella and Ken like spectators at a tennis match, but no one said anything.
Ken waved his hand. “Be my guest.”
“Andrew, it’s Gabi.” She listened for a moment. “Thank you, love, I appreciate it. Listen, did you happen to see Ken today?”
Silence again.
“Thanks. No, I think he’s just pulled into the driveway. Ciao.”
“If you believed me, I could have saved you a call,” Ken remarked.
“What time were you at the airport?” Albert took over.
“I don’t remember the exact time but if you phone my secretary tomorrow, she can tell you. She set up the meeting.”
“More or less.”
“Around two, if I remember correctly.”
“And from there you went to the city?”
Ken nodded.
“When did you first find out about the incident?”
“When I arrived home tonight. I was in meetings all afternoon.”
Nick realised why Ken hadn’t switched off his phone. He had an alibi to explain his presence at the airport this afternoon. Fuck, the longer he stood there, the more convinced he became that Visser was responsible for the bloodbath. He wondered if the eyewitness would be able to identify him in a line-up. No sooner had the thought come to him than he realised how preposterous it was. He was clutching at straws.
Gabriella got to her feet, followed by Ken.
“We’re not done yet,” Greyling said, but she ignored him. At the door, Ken turned.
“Yes, we are. My wife has had an enormous shock. She needs to lie down.”
Albert and his colleague remained seated a while longer. They seemed to be reading their notes. Then they got up. Nick walked them to the front door.
“We need to talk,” Albert said when they were outside. Soft rain was falling and a faint mist hung in the air.
“Not here.”
“Follow us.”
Nick was on the point of saying he didn’t have time, but he got into his bakkie. While he sat waiting for them to pull away first, he called Clive.
“Greyling wants to talk to me. I don’t know where, but I hope it won’t take too long. Anything new?”
“I spoke to the hospital, like you asked. Patrice is better. The doctors are optimistic that the worst is over.”
“Thanks. Nothing further?”
“I’m sorry, no.”
“Okay, see you tomorrow.”
“What do you know about this mess?” Greyling asked when he and Nick were seated opposite each other in his office.
“Only what you heard tonight. Gabriella Visser phoned me this afternoon to say her parents should have been there already. I couldn’t get an answer on either of their phones so I drove to the airport. The rest is in the statement.”
“Who do you think did it?”
Nick waved his hand. “Take your pick. Could have been anyone.”
“You didn’t start working for them yesterday. Surely you can do better than that? You must have some idea who’d want the old man out of the way.”
“As I’ve said, and as you heard tonight, there have been attempts in the past. This time they made no mistakes.”
“Do you think the Vissers are involved?”
“Gabriella, no. I suspected at first that Visser had something to do with it, but he’s too smart. He’ll make sure his hands are clean. He’s a wily fox.”
“So actually you know fuck-all? You just work there?”
“True.”
“You know if you withhold information your arse will be on the line.”
Nick raised his hands. “If I hear anything, I’ll tell you. I’ll speak to a few of my contacts.”
He got to his feet.
“When was the last time you saw Lieutenant McKenna?” Greyling asked as Nick reached the door. For a fraction of a second Nick considered telling him he hadn’t seen her since they’d had sex on Saturday night.
“I don’t remember.”
He got into his bakkie and sat motionless for a moment. He didn’t have the faintest idea where to go. Where do you go to get away from yourself?
The lights were still on at the Milnerton house when he pushed open the front door. Jansen was at one of the desks. A standing lamp cast a pool of light in a corner.
“You’re working late.”
“I’m too tired to go home, so I’m digging around on the computer in the hope that I’ll unearth something.”
“Where are the others?”
“McKenna is still working. Miss Brenda went out.”
Nick found Ellie on the couch in the TV room, surrounded by files. Here, too, a single standing lamp lit up a corner of the room. It was as if everyone wanted the world to look a little softer. Ellie looked up when he came in, shifted slightly, then carried on reading.
Nick felt the day’s anger subside. He might be in the eye of the storm, but it felt good to be able to breathe again. He sank down on the other couch.
“U
nfortunately my rooms are closed,” Ellie said. “If you need counselling, you’ll have to look for it elsewhere.”
“What if I have an urge to confess?”
“Not my department.”
“You’re hard on a man.”
“I can make you some coffee.”
When he didn’t reply, she repeated the offer.
“I heard you. I was just waiting to hear if there was anything else on the menu.”
“That’s all.”
Nick turned his head just far enough to look at her. She sat in that strange loose-limbed way some girls have. Legs tucked underneath her.
“I need some good news tonight,” he said.
“Don’t we all?” Ellie got to her feet. “Last chance, do you want coffee, or not?”
“Yes, thanks.”
He was still in the same position when she returned. She put the tray on the coffee table.
“How did it go at the Vissers’?”
“Your boyfriend wanted to know when last I saw you.” He raised himself just far enough to add milk and sugar to his coffee.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone take three sugars in his coffee.”
“Anything for a touch of sweetness in my life.”
“Are you feeling sorry for yourself tonight?”
“Don’t you want to know what I told Greyling?”
“Is it important that I know?”
She tried hard to hide her uncertainty, but he heard it from the way her breath caught in her throat.
“I said on Saturday night, when we had sex.” She remained silent and he smiled. “Aren’t you going to take the bait?”
He was surprised to see her smile. He stared at the dimples in her cheeks. Would his life ever be peaceful enough again to have a normal relationship with a woman, he wondered, as desire slowly built inside him.
“You’re not a good fisherman, and you definitely don’t know what the word ‘foreplay’ means.”
“I’m sorry …”
“What for?”
“Earlier.”
“Are you saying it because you think there’s a chance you’ll get laid?”
He smiled again. “Wouldn’t it be nice if you were that uncomplicated.”
“I don’t think anyone will ever understand what you’ve put into this case, but you’re going to have to learn to let go and trust other people. It’s got too big for one person, even though you may think you’re Superman.”
“Is this the psychologist speaking?”
“Yes and no. I understand about taking control and I know it’s not easy to trust others, but sometimes you have to let go.”
“Says the one with the stack of files at home.”
He watched her over the rim of his mug. What was it about her that made him see green and red lights at the same time when he looked at her? Usually he saw only one colour in a woman. He guessed it was an instant recognition for most men. With her it was like a traffic light with a bloody short circuit. Except there was no amber light.
“You haven’t told me what happened at the Vissers’.”
“I don’t want to talk shop tonight.”
She sipped her coffee, then asked: “What are you going to do when this investigation is over?”
“Fish and sleep.”
“And when you’re finished catching fish and sleeping?”
“I can’t think about that tonight. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tell me about Greyling.”
“What do you want to know?” Ellie put her empty mug on the tray.
“Whatever you think I should know.”
“He’s an excellent detective.”
“What’s the story between the two of you?”
“There’s nothing between us. You asked me the same thing on Saturday night, and I answered you then.”
“Do you think he knows it?”
Ellie threw her hands in the air and sighed. “Just like you don’t want to talk shop, I don’t want to talk about Greyling.”
“Do you think you’ll go back to your house on the hill?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
“To do what?”
“Live.”
He lay back again. “Do you still know how?”
“I’m not sure, but I can try. I kind of succeeded in the past few months.”
“Why did Barnard tell you to go back and marry the minister the other day? Is there something between you and the minister as well?”
Her phone rang and she walked out to answer it. She stood just outside the sliding door. He saw her look at her watch and say something. Then she came back and sat down on the couch again. He decided not to ask.
“The minister – what’s the story?” he reminded her.
“We’re friends.”
“Why aren’t you married yet?”
“You’re not supposed to ask a woman that.”
“This time of night you can ask anything.”
“I was engaged, but he decided we weren’t a good match. He didn’t say it in so many words, but it was clear that he was afraid my mother’s habit would be passed on to me.”
“What’s your mother’s problem?”
“She drinks too much. Or there was a time when she drank too much. I don’t know if she still does. It’s a subject the two of us had rather avoid.”
“He sounds like a really nice guy.”
Ellie smiled. “He is.”
“And then came Greyling. I must say, you have interesting taste in men.”
“What’s your beef with Greyling? You’ve been going at each other since the day the two of you met. You don’t even know him.”
“My sixth sense has never been wrong. The moment I laid eyes on you I knew I shouldn’t trust you and I wasn’t wrong.”
Ellie laughed. “Just admit I was too clever for you.”
“I never stood a chance. You walked in, all tight running shorts and dimples, and I had to try to work out why I had gooseflesh.”
Now she was laughing out loud. Nick couldn’t help smiling.
“Is that your excuse?”
“You know the expression ‘showing up at a gunfight armed with a knife’? That’s how I felt.”
“If I’d known it took so little to make you lose focus, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble.”
He got up, went to the kitchen and came back with the whisky bottle and two glasses.
“I never say no to whisky, but shouldn’t you rather go to bed?”
“No.” He began to tell her about Nols. Even the things he had never told anyone.
“You can’t blame yourself.”
“Just like you can’t blame yourself for your father’s death, or your mother’s drinking.”
“Maybe you should leave the psychoanalysis to me.”
“You may be a psychologist, but I’ve been in this job a long time. I know a few things about people. I realised a while back that you thought you could have done something to prevent your father’s death and my suspicion was confirmed the other night when I read your notes.”
“Give me someone else to blame and I’ll do it.”
“Sometimes you never find that person. That’s usually when people begin to blame their god or gods.”
“Do you think you would’ve felt better if you hadn’t split on your friend?”
“Maybe,” Nick sighed. “He has kids. His wife divorced him and he has to try to find a job all over again.”
“He knew he had a wife and kids.”
“Maybe people in our kind of job shouldn’t have families.” He poured two shots of whisky. “Do you want children?”
She sipped her whisky. “I can’t have children any more.”
“What happened?”
She reminded him about the night Reggie and Greyling had stopped them and Greyling had arrested Nick. When she told him how Reggie had dropped her at home and attacked her with a knife, Nick sat up.
; “Why wasn’t he charged?”
She told him about the investigation, her memory lapses and the psychiatrist’s finding.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “It’s preposterous. Someone didn’t do his job.”
“That’s what I think too, but it won’t change anything for me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Ellie smiled. “When have the two of us ever have a real conversation?”
“Does Williams know?”
“We never talked about it.”
“And Greyling?”
“We haven’t talked about it either.”
Nick saw the scars in his mind’s eye and felt a white-hot rage rise up in him. Along with it came a sense of guilt. He had sent her back to Williams’s house, to Reggie.
“You could have told me when I was with you the other night. I wouldn’t have asked you to go back to Williams if I’d known.”
“Maybe that’s why I choose not to tell people. I hate pity. I want to be able to do my job without everyone wondering about me all the time. I don’t know why I told you now.”
The front door opened before he could respond.
Ellie heard Brenda’s voice: “And you, still here at this time of night? Haven’t you got a home to go to?”
Jansen cleared his throat and muttered something about having a lot of work. Ellie wondered if he’d been waiting for Brenda.
Brenda’s head appeared around the door. “That one out there’s complaining about all the work he has to do and in here it looks like a holiday resort. Relaxed limbs all over the show.”
“Where have you been?” Nick asked without getting up.
“Doing my laundry.”
Ellie smiled. It was the number-one thing you never asked Brenda. Her comings and goings were her own business.
“I bring gifts.” She held up a plastic bag.
“If it’s something to eat, I’ll kiss you.” Nick moved to get up.
“I don’t do kissing.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing.”
Brenda fetched plates in the kitchen for the hamburgers and chips she’d brought. “Want a burger?” she called out to Jansen.
He came so quickly that they all laughed. Like a little boy who had been peering through the window at a party and had finally been invited in, Ellie thought.
“Thanks, what do I owe you?”
“It’s on the house.”
Nick said: “I offered to kiss her, but she’s not interested.”
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