“It’ll be in my register. Just a mo. Here we are: Boetie enrolled on the twenty-first of last month. That means he’s been here four times in all. A real little romance that was.”
“Him and the Jarvis girl?”
“Calf love at first sight. Took one squint at her and he was across in a flash.”
“How about the competition, though? From the other boys?”
“For Sally? You must be joking! If ever there was a plain Jane, she’s it, poor kid.”
Kramer frowned, then began a smile Lisbet finished for him. Quite obviously Sally had an appeal for Boetie that set aside all normal prejudices. One that must have been very strong indeed.
“May I ask you a question, Mrs. Baker?”
“Please do, miss.”
“You say Sally’s a plain Jane. Why did you also call her ‘Calamity Jane’?”
“Did I? I suppose because this is the second boy she knew who’s died in a month. Both right here in Trekkersburg, too.”
8
The bell rang and rang inside Kramer.
So loudly that Lisbet had to raise her voice an octave above the rumba record to catch his attention.
“Trompie, do you know who Mrs. Baker means?”
“Of course he does, miss. That American student who was staying with her family and drowned in their swimming bath.”
“Him? But that was-” Lisbet faltered.
“An accident,” Kramer said. “A bloody fatal accident. I only check serious crimes.”
“Weren’t you away then in Zululand?”
“Heard a bit about it on the wireless. Didn’t listen properly, it sounded such sentimental rubbish.”
“And I read just the first piece in the papers. Who he was staying with didn’t mean a thing to me but I think his name was Andy.”
“Andrew K. Cutler, full out,” added Mrs. Baker confidently.
Kramer noticed her again.
“You’ve got a memory!”
“Oh, I felt I should take a personal interest, you see. I’ve got all the cuttings in my scrapbook. Scrapbooks are part of my life.”
“May I see them?”
Mrs. Baker was delighted to oblige. Then she asked them to excuse her for a while because the Lat Amers were probably wanting their money’s worth.
“Gladly,” said Kramer.
Man, the press had really gone to town. There were columns of the stuff, with only the report of the inquest showing any degree of professional detachment. As Kramer preferred his news without comment, that is where he began. It was in English:
Trekkersburg, Monday-An American Field Scholarship student, 18-year-old Andrew K. Cutler, whose body was recovered yesterday morning from a Greenside private swimming bath, died accidentally, it was decided at an inquest here today.
The presiding magistrate, Mr. J. S. Geldenhuys, said after delivering his verdict that it was a tragedy one of the Republic’s young guests should meet his death in such a way. He asked that his own condolences be added to those sent to the bereaved family.
Captain Peter Jarvis, who was Andrew’s temporary guardian, gave evidence of identification.
He also stated that, following a report made to him by a servant boy, he had gone down to the swimming bath in the grounds of his home at 10 Rosebank Road, Greenside, at 7:30 a.m. He had seen Andrew’s body on the bottom of the bath. There was no sign of life.
He noticed Andrew’s clothing-a pair of jeans, a shirt, and some beads-lying beside the bath on the patio, and concluded that the youth had decided on impulse to take a swim.
Questioned by Mr. Geldenhuys, Capt. Jarvis said this swim could have taken place at any time after 10 p.m. on Saturday. That was when he, his wife, Sylvia, and his two daughters, 17-year-old Caroline and Sally, aged 12, had gone to bed. Andrew had told them he was going to “be around for a while.”
The rest of the family, although present, were not called to the witness box.
Sergeant W. W. Brandsma then told the court that he had responded to a telephone message from Capt. Jarvis. He was shown the body and took charge.
The district surgeon, Dr. C. B. Strydom, said he had seen the body in situ and had later examined it in his mortuary. Andrew had been a “fine specimen.”
Mrs. Jarvis collapsed at this stage and there was an adjournment while the Jarvis family left the courtroom.
When Dr. Strydom resumed his evidence, Mr. Geldenhuys asked him to state very briefly, in layman’s terms, what he considered to be the cause of death. “A typical drowning,” he replied. Mr. Geldenhuys then asked to see his post-mortem report.
The report was filed and Mr. Geldenhuys delivered his verdict.
Andrew’s home address was given as 320 Pike Street, Teaneck, New Jersey.
Lisbet had been running her finger down the same cutting. She paused at Dr. Strydom’s evidence.
“That’s a funny word to use-typical?”
“ Ach, some reporter who can’t translate from Strydom’s Afrikaans properly. I suppose what he meant to write was: ‘Ordinary drowning.’ ”
“Of course.”
They glanced over the rest of the headlines: TRAGIC FIND IN TREKKERSBURG; A CITY MOURNS; U.S. STUDENT’S BODY FLOWN HOME; LOCAL WREATHS AT NEW YORK FUNERAL; PARENTS THANK THE CITY THAT CARED.
Yech.
“Coincidence?” Lisbet asked lightly.
Kramer picked up the register.
“Certainly some lines of inquiry now coincide.”
“Such as?”
“The dates. Boetie’s been here four times, including last Friday. That takes us back to the twenty-first of November… confirmed. Three days before that, on the Tuesday, Hester Swart got the boot from him. On the Monday, this inquest was held.”
“Just a minute.”
“What now?”
“I remember that Monday. It was the day he hadn’t done his homework and really let me down, as Mr. Marais took my first lessons so I could do some organizing for the gala.”
“So he started behaving oddly then, hey?”
“More important than that was what happened at lunchtime. You know how the kids go down to the sweet shop? Well, they came back teasing him because he’d spent his money on a newspaper!”
“Christ!”
“I asked him about it and he said it was to help him with his English. He was very peculiar all afternoon.”
“Pity you didn’t think of this sooner, my girl.”
“It was only the one day-I forgot.”
“Which paper?”
“The afternoon one from Durban.”
“This one, in fact.”
