Which made it his turn to lie; Caroline sounded entirely, perplexingly genuine about her allegation. He began to share the confusion of a snake in a tuba.
“It’s true!”
“Then prove it. Tell me some more.”
“Are you going to write this down, too?”
“No, and I won’t repeat it either if you like. But it’ll help to give me a picture.”
The way she regarded him was probably the same as when she summed up a school friend before parting with a piece of juicy gossip. Even Lisbet had not managed to make him feel as young.
“Well,” she said, “promise not to let my parents know, but one night I even found him waiting in my bed! Honestly, I’m not bluffing. And what was really awful was that I’d started to undress before I noticed him. I’d come in rather late and I didn’t want to put on the light in case Daddy saw it under the door and there was a row. He’s terribly strict about being in bed by ten-none of my friends have to be. It’s really unfair.”
“But what happened when you saw him?”
“You’d never guess. He pulled his trousers out from under the bedclothes and asked me to hang them over a chair!”
“Did you?” Kramer chuckled, showing willing.
“I’d jolly well think not! I clouted him as hard as I could with a hanger-that made him scoot. I had to throw his pants after him, he went out of the door so fast.”
They both laughed.
“But why didn’t you tell your parents, Caroline? He sounds like he was dangerous.”
“You don’t know them, obviously. There would have been a terrible scene. Worse than that, they’d have gone mad at what people would think if we got rid of Andy without an explanation. My father’s spent half his life thinking about the Regiment and the other half about the Family Name. He can’t see a difference. He said ‘Welcome to the mess’ on Andy’s first night here and this made him a guest. Oh, something very special. It would have been a disgrace to the Family Name if he had gone, because people would think the thing was really our fault.”
“So you didn’t feel too bad when he drowned?”
She gasped.
“What a horrible thing to say! Of course I was upset-although it still doesn’t seem real and I forget when I’m talking.”
“My apologies.”
“You see, he was much better when he knew where he stood with me and my friends. And, in some ways, you couldn’t really blame him. America’s so different to us. He got a letter one day from Puerto Rico and in it was a picture of his girl friend pregnant in a bikini! ”
“Hey?”
“Yes, his mother, no less, had taken her down there for an abortion.”
“What about the girl’s ma?”
“Andy said she was too fed up to bother. It had happened once before.”
“These Americans.”
“Oh, they’re not all like that. Tracey Williams, she’s staying with the Flints, is quite different. She doesn’t go in for free love and smoking dagga and all that; in fact, she said Andy wouldn’t have had anything to do with her set at home.”
“How was he chosen to come?”
“I think there was a bit of a mistake.”
“I’ll say.”
But this was getting a little too cozy for Kramer not to have his suspicions. He put down his notebook and went over to the window. Jarvis was out there on the lawn, remonstrating with a garden boy.
“You don’t seem to have had much luck with your guests,” he murmured casually.
“You mean?”
The voice was apprehensive again.
“Boetie Swanepoel. He seems to have made a real pest of himself.” Kramer swung round in time to see an expression of cold indifference on her face. “Your father also had a few words to say about him.”
“Oh?”
“Were you surprised to hear what happened up at the country club, Caroline?”
“I think it’s shocking.”
“Apart from that? You seem pretty perceptive for a teenager. How do you suppose he was lured there?”
This forced her into making a reply.
“Well, he was the sort of kid who’d never miss an opportunity. A chancer, like Mummy says. He only took any notice of poor Sally because of the swimming bath, that stuck out a mile. Of course, we couldn’t tell her. She was so defensive about him, especially because he-wasn’t English.”
“What did he do that particularly annoyed you?”
“I’ve told you, treat Sally like an admission ticket. And he was always prying about the place. I caught him here in my room once, going through my dressing table.”
“Haven’t I heard this story before?” Kramer said flatly. “Or did he keep his pants on?”
She blushed-but with anger.
“Well, really!” she said. “I think you’d better fetch Daddy.”
“A joke. You don’t have to laugh if you don’t want to. Did Boetie tell jokes?”
“No.”
“Then let’s have your father up. He said Boetie told you a dirty story the last time he was here. Is that true? Or is everything you’ve been telling me just lies?”
“He’ll kick you out when he hears!”
“Give me an answer or-”
“What?”
“He might be very interested in what was allowed to go on under his nose.”
Caroline literally cowered-Kramer had never seen it done before in such surroundings. It gave him a warm sense of the brotherhood of man. Fear was the second great leveler, and a lot more practical.
“It wasn’t a joke, just something-”
“Go on!”
“Something crude and horrid he said to me. It came out of the blue, too, and didn’t even make sense.”
“The exact words, please.”
“He-he said he’d seen me fighting with Andy. In the garden. At night. I was sitting on him-and I hadn’t had any clothes on.”
“Fighting?”
She nodded, keeping her moistening eyes averted.
“When did he say this was? Caroline, I want an answer!”
“Do you think I’d stand for any more than that?” she flared. “I went straight to Daddy-but I didn’t say exactly what happened because he’d have exploded. He took Boetie into his study and told him never to come back.”
“And why do you think Boetie said this to you?”
“Because he was a nasty, dirty-minded bit of scum, that’s why! I’m not at all surprised what happened to him.”
“Young lady,” said Kramer, “I’m sorry I’ve had to push you like this, but you’ve just given me an insight into Boetie Swanepoel that nobody else could have done. It’ll help me a lot with the case.”
Caroline could not help glancing round.
“But I thought you came to see me about Andy?” she said in a whisper. “Was it a trick?”
“Oh, no, a coincidence. The boy’s none of my business but I’ll pass on the information without naming names. Now I’ve taken up enough of your time when you’re not feeling well. I’ll say thanks and get going. There’s nothing else about Andy to add?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Fine. Now if you’ll just give me the address of this boyfriend of yours.”
She sat up, wincing at a pain but not caring.
