?Anwar and I did.?
?An easy one??
?Open and shut. When we got there, Laurens was already waiting with her wrists together, ready for the cuffs. Crying a river, ?I didn?t mean to do it,? that sort of thing.?
?She admitted it??
?Full confession. Said she was drunk and the kid was going on and on, being disgusting, disobedient, a real little terror. Ignored her mother . . .?
?Bothma.?
?Yes, the mother. And then Laurens lost it. Grabbed the pool cue, actually wanted to hit the kid on the backside, but because she was drunk . . .?
?Fingerprints on the pool cue??
?Yes.?
?Only
prints??
?What are you saying, Benny??
?I?m not saying anything.?
?It was open and shut, Benny. She confessed, for fuck?s sake. What more do you want??
?Tim, I don?t want to interfere. I?m just curious. I thought Bothma??
?You?re not just curious. What do you have that I don?t know about??
?Did you test her blood??
?What for??
?For alcohol.?
?Why the fuck would I need to do that? I could smell the booze. She fucking confessed. And then the prints came back and they were hers on the pool cue. That?s enough, for fuck?s sake. What?s your story??
?I don?t have a story, Tim.?
?You fucking whiteys,? said Ngubane. ?You think you?re the only people who can do detective work.?
?Tim, it?s nothing to do with that.?
?Fuck you, Benny. It has everything to do with it.? Ngubane turned and walked away. ?At least I was able to smell the booze on her breath,? he said. ?Not everyone in this building could have done that.?
He disappeared down the corridor.
By eleven the assegai task team were still waiting for computers and extra telephone lines, but Griessel couldn?t wait any longer. He called the team together and began to allocate work. The most senior officer of the Domestic Violence Unit was a colored woman, Captain Helena Louw. He made her group leader of research into previous cases where minors were the victims. He gave Bezuidenhout five uniformed men to help with the reinvestigation of the first two assegai victims. He took Cupido aside and spoke to him seriously and at length about his responsibility to investigate the assegai background. ?Even if you have to fly to Durban, Vaughn, but I want to know where it comes from. Make yourself the greatest expert on assegais in the history of mankind. Do you understand??
?I understand.?
?Well then. Get going.? Then he raised his voice so that everyone could hear him. ?I will move between teams and check out a lot of the stuff myself. My cell phone number is up on the board. Anything, day or night. Call me.?
He walked out, down the stairs. He heard steps behind him, knew who it was.
Keyter stopped him just outside the main entrance.
?Benny . . .?
Griessel stood.
?What about me, Benny??
?What about you, Jamie??
?I haven?t got a group.?
?How do you mean??
?You haven?t given me anything to do.?
?But that?s not necessary. You already are the unofficial media liaison officer, Jaaa-mie.?
?Uh . . . I don?t get it.?
?You know what I mean, you little shit. You talked to the papers behind my back. That means I can?t trust you, Jaaa-mie. If you have a problem with me, talk to the sup. Tell him why I haven?t given you anything to do.?
?It?s this chick at the
Benny. I?ve known her since the car syndicate case. She phones me non-stop, Benny. The whole day. You don?t know what it?s like . . .?
