?First the child and then Miss Laurens.?
?Ai, sir, what will happen to us??
?What do you mean, Willem??
?It was Miss Laurens?s place. Now it will be sold.?
?Maybe the new owners will be good people.?
?Maybe, sir.?
?Because I hear Laurens could be quite difficult.?
?Sir, she wasn?t so difficult. She was good to us.?
?Oh.?
?The people around here pay minimum wage, but Miss Laurens paid us a thousand clean and we didn?t have to pay for the house.?
?I believe she drank, Willem.?
?Hai, sir! That?s not true.?
?And had a terrible temper . . .?
?No, sir . . .?
?No??
?She was just strict.?
?Never got angry??
Willem shook his head and glanced at the house. Elise Bothma stood there in her dressing gown just outside the homestead door.
It was late afternoon by the time he got back to the SVC building. He found Matt Joubert in his office with a stack of files in front of him.
?Do you have ten minutes, boss??
?As much time as you need.?
?We have a possible tire print of the assegai man?s car.?
?From the smallholding??
?Just outside, along the fence. Forensics have made a plaster mold. They will let us know. If you could hurry things up, I would be glad.?
?I?ll give Ferreira a ring.?
?Matt, the Bothma child . . .?
?I hear you have a problem with it.?
?You hear??
?Tim was here, just after lunch. Upset. He says you?re a racist.?
?Fuck.?
?Relax, Benny. I talked to him. What?s the problem??
?It wasn?t Laurens, Sup.?
?Why do you say that??
?When we questioned Bothma on Saturday . . . There was something?I knew she was lying about something. I thought at first it was about Laurens?s death. But then I got to thinking. Keyter questioned the laborers. This morning I went myself. And I don?t think it was Laurens.?
?You think it was Bothma??
?Yes.?
?And Laurens took the blame to protect her? Hell, Benny . . .?
?I know. But it happens.?
?Do you have proof??
?I know Bothma is the one with the temper.?
?That?s all??
?Matt, I know it?s too thin for the courts . . .?
?Benny, Laurens made a statement. She admitted guilt. Her fingerprints are on the billiard cue. And she?s dead. We don?t have a snowball?s chance.?
?Give me an hour with Bothma . . .?
Joubert sat back in his chair and tapped a ballpoint pen on the folder in front of him. ?No, Benny. It?s Tim?s case. The best I can do is ask him to look at it carefully again. You have the assegai case.?
?It?s the same thing. If Laurens was innocent, it means the vigilante punished the wrong one. It changes
