Devil's Peak

?That?s his story??

?That?s his story??

?And the mother??

?Social Services are with her. She?s . . . traumatized.?

?What do you think, Tim?? Griessel realized he was out of breath. He sat down on a box.

?The child was in his car, Benny. The blood. And the dog. She

was

there. He drove somewhere with her. We have two hours from the assault on the complainant until we got here. He took the child somewhere. He thought because the mother is a call girl, he could do what he wanted. But something happened in the car. The child got scared, or something. So he cut her. That?s what the blood looks like. It?s against the armrest of the back seat. Looks like an?? he searched for the Afrikaans word again??. . . artery. Then he knew he was in trouble. He must have got rid of the kid.?

?Jissis.?

?Yes,? said Ngubane.

Griessel looked at Sangrenegra. Carlos stared back, with disdain.

?I don?t think we should be optimistic about the child. If she was alive, this cunt would want to bargain.?

?Can I try something?? Griessel asked.

?Please,? said Ngubane.

?Carlos,? said Griessel, ?have you heard of Artemis??

?Fuck you.?

?Let me tell you a story, Carlos. There is this guy out there. He has a big assegai. Do you know what an assegai is, Carlos? It?s a spear. A Zulu weapon. With a long blade, very sharp. Now, this guy is a real problem for us, because he is killing people. And do you know who he kills, Carlos? He is killing people who fuck with children. Sure you haven?t heard about this, Carlos??

?Fuck you.?

?We are trying to catch this guy. Because he is breaking the law. But with you we can make an exception. So this is what I?m going to do. I?m going to tell all the newspapers and the television that you have abducted this beautiful little girl, Carlos. I will give them your address. And we will publish a photograph of you. And I?m going to see to it that you make bail. And I?m going to keep all your friends in jail, and leave you here, in this big house, all alone. We will sit outside to make sure you don?t go back to Colombia. And we will wait for the guy with the spear to find you.?

?Fuck you.?

?No, Carlos. You are the one who is fucked. Think about it. Because when he comes, we will look the other way.?

Sangrenegra said nothing, just stared at Griessel.

?This assegai guy, he has killed three people. One stab, right through the heart. With that long blade.?

No reaction.

?Tell me where the girl is. And it can be different.?

Carlos just stared at him.

?You want to die, Carlos? Just tell me where the girl is.?

For a moment Sangrenegra hesitated. Then he shouted, in a shrill voice: ?Carlos don?t know! Carlos don?t fucking know!?

33.

When they shoved Sangrenegra into the back of a police van and clanged the door shut, Ngubane said: ?I owe you an apology, Benny.?

?Oh??

?About this morning.? Griessel realized he had already forgotten the incident; it had been a long day.

?We get a little paranoid, I suppose,? said Ngubane. ?Some of the white cops . . . they think we?re shit.?

Griessel said nothing.

?I went to visit Cliffy Mketsu. In hospital. He says you?re not like that.?

Griessel wanted to add that no, he wasn?t like that. His problem was that he thought

everyone

was crap. ?How?s Cliffy doing??

?Good. He says you have more experience than the rest of us combined. So I want to ask you, Benny, what more can I do here? How do I find this kid??

He looked at Ngubane, at the neat suit, the white shirt and red tie, at the man?s ease with himself. In the back of his mind a light began to shine.

?Are there other properties, Tim? These drug guys, they have more than one place. They have contingency plans.?

?Right.?

?Talk to Beukes. They must have known about Sangrenegra. They will know about other places.?