Piet moved around the Gazette office like a sniffer dog. Kannemeyer stood behind me. He picked up the phoenix with gloved hands and put it in a plastic bag.
‘Only she has touched it,’ said Jessie.
Kannemeyer wasn’t looking at me, but he inspected all around me, and all around my desk. He even looked inside the kettle. He paced the room, then he froze and stared at the whiteboard. He tugged on one side of his moustache as he read the notes we’d made about the case. He shook his head, and turned to stare at me. I knew we were in for a skelling, but I wasn’t scared any more. I had the strength of a phoenix. I could die and come back. I was scared of nothing.
I saw in his eyes not the anger I was expecting, but a sadness. And perhaps fear. Could he be scared of me? His silence was big and heavy and I wished he would speak.
He waved his long arm at the names on the whiteboard and said, ‘Suspects? Which of these people have you been harassing?’
I tried to answer, but nothing came out.
‘We’ve harassed no one,’ said Jessie.
‘Would you like some tea, Detective?’ said Harriet, putting on the kettle.
‘Chasing, investigating, whatever you want to call it,’ he said and now he was looking cross.
‘Why don’t you sit down?’ said Jessie.
‘Have you had arguments with anyone in the last few days?’ he asked.
I shook my head.
‘We prefer not to argue,’ said Hattie. ‘Would you rather have coffee?’
‘Have you been bothering all these people on your list of suspects?’
‘If you sit down, Detective,’ said Jessie, ‘we could discuss the case with you. Maybe we can work with you in finding this murderer.’
He looked like he wanted to spit, but he sat down. Hattie gave him coffee and Jessie explained the notes on the whiteboard. Kannemeyer listened for a long time, while she spoke. Piet was outside now, studying the garden path. Jessie was a very good reporter, and Hattie added a thing or two. I was just watching, as if it was a movie.
‘So, what can you tell us?’ said Jessie, when she had finished. ‘Do you have other suspects? Or more information on any of this lot?’
Kannemeyer turned to me and said: ‘Is there somewhere out of town you can stay?’
I blinked.
‘Tannie Maria,’ he said. ‘Your life is in danger. You have had two death threats. And this one is even more serious than the first. We don’t have the manpower to give each of you twenty-four-hour bodyguards. You wouldn’t need a bodyguard if you had left police matters to the police. I am asking you. Please. Can you move out of town? Just for a while.’
I shook my head. His face got red and his moustache twitched, but he didn’t speak. Then he stood up and walked outside.
I thought he had gone, but he stuck his head back in the door and said: ‘Do any of you know where Anna is?’
‘Anna Pretorius?’ said Jessie.
I shook my head again.
‘Not at her house?’ said Jessie.
‘No,’ he said. ‘If you hear from her, tell me.’
‘Is she in trouble?’ asked Jessie.
He stepped into the doorway and looked at each one of us. He took in a breath, like he was going to speak; his moustache lifted up. But then he sighed and closed his mouth. He turned and stomped down the pathway.
Everything went black again; I think I fell asleep for a minute. What was wrong with me? I shook my head fast, like I was shaking water out of my ears. Jessie and Hattie were arguing.
‘But, Hattie, the only way we are going to be safe is if we catch him,’ said Jessie. ‘If the police manage to do it, that’s grand – we can relax – but I’m not going to sit around doing bugger-all in the meanwhile.’
‘We’ve got a paper to run, for heaven’s sake,’ said Hattie.
‘Ja. And this is hot news material. Let me look into Marius’s links with Shaft. If he’s linked to the frackers, it’s a motive for killing Martine.’
Harriet sighed, and said: ‘There really is no stopping you. Just don’t get yourself in trouble and don’t post anything on the website that I haven’t checked first.’
I needed a proper lunch. That would bring me right.
‘I’m going to the Spar,’ I said.
It made me feel peaceful, just being in the grocery store, looking at those piles of fresh fruit and vegetables. Bananas, apricots and melons. That sweet smell of ripe spanspek. I peeled a banana and ate it. I started to think straight again so I went to the bakery counter and bought four doughnuts and ate one. I would pay for everything at the till, but I was glad they didn’t really have security cameras.
Now that my brain was working, I realised I hadn’t come here just for food.
I wanted to know what that call from Van Wyk to Kannemeyer had been about. Was the Spar manager contacting him about the stolen tins? Or could it have been to do with the pomegranate juice?
I got a little trolley and did some more shopping. There was still frozen game mince, so I took a couple of packs. I picked up some herbs, tomatoes and pasta for a nice spaghetti bolognaise. Then I waited until there was no one at Marietjie’s till and headed over there. I put the trolley behind me, to chase others away from that queue. Today her hair was pulled into a small bun at the back of her neck. She wore a pink bow around the bun and pink lip gloss, which made her look like a teenager.
‘Good afternoon, Marietjie.’
‘How are you, Tannie Maria?’
‘So the police were here today?’ I said.
I took the shopping from my trolley one item at a time. She rubbed her glossy lips together and leaned towards me. She smelled like cherries.
‘Ja. It was me – I got the photo. On my cell phone.’
She took it out of her pocket and wiggled it at me.
‘Mmm,’ I said, as if I knew what she was talking about.
‘She bought all six bottles. All six.’
‘The pomegranate juice?’
She nodded.
‘Ja. The policeman, the one with that moustache. He knew who she was straightaway. He just looked at my photo of her in the wheelchair. That’s Anna Pretorius, he said. And Cornel— Mr van Wyk said he’d definitely seen her here before. And the picture would help the tellers remember. He really wants to help out, you know.’
‘And what did the tellers say?’ I said, handing her the mince.
‘Ag, they’re useless. They don’t remember anything really. But I have seen her here before. Definitely. I’ve seen her saying hello to Mrs van Schalkwyk in the office.’
‘But did she buy the pomegranate juice last Tuesday?’
‘I think so. I’m sure she did.’
‘What did you tell the police?’
I held the tomatoes back.
‘Mr Cornelius really wanted to help them.’
‘So you told them it was her.’
‘Mr van Wyk did the talking mostly . . . ’
‘Marietjie, this is serious. You don’t want the wrong person being locked up, and a murderer running around.’
‘But she bought all six bottles of the juice. All six. It’s very suspicious, Mr Cornelius said. She must have bought some before. I didn’t say she killed anyone. I just said she bought all six, and now that I look at her, I do remember her, she bought a bottle here last week.’
She moved the tomatoes quickly through the scanner.
I didn’t look at Marietjie as she packed the food into the Spar packets because I didn’t want her to see how cross I was. I studied those plastic bags. I thought of the ones I had found in Martine’s rubbish bin. Somebody had shopped for Martine, here at the Spar, on the day of her death.
‘Thank you, Marietjie,’ I managed to say.
‘Enjoy your day further,’ said Marietjie.