Chapter Twenty-Five

Saint Mary’s is one of the oldest schools in Johannesburg. It was once considered to be one of the most posh schools in the country. The Catholic school was almost a century old and was run by nuns and priests.

Sauer sat back. For a moment he was surprised by the answer. Just a little boy caught in a horrible nightmare from which there is little chance to escape. He looked at the youngster differently now.

“So, it is just you and your brother. No other sibling?”

“We do have a half-sister. She also lives here in Johannesburg with her boyfriend.”

“Is she also a prostitute?”

Stevie dropped his head. “She didn’t use to be.”

“What do you mean ‘she didn’t use to be’?”

“She wanted to become a nurse. She studied at the hospital for a while—but we suspect her boyfriend made her turn tricks.”

“Why does she not just stay with you and Jimmy?”

“She would come and stay with us, but her boyfriend would come and fetch her. His is very big and strong. He would beat Jimmy if he tried to stop him.”

“Why does she just not go to the police and lay charges?”

“You don’t know what he is like. He is wild when he gets angry. He would sometimes come into our apartment in a rage and try to find my sister. Jimmy would hide her behind the couch. Then he would rape Jimmy instead, right there in front of me. Sometimes, he would the force my sister to watch as well. She would try and stop him, but he would just grab her by the neck and force her to watch. Jimmy says he is sick in his head. We are scared that he will kill Heidi one day.”

“Who?”

“Heidi, my half-sister.”

“How old is Heidi?”

“I don’t know. Older than Jimmy. I don’t know her that well. She and her sister grew up with their dad.”

“Where is the other sister?”

“Don’t know. She is only related to Heidi. They share the same father, but different mothers.”

Sauer jotted the sister’s name down in his book.

“What is her surname?”

“Jimmy would know. He keeps me away from them. He says they would be a bad influence on me.”

“So, why are you attending a Catholic school?”

“Jimmy sent me to Saint Mary’s.”

“A Catholic school? With nuns and all? I did not know they take the children of prostitutes.”

“Most of us are products of prostitutes.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Others are acquired immune deficiency syndrome orphans.”

“Who is the headmistress?”

“Mother Tilly.”

Sauer jotted the information down on in his note book. Then he looked at Hobbs who just nodded his head at Sauer.

Sauer could hear the whining wheels of the food cart in the hall outside their office. Just then, the food lady popped her head into their office. She was fat and round with a very cheerful face. She laughed at everything. Hobbs once said that she has only enough brain cells to laugh.

”Morn’in’ my favorite inspector,” she said to Sauer, who greeted her back like a long lost cousin.

“Today I have very special sandwiches for you. Just the way you always like it,” she continued cheerfully, ignoring the youngster on the couch.

“My friend,” Sauer said, “you come too late. I have already had breakfast.” He thought hard about the fruit salad he had for breakfast. Already his stomach was growling.

“Take something for later. You will be hungry again.” She picked up two thick-sliced sandwiches and held them in Sauer’s direction.

“Is that food?” Stevie blurted out.

“Yes, my dear. Would you like something?” she asked.

Stevie looked at Sauer and then at Hobbs.

“Give it to him,” Sauer said and forked out some money.

“How many may I have?” the boy asked.

“How many would you like?” Sauer asked. “Or rather, tell me when last you ate.”

“Two days ago.”

“Have three then,” Sauer said. The boy picked out three sandwiches and sat back on the couch. The cheerful lady waddled out of the office. Stevie ripped the cling wrap from the first sandwich and stuffed half of it in his mouth. His cheeks bulged with the sandwich. Sauer and Hobbs watched the boy stuffing one sandwich after the other into his mouth. He barely chewed before he swallowed. “Where would we find Jimmy now?” Sauer asked

That question confused the boy. “How must I know?” he answered. For the first time, he started looking around, wondering how he had ended up with the police. “Is he not with you?”

“No,” Sauer said, “he ran away. But we wondered if you would know where he would go and hide?”

“Hide? Why? He never does anything wrong?” the boy stammered.

“What do you mean he never does anything wrong?” Sauer asked.

“He is a good person. In spite of what he does for a living, he is a good person. He would never steal, and he takes me to church every Sunday morning.”

“Holier than thou, see plenty of those in our line of work,” Sauer said, more to himself. “We just want to talk to him, you know, ask a few questions.”

“He could be anywhere. In a dozen places,” the boy eventually said. “He has friends all over the place.”

“Okay, now I am going to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer them as truthfully as possible.”

Stevie nodded his head.

“You know that your brother was a prostitute. Right?”

Stevie nodded.

“You know that he had both male and female clients.”

“No, as far as I know he only does men. Jimmy had been gay since I could remember.”

“But he did go see women at their homes…”

“Yes, but that was to do their hair. Jimmy has always dreamed of being a hair dresser.”

Sauer looked at Hobbs who was now seated next to the boy.

“Do you have any idea where Jimmy found these women whose hair he did?”

Stevie though for a moment. “I know he found this one at this happy-clappy church he went to from time to time.”

“Did he talk to you about these women?”

“Most of the time. There were a few that he adored and that adored him. Most of them wanted him to give up his lifestyle.”

“What did he say about the happy-clappy one?”

“Just that she was extremely messy. He came home after doing her hair and said that our mother wasn’t even as filthy as that.”

That sounds exactly like the house in which they found Leslie Adams.

“Have you any idea if Jimmy had a book in which he kept their names?”

“No, not really. They would phone him and he would go to them. I never met or seen any of them.”

The two detectives pondered a while looking at each other. Then Hobbs took Jimmy’s Blackberry from his pocket.

“Come,” Hobbs said eventually, “we’ll take you home.”

On the way back, the boy sat in the middle of the two detectives. The Turtle roared down the road and the three were each busy with their own thoughts. The two detectives walked him up to the apartment. Jimmy had not yet returned. The door still hung on just one hinge as they had left it earlier. Hobbs and Sauer bent the other hinge back into place and the door could now close, but only just.