nonsense?’
‘The psychometric tests identified insomnia, aggression, hyper-reaction to stress, incapacity for teamwork and compromise, inability or refusal to expressyour feelings, and an exaggerated sense of possessiveness about your family.’
‘Tell me one cop working on the Gang Unit who doesn’t have that feeling,’ Riedwaan demanded. ‘Tell me you don’t have it.’
‘Not the point, Faizal.’
‘Tell me you don’t have that feeling about Latisha, about Calvaleen?’
At the mention of his only daughter’s name, the lines around Clinton’s mouth deepened.His gaze drifted towards the portrait of her on the desk. It had been taken a year earlier. A graceful girl in white, slender arms poised above her head, in the shape of a lily.
‘Don’t go there, Faizal.’
‘I’m sorry, man. Sorry for what happened. To you, to her, to all of us.’ Riedwaan pushed his hands through his hair. ‘But you’re a father. You know. You’d kill for Calvaleen. But you’ddie before you’d hurt her.’
‘Haven’t I?’
‘What happened wasn’t your fault.’ Riedwaan lit a cigarette.
‘No,’ said Van Rensburg. ‘You’re right there. It wasn’t my fault. But look how much use I am to her now, a cripple on crutches who can’t even shoot straight any more.’ He jabbed his finger at the shooting medals and marksman trophies on the wall.
Van Rensburg straightened the perfectlyaligned pages of the report.
‘This report, peer reviewed and approved, states that you are high risk.’
‘High risk what?’ Riedwaan‘s anger shifted from red to white.
‘For assault. For family violence. For spousal abuse.’ Van Rensburg trailed his thick finger down the list. ‘For binge drinking. For suicide. For murder. For family murder and suicide.’
‘You think I’m going to takemy family out?’
‘That’s what Director Ndlovu thinks, and it seems she got the magistrate to agree with her.’
‘For fuck’s sake, Clinton.’
‘She also noted a “dismissive attitude to gender transformation and the new community cooperation policy”. Also mentioned is your attitude towards gender-sensitive policing.’
‘I arrest people,’ said Riedwaan. ‘I’m not some armed fucking socialworker there to offer counselling as well. I put how many gangsters behind bars in the last two years? You did it with me. Explain to me how that is not a good thing for women.’
Riedwaan took a deep breath.
‘What’s being done to find her?’
‘Shazia went to fetch her but she was gone, the ballet school was shut. Early closing because of some charity performance. Security guard says everyoneleft. He says Yasmin was waiting. He saw that fucked-up blue Mazda of yours and then he didn’t see her again. He says she must have gone with you.’
‘This is a set-up, Van Rensburg. For what, I don’t know – but it’s not good for finding Yasmin.’
‘There’s a technicality with this arrest warrant, so I suggest you leave now and that you don’t cause any shit about handing in your weapon. Otherwiseyou’ll be in the cells until the magistrates get themselves out of bed on Monday. There’s also a warrant—’
‘To search my house and my car. Get that done. She’s not there. Once you prove what I’m telling you, after you’ve wasted that time, maybe we can start looking for her properly,’ said Riedwaan. ‘When did she disappear? An hour ago?’
Van Rensburg looked away.
‘Two?’ asked Riedwaan.‘That means we’ve got twenty-two hours left to find her alive.’
9
The mortuary parking lot had emptied, the admin staff long gone. Two orderlies sat outside listening to a soccer game, watching Clare in her car.
The nausea was always worse once she’d left the morgue. She closed her eyes, but that was no good because then she saw the dead girl again. When her phone rang, she grabbed it as if it were a lifeline.
‘Darling.’ Her other life. GilesReid again, impatience clipping the producer’s BBC vowels.
‘The psychometric tests identified insomnia, aggression, hyper-reaction to stress, incapacity for teamwork and compromise, inability or refusal to expressyour feelings, and an exaggerated sense of possessiveness about your family.’
‘Tell me one cop working on the Gang Unit who doesn’t have that feeling,’ Riedwaan demanded. ‘Tell me you don’t have it.’
‘Not the point, Faizal.’
‘Tell me you don’t have that feeling about Latisha, about Calvaleen?’
At the mention of his only daughter’s name, the lines around Clinton’s mouth deepened.His gaze drifted towards the portrait of her on the desk. It had been taken a year earlier. A graceful girl in white, slender arms poised above her head, in the shape of a lily.
‘Don’t go there, Faizal.’
‘I’m sorry, man. Sorry for what happened. To you, to her, to all of us.’ Riedwaan pushed his hands through his hair. ‘But you’re a father. You know. You’d kill for Calvaleen. But you’ddie before you’d hurt her.’
‘Haven’t I?’
‘What happened wasn’t your fault.’ Riedwaan lit a cigarette.
‘No,’ said Van Rensburg. ‘You’re right there. It wasn’t my fault. But look how much use I am to her now, a cripple on crutches who can’t even shoot straight any more.’ He jabbed his finger at the shooting medals and marksman trophies on the wall.
Van Rensburg straightened the perfectlyaligned pages of the report.
‘This report, peer reviewed and approved, states that you are high risk.’
‘High risk what?’ Riedwaan‘s anger shifted from red to white.
‘For assault. For family violence. For spousal abuse.’ Van Rensburg trailed his thick finger down the list. ‘For binge drinking. For suicide. For murder. For family murder and suicide.’
‘You think I’m going to takemy family out?’
‘That’s what Director Ndlovu thinks, and it seems she got the magistrate to agree with her.’
‘For fuck’s sake, Clinton.’
‘She also noted a “dismissive attitude to gender transformation and the new community cooperation policy”. Also mentioned is your attitude towards gender-sensitive policing.’
‘I arrest people,’ said Riedwaan. ‘I’m not some armed fucking socialworker there to offer counselling as well. I put how many gangsters behind bars in the last two years? You did it with me. Explain to me how that is not a good thing for women.’
Riedwaan took a deep breath.
‘What’s being done to find her?’
‘Shazia went to fetch her but she was gone, the ballet school was shut. Early closing because of some charity performance. Security guard says everyoneleft. He says Yasmin was waiting. He saw that fucked-up blue Mazda of yours and then he didn’t see her again. He says she must have gone with you.’
‘This is a set-up, Van Rensburg. For what, I don’t know – but it’s not good for finding Yasmin.’
‘There’s a technicality with this arrest warrant, so I suggest you leave now and that you don’t cause any shit about handing in your weapon. Otherwiseyou’ll be in the cells until the magistrates get themselves out of bed on Monday. There’s also a warrant—’
‘To search my house and my car. Get that done. She’s not there. Once you prove what I’m telling you, after you’ve wasted that time, maybe we can start looking for her properly,’ said Riedwaan. ‘When did she disappear? An hour ago?’
Van Rensburg looked away.
‘Two?’ asked Riedwaan.‘That means we’ve got twenty-two hours left to find her alive.’
9
The mortuary parking lot had emptied, the admin staff long gone. Two orderlies sat outside listening to a soccer game, watching Clare in her car.
The nausea was always worse once she’d left the morgue. She closed her eyes, but that was no good because then she saw the dead girl again. When her phone rang, she grabbed it as if it were a lifeline.
‘Darling.’ Her other life. GilesReid again, impatience clipping the producer’s BBC vowels.
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