Blood Rose

twenty-one

Captain Damases replaced the receiver when Clare walked into the office. ‘You have a bad night?’ asked Clare. There were dark circles under Tamar’s eyes.

‘Angela wasn’t well. That was her nanny to say she was sleeping at last.’ Tamar rubbed her temples. It was only eight in the morning, but she felt as if she’d been working for hours already. ‘You look like you had a rough night too.’

‘Just a late one,’ said Clare. ‘I’m not twenty-five any more so it shows if I don’t get my beauty sleep.’ She poured herself a cup of coffee. ‘I hope Angela’s on the mend.’

‘Kids,’ said Tamar, ‘they bounce back so fast. I’m taking them into the desert this afternoon. Why don’t you join us, see something other than Walvis Bay?’

‘I’d like that,’ said Clare, checking her schedule. ‘I’ve got some admin to do before I see Darlene Ruyters, and I’m hoping that Helena Kotze’s going to drop off her preliminary histology report.’

‘Did you see Mara Thomson, by the way?’

‘I did,’ said Clare. ‘She told me about that incident with Van Wyk and Kaiser Apollis, about why she tried to lay a charge against Van Wyk. I think we should talk to him again.’

Tamar stood up, acting on Clare’s request. ‘We’ll try,’ she said, opening her office door.

Van Wyk was sitting at his desk. He minimised the window on his computer screen when Tamar and Clare walked in.

Tamar did not greet him. ‘Tell me again about what happened with Kaiser, that incident for which there don’t seem to be any records.’

Van Wyk looked up and sat back in his chair. ‘He was caught in the harbour,’ he said wearily. ‘Happens all the time.’

‘What was he doing?’ asked Tamar.

‘Looking for shit,’ said Van Wyk, his voice thick with insolence. ‘And he got it, from whoever it was who’d paid him to take it. The harbour master called me. Apollis had been pimping himself. I picked him up and put him in the cells for the weekend for his own protection.’

‘That’s all?’ Clare spoke for the first time.

‘It was.’ Van Wyk faced her, as contained and venomous as a cobra. ‘Until Mara Thomson laid an abuse complaint. She claims I assaulted him in prison. Apollis denied that anything happened. He was glad to get out of jail without any charges.’

‘It wasn’t because he refused to pay you for working on your area?’ asked Clare.

‘You’ve got quite an imagination, Dr Hart,’ spat Van Wyk. ‘I’m sure that you can use it to picture what prison would be like for a pretty boy like Apollis. I did him a favour. Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I have things to do.’ Van Wyk shut down his computer, pivoted on his heel and walked out of the office.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Clare, watching Van Wyk churn the gravel in the parking lot. ‘That little piece of quiet diplomacy would’ve done Riedwaan Faizal proud.’ Clare followed Tamar back to her office.

‘Someone had to say it,’ said Tamar, sitting down, ‘and my life will be easier because you did it. I’m not sure that it’ll make yours easier, though.’ She pulled a folder on her desk towards her.

‘What’ve you got there?’ asked Clare.

‘Ships’ logs.’ Tamar opened the file. ‘Sailors’ visits, harbour reports around the times these boys went missing.’

Clare skimmed through the papers. ‘Still no pattern?’

‘Not yet,’ said Tamar. ‘But I’m going to follow up on a few things that don’t fit.’