“Here, Cynthia, I have something for you,” Gloria says and hands the evidence bag with what they found under Dudu Zulu’s car. Cynthia immediately looks at it at it through a magnifying glass.

Commander Ncube comes in for an update on the case. He has a bundle of papers in his hand. “Did you find anything useful at the house?” he asks.

“Inside and outside the house there was nothing out of the ordinary. Everything in its place. But we found few pieces of what appears to be the insides of a gadget under the wife’s car in the garage.”

“It’s a definitely a cellphone. The glassy dust is consistent with the screen of a cellphone. The only thing that could have pulverized a cellphone into pieces this small is blunt force. Maybe a hammer struck consistently.”

“Can you tell what type of cellphone it is?” asks Commander Ncube.

“Let me get it under a microscope,” says Cynthia.

Commander Ncube updates them while Cynthia is in the lab in the next room. “We did a detailed background check on Kasi Chef and his wife. A lot of interesting things came to light.”

Zandile and Gloria pay attention as Commander Ncube pages through documents in his hands.

“Financial records show the wife inherited a fortune from her parents. She is the one who is backing Kasi Chef in all his business ventures. She owned the production company that produces his TV program. The house is in her name; same with the cars.”

Commander Ncube hands them the papers to prove this.

“Wow! Even the restaurant is in her name?” says Zandile.

“Look at this,” says Gloria. “She has a life insurance policy worth five million rand. Kasi Chef is the only beneficiary.”

“Interesting here that a large payment was made from his wife’s account to a drug rehab facility,” says Gloria. “Two large payments in three months.”

Cynthia walks in from the lab. “It is definitely a cellphone. Samsung Galaxy to be exact. Kasi Chef’s wife has the same model,” she says.

Other members of the task team arrive. “We interviewed employees at Kasi Chef’s restaurant as well as at his production company. Not all was rosy in their relationship. Kasi Chef was dealing with cocaine addiction. He was in a drug rehab facility recently,” says Detective Msomi.

“From what we gathered, she was the boss. They argued over money all the time. All their businesses were bleeding money. Kasi Chef was spending it quicker than he made it,” says Detective Mdluli.

“Another thing we found is that the TV cooking programme was to be dropped after this current season. They had a heated argument over this and a large gambling debt Kasi Chef owed. The fight happened in front of the restaurant staff on the day before she disappeared,” says Detective Msomi.

“We need to watch him around the clock, Commander,” says Zandile.

“You guys can watch him,” Commander Ncube says, pointing to Gloria and Zandile. “I will organize a team to relieve you at eight.”

“Don’t you mean a team to relieve us at six when our shift ends?” asks Gloria.

“No, Detective, at eight. I told you the hours will be long,” says Commander Ncube.

***

Tell us: The plot thickens: drugs, gambling, debt. Who do you suspect of the disappearance now?