The barking of the dogs woke me. I checked the time on the wall, it was already past six. I quickly stood up and rushed to bath. I couldn’t be late. A few minutes to shower and I quickly got dressed; no time for matching clothes or else I would be doomed.

I grabbed the breakfast biscuits and my bag and walked out to the gate. Simba was already by the gate. I eat like a hungry prey. My phone beeped twice.

“These days you like food,” he said as I entered the car.

I pulled my phone and checked it. It was Detective Ronald.

Please come to the station as soon you can.

“Hey Simba,” I spoke sincerely.

“Hey dude,” he replied.

My face suddenly changed. What was going on? I read the message again and again. Simba steered the wheel slowly, his eyes on the road and mine on my phone. I then typed.

I think I know what happened.

Please if you remember something tell us.

I will come around lunch.

Can we come to you?

My heart beat faster, I couldn’t let them come to me. I didn’t want Mark seeing me telling them about his incident with Miss Mokoena. I didn’t even notice we were already in the parkade. I was confused. I didn’t know if I made the right decision about telling the police. I didn’t feel like talking and didn’t hear what Simba said. He stared at me as I got out of the car. I walked to the elevator.

“Christopher, hey… What is in your mind?” he held my hand.

“It’s nothing, just stressed,” I answered.

“Is it this investigation? But dude you aren’t a suspect,” he said sincerely.

“I am a suspect but I had nothing to do with it,” I said softly.

“The culprit will be caught. I believe you,” he consoled me.

He rubbed my shoulder then the elevator opened. We got in and he started to talk about the weekend. He wanted us to hang out at the soccer tournament. We were fans only. I used to play and had an ankle injury, now I couldn’t play anymore but I loved watching.

We got into the office and began working. I felt nervous and part of me was scared. I didn’t want Simba to know about my own investigations and about myself telling the detective about Mark. It would make me a sell out to other colleagues and they will never trust me ever again. I kept cancelling what I typed. Chris come on, I thought, Oh God help me here, I prayed.

A loud knock persisted, getting louder. Both of us looked at the door. My heart was unsettled and my nerves and my adrenaline were getting hot. Detective Ronald and another man entered. He was shorter than Detective Edward.

“I hope you aren’t busy. Mr…” he said gently.

“Simba.”

“Yes, Simba. I would like to speak to Mr Christopher alone.”

Simba walked out of the office. I had to face to bulls alone, I guess. The detectives sat down looking at me. I breathed twice as if I was suffocating. I took the jar of water, my hands trembling. I poured water in a glass and sipped once. I couldn’t swallow. I was nervous and agitated.

“Tell us what you know,” he said taking a notepad out from his pocket.

How will I begin? I was scared they would punish me for doing my own investigation. The other short man stood up and paced up and down. I felt drained. I wanted to run as far as I could. I looked at the short man, he was making everything worse.

“Christopher, are you OK?” Detective Ronald asked.

“Yes sir. First, I want to apologise, I did my own investigation,” I spoke confidently.

“What did you find? By the way your DNA doesn’t match with evidence we have,” he said while the other detective looked at me.

“Oh wonderful, I told you I didn’t kill her,” I smiled.

“Now tell us what you know,” he said clearing his throat.

I looked down as I told him about Mark, the footage and my instincts. He wrote everything down, stopping a few times, maybe checking if I was saying the truth. I also told them about the missing footage in the arcade which Donald might know.

“We would like to take the footage as evidence. Are the cameras in the parkade?” he asked.

“Yes but I didn’t see them. The security room is on the fifth floor,” I answered.

“Thanks for your time. Don’t go anywhere, we might need you,” he said standing up and shaking my hand. They all walked out of my office.

I can’t believe I was confident. Phew! At last I told them without fear.

***

Tell us: Do you think the footage will still be there?