This thing is getting out of hand. Who is talking?

I don’t know. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure she doesn’t find out anything else. I’ve got it under control.

It doesn’t look like it. We let you in thinking being inside you’d make sure nothing went wrong, now look!

I said I’d take care of things. You just keep your head. She’ll be taken care of if she keeps pushing it.

On the drive home, Kate could feel the excitement that meant the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. Already they had Mosenene and it looked like Kgotletsa was involved, as she had expected. They still needed that other man at the scene and Kate had a feeling Kgotletsa was also not alone. But who else? What about Lecheng? Why was he fighting with Kgotletsa and then refused to say what it was about? And why was he so quick to call it a simple fire and not have post mortems done? Had he been trying to avoid an investigation? Was Kgotletsa angry because he had failed? There was something not right about it all. Kate decided that she should be very careful with Constable Lecheng, it was likely he was not the man he appeared to be.

Kate arrived early the next morning to relieve Lecheng. She found him drinking coffee from a thermos in his car. “Has he moved?” Kate asked.

“Not all night.”

“You go then, I’ll keep an eye out for now. Go and sleep I’ll see you later.”

Kate watched him drive away. She would hate to have to arrest another police officer, that she knew. But if he was guilty, she was also sure that she would do her best to make sure that he was punished, police officer or not.

The morning faded into afternoon and still no one stirred in the house. Kate was wondering when he would wake up, at least to go and find some food or go to the pit latrine. Finally, she decided maybe he needed to be woken up, so she pulled her car out of its hiding place and drove towards the mud rondavel, the only building in the compound. She got out of the car and knocked on the door but there was no answer. To her surprise the door opened, it had been unlocked. Poking her head inside, she seethed with anger when she found the hut empty.

She raced back to the station to find out where Lecheng lived. Arriving at his compound, she didn’t even trouble to close the car door but walked straight to his house and pounded hard until the door was opened by a sleepy young woman. “Where’s Lecheng?” Kate demanded of her just as the police officer’s head appeared behind his companion.

“What is it?” he asked sleepily.

“Were you watching him the whole night?”

“I said I did. I only went to collect the coffee in the morning. It took a few minutes, ten at the most.”

“You idiot!!! Ten minutes is all it takes – He’s Gone!! Our only lead in a multiple murder case and he’s gone thanks to you!”

She stamped to the car and sped away towards the station. This was it. Matebele needed to get Lecheng off of the case, even off the police force as far as she was concerned. Matebele was in his office attending to paperwork. Despite her anger, she still knocked and waited for a response before entering, years of disciplined training with respect for authority so that now it was a reflex action even in the heat of her flaring emotions.

“Detective Gomolemo, I’m surprised to see you I thought you were keeping an eye on Mosenene?” Matebele asked, putting aside his paperwork to give his full attention to the obviously upset woman.

“No, Constable Lecheng managed to let him escape. I’d been watching an empty house all morning. I need him to be taken off the case. I normally wouldn’t suggest this but his incompetence is making it difficult for me to do my job. And, well to be honest, I’m beginning to wonder if he’s not somehow involved. Now that he’s let our only suspect escape I think that my doubts are becoming more concrete.” Kate stopped. She knew that no police officer liked to hear that one of their own was now the enemy.

“That’s a serious allegation, Detective Gomolemo. What makes you think that?”

“Firstly, why did he rush to declare it a simple fire? He knew about the burning paraffin lamp but told no one despite the fact that Tumisang told him that his mother would never burn two lamps in the house at the same time he ignored it and decided that a second paraffin lamp must have dumped over and caused the fire. Why didn’t he get post mortems done? I saw him arguing with Kgotletsa Senatla but he refused to tell me what it was about and it looks like Kgotletsa is a suspect in this case, probably the one who paid Mosenene and his anonymous friend for the job. And now this, he purposely left his watch and allowed our main suspect to walk free. I think all of it put together raises some serious doubts, don’t you?”

Matebele brought his hand to his brow, he could feel a headache developing. “Yes, yes, unfortunately it does raise many questions.” The phone rang interrupting his thoughts. “Hello, Matebele. Where was he found? Yes, we’ll be there now.”

The station commander turned to Kate. “Things have just gotten worse. That was Lecheng. It seems some kids found Mosenene hanging from a tree south of the village. He’s committed suicide.”