There was only one small window in the shed, not big enough for a person to get through, and with no moon outside, it was very dark inside.

“Oh no! That man is going to kill us! We’re going to die in here,” Bonang said. I could hear her crying.

“It’s OK, we’ll be fine,” Jomo said to her.

“Let me see what I’ve got. Give me your torch,” Amogelang said calmly.

She used my torch to search through her bag. “OK, I have the ingredients to make dynamite. We could blow the door open, but I have a feeling this shed is too small. We’ll likely blow ourselves up with it, which would not really solve our problem.”

“Not good,” I said.

“How about … oh, OK … this will work!” She took out a bottle from her bag and poured the liquid inside around the edge of the door. “Yes, I think we can stop him with this.”

Just then we heard footsteps outside. Everyone went quiet and waited. We could hear the key in the lock. The door opened, and there was the Afrikaner man who locked us inside.

“These are the skelms. Want to come here and rob me blind,” the Afrikaner man said.

Another man came around from behind the older man with a bright torch. I looked up and there was Sergeant Seabe. For a moment I was confused. Was Seabe part of the Afrikaner/Chinese mafia? He stepped inside, grabbing the side of the doorframe as he stepped over the small stoep.

“Lola? Lola, what are you doing here?”

But then he realised his hand seemed to be stuck to the doorframe and he did the worst thing possible – he steadied himself with his other hand against the doorframe in an attempt to free his first hand. A natural reaction, but in this case a problematic one. Now both of his hands were stuck.

“What the–?!”

I could hear more people coming up behind the big Afrikaner man and the now firmly stuck police officer.

“Lola? Is that you Lola?” I heard the familiar voice of Mr Wang.

“Bonang?” I heard a voice say. It was a woman’s voice. A woman was also part of the Afrikaner/Chinese mafia? These people were seriously deep!

Just then in the torchlight I saw the woman was – Martie Jaanke! What a cover! Running a modelling school to hide the fact that you are part of the crime underworld? I would have never guessed it. Who would have?

“Ms Jaanke? What are you doing here?” Bonang asked.

“The better question is – what are you doing here? This is my father’s farm.”

“That’s me,” the big Afrikaner man said. “The one you were planning to rob.”

“We weren’t planning to rob anyone,” Jomo said. “We’re on surveillance.”

“Surveillance?” the stuck Sergeant Seabe said.

“We were watching Mr Wang,” Bonang said. “He’s been acting all strange. We thought he’d joined the Afrikaner/Chinese mafia or he was kidnapped again. We didn’t know which.”

There was silence for a moment, and then they all started laughing.

“Mr Wang and I are getting married! We’re here filling out the invitations,” Ms Jaanke said.

“But what about the sudden disappearance?” I asked.

“I had to go to Joburg to talk to my older brother about the arrangements for the wedding,” Mr Wang said.

“And the secret package?”

“It was the wedding ring. I ordered it special from Cape Town.”

“But … but … someone called when you were gone. They breathed in the phone and wouldn’t talk.”

“It was me,” Ms Jaanke said. “I forgot about Xao’s trip to Joburg. We were still keeping our engagement secret. I thought it was Bonang on the phone and that she’d recognise my voice.”

Mr Wang came into the shed and put his arm around me. “Oh Lola, at least I know someone will notice if I ever do get kidnapped. Thanks.”

We all headed out of the shed.

“Hey! What about me?” Sergeant Seabe called after us, still stuck to the doorframe.

“Oh sorry!” Amogelang said. “Solution 38 ought to work just fine.”

She poured the yellow liquid on his stuck hands and they instantly became unstuck.

“Thanks.”

“Thank you! I finally got the mixture right. Another step forward in the field of science. I’ll mention you in my scientific paper,” Amogelang said.

*****

The wedding was on a warm summer day, in the shady garden of the farm, with birds singing in the background. Nearly everyone from Nokeng was there. It was beautiful.

A lot has happened since the whole mix-up. The first big thing, which I somehow hadn’t noticed – Jomo doesn’t love Leah Warona. He loves Bonang! And she, thankfully, loves him back.

Amogelang has registered another patent for Solution 38. She calls it Seabe’s Anti-glue. Sergeant Seabe was pretty chuffed about that.

And lastly, Mr Wang decided that since I have such passion for being a private detective, I need to get better skills before I get in some real trouble. He has agreed to pay for my first six month course at Ronnie Ron’s Detective School. I’m off to Joburg next month! When I’m back, Lola Molefe Private Investigator will be in business!

Watch this space.

***

Tell us: Did you expect that ending? Did you guess what was really going on? Are you a better detective than Lola?