‘No, one of them is still there. I told him I must go to the shop. Kagiso, you must come back and tell them to stop all this. I don’t know what is happening. What have you—’

‘Stop! Just wait.’ Kagiso was as firm as he could be without shouting. ‘Look, Sissy, you know me, I have not done anything wrong. You have to trust me. I’m going to sort this mess out and I’m going to come back, but first you have to do something for me.’

‘You have to tell them to go, I want them out of the—’

‘Listen – listen to me. First, do they know you are calling me?’

‘No. That’s why I came out of the house.’

‘So where are you?’

‘I’m at the church.’ Sissy Misango was a fervent and regular member of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church. It was where she’d got the extra chairs on the day Lesedi had visited Soil of Africa. You could see the church from the Soil of Africa office.

‘I want you to go over to my office and ask Tobias – you know Tobias, the night watchman – ask him if anything has happened there.’

‘I’m not going there. The police are there.’

‘What? Now?’

‘Yes, many of them, and their cars.’

‘What are they doing?’

‘They are talking to people from your office.’

‘Do you recognise any of them?’

‘You mean the police?’

‘No, I mean my friends from work.’

‘Tobias is there and that other one, the one who is coming to the house sometimes.’

‘Stride?’

‘I think so. I don’t remember his name.’

‘And he’s talking to the police.’

‘Yes.’

‘Okay, Sissy. There’s just one more thing. What time did the police come to the house?’

‘In the night. I don’t know what time.’

‘What? One hour ago, two, what?’

‘In the middle of the night.’

Kagiso took a deep breath, a moment just to compose himself. ‘Now, look, Sissy, I know this is very frightening but I want you to know that nothing bad can happen to you. Just tell anybody who asks that I am in Jo’burg. And don’t tell anybody that you have spoken with me.’

‘But I want to speak to my auntie. Is she there?’

‘Yes, but I will speak to her. You’re not to speak to anyone. Do you understand?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good. And, Sissy, maybe you should just leave your phone somewhere safe in the church.’

‘In the church, why?’

‘Well, in case the police start asking you if I have called you or something and they ask to see your phone.’

‘Kagiso, this is something bad. All this lying and stories and what-what.’

‘I will explain everything to you. You’d better go back. One more thing, turn off your—’