Kagiso pulled away from him and stared out of the window. The other three stared at his silhouette, a figure disembodied from the man they thought they knew but one who had, in just the few minutes since his arrival, dismantled the brittle foundations of their clandestine enterprise. Finally he turned around. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said.

‘Okay, okay, let’s just crack on,’ François said, as if he were calling a residents’ association meeting to order. His mundane tone convinced no one in the room but they latched on to it, like drowning men will reach for almost anything that might keep them afloat.

‘There is somebody else,’ said Two-Boy.

‘What you talking about?’ asked François.

‘Kagiso just listed the people who knew about Lesedi’s movements. There’s somebody else. Willemse knew.’

‘Who? That minister, the rural-affairs guy?’

‘Yes, he sent a message to the news editor to make sure SABC wouldn’t cover the meeting in Malelane. I saw the email.’

‘Yeah, but that doesn’t mean he wanted him dead,’ said François.

‘I wouldn’t put anything past him,’ said Two-Boy.

‘Especially if he’d got wind of what Lesedi was up to,’ said Kagiso. He was relieved: Two-Boy had offered another direction in which he could take his suspicions. He’d asked the question, had any of them been implicated? He wasn’t really sure he wanted the answer. There was only one person in the room who’d have had the nerve. ‘Lesedi told me he’d tried on a number of occasions to talk to his father and Willemse about doing things differently.’

‘And think about it. Think what happened to the last person who questioned the land deals,’ said Two-Boy.

‘You mean the guy who was supposed to be in charge of land affairs or something over there in the provincial government? I wouldn’t say he was questioning the deals. He just didn’t think enough cash was coming his way. What the hell was his name?’ asked François.

‘Gwethu, Simon Gwethu. No saint, that’s true, but two days after he gives an interview saying not enough money was staying in Mpumalanga he has a car accident.’

‘Jissis! You’re damn right, Two-Boy. Remember?’ François looked around the room. ‘The investigation lasted a couple of days and they declared it an accident.’

‘What do you think?’ Kagiso looked at Two-Boy.

‘I certainly would not rule Willemse out, or whoever is pulling his strings. If we’re right and this thing is being orchestrated by some big players here and abroad, and there’s billions of rands at stake, they’d do anything to make sure the money keeps flowing,’ Two-Boy said.

‘I don’t think they’re nearly as loth to bump people off as you seem to think they are,’ said François, looking at Kagiso.

‘I’m with François on this one,’ said Two-Boy.

‘Which bit exactly?’ said Kagiso.