Spokes decided that, as soon as he got off the phone with Marion Hartley, he would have two plainclothes detectives follow Saskia Hargrave. What if he had misread her confusion? What if she was not after finding the truth but burying it instead? And he had just shared a vital piece of evidence with her. Could he have been so very wrong about her?

‘Did the Renault 5 follow his car?’ Spokes asked with veiled unease.

‘No. Drove off in the opposite direction. As I said, it’s probably nothing, but I thought I should let you know in case it is something.’

‘Every detail matters. Thank you, Marion.’

There was a long but comfortable pause before Marion Hartley said, ‘It has been more than ten days, Chief Inspector. New Year’s has come and gone and he still has not returned. I know he is punishing me but he doesn’t have to be so bloody thorough about it, does he?’ She sounded vulnerable for the first time since Spokes had met her. ‘I’m not going to lie to you, I’m worried – afraid. Clement Rutherford of the SIU came here and tried to sell me a tall tale. Something about morale and national security. The side sticking together. As though he and I could ever be on the same side. It is almost as if he doesn’t know that the war is over. I didn’t believe a word of his story. It’s obvious he has no idea what has happened to Emil, and yet he speaks with so much authority. Never liked the man. Dastardly. Always seems up to something even though he is definitely two cents short of a tickey. And now there’s this guff about Golide Gumede in the papers, which, if Emil comes back from the bush tomorrow, the SIU will deny any part of. They will hang this Hargrave woman out to dry, poor thing.’

Spokes understood that Marion Hartley was speaking because, for her, silence was no longer a trusted thing – it held too many possibilities. And so he let her talk. ‘I suppose there is some brilliance in using Golide Gumede in this Emil affair,’ Marion Hartley continued. ‘There’s still a lot of anger about the downing of the Vickers Viscount. People will eat it up even though it is untrue … even though it is misinformation. Stroke of genius, really. So definitely not Clement Rutherford’s idea.’ There was another comfortable silence before she said, ‘The Clement Rutherfords of the world are used to winning. You don’t seem to be the kind of man who will let them win. So I am choosing to take a lot of comfort in that, Chief Inspector.’

Spokes

SPOKES