The white and otherwise nondescript Peugeot 504 was parked opposite the Main Public Library on Fort Street. Spokes opened the door to the back seat and got into the car. Two plainclothes detectives sat in the front – one completing the TARGET puzzle in The Chronicle newspaper, and the other reading a well-thumbed Beano comic book.

‘Gentlemen,’ Spokes said, by way of greeting.

‘Sir,’ both men replied.

‘You’re sure she has no idea you’re following her.’

‘None whatsoever,’ the comic-reader responded without looking up from his comic book.

‘She is a reporter. Very vigilant,’ Spokes said.

‘You trained us well,’ the puzzle-solver said.

Spokes let go of the nagging feeling that something was not quite right, and allowed himself to be somewhat at ease. ‘It’s been several weeks. Your reports do not have much varying detail. Almost identical logs.’

‘That’s because she is a woman of routine,’ the puzzle-solver said.

‘More like a creature of habit,’ the comic-reader said.

The puzzle-solver ignored his partner and removed a small writing pad from his breast pocket. ‘Which, of course, makes our job easier, even if a little predictable,’ he continued as he flipped through the pad. ‘At work every morning at seven forty-five. Leaves at five thirty every evening. Has lunch by herself at City Hall – by the courtyard – every afternoon at twelve.’

‘She may be unvarying, but this is where things get interesting,’ the comic-reader said.

‘In what way?’ Spokes asked.

‘Reading material. Same thing all the time. The Selous School for Boys 1942 yearbook. Just flips through it, almost absent-mindedly, as she eats her lunch. Always leftovers,’ the comic-reader said. ‘Always drinks from a flask. Not so sure she is drinking coffee or tea.’

‘I suppose it makes sense for her to be so thorough as she is writing his biography,’ the puzzle-solver said, choosing to ignore the comment about the flask.

‘But …’ the comic-reader said.

‘But?’ Spokes prompted.

‘But for someone whom we suspect of having had something to do with Emil Coetzee’s disappearance, she seems to be carrying on as normal,’ the puzzle-solver said.

‘Or maybe she wants to be seen carrying on as normal so as to throw off suspicion. She did spend time in a mental institution, so obviously something is not altogether all together with her … I mean, flipping through the same book day after day for weeks on end,’ the comic-reader said.

‘She spent six months at Ingutsheni after her father committed suicide,’ the puzzle-solver said. ‘She was treated for severe exhaustion. I really don’t think we should make too much of it.’

‘Then why is she still seeing a psychologist over at Galen House?’ the comic-reader asked.

‘Because her father recently committed suicide, and by all accounts she was the one who found him as he lay dying. She seems to be doing what any normal person would do under the circumstances,’ the puzzle-solver said.

‘And her history of petty crime?’ the comic-reader pressed, undeterred.