‘Exactly!’ Silas Mthimkhulu said triumphantly. ‘Yes, there are going to be many changes made here,’ he continued before adding, ‘all made by the new Emil Coetzee: the new and improved Emil Coetzee. They say Coetzee always used the stairs and never took the lift. I run up the stairs two at a time!’ Silas Mthimkhulu said, standing up and walking towards an impressive collection of amber and brown liquids in crystal bottles. ‘Can I offer you something to drink?’

‘No, thank you,’ Spokes said.

‘You know, they actually gave me this post as punishment,’ Silas Mthimkhulu said, pouring himself a drink. ‘You saw how popular I was at that rally – I-DLA-ZO-NKE! Mthimkhulu! Mthimkhulu! Mthimkhulu! It made them very, very afraid. Afraid that if I really wanted, I could be Prime Minister in five years. They think they have been immensely clever in assigning me to this post; they are patting themselves on the back,’ Silas Mthimkhulu said, sitting himself back down. ‘Most of them were in the bush for ten, fifteen years, so they don’t know. They don’t know that this very office that you and I find ourselves sitting in is the seat of power in this country.’ Silas Mthimkhulu took a sip of his drink and let the weight of what he had said sink in for Spokes. ‘You have no idea the amount of information contained within these walls, and what is information if not power? The BSAP, CID, SIU put together cannot touch The Organisation.’ He savoured another sip of his drink before adding, ‘Granted, Coetzee was a man of limited scope; he could not see what he had. But I – the new and improved Emil Coetzee – I am nothing if not a visionary. Look at what I have been able to do with the Idlazonke stores. Started with that first store in Chief Cele Mkhize’s village, and now there are more stores – emporiums, general dealers, general goods stores, bottle stores – than I can count here and in Zambia, and I am looking to expand to other African countries. Why not? It’s a new day; anything is possible. Especially if one is the most powerful man in the entire country. Oh, yes, they did me a huge favour placing me here. I could not have planned it better myself.’

Spokes did not know if he was meant to respond. The trophy of a roaring lion on the floor beside him seemed to be expecting him to say something.

‘Gustav told me that I should expect a visit from you,’ Silas Mthimkhulu said, bringing Spokes’s attention back from the petrified roaring lion.

‘I thought he would.’

‘So you finally solved Daisy’s case.’

Again, Spokes did not know if he was meant to respond.

‘I suppose congratulations are in order,’ Silas Mthimkhulu said, raising his glass. ‘Must be a weight off your shoulders at last to know “whodunit”, as they say.’

‘It is,’ Spokes sincerely replied.