Page 79 of The Scene of the Crime (Jessica Russell #1)

Anderson and the others went to the waiting room. They sat quietly, trying to take in what had just occurred and desperately hoping Johan made it.

‘What happened?’ Jessica asked, breaking the silence.

Anderson looked too shocked to answer, so Chapman stepped in. ‘One minute he was fine chatting to us, and then he just went downhill fast.’

‘I think he was having a heart attack,’ a wide-eyed Anderson finally managed to say.

‘Did you pressure him at all?’ Jessica asked.

Chapman shook his head. ‘No. Even though we’d started asking some pertinent questions about Cole and the diamonds, we took it easy.’

‘Then he started getting short of breath. I just thought it was a ploy to stop the interview and give him time to talk to Michelle,’ Anderson said.

‘Clearly it wasn’t,’ Jessica remarked.

‘Did Michelle tell you anything useful?’ Anderson asked her. She recounted their conversation.

‘Do you think she was lying?’ Chapman asked her.

‘Not about how she met Cole and the sapphire ring, but I think she knows exactly what Johan and Cole were up to and coached her husband on what to say. Michelle had an answer for everything and at the same time was fishing for information about the investigation. In my opinion she is an accomplished liar and I doubt we will ever get the truth out of her.’

‘De Klerk gave us virtually the same account as Cole about how they knew each other, the incident with the sapphire ring, the diamond lab and all that,’ Anderson said.

‘Then why didn’t he tell Michelle, if it was all legitimate?’ Jessica asked.

‘And if he’d fallen out with Cole, why did he invite him to the house?’

‘Unfortunately, we didn’t get that far,’ Chapman admitted.

‘Did he say anything about the smuggled diamonds?’ she asked.

‘That was when he suddenly clutched his chest and cried out in pain. We realised he wasn’t putting it on and pressed the panic button.’

‘Maybe all his lies caused his stress levels to go through the roof,’ Dawn remarked.

Doctor Babu came into the waiting room. ‘I’m sorry to tell you this, but Mr De Klerk passed away before we could get him to surgery. It looks like he had a heart attack.’ For a moment they all stood in shocked silence.

‘How is Mrs De Klerk?’ Dawn asked.

‘Obviously she’s very distressed. She’s with Johan, and I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to speak to her. She thinks your line of questioning may have been over-aggressive, causing his heart attack.’

‘I can assure you we were not aggressive at all,’ a worried-looking Anderson said.

‘What do you think caused the heart attack?’ Chapman asked Doctor Babu.

‘It could have been any number of things.’

‘Could it happen due to stress while we were interviewing him?’ Anderson asked.

‘It’s possible, but I’d like to ask how Johan behaved when you spoke to him. Did he say he was feeling any symptoms like chest pain?’

Anderson looked at Chapman, wondering who should answer.

Eventually Chapman did. ‘He was a bit croaky as his throat was dry. He kept taking sips of water. I noticed he had difficulty lifting the bottle to his mouth, but I thought he was just tired. He could still answer our questions, and at one point, he started rubbing his left arm.’

‘I asked him if he was OK. He said yes, and it was just pins and needles,’ Anderson added.

‘Did his heart rate monitor show any change while you were talking to him?’ Doctor Babu asked.

‘We were paying more attention to him than the monitor, but his breathing did get a bit laboured. At first, we thought he was putting on an act, but when he clutched his chest and cried out in pain, the heart monitor started beeping and that’s when I pressed the panic button,’ Anderson told him.

‘Obviously I can’t be certain, but I don’t think your questioning led to Johan’s heart attack.

Initially, due to the trauma he suffered, he had high levels of potassium in his blood, which we monitored and brought down with medication.

A sudden increase in potassium levels can cause heart palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pain, numbness or a tingling sensation in the limbs. ’

‘Like the pins and needles Johan said he was feeling?’ Anderson asked.

‘Yes. All the symptoms you witnessed in Johan are an indication of severe hyperkalemia. It’s a life-threatening condition that can cause a heart attack and requires immediate medical attention.’

‘What would cause a sudden increase in his potassium levels?’ Chapman asked.

‘His brain injury, trauma, the blood transfusion, kidney problems or medication. We won’t know until further tests and a postmortem are conducted.

Obviously, due to the circumstances, I have asked for a pathologist to come in as soon as possible to give the cause of death.

’ He looked at his watch. ‘Thank you for your assistance. I’ve got other patients to attend to, so I’d best get on. ’ Doctor Babu quickly left.

‘Looks like the doc doesn’t want to commit himself to a cause of death yet. But it doesn’t look like we’re to blame,’ Chapman remarked.

‘With Johan dead, we’ll have difficulty proving anything against Michelle,’ Anderson said glumly.

‘There’s nothing more we can usefully do here.

We might as well head back to the station.

’ Jessica contemplated telling Anderson about her ‘off the record’ conversation with Michelle but decided now wasn’t the time, especially since she’d admitted nothing.

She decided she would tell Chapman when they got back to the station.

‘I’ll meet you by the car. I need to wipe the coffee off my shoes in the ladies,’ Jessica said, picking up the packet of tissues Michelle had left on the coffee table.

While cleaning her shoes, she wondered if Chapman and Anderson had been honest about their manner of questioning Johan De Klerk.

Jessica felt drained as she looked in the mirror and puffed out her hair, then stopped and looked closely at her reflection.

Only then did it hit her that it was all over with Johan dead, bar the case against Cole and Bishop.

Chapman was waiting for her at the hospital entrance.

He gave her a depressed shrug of his shoulders, obviously feeling the same way about Johan’s death and how it affected the case against Michelle, Cole and Bishop.

He told her that Dawn had gone back to the station with Anderson, and he would give her a lift.

‘Anderson said you can go home, and he’ll meet with us in the morning.

He’s going to contact Commander Williams and give her an update.

He wants the postmortem completed asap and to hold off on a press release until he’s had time to assess the situation, the situation being a major fuck-up.

He’s worried sick about any accusations we caused De Klerk’s heart attack. ’

‘It’s not your fault he died,’ Jessica said.

‘He didn’t just drop down dead, Jessica . . . he was in agony and couldn’t breathe. We stood there like two pricks, then the heart monitor kicked in, bleeping and going crazy. It’s knocked me for six, I can tell you.’ Chapman was so wound up that he crashed the gears as he drove off.

‘What does it mean for the case now that Johan’s dead?’

Chapman sighed. ‘There’s enough evidence to proceed with the charges against Cole and Bishop, but that’s it.’ They didn’t speak much on the rest of the journey to the station. When they arrived, Chapman parked next to Jessica’s car and said he’d see her in the morning.

‘Do you fancy going for a drink somewhere?’ she asked as he switched the engine off.

‘Do you mind if I don’t. Anderson will be getting the team together for a briefing about what happened at the hospital. I also need to write my report and get my head around what happened. I think Anderson will be having a hard time as well.’

‘I’ll see you in the morning then.’ He walked off without replying, leaving her standing on the pavement by her car.

*?*?*

When she got home, Jessica changed out of her coffee-stained stockings and left her skirt on a hanger, ready to be taken to the cleaners.

Her depression hadn’t lifted; in fact, her dark mood had got even worse.

David was not home, so she paced around the kitchen aimlessly for a while, then opened a bottle of wine.

After drinking half a glass, she topped it up and then physically jumped as her phone rang. She answered it, thinking it was David.

‘Good evening, Jess. This is FBI Agent Anna Travis. I just wanted to let you know that Quantico has residential accommodation, but it’s pretty basic, like a campus. Some rooms are single occupancy, but most have two single beds, two desks, two dressers and communal male and female bathrooms.’

‘I thought that might be the case, but I’m easy either way,’ Jessica replied, making an effort to clear her head.

‘I don’t know about you, but I like to get away from the 24/7 pressure and relax.

A friend has a great apartment that will become available shortly before you are due to join us.

It’s a tad expensive but worth it, and I wondered if you would prefer to move in there.

My house is close by and it’s not far from the academy. ’

‘I thought it would be a residential course.’

‘The FBI recruits’ course is, but you’re attending the Behavioural Analysis course, so you don’t have to stay on site.’

‘The apartment sounds fantastic, thanks,’ Jessica replied enthusiastically.

‘Good. I’ll send you the details. How’s everything going as the MSCAN team leader?

’ Jessica was about to say it was going well, when she couldn’t stop herself, and everything that had happened came pouring out.

Anna encouraged her to give more details, and Jessica found it almost therapeutic to talk her through the complex investigation.

Anna was a good listener, not interjecting or halting Jessica’s detailed explanations.

‘Did you think De Klerk was involved in diamond fraud with Cole?’