Page 99 of The Scene of the Crime

‘It does . . . to me, Michelle,’ he croaked, and she helped him to take another sip of water.

‘All right. The police asked if I knew what had been stolen. I said I didn’t. But they took your Rolex and the Range Rover, which they then set on fire.’

‘Foken bliksem!’ he muttered in Afrikaans, then closed his eyes, wincing in pain.

‘Who are you talking about, Johan? Do you know who broke into our house and assaulted you?’

He licked his lips. ‘Of course not. If I did . . . I’d tell you. I feel ill, Michelle, and my head is killing me. Maybe you . . . should call for a nurse?’

Although his heart rate didn’t change, Michelle suspected he was lying. ‘What was in the safe, Johan?’

He took another deep breath. ‘Cash . . . lots of it . . . I was going to take it to the bank . . .’

‘Are you involved in some sort of tax fraud?’ she asked.

‘No . . . course not. If a client wants to pay cash, I don’t object. I put it all through the books.’ He licked his lips again and asked for some more water.

‘How much cash?’ she asked, picking up the water bottle.

‘Not much.’

‘How much is not much?’ She helped him take a few more sips and asked him again. His voice was stronger now and his mind seemed to have cleared.

‘I don’t know . . . fifty grand . . . maybe a bit more.’

‘Did you get a look at the man who attacked you?’

‘No . . . he was wearing a balaclava.’

‘Do you know a man called Liam? He’s about twenty-five and bald.’

‘What? No . . . Michelle, I’m feeling really bad. I need the doctor.’

She leaned in closer, almost touching his face. ‘Listen to me, Johan. The police got a tip-off and searched this man’s flat. They found your Rolex watch and a large sum of cash. When I last spoke to the police, they hadn’t tracked him down yet. They aren’t telling me much, and I didn’t want to ask too many questions until I spoke to you. They only found two thousand pounds. If you’re telling me the truth, that still leaves forty-eight thousand. Are you sure . . .’

‘For fuck’s sake, Michelle . . . it’s you that’s making my heart rate go up . . . why are you asking me all these questions?’

‘I know when someone is lying to me . . . especially you!’

‘Jesus Christ, Michelle, I’m the one who was attacked. Why are you talking to me like I’m a piece of kak?’ he said, breathing heavily.

‘Because I know when you’re talking crap. The police will want to interview you and ask about the contents of the safe. I need to know what you’re going to say.’

‘The same as I just told you . . . for God’s sake just leave it alone.’

‘If you’ve been up to anything dishonest, the police will find out, and I’ll get dragged into it. Do you understand what I’m talking about? I can’t be involved, not with my career.’

‘I haven’t done anything wrong.’

‘I sincerely hope not because the police have your phone and computers. If they find anything suspicious . . .’

‘There’s nothing to worry about, so don’t keep going on about it. I really need some pain medication.’ He screwed up his face in agony.

Michelle stroked his face and whispered to him. ‘We are in this together, Johan. We will have a baby to raise in five months, so I’m prepared to do whatever’s necessary to protect you. But I can’t do it if you don’t tell me the truth, so let’s start again. What happened?’

Johan’s face puckered and it looked as if he was going to start crying. ‘Come on, Johan, I’ll call for help in a minute, just tell me what happened.’

He sighed and took a few breaths to compose himself. ‘I fought with him in the living room. I gave him a good beating and thought I’d knocked him out. I went to the kitchen to get a knife, just to threaten him with so he’d get out . . . but he hit me with something from behind. I think I managed to call the police. The next thing I felt was a searing pain in my back from when he was stabbing me . . . then I must have passed out.’