The Death of the Mantis (20 page)

“A couple of days after I hired him, he phoned and said he’d
found Haake and was going to follow him. But I haven’t heard from
him since.” He leant forward, staring at Kubu. “Do you mind telling
me what’s going on?”

At that moment, Sonya arrived with a tray of cups and three
slices of chocolate cake. This is much better than mixed biscuits,
Kubu thought. She handed each man a cup of coffee, offered them
milk and sugar and then passed the cake around. A silence descended
for a few minutes, punctuated occasionally by the rattle of a cup
against its saucer.

Helu got the meeting back on track. “What’s going on, Mr Muller,
is that Krige is dead, and the Botswana police think he was
murdered.”

“Krige dead? Murdered?” Muller leant back, a shocked expression
on his face. “And you think Haake did it?”

“We don’t know who did it, Mr Muller,” Kubu replied. “We are
trying to find out. Do you think Haake is the sort of person who
would kill someone who was prying into his business?”

Muller didn’t answer at first. “I don’t think so. He has a short
fuse, but I never thought of him as violent.” He thought for a
moment. “Mind you, he had some secret project of his own. He seemed
obsessed by it. Some sort of huge mineral discovery, I think. But
he would never talk about what it was. I think that was where the
stolen company time went, too. Maybe that’s why he wanted the
data.” He shrugged. “You know, detectives, there are lots of people
like him all over the world – looking for the pot of gold at the
end of the rainbow. The trouble is that almost always it doesn’t
exist.”

“And what was the information you had that he wanted?”

“It was a set of gravity data for a section of south-west
Botswana.”

“What’s gravity data?” Helu asked.

“You fly an aeroplane low over the ground and measure the change
in the Earth’s gravitational field. The changes are caused by
different rock structures under the ground. You process it, and you
can get an image of the gravity field over the area. By analysing
that, you can often learn what is under the surface. All the big
mining houses do it. It’s very important in an area like the
Kalahari, because there’s little outcrop. Everything’s covered by
sand.”

Kubu glanced at Helu, who shrugged – this was obviously way
beyond him.

“When was Krige killed?” Muller asked.

“About a week ago, in a very remote part of Botswana. It looks
as though he was following Haake. Maybe Haake spotted him and they
got into a fight. Krige’s skull was crushed.”

“This is terrible,” Muller said. “I feel as though I’m
responsible. For hiring Krige to dig around Haake. If I hadn’t done
that, he wouldn’t be dead.”

“You aren’t responsible for what happened, Mr Muller.”

“There’s something else I should mention. Haake called me on
Friday, sounding angry. Told me he had nothing to do with this
company any more, and I should get off his back. I got angry too,
and told him to return my data and we’d call it quits. He was
furious. Shouted at me. Told me to watch my back. I told him he
could talk to me when he was willing to be polite. I thought
nothing of it at the time. I told you he has a hot temper. But this
changes all that.”

Kubu leant forward. “Did he mention Krige? Either by name or in
terms of being followed?”

“He just said he knew I had someone watching him. That we were
trying to steal his discoveries. That’s all nonsense, of course. He
doesn’t have any discoveries to steal anyway.”

Kubu nodded. “So Haake knew he was being followed, and knew – or
guessed – that Krige worked for you.”

“How did you know I hired Krige?”

“We found the deposit your company made into Krige’s bank last
week. It was a lot of money.”

“It was important to find our confidential material, and that’s
what Krige asked for. I didn’t think it was out of line.”

After a few more questions, Kubu heaved himself to his feet.

“Thank you for your time, Mr Muller. Here’s my card. If you hear
from Haake again, please call me or Detective Sergeant Helu
immediately. I think he could be dangerous. Don’t meet with him
alone.”

They shook hands, and the two detectives left.

♦

“Well, what do you think?” Helu asked as they stood in the sun
outside the office building.

“Well, if Haake was the thief, he may’ve had a strong motive for
murdering Krige. And apparently he knew Krige was following him. We
need to interview him again at once. This time it won’t be so
friendly.”

Helu nodded. “What about Muller himself?”

“I don’t think he’s involved. Do you?”

Helu shook his head.

As they were driving back to the police station, Kubu thought
about Haake’s call to Muller.

“Do me a favour. Take a picture of Haake and show it to the
caretaker at Krige’s apartment. It’s a long shot, but maybe she’ll
recognise him.” Kubu was interrupted by the ringing of his phone.
He glanced at the caller ID.

“Lerako, I was just going to phone you.”

“Kubu, I have some important news. Tau found out that Krige knew
Haake. Krige asked about him at the petrol station in Hukuntsi a
few days before he was murdered. You need to check this out with
Haake. Have you interviewed him yet?”

“Yes, I interviewed him yesterday morning. I pushed quite hard,
but felt that he didn’t know Krige before finding him dead.
However, he did know his name without me telling him. He said he
got it from the radio. We’re checking that, of course.”

“Yes, but now we know that Krige knew Haake.”

“Knew
of Haake
is a better way to put it. Lerako, please
tell Tau I’m pleased with his work in uncovering the Krige
connection. But I have news for you too. Helu and I have just left
the offices of a mining company that Haake used to work for. They
think he stole some information from them before they fired him. So
the company hired Krige to find out whether it was, in fact, Haake
who stole the material and to try and get it back.
That
’s
why Krige followed Haake into Botswana. And after the murder, Haake
phoned the head of the company and threatened him. I’m sure he
guessed Krige was working for Muller.”

There was a pause on the line. Kubu glanced at his phone’s
display to see whether he had lost the signal. He still had five
bars. Obviously Lerako was taken aback by this development.

“Where’s Haake now?” Lerako finally asked.

“We’re just about to set up another interview with him. He has a
lot more to answer to this time.”

“Please phone me as soon as you have more information.” Lerako
sounded despondent. He thinks that my discovery has blown his
Bushman theory out of the water, Kubu thought.

“This may be a copycat murder, Lerako. Haake could’ve heard
about Monzo from someone in Hukuntsi. We haven’t tried to keep it
secret, have we?”

“Okay. Let me know what you find out from Haake.”

“I’ll phone you as soon as I’ve finished with him.”

Kubu hung up. He had a premonition that finding Haake wasn’t
going to be easy.

∨
The Death of the Mantis
∧

H
aake was indeed
difficult to find. There was no answer when Kubu rang his mobile
phone and the number where he said he’d been staying. There was no
reply to several voicemail messages left at both numbers. And the
Luderitz police reported that he hadn’t returned to his home
there.

Kubu persuaded Helu to check with immigration at all the border
posts between Namibia and both Botswana and South Africa. They also
alerted Windhoek’s international airport.

Just before five p.m., Helu received a call from the woman
staying in Haake’s apartment.

“I’m Use Burger. You left a message to call you. Has something
happened? What’s going on?” She sounded scared. Helu switched the
call to the speakerphone and motioned for Kubu to come closer.

“Ms Burger, you are now on speakerphone. Assistant
Superintendent Bengu from the Botswana police is also here. We’re
trying to find Wolfgang Haake. He was in here on Monday, and we
have some more questions to ask him.”

“He’s not here. He left yesterday. Why do you want to see
him?”

“Ms Burger, we would like to speak to you face to face. We can
be with you in twenty minutes. Will you be there?”

“I suppose so. Is everything all right?”

“Thank you. We’ll be there shortly.” He pressed the button on
the speakerphone and disconnected the call. “Come on, Kubu. Let’s
see if we can learn more about your Mr Haake.”

♦

Use Burger opened the door immediately when Kubu and .Helu
arrived. She’s very anxious, thought Kubu, as they shook hands.
Must’ve been peering through the window waiting for our
arrival.

“Come in, please. I’ve made some coffee. Would you like some?”
She sounded tense.

Both detectives took her up on her offer. Helu settled himself
on the sofa, and Kubu pulled out a dining room chair, thinking it
would be easier to get up from it. Use returned with mugs of black
coffee and offered milk. Helu declined, and Kubu accepted. Kubu
noticed that Use didn’t pour herself a mug.

“How can I help you?” she asked, her eyes flitting from one man
to the other.

Helu answered, pointing at Kubu. “Ms Burger, Assistant
Superintendent Bengu is from the Botswana police. He is
investigating a case in Botswana and needs to talk to your friend,
Wolfgang Haake.”

Use didn’t respond.

“Mr Haake came to the police station on Monday so we could ask
him about his last trip to Botswana. But it was only afterwards
that we got some new information, and now we have follow-up
questions. But we can’t find him. He doesn’t answer his phone, and
hasn’t returned our voicemail messages. Do you know where he
is?”

“No. He left yesterday morning and said he’d be away for a week
or two.”

“Did he tell you where he was going?” Kubu asked.

“No. He just said he had business to take care of.”

“What sort of business?”

“He’s a geologist.”

“He just got back from Botswana. Do you know what he was doing
there?”

“Not really. He doesn’t tell me about his work.”

“How long have you known Mr Haake, Ms Burger?” Helu
interjected.

“About four years.”

“What’s your relationship with him?”

“Well, it’s his apartment, but I live here.” She paused and
frowned. “And he stays here when he’s in town.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

Use hesitated. “I suppose so. But he probably has girlfriends in
other places too.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, he doesn’t tell me much about what he does. He’s quite
secretive. I’ve always assumed that’s because I’m not the only
woman in his life.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“He’s very nice to me. I stay here for free, and we enjoy each
other’s company. He makes me laugh.”

Kubu glanced around the room. The place was clean and tidy, and
there was nothing extravagant. She’s careful with money, he
thought. He turned back to her.

“You’re sure he hasn’t said anything about what he’s doing?
Hasn’t told you where he’s going?”

“All I know is he goes to Botswana quite a lot. I think he’s
searching for something, because he sometimes says he’s nearly
there. But I don’t know where that is or what it means.”

“And you don’t know what it is he’s looking for?”

“Well, he’s a geologist, so I suppose it’s gold or diamonds or
something.”

“And he’s never talked to you about it? Never shown you
anything? Samples, or something like that?”

Kubu noticed her body tense. She looked challengingly at Kubu.
“No, nothing like that.”

There
is
something, he thought. He decided to take a
different approach.

“I appreciate your trying to help. But if there is anything you
know that you haven’t mentioned, please tell us. Even if it seems
insignificant. Mr Haake’s life may be in danger. There’ve been
several murders recently in Botswana around the area he was last
seen. It’s really important that we find him.”

“Someone might kill him?”

“Ms Burger, as I said, there have been several murders,
including someone from Namibia.” He paused for effect. “And if Mr
Haake dies, what will happen to this apartment? To you?”

Use looked down. The detectives let the silence work on her.

Eventually, she looked up, wet-eyed, frightened.

“He’s got a map.”

“What sort of map?”

“I don’t know. It’s old and drawn by hand. It had something
written in German. Something like ‘I found it here’. With some
initials. HS, I think. But I’ve no idea what the map is about.”

“Can you describe it?”

“On one side, it looks like some of the geology maps he has.
Contours and things. I don’t understand them at all. On the other
side, there was a drawing that looked like hills.”

“When did you see it last?”

“About a week ago. I saw it in his wallet and took it out to see
what it was. He saw me with it in my hand. He was very angry. Told
me to tell no one. Please don’t tell him I told you about it. He
could throw me out of here. Please.”

She’d be lucky if the only thing he did was evict her, Kubu
thought.

“Thank you. Perhaps don’t tell him that you mentioned it to us.
We’ll also be discreet.” Kubu paged back in his notebook to see if
he had missed anything. “Does he have any other friends?”

“Not that I know about. Just me.”

“And enemies?”

“Not enemies, really. He has a few people he doesn’t like –
mainly people who disagree with him.”

“What sort of people?”

“Well, he sometimes has very strong opinions on things. When
people tell him he’s crazy, he stops being their friend, or he gets
angry with them. He’s got a quick temper.”

“Would he hurt someone who disagreed with him?”