The Death of the Mantis (25 page)

He stood up, and in doing so he moved into the pool of light
from the rechargeable camping lantern on the table. He heard the
sound of a vibrating string, and the next instant he screamed at
the sudden pain in his right thigh. A thin shaft about fifty
centimetres long protruded from his leg.

Haake knocked over the light and scrambled back into his
vehicle, gasping in agony when the door caught the arrow shaft.
Gritting his teeth, he tried to yank it loose, but the pain was too
much. With a yell, he started the vehicle, accelerated back to the
track and drove towards Hukuntsi as fast as he could go.

∨
The Death of the Mantis
∧

“W
here’s a doctor?
Where’s a doctor?”

The night nurse was startled out of her doze by the frantic
shouts from the entrance to the Hukuntsi Primary Hospital. She
shook her head and rushed towards the door.

“I need a doctor!” There was panic in the voice.

“Rra, Rra, what’s wrong?” the nurse called as she pushed through
the door from the clinic to the entrance. A white man was bent
over, clutching his thigh. He looked up, face drained of blood by
the pain.

“Are you a doctor? Can you get this arrow out?” he said,
grimacing, pointing at the shaft that protruded from his
bloodstained shorts.

“No, Rra. I’m a nurse. I’ll call the doctor right away. Come
with me.”

She took Haake’s arm and helped him into the clinic. He limped
along, squeezing the top of his thigh, trying to stop the pain.

“Fucking Bushmen!”

She led him into a small consulting room. “Rra, lie down here.”
She pointed at a bed. “Try not to move.”

Haake sat on the edge of the bed, bent over.

“What if it’s poisoned?” he gasped. “It’ll kill me.”

“Please lie down, Rra.”

Haake shook his head. Sitting was less painful.

“I’ll be back right away.” The nurse darted out of the room to
phone one of the doctors on call.

A few minutes later she returned with a glass of water and two
tablets.

“Please take these. Painkillers. The doctor will be here in
fifteen minutes.”

While they waited, the nurse took down all of Haake’s
particulars. The same form all over the world, he thought as he
answered the litany of questions about his health and history.
Eventually the nurse was finished, and he closed his eyes to await
the doctor’s arrival.

♦

“How did this happen?” The doctor had cut Haake’s shorts to get
to the wound. Haake winced as the man probed around the shaft.

“Must be a fucking Bushman! They’re the only ones around here
who use bows and arrows.”

“Where were you?” The doctor swabbed away the congealing blood.
“What were you doing?”

“Camping just out of town. Minding my own business. Arrow came
from nowhere. I didn’t hear or see anyone.”

The doctor looked closely at the wound. “I’ll have to cut it
out.”

“I tried pulling it out, but it was too painful.”

“You’d have done a lot of damage if you’d succeeded.”

“What if there’s poison on it? They use poison that can kill an
eland! What if they’ve put that stuff on this arrow?” Haake was
beginning to panic.

“Just lie still and I’ll get a local anaesthetic for you. I’ll
take the arrow out, then we can deal with the poison, if there is
any.”

Haake closed his eyes. The painkillers were beginning to take
effect.

Soon the doctor returned. “I’m going to inject you around the
wound. It’ll take about ten minutes to feel the full effect. Then
I’ll make incisions next to the shaft and take the arrow out.”

Haake nodded his assent, keeping his eyes closed. He didn’t like
injections. Moments later he felt a series of pinpricks in his
thigh. That wasn’t so bad, he thought.

He lay there mulling over what had happened. First his GPS had
been stolen. Now he had been shot. Obviously by a Bushman. Someone
was definitely trying to keep him from getting back to his
discovery. But who was it? He shook his head. He knew his thinking
was becoming increasingly confused.

“Okay, let me know if you feel any pain.” In his musings, Haake
had almost forgotten his wound – the pain had disappeared.

“I promise I’ll scream.” His voice was now tired and a little
slow.

“Here goes!”

♦

The operation didn’t take long, and Haake felt no pain, just an
occasional tug on his leg. The doctor stitched up the wound and
wrapped a bandage around the thigh. He held the arrow for Haake to
see.

“Take a look. This is a very dangerous weapon. If it hit you in
the wrong place, it would kill you. You were lucky it got you where
it did. Should heal quickly and easily, and I doubt you’ll even
have a limp.”

He handed the arrow to Haake. It was about sixty centimetres
long, with a small metal head. Some sort of resin held the tip on
to the shaft. But he was surprised when he looked at the other end.
There were no feathers. He remembered the bows and arrows of his
childhood – they all had feathers to stabilise the arrow in flight.
But in this one, there was only a small notch in the end of the
shaft for the bowstring. He rubbed his thumb over the edge of the
tip. It was very sharp indeed. Then he noticed that there was some
paste just below the head.

“Look here! That paste. I’m sure that’s poison! Why else would
it be there?”

The doctor took the arrow from Haake and scrutinised the
paste.

“I don’t know what it is. It could be anything, but to be safe,
I’ll send it to Gaborone tomorrow for testing, but I don’t think
you’ve got anything to worry about. However, if you feel bad during
the night – not from the wound, but from something else – let the
nurse know, and she’ll give me a call.”

“Can you give me something so I can sleep? I don’t want to be
awake all night with the pain.”

“I’ll give you a sedative as soon as you’ve spoken to the
police.”

“The police? Why are they here?”

“We have to inform them whenever there’s an assault. And in your
case, they wanted to see you right away.”

Before Haake could respond, the door opened and two policemen
walked in. Haake recognised Detective Tau from the Tshane police
station. Tau walked over to the bed; the other policeman stayed at
the door.

“Mr Haake, we’ve been looking for you.”

“Looking for me? What for?”

“I have to inform you that you are under arrest for the murder
of Joseph Krige.”

“I’m under arrest?” Haake sat up abruptly, causing discomfort
even though the anaesthetic hadn’t worn off. “For murder?” His brow
creased into a frown.

Tau didn’t answer, but read Haake his rights.

“Are you fucking mad?” The colour was coming back into Haake’s
face. “I
found
Krige. I didn’t kill him. Are you on some
sort of quota system? Three whites arrested for murder each year?
You’re crazy.”

Tau pulled a chair over to the bed.

“First I would like to ask you some questions about what
happened tonight.” He took out his notebook and pen. “Where were
you when you were shot with the arrow?”

“Well I didn’t shoot myself! You can write that down!”

“Mr Haake, please. We want to find out what happened tonight and
find who was responsible.”

“It was the bloody Bushmen. Can’t you see? There’s the arrow!”
He pointed to the bedside table. Tau nodded and asked the other
constable to put it in a large plastic bag.

“You can’t do that!” The doctor intervened. “I need to send it
to Gaborone tomorrow for testing. In case there’s poison on
it.”

“Then we’ll need to photograph it first. Before you send it.
When will it go?”

“If you get it back by eight, that’ll be fine.”

Tau nodded and turned back to Haake. “Where were you when you
were attacked?”

“It doesn’t matter where I was. What’s this shit about a murder
charge?”

“Mr Haake. Please answer the questions. If you want to know who
shot you, we have to get the information now so we can start
looking. Where were you when you were hit?”

“This is bullshit.” His face was now flushed. “I was camping
just outside town on the road to Kule. Eating my supper and having
a beer. Got up to pee, and the arrow hit my thigh. I remember
hearing the sound of a bowstring just before.”

“Do you know anyone who would want to kill you? Somebody you’ve
fought with?”

Haake hesitated and decided not to tell Tau about what he had
seen at the
koppies
in the desert.

“I tell you, it’s the fucking Bushmen. But I’ve no idea why
they’d want to kill me. Maybe they were after someone else.”

“Are you sure there’s no one else who would want to kill
you?”

“I m sure!”

He lay back, beginning to feel nauseous. From the anaesthetic, I
suppose, he thought. And he had a headache coming on.

“I’m not feeling well. I want to sleep. Can’t you come back in
the morning?”

Tau pondered what to do. Eventually he decided it was better to
leave Haake to recover.

“I’ll come back in the morning, Mr Haake. But don’t try to
escape. There are bars on the windows, and Constable Mopati here
will be on guard outside the door. And he’s armed.”

Mopati patted the holster on his belt.

“I’ll be back at seven.”

♦

Tau asked the nurse where he could make some phone calls, and
she showed him into another consulting room. He shut the door and
dialled Lerako in Tsabong.

“Yes?” The voice was sleepy. “Who is it?”

“It is Detective Tau from Tshane. We’ve got Haake.”

The voice came alive. “You’ve got Haake? Is he handcuffed? Is he
in a cell?”

“He’s in hospital. He was shot with an arrow and came to the
hospital to have someone take it out.”

“Shot with an arrow?” There was a pause. “It’s those bloody
Bushmen again! How is he?”

“He’s in pain. I asked him some questions, then he was too tired
and sick to go on. The windows are barred, and I’ve put Constable
Mopati outside the door to make sure he doesn’t try to escape. He
wasn’t looking very well.”

“What did he tell you?”

“Not much.” Tau pulled out his notebook and told Lerako what
Haake had said.

“I didn’t have a chance to ask him about Krige. I thought it was
better to find out what happened tonight. Tomorrow I can ask about
the murder.”

“I’ll come up early in the morning. Should get there around
lunch.”

♦

Now wide awake, Lerako decided he’d better call Kubu.
Fortunately he’d added both Kubu’s numbers to his mobile phone. He
called Kubu’s home. I hope I wake him up too, he thought with a
touch of malice.

“Assistant Superintendent Bengu.” Kubu had indeed been
asleep.

“Kubu, it’s Lerako. They’ve caught Haake.”

Kubu’s voice perked up immediately. “Where is he?”

“He’s in the Hukuntsi hospital. Apparently someone shot him with
an arrow, and he went there to have it taken out.”

“Shot with an arrow?”

“I told you it was those Bushmen!”

Kubu suddenly felt cold. “If it really was a Bushman arrow, it
could have been poisoned. I’d better phone the hospital right
away.”

“I told you we should have kept those suspects in Tsabong. Krige
would have been alive if we had, and Haake in good health.”

“Come on, Lerako. Don’t be so stubborn. Haake knew Monzo, and
Krige knew Haake. There’s something else going on here. It can’t
all be a coincidence!”

There was no reaction from Lerako. Then he said, “I’m going up
to Hukuntsi in the morning. What are you going to do?”

“I’ll meet you there around lunch. We can interrogate him
together. And bring him back to Gaborone if he’s well enough.” Then
Kubu thought about how sloppy Detective Tau had been when dealing
with Haake in the Krige affair. “Is Tau in charge up there?”

“Yes. He’s got an armed guard outside Haake’s door. And the
windows are barred. Should be okay.”

“All right. Get some sleep, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Wide awake now, Kubu phoned the Hukuntsi hospital and spoke to
the night nurse. She sounded tired, but knew all about Haake and
the arrow wound.

“Please tell the doctor that the arrow may have a deadly Bushman
poison on it. It should be handled very carefully and bagged. The
doctor should also keep a close eye on the patient.”

“I’ll call the doctor again if I think it’s necessary,” the
nurse promised before she hung up.

Kubu lay back and sighed. After two days with no progress, he
thought, I have to be woken in the middle of the night.

♦

Haake couldn’t sleep. His headache had worsened, he felt
increasingly nauseous – he’d thrown up once – and his wound had
started to throb. Bloody hell, he thought. This is worse than I
expected. He poured the rest of the water from the jug next to his
bed into a glass and drained it. He had heard once that
anaesthetics made you thirsty. He’d have to go and pee soon.

Sure enough, fifteen minutes later he called for Mopati.

“I have to go and pee,” he said.

Mopati wasn’t sure what to do. He’d been told to make sure Haake
didn’t leave the room. But a man had to pee. He pulled out his
automatic and pointed it at Haake. “If you try to run, I’ll shoot
you,” he said. “Get out of bed. Put your hands above your
head.”

Haake swung his feet off the bed and on to the floor. As he
stood up, he staggered and had to use the bed to steady
himself.

“Wait a moment,” he said weakly. “I got up too quickly. I’m a
little dizzy.”

When he indicated he was feeling better, Mopati backed slowly
out of the door, indicating to Haake to follow.

“Nurse! Nurse!” Mopati didn’t take his eyes off Haake.

Again the nurse was startled from her snooze.

“Where’s the toilet?”

The nurse indicated that they should follow her. She walked down
the corridor and pointed to the Men’s. “There you are.”