Race (11 page)

"I'm sorry, Mr Ronan. My assistant isn't as understanding as your wife is," Harry apologized, even though he himself knew that something wasn't right about this either. "I know how you must be feeling right now. It's a late night now, and I think you should get some rest."

Ronan nodded slowly, and Harry and Mini smiled at them sympathetically, standing up from the sofa. Before they left, Harry turned around to say some last words. "I hope, Mr Ronan, that what you're telling me is exactly what happened," Harry warned, and then they left.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

MINI THE BRAINLESS BIMBO

Harry and Mini walked down the cobbled pathway together in the darkness.

"Mini, after hearing what they had to say, what do you think about it all?" Harry asked her.

"To tell the truth Sir, when they talked, it reminded me of my uncle. He died because of alcohol too." Mini confessed.

"Why, did he drink a lot of alcohol?" Harry asked, wanting to know more about what Mini had to say.

"No, sir. He died because a huge tankard of alcohol fell on his head," Mini explained. "Something I've discovered is that the person who drinks alcohol isn't the one who dies, it's the one who doesn't drink alcohol."  She watched her boss as he peeled a banana and ate it.

"Mini, I was asking you if you thought that their conversation was true or if you thought that they were lying!" Harry snapped, because Mini was so hopeless.

"I thought they were telling the truth, Sir. Why, did you think they were lying?" Mini was shocked.

"Mini, the number one rule when investigating is that you shouldn't just trust what you see and hear!" Harry growled. "Only trust what's going on in your mind!"

"So what you're saying is, Sir, that you think it wasn't an accident?" Mini's eyes went big.

"When there's big money involved, baby, accidents are failing to happen," Harry replied, finishing off his banana and clicking his fingers.

"Correct," Mini smiled, but she looked confused. "Why didn't that thought enter my own head?"

"Because you have a problem, Mini," Harry smirked.

"What is it, Sir?" Mini wanted to know.

"Oh, well, I'll tell you that some other time. Your job is that by tomorrow, I need a biography of Noah, Ronan and Chantelle." He peeled another banana. "Now, you hold this banana and sit in the car."

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

Harry, Mini, Chantelle and Ronan entered the republic building of South Africa.

"Come on, come on," Harry beckoned to Ronan and Chantelle because they were both walking so excruciatingly slow. He chuckled at the lollipop that he had held in his hands. "Lollipops are for licking, I know, but I eat them." There was a big SNAP as Harry crunched through the lollipop.

"What was the need to call us over for body identification?" Ronan asked, wanting Harry Rodgers to change the subject from food and to the main thing.

"I understand that you witnessed everything that happened but we have to do this for procedure," Harry said, continuing to chew the lollipop and munching the bits in his mouth hardly with his canine teeth.

Harry opened a huge tray where Noah's body was kept. His face was swollen up with purple marks on his cheeks, there was a huge dashed scar leading from his forehead to his scalp, his arms were a bluish green colour with more purple bruises on them, and Noah's chest looked as if it had been cut open as there was a terrifying black mark etched across it. Mini gasped and Chantelle let out a small sob. Mini couldn't handle it anymore: she ran out of the room.

"This is your brother?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Ronan confirmed, without the slightest trace of emotion in his voice.

"You're a pretty brave fella, aren't ya?" Harry commented. "Many people don't like seeing their dead brother's bodies, but you're handling it pretty well."

"Well, he's going to have to stay brave, isn't he?" Chantelle provided for Ronan. "Now, he has to take on all of the responsibilities: the office, the house ..."

"Hmmm," Harry said vaguely. He put the white sheet back on Noah's body and shut the tray. "You're right."

"When can we claim the body?" Ronan asked vaguely, scratching his chin.

"We can't give you the body until this case's investigation is complete," Harry stated matter of factly. "Now, you both go to the office and I'll be there in two ticks. You can establish whatever you want to with your staff."

Chantelle and Ronan nodded, and followed suit as they walked out of the room where the bodies were kept.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

ONE MINUTE THAT SHOOK THE WORLD

"You're a really brave man, Sir," Mini told Harry. "In between all of those dead bodies, you were calmly sucking a lollipop!"

"What's so brave about that?" Harry smirked, the smirk soon changing to a devilish grin. "I like my food."

"That's not the thing, Sir. There were so many smelly dead bodies and you were just there sucking a lollipop! My heart was failing when I just looked at them!" Mini said dramatically.

"Really?" Harry asked. He placed a hand against her chest as an excuse to hear her heartbeat.

Mini lifted his hand off as an excuse to look at his watch. "Erm, sir. What time is it, sir?"

"Why?" Harry asked, feeling rejected.

"Sir, it's because we need to go to Noah's office, don't we?" Mini reminded him.

Harry sighed loudly. "Your life will never be a happy one, Mini!"

"Why, sir?" Mini asked.

"Look, I told you before. You have a problem." Harry reminded her.

"What is it, Sir?" Mini enquired.

"I'll tell you that some other time," Harry sympathized. "Lick my lollipop," he ordered, holding his lollipop out to her eyes. "I mean ... sorry, let's go."

They went to Noah's office and met Leonardo.

"What can I say, sir?" Leonardo whimpered. "Noah was such a good man, Sir. He didn't make a single difference between animals and humans. He loved animals just as much as he loved humans." He sobbed louder, and even Mini was crying. "I still can't believe the fact that Noah's ..." He broke off his sentence, crying even more.

"Why are
you
crying?" Harry asked Mini, doubling up with laughter.

"Sir, you know that packet of cheese and onion crisps that you're eating? I think the onion's getting to my eye," Mini said lamely, and howled even louder. Harry shook his head at her stupidity.

"Next question," said Harry. "How was the relationship between Noah and Ronan?"

"Sir, that pair could have sacrificed their lives for each other, Sir. Sir, their pair was like nothing you could ever break."

"You mean that they were step brothers?" Harry said, taking a wild guess at it

"Yes, they were both step brothers," Leonardo confirmed, wondering why that fact was relevant to anything.

"Okay." Harry nodded.

"Sir, are there any other questions that you would like to ask me, sir?" Leonardo asked further, wanting to get it over with.

"No," Harry remarked. "My packet of crisps are finished, so the questions are finished too." He threw the packet in the bin.

"You are a genius, Sir!" Mini exclaimed. "Just as many crisps there were in your packet, that's how many questions you asked!"

"Give me a pomegranate!" Harry ordered, ignoring her compliment. He snapped the pomegranate in half  with all of his force and the seeds fell on to the floor.

"Sir's two or four questions have fallen on the floor," Leonardo murmured, because of the seeds.

Mini and Harry began to walk together to

"Officers, search the entire premises," Harry ordered to some policemen, whilst Ronan and Chantelle watched the CCTV clip up high from their office. "I need some more evidence for my case."

"OK, sir." The police officers nodded in agreement

"Thank you," said Harry, and then took a few steps back to wave at the CCTV camera. "Want a pomegranate?" he joked. Chantelle and  Ronan's eyes went wide, and they quickly sat down in their seats in a serious manner.

Mini and Harry walked through the door of their office.

"May I come in?" Harry asked.

"Yes, sure," Ronan said casually, indicating some chairs for them to sit on.

"Thank you very much," Harry grinned. "Mr Ronan, we've had an investigation with your staff. "I'm ninety nine percent satisfied. Pomegranate?" he offered.

"That means that you've still got a one percent disbelief in your mind," Ronan pointed out, angry because Harry wasn't satisfied.

"Yes," Harry admitted. "When there's such a big property and so much money involved, I don't know why I start getting all suspicious." He began to nibble at his pomegranate seeds.

"The ranch house that you're thinking about is under huge debt by the bank," Ronan replied hotly.

"I know," Harry nodded, not trying to fight back. "But I'm talking about Noah's insurance policy that you're about to get one hundred million dollars from."

"Inspector, my father in law assigned the insurance policy to both of us," Ronan remarked, keeping his cool. "I completely forgot about him."

Harry roared with laughter. "I'm eating a pomegranate and right now, I don't understand a word you're saying." He grinned. "You must have thought about the policy one time or another."

"What is it that you want to say?" Ronan asked bitterly.

"Look, I'm not trying to accuse you of anything. If you're finding anything that I'm saying is bad, then I'm sorry." He smirked, and then got up with Mini to leave.

"Fucking bastard," Ronan muttered through clenched teeth.

Harry had heard him. He turned around. "Did you say something?"

Ronan chuckled. "No."

"Why is it that whenever I interrogate someone, they always call me a fucking bastard?" He paused to laugh a little, and Mini giggled. "But I don't mind. Where crime is concerned, I am a bastard." He grinned and bowed down. Ronan stared at him icily, and Mini and Harry left the room.

They walked over to the main room to hear Alice screaming at the top of her lungs, crying to her heart's content. This was a bit of a shock to them, so they stook around to listen to what she had to say.

"There's been such a big accident and no one's even told me yet?" she howled. "Why didn't anybody inform me?! Why didn't you tell me anything?" Tears were streaming out of her eyes rapidly. Even Chantelle and Ronan left their office to witness what was happening. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Harry and Mini stared at each other, and then Harry beckoned to Leonardo. "Who's this?" Harry asked Leonardo.

"Erm, she's Alice. She was Noah's secretary," Leonardo explained.

"If she's just a secretary then why's she crying so much?" Harry murmured, and then walked over to Alice as Alice collapsed on to the sofa.

"Excuse me," Harry said to her, "I'm Harry Rodgers. This case's investigating officer. I am also really upset that your boss has died."

"Boss?" Alice repeated, as if Harry was stupid. "He wasn't my boss. He was my husband!"

The room went silent. Everybody was speechless.

"Husband?" Chantelle repeated, unable to believe her ears.

"What are you saying?!" Ronan shouted. "When did you get married to Noah?!"

"W - w - w - when w - w - w - we w - w - w - went t - t - t - t - to C - C - C - C Cape T - T - T Town," Alice sobbed, her words all tumbling out in a stammered voice. "W - w - w - w - We g - g - g - g - got ... married there." She finally said the last two words in full words.

Ronan gasped.

"Here, we were going to give everyone a surprise party, to tell them all the news. But now he's dead, we can't!" She put her head in her hands and Chantelle's heart missed a beat.

"Alice, I want to speak to you alone," Harry said. "Come with me."

Alice nodded, and with Mini's arm around her, she followed Harry out of the room, leaving Chantelle and Ronan gobsmacked in their wake.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

INTERROGATING ALICE

"Can you tell me in detail how you think all this happened?" Harry asked Alice as they all sat down on the rooftop.

"From the start, Noah was always dependent on me," Alice began, her voice soft. "He told me all of his problems. Whenever I was with him, I felt great. For the past three months, he stayed depressed because of his brother. To sell Ronan's ancestor's property, he had to go to Cape Town. That's where the estate agent got us to meet our client. He wanted to buy the property. We fixed the deal, and then the client asked for two days to make the payment. We were both free on those days." Alice smiled at the memory. "We spent those two days together. Noah was so happy. It felt to me like he had forgotten all of the sadness in his life. On that exact day, Noah proposed to me." She remembered the way Noah had put the ring on her finger and kissed it, and then was immersed in the memory, when she was so happy that she had a massive party where she sang to him.

He sells me fake dreams…

Look at the way he cons you with his words…

Oh, my lover is an innocent killer.

Hey mister! you say you want me as a lover…

But tell me now… are you a player?

Say what! huh! chickah chickah… chickah chickah

Whenever I see you baby…

My heart gets injured with her killer gaze…

Wo ho..

Wo ho ho ho ho ho…

As a result of my feelings for you…

I consider you my life partner, my dear.

wo ho..

wo ho ho ho ho ho…

what magic has each of your moves done on me…

love the game i wanna play..

i am craving for your body now…

he sells me fake dreams…/

sexy lady...

look at the way he cons you with his words…/

gets me crazy

oh, my lover is an innocent killer.../

be my baby.

give me all your lovin’ now.

aah… chickah chickah… chickah chickah

my love for you, my dear, is thirsty for your feelings too

you are the reason my dear, that i want to live this life.

you are my destiny, you are in all my feelings…

how can i stop myself, when you are so near to me…

c’mon and see for yourself…

what I have got for you in my heart…

love the game i wanna play..

i am craving for your body now…

he sells me fake dreams…/

sexy lady...

look at the way he cons you with his words…/

gets me crazy

oh, my lover is an innocent killer.../

be my baby.

give me all your lovin’ now.

How would i tell you what my heart says?

I know every trick of my lover.

he steals my peace of mind away…

and makes me spend sleepless nights…

oh, my lover is an innocent killer.

wo oo wo oo!

he steals my peace of mind away…

and makes me spend sleepless nights…

oh, my lover is an innocent killer.

my breaths are wayward, my desires have gone mad…

cause all the time i just wanna touch your luscious lips…

what’s this problem, which isn’t expressed, even when it is…

I fear if I’ll go crazy under such a high…

the moment itself is of a high…

and neither am I in my full senses..

love the game i wanna play..

i am craving for your body now…

he sells me fake dreams…

look at the way he cons you with his words…

oh, my lover is an innocent killer...

give me all your lovin’ now.

Whenever I see you,

Baby, my heart aches.

wo ho..

wo ho ho ho ho ho…

This is the effect of my feelings

That i consider you as my life partner.

wo ho..

wo ho ho ho ho ho…

chickah chickah.. chickah chickah

Every style of yours

Has applied magic to me.

love the game i wanna play..

i am craving for your body now…

he sells me fake dreams…/

sexy lady...

look at the way he cons you with his words…/

gets me crazy

oh, my lover is an innocent killer.../

be my baby.

give me all your lovin’ now.

hey mister! you say you wan’t me as a lover…

but tell me now… are you a player?

say what! haan! chickah chickah… chickah chickah

"I was so happy," Alice murmured. "I thought that I was the luckiest girl in the world. Noah wanted to give me a surprise.  He took me to the Registrar of Marriages office. That's where we got married." She let out a low sob. "I didn't know the fact that I would only be happy for one day." She cried harder.

"Can I look at your marriage certificate?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Alice nodded, taking the certificate from her handbag and passing it over to him.

"Can I keep this for verification purposes?" Harry pushed on.

"Yes," Alice mumbled.

"Thank you," Harry said gratefully.

Little did they know that Chantelle and Ronan were watching through the window, listening to their every word.

CHAPTER THIRTY

THE FUNERAL

It was the end of Noah's funeral. Everybody was dressed in black, and Alice was sobbing as she watched everybody depart. Chantelle and Ronan walked up to her.

"Alice!" Ronan called. He was wearing a black suit with black sunglasses, and Chantelle was wearing a black mini dress, completely inappropriate for a funeral.

Alice stared at him as if she'd just been slapped. "How DARE you come here! You took the life of my husband, and now you're here to show me sympathy!"

"Alice, Noah was my brother," Ronan said innocently.

"It's because of you that he died!" Alice shouted. "I don't wanna see your face! Just get out of here! Get out!"

"Calm down," one of the passing nuns whispered, putting her arm around Alice and leading her back inside the church. She was wearing a long black gown with head covering.

Ronan shrugged, not bothering to take the subject any further, and he and Chantelle made their way down the churchyard path way.

Harry and Mini were waiting at the end of the path way for the pair of them to arrive.

"Mini, is there something that you've observed?" Harry asked Mini. Harry smoothed out his brown hair and his suit.

"Yes sir. Today, you've eaten half a kilo of strawberries!" Mini exclaimed. She was wearing black too to pay her respects, although she was also wearing a mini dress like Chantelle.

"What an observation!" Harry said dryly.

"Thank you, sir!" Mini said proudly.

Ronan and Chantelle arrived.

"Hello, Mr  Ronan!" Harry said cheerfully.

"You're here too now, are you?" Ronan snapped, mumbling something about Harry Rodgers being there wherever he went and he had no privacy anymore.

"It's a general thing. Dogs and policemen always stay behind each other," Harry grinned, smiling, saying that Ronan and Chantelle were the dogs and he and Mini were the policemen.

"I'm not in the mood for your bitter jokes," Ronan remarked. His face was straight and serious.

"You know, by looking at Ronan's mood, I've just remembered a song," Harry commented, which was quite irrelevant in Mini's eyes. Ronan sighed in a heavy frustration.

"Sir, I don't understand. Which song are you talking about?" Mini asked.

"I'll explain," said Harry. "The one hundred million dollar insurance policy is a really big flower. If, to eat that flower, Ronan murdered Noah, then the flower will be eaten by Noah's wife, Alice. And if this truly is an accident, and Ronan is innocent, then Alice will still be eating that flower." Harry burst out laughing.

"Why do you keep on telling us the same thing over and over again?" Ronan shouted angrily, as Harry offered Chantelle a strawberry. "We're not interested in the money!" Ronan carried on. "Come on,  Chantelle." They both departed from the church gardens.

Harry roared with laughter. "The guava's are bitter!" he chuckled.

"Sir, you're not eating guavas, you're eating strawberries," Mini said pointedly, proud that she'd corrected one of Harry's mistakes.

"Thank you," Harry snapped. "Shall we go now?"

"Yes, sir," Mini agreed, smoothing out her dress as she nodded.

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE