‘Shit,’ said Benton.
Cornelius and Benton shared looks of resignation. ‘There’s no way we can match that, is there?’ Cornelius said.
Benton shook his head. Gloom descended on the table.
Calder broke the silence. ‘Gill’s getting his money from the Laagerbond. If we expose that, his bid crumbles. You win The Times.’
‘He’s right,’ said Benton.
Cornelius glared at Benton. ‘We definitely go to Kupugani this afternoon.’
Cornelius and Benton went up to Cornelius’s suite to make arrangements. Calder returned to his own more modest hotel near by. In his room he switched on his mobile phone. There was a message from Zan asking him to call her, but first he called Anne’s house in Highgate.
Kim answered. Anne was now definitely out of danger, and recovering well. Todd was doing well too, although they still wanted to keep him in hospital under observation. Dr Calder had just taken the kids out to the park.
‘Have you heard any more from Edwin?’ Calder asked.
‘No. But I decided to call his bluff. I phoned Inspector Banks and told her about Donna Snyder visiting Todd. I also told her that Edwin had tried to use the information to blackmail me.’
‘Is she suspicious of you?’
‘I don’t think so. I asked her if she was going to interview Edwin again, and she said probably not, but she sounded frustrated. I told her a little bit about what you had discovered and she told me to wish you luck.’
‘Really?’
‘My guess is that she’s been warned off the van Zyl family and I think she’s pissed off about it.’
Calder told Kim all about Benton and Cornelius and the diary hidden in the game reserve. She sounded pleased, although she wasn’t entirely convinced of Cornelius’s innocence. Calder promised to keep her informed.
Then Calder returned Zan’s call. ‘Zan, it’s Alex.’
‘Oh, hi.’ It sounded as if she were in a car. ‘I’m glad you called back. My contacts in the NIA have struck gold. I’d like to talk it over with you. Where are you?’
‘I’m in Johannesburg with your father. We’re going to Kupugani this afternoon.’
‘Where Martha was killed?’
‘That’s right. We think her diary was hidden there. We’re going to see if it’s still hidden.’
‘After all these years? There’s no chance of that, is there?’
‘It’s a long story.’
‘You must tell me.’ Zan paused. Calder could hear a change in pitch in the background engine noise as she shifted gears. ‘Look, can I meet you up there?’ she said. ‘I’d like to discuss this Laagerbond stuff with you face-to-face. And I’d like to help.’
‘I suppose you can,’ said Calder. ‘Can you get there in time?’
‘Are you flying from Johannesburg airport?’
‘I don’t know. Cornelius is arranging it.’
‘You probably will be, it’s the quickest way. I’ll see if I can get there this afternoon. I’m not too far from Cape Town airport now. I’m just about to meet someone and then I’ll go straight back to the airport and catch a flight to Jo’burg.’
‘Is this meeting something to do with the Laagerbond?’ Calder asked.
‘Yes,’ said Zan. ‘I’ll tell you about it when I see you.’
‘Be careful,’ Calder said. ‘My last encounter with a Laagerbond member was a little disconcerting.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Zan laughed, but Calder thought he detected a hint of nervousness. ‘I can look after myself.’
Calder hoped she could.
The rain was beating down on the surface of the Thames outside Madeira Quay, and Edwin couldn’t even see the top half of the Canary Wharf tower, enveloped as it was in angry grey cloud. He put his head in his hands. He had fought so hard for so long to try to maintain control of events, to stay one step ahead of the next disaster, but he had a horrible feeling he was losing it, losing everything.
He had just put the phone down to Detective Inspector Banks. After not hearing anything from Kim he had had no hesitation in carrying out his threat. Anything to muddy the waters of the police investigation. But Banks had said that she already knew about Donna Snyder, and she had been contemptuous of Edwin’s suggestion of an affair between Kim and Calder. The hostility was obvious: Banks had been warned off pursuing Edwin and Cornelius and she didn’t like it. Edwin decided to get off the phone quick.
He didn’t know exactly what Calder had discovered in South Africa, but Cornelius’s decision to rush down there worried him. And then there had come the higher offer from Evelyn Gill for The Times.
There was no way that Zyl News could match that. And there was no opportunity to repeat the strategy he had used so successfully with Lord Scotton. Peter Laxton was a different kind of man entirely. He might have skeletons in his closet, but, like Kim, he wouldn’t be easily intimidated. Besides, Laxton Media was a public company owing a lot of money to at least a dozen banks. It would be hard — no, impossible — for Peter Laxton to reject a higher bid promising hard cash.
Edwin had suggested once that Cornelius ask Caroline’s billionaire husband to come in with him as an equity partner, but Cornelius hadn’t even dignified the idea with a reply. He was far too proud, Edwin knew. And, as Cornelius had said, there were no nest eggs hidden anywhere.
Losing The Times was disappointing, but Edwin had a powerful feeling that worse was to follow, that the questions Kim and Calder were asking would set in train a series of events that would end badly for him. His father would have to retire some time in the next few years and Edwin was set to succeed him. But he was under no illusions that Cornelius was happy with that idea. It wouldn’t take much for him to change his mind.
Edwin stared out of the window again. What could he do?
He picked up the phone and dialled a number in South Africa.
Visser was pacing up and down in his study at the farm when the phone rang. He picked it up.
‘Andries, it’s Freddie.’
‘Have you heard from Kobus?’ Visser asked.
‘He flew down to the Cape this morning,’ Steenkamp said. ‘He should be finished by this afternoon.’
‘Good. The sooner we get him on a plane to London, the better.’
‘Not necessarily,’ said Steenkamp. ‘Paul Strydom just told me that Cornelius van Zyl is in South Africa. With two other men: one of whom sounds like Alex Calder, the other is tall, black and American and could very well be Benton Davis.’
‘Where are they?’
‘Cornelius is staying at the Intercontinental in Sandton.’
‘Get Kobus up there as soon as he has finished his business in the Cape.’
‘I was going to do just that,’ said Steenkamp.
Visser slammed down the phone. If only he had been more decisive earlier! He slumped into his chair. Suddenly he felt very tired. His chest hurt: it never stopped hurting, nor would it stop until the end. And he felt the end was rushing towards him like an express train out of a tunnel. At that moment he felt like lying down on the tracks in front of it.
Zan was driving through the broad Franschhoek valley. The landscape was green and lush, dotted with farmhouses and vineyards, enclosed on three sides by high rock walls. She was heading for the pass at the top of the valley.
She thought about her conversation with Alex Calder. It looked as if he was getting somewhere. She definitely wanted to be there when he found the diary, if he did. She picked up her cell phone and called her husband, saying that she was going up to Johannesburg for the night. It was an interesting new property that she would have to move fast on: she’d explain later. Piet had learned to tolerate her erratic movements. Florence, the maid, would be there to take care of the kids until Piet got back from the office.