The Widow Fourie came out of the kitchen , carrying a glass of water , just as Kramer opened her front door at a quarter past midnight , doing his best to make not a sound .sx " Hello , " she said .sx " You're up late .sx .. " .sx " And you .sx " .sx " Ach , no .sx I was fast asleep until a minute ago - little Piet woke up , wanting a drink .sx " .sx " I could bloody do with one , " muttered Kramer , before adding :sx " Good night , hey ?sx " .sx " Top shelf , pantry , " she said .sx " Behind where the box of birthday-cake candles is kept .sx " .sx Kramer watched her go down the corridor .sx She looked tired , but walked with none of the unsteadiness normally associated with someone just roused from slumber , which intrigued him .sx Then he found , behind the box of birthday-cake candles , a large , untouched bottle of Oude Meester brandy , its seal still intact .sx There was a holly-leaf label attached to the neck of the bottle which read :sx " To my beloved Pik , Happy Christmas !sx XXX .sx " .sx Kramer poured a good measure into a tumbler and sat down at the kitchen table , propping his feet up .sx He saw no harm in drinking a dead man's booze .sx He had read somewhere that people did this to Napoleon's brandy all the time - and then boasted to their friends about it .sx " So you found the bottle OK , " said the Widow Fourie , returning to the kitchen with an empty glass .sx " Like some ?sx " .sx " No , not for me , thanks .sx " .sx " Have just a drop , " he insisted .sx " One tiny drop !sx It'll help you get straight back to sleep again .sx " And he looked at her in the eye .sx " No , honest , " she said , turning quickly away .sx " Suit yourself !sx " .sx " You sound upset , " she said , rinsing the glass at the sink .sx " Why's that ?sx " .sx " All right if I have another ?sx " .sx " It's there to be drunk .sx " .sx " So am I , " said Kramer .sx She sat silently with him , sorting the children's freshly laundered clothes into four neat piles on the table top , while he sank that first tumblerful .sx His gaze kept returning to her and especially to that wide , generous mouth with its bracketing of laughter-lines .sx " If you're staring at these spots , " she said , " it's my time of the month , that's all .sx You don't have to be so blatant about it .sx " .sx Kramer dug out a Lucky .sx " Ach , no !sx " he said .sx " I was thinking of something else entirely :sx Short-arse .sx " .sx " I beg your pardon !sx " .sx " Hell , not you , hey ?sx Just some kaffir .sx " .sx " What kaffir ?sx " .sx So he told her , speaking freely , too freely maybe , but he'd hardly eaten all day and the brandy was coursing strong through his veins .sx He let slip that he had a hunch about this kaffir that made the hairs at the back of his neck stand up - a sort of destiny thing .sx " Oh , " she said , and became silent again .sx " Don't just sit there - talk !sx " he said .sx " Keep on talking .sx Tell me how bloody stupid I'm being !sx " .sx " I can't , " she said .sx " The day that Pik got killed , he kissed me goodbye at the door , same as usual , then he came back and kissed me and the kids again , a second time .sx There seemed to be no reason .sx " .sx They were both quiet after that , while the kitchen clock kept up its ponderous loud ticking .sx " This native , " said the Widow Fourie , abruptly brisk and businesslike , pouring herself a small tot of brandy .sx " You'll just have to look for him , find him , see for yourself how plain and ordinary he is , and put an end to - " .sx " Look for him ?sx " echoed Kramer .sx " What the hell else do you think Hans and me have been doing half the night ?sx " .sx " You didn't tell me that .sx How am I supposed to know ?sx " .sx " We searched everywhere , high and low .sx Gone !sx Vanished , just like that .sx .. " .sx The Widow Fourie downed her brandy in one , grimacing at the taste , then placed the glass very carefully on the table top .sx " You say , " she said , " that he's probably changed by now into the suit of clothes he stole from the kitchen boy at Fynn's Creek .sx Were you able to give people a good description of them ?sx " .sx " Oh , ja , " said Kramer .sx " Excellent .sx " .sx " You're sure ?sx " .sx " Cassius got it directly off the kitchen boy .sx One black jacket , black pants with shiny seat , and a white shirt that has a patch on the left shoulder made out of the shirt tail .sx A belt that's black on the outside , grey on the inside , and the buckle has a five - pointed star on it , real trading-store .sx Also , a pair of size eleven , black imitation leather lace-up shoes .sx Thick soles with a crisscross pattern , a nick in the left toecap from a falling penknife , and a blemish on the right shoe that's an area of roughness in the shape of a half-moon .sx Oh , and the shoes hadn't been dyed evenly :sx the left one had a bit of purple in the black , when you held it to the light .sx " .sx " Yirra , " said the Widow Fourie , " that really is a description !sx The cook boy told you all that ?sx He must've been in love with those blessed shoes of his !sx " .sx Kramer nodded .sx " My reaction was the same , " he said .sx " Only Cassius pointed out that there are over 300 words in Zulu you can use to describe the different colours of a cow .sx On top of which , there were even more words for every kind of horn , hoof , etc. I think what he meant was , when a coon around here is too poor to own any cattle , then a shoe - even one that's not real hide - just has to do , hey ?sx " .sx " Hmmm , " said the Widow Fourie .sx " So this native hasn't been seen since - can't he just have gone ?sx Y'know , back to wherever you think you first saw him ?sx " .sx " Ja , outside the magistrate's court , " muttered Kramer , then realized what he had just said .sx And he was back in Trekkersburg , on his very first morning , in the alley beside the courthouse , which had been thronged so solid with worried kaffir wives and their families that you had to force your way through them .sx Then , all of a sudden , the crowd had parted of its own volition , and through it had come a coon version of Frank Sinatra making with the jaunty walk .sx The snap-brim hat , padded shoulders and zoot suit larded with glinting thread were all secondhand ideas from a secondhand shop .sx Yet with them went the feeling that here was an original , even if someone , somewhere else , had thought it all up before .sx The man walked that way because he thought that way , and the crowd had sensed this - just as it had sensed that something special , perhaps even deadly , walked with him .sx " Tromp ?sx " said the Widow Fourie , sounding very concerned .sx " Trompie , are you all right ?sx " .sx " Ach , fine !sx " he said , blinking , reaching for more brandy .sx " You think the kaffir's gone back ?sx Why the bloody change of clothes if he was going to do that ?sx No , my feeling is that he's still around , lying low , still keeping a watch on what we're - " .sx " But why ?sx " asked the Widow Fourie .sx " That's the part I don't get .sx I can't see how a native could possibly have been mixed up in - " .sx " Then I'll have to just bloody ask him !sx " said Kramer , testily , needing time to think , feeling the pressure .sx " Find a way to get my cuffs on him , and ask him lots of things - ask the two-faced bastard what the hell's going here !sx " .sx " I know a way , " she said .sx " Pardon ?sx " .sx " I know a way of catching him , if he's still in the area , " said the Widow Fourie .sx " It's what my Uncle Koos did , that time he had all the trouble with the leopard .sx You know what sly , cunning creatures leopards are , hiding away so you never see them - leaving you just to find another of your flock has been taken in the morning ?sx Well , Uncle Koos knew the leopard was out there somewhere , hiding in the foothills , and so he just got a goat and - " .sx " Ja , ja , set a trap !sx " said Kramer , nodding .sx He did not sleep much after that .sx Every time his eyes closed , and his mind lost its grip on the day , slipping into strange half - dreams , mostly seascapes , it took only the slightest sound to jolt him wide awake again .sx Then he would lie staring at the ceiling , trying to grasp the actual implications of Short-arse and Zoot-suit being one and the same bastard , until eventually his eyelids drifted shut once more , restarting the cycle .sx " Can Dingaan have your fat , please ?sx " Piet asked him at the breakfast table .sx " I'd sooner he had my head , " said Kramer , waving aside the milk that the maid had been about to add to his coffee .sx " Ja , of course he can - he can have the whole of my bacon , if he likes .sx I'm not in the mood for it .sx " .sx " Ja , my ma warned me , " said Piet , forking the bacon over on to his bread plate .sx " Warned you about what ?sx " .sx " She said you'd probably be like a bull who had backed into a big cactus this morning .sx " .sx " That ma of yours .sx .. " .sx " She's nice , isn't she ?sx " said Piet .sx " Sometimes I think Fanie Kritzinger's got a better one , but not always .sx " .sx " Oh , ja ?sx Any views on his pa then ?sx " .sx " He's dead .sx Kicked the bucket .sx Everyone knows that .sx " .sx " Who told you , hey ?sx " .sx " I don't know - one of the kids , down by the river .sx " .sx " Was his pa a nice man ?sx " .sx Piet shrugged .sx " Come on , " said Kramer .sx " What was he like ?sx " .sx " He wasn't like that other policeman who used to come and see my ma a lot , Herman's uncle .sx He was like .sx .. Well , a bit like you , I suppose , and they didn't let him have a uniform either .sx " .sx Kramer wasn't sure why , but as he drove to Jafini police station shortly before nine , he kept thinking about that little conversation .sx Then he became preoccupied by other things , and in particular by the trap he would set that day for Short-arse .sx Try as he might , he had not been able to improve on the trick that the Widow Fourie's uncle had played on the leopard , and had finally decided there was probably no need to .sx Just as the leopard had been attracted by the sheep fold , Short-arse had his own known centre of interest :sx the Fynn's Creek murder scene .sx Granted , now that all the activity had died down there , most of its appeal must have gone , too , but some form of tethered goat could soon change this .sx " Goat , goat , goat .sx .. " Kramer murmered , trying to think of something simple .sx Simplest of all , would be to renew police activity at Fynn's Creek and then make a mystery of what exactly they were up to .sx But how ?sx Now that Field Cornet Dorf had been over the site with such care , it was difficult to see what there was left to act as a fresh focus of attention .sx Hell , the whole place had been scrutinized and every last morsel of possible evidence had - no , wait !sx There was still one part of the scene as yet unexamined :sx the hut of Moses the cook boy , where Short-arse himself had come calling !sx .sx " Perfect , " said Kramer .sx Terblanche had on his harassed look .sx " Morning , Tromp !sx " he said , scraping a splash of maize porridge from his tie .sx " Goodness , what a start to the day .sx .. " .sx " You should try eating slower , Hans .sx " .sx " No , no , not this !sx I've just had the station commander at Nkosala on the phone , reminding me I've got to be in court there at ten in the middle of all else !sx And if I don't find my statement soon to memorize , I won't know what to say !sx I did try for an adjournment on account of assisting you in this matter , but - " .sx " That's fine , man !sx I'll see you after .sx I just need to borrow one of your blokes and a boy .sx " .sx " Take Malan - I prefer Sarel to be in charge of the station whenever I'm away - and any Bantu that's going .sx What's this in aid of ?sx " .sx " To help me find Short-arse .sx " .sx " Ach , I'm sorry , of course !sx Just shows what a muddle I'm getting myself into .sx Let's hope today our luck changes , hey ?sx " .sx " Man , I know it will .sx " .sx