Secret affair

The next day, I returned to work feeling better. Mika surprised me with a bunch of white roses and a note.

"What's this for? Trying to make a move on me again?" I joked.

Mika blushed in embarrassment.

"Nope, just being an attentive friend. Why don't you open it?"

The note read, "Couldn't have asked for a better partner!"

I smiled. "Thanks, I feel the same way."

Mika winked. "Oh, hell no!" He said, leaning closer to hug me.

I laughed. Mr. Phenyo approached our desk.

"What's going on here?" He asked in a harsh voice.

Quickly, I distanced myself from Mika. "Sorry, sir. We got carried away. It won't happen again," I assured him.

Mr. Phenyo laughed. "You should see your face right now. Glad to see you both; come to my office. There's a new case I need you to solve."

Mika and I exchanged glances. While Mika seemed relaxed, I couldn't shake off my nerves in front of our mentor. I liked and feared him. There was something peculiar about him, but I didn't know what.

Mr. Phenyo adjusted his necktie slightly, while sitting down on his brown leathered office chair. Mika glanced at me, then focused on Mr. Phenyo. We stood there like two military soldiers, waiting for an order from their captain. Mr. Phenyo handed us each a blue casefile.

"This is the new case. Read through it, understand it, and if something seems unclear, then inquire. I will help where I can. Any questions?"

"Are we allowed to solve the cases in our own homes or do we have to do all of our research here at the site?" Mika asked.

"You are agents. You are allowed to work wherever you feel comfortable as long as the cases are solved and the bad men and women are brought to justice."

As I was about to leave the office, Mr. Phenyo cleared his throat.

"Miss Mokoena, stay! I would like to speak to you in private. Mr. Ludik, you, however, may leave."

Mika glanced at Mr. Phenyo with a slightly irritable look, then he left. I closed the door and returned to the position where I was standing.

"Take a seat!" Mr. Phenyo instructed.

My mind was overcrowded with various thoughts, some good, some dirty. I breathed three times, trying to keep myself calm. As I took my seat, I could feel the coldness of the leather fabric on the back of my thighs. Mr. Phenyo did not blink; his stare was intense, his mouth tightly shut. I prayed within my heart that I would not make a fool out of myself.

"Do you know why I told you to stay?" Mr. Phenyo asked.

"No."

"I called you here because I see potential. You have what the organization needs, Miss Mokoena. You are talented!"

I smiled. His words made me feel better about myself.

"I am humbled by your words, sir."

"In-depth, I would like to say that I would really appreciate it if you do not allow anything to disturb your work, whether it be relationships, friendships, or family feuds. This job can get very dangerous. You cannot allow your emotions to get out of hand. No matter what happens, you need to stay focused and on the job. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir! But why are you telling me all of these things?"

"As I said before, you have potential, and I don't want to lose you!"

Mr. Phenyo excused me. I realized that he actually did care about me.

Mika wanted to know what the man had said, but I shrugged him off with my deadbeat glance, and he stopped bothering me.

I opened the casefile then began to read through it.

"A number of albino women have been disappearing from their homes and workplaces only to be discovered dead two months later. Their bodies have been found in isolated areas, bushes, and train stations that no longer are in service. The women have been found naked, and their private parts missing. It is suspected that the women may have been used for cult purposes. There has been a recent abduction of another albino woman, who we think might still be alive. Her personal details are on the following page. The case has been handed over to the Guardians Of the Hex organization. You are our only hope now! Good luck!"

"Victim, Tanya Engelbrecht, age 21, female, single, closest connection, Leticia Engelbrecht, mother, aged 60, address, 290 Montagu," Mika read aloud.

"I guess we will have to work with this. Mr. Phenyo could have told us more; this is not enough," I complained.

"Maybe he will listen to you," Mika grinned.

I did not like that response, but being the mature lady that I was, I ignored his idiotic comment. Not so true.

"Why are you giving me that look?"

I realized that I had been staring at him once again. He probably thought that I disliked him, I thought. Out of my shame, I returned to my work in complete silence. I began typing the name Tanya Engelbrecht. I found her on the internet; she was still using the same name. Her last post was about a song she enjoyed, "Addicted to You" by Avicii. While I was browsing on the internet, trying to find a missing clue, Mika was setting an appointment with Tanya's mother, Gloria.

"Gloria

has agreed to meet with us; let's go!" said Mika, with a grin on his face. I saved all of my research and left with my partner to Gloria's house.

"Let's take my car!" I suggested.

Mika didn't like small cars, but he didn't complain this time; he knew that it was fast and light. Gloria welcomed us warmly into her home.

"Would you like something to drink?" she asked.

I nodded; I did feel a little thirsty.

"Rooibos tea would be fine, thanks," Mika blurted out.

Gloria prepared the tea quickly and brought it; there were cookies on the side. I liked cookies; I was happy, and so was Mika.

"Tanya is a good girl. She attends her classes, she doesn’t smoke or drink any alcohol, and she doesn’t even have friends nor does she date. After training, she comes straight back home!" Gloria explained, with tears falling down her cheeks. I leaned closer to her to give her a hug. Mika and I stopped asking questions until she was ready to talk again. She stopped crying, then took a glass of water and gulped it down to calm herself.

"It's okay, I'm better now!" Gloria said, her nose red from all the crying.

“Did Tanya argue with anyone before she disappeared, did she perhaps have an enemy that you might know of or suspect was her enemy?” Mika asked.

“Our daughter didn’t have any enemies; people adored her. She was an inspiration to many girls here. And she was a silent person; whenever she was angry, she would put on her headphones and listen to music then lock herself in her room until she was ready to face the world again."

"Okay, thank you, ma'am, for your cooperation. We will inform you once we find your daughter," said Mika.

"I am glad to have been helpful."

The truth of the matter was that the information was not helpful enough; I knew there was more to the story than meets the eye. Mika and I returned to the GOH site to give Mr. Phenyo details on what we had found as it was necessary to do so. We followed the rules at the time.

An hour later, while I was lying on my bed, I received a call from Gloria. She hadn’t mentioned one detail. A detail that could make or break the case. Fortunately, I was home, without any distraction. I quickly recorded the call. Mika had left to meet with what he referred to as “An important date”.

I stood up from my bed, then reached for my recorder.

“I am going to have to record this, as it is part of my job. You can begin now,” I stated firmly.

“Well, a police constable by the name of Roger Fisher came to my house one night looking for my daughter,” said Gloria.

“Exactly on which date did Mr. Fisher visit?”

“I can’t remember, but it was a few days before my daughter was abducted.”

“Alright, ma'am. Is that all you remember?”

"Yes, that was all of it. Detective, please bring my daughter home. Aseblief!” Gloria pleaded.

"I will, I promise."

When Gloria ended the call, I continued with my research. I had hope now.

Something I could use.

“Constable Fisher, eh. Let’s see,” I spoke excitedly. I would finally be able to solve the case, I thought.

Gaining access to government secret information was quite simple for me. Every agent in the GOH was permitted to use the information in case it was urgent. I typed the name "Roger Fisher" then clicked on the search button. The search result came faster than I had anticipated.

“List of new recruits from 2010-2020 nationally. Enter link,” I said, scrolling through the emails.

As I clicked on the given link, the total number of recruits was 10500. Their names were arranged alphabetically. I searched for an hour or two. My eyes were starting to hurt. No wonder I turned my back from doing IT. Finally, I found a name that matched what I had been looking for all along.

“Constable Roger Cornelius Fisher!” I shouted in excitement. I found him, I thought. The man appeared to be friendly, with his innocent-looking smile, neatly trimmed mustache, and big dark brown eyes. I wondered how he was in real life, and I was about to find out. Fortunately, he had an account with LinkedIn. It seemed he had an interest in mentoring young people into becoming better policemen and women. I used the opportunity and quickly opened an account with LinkedIn. I used various software to make the account appear four years old, at the least. Then finally, I sent a message that the constable would notice.

“Dear Mr. Fisher, I saw that you offer mentorship to young people aspiring to become policemen. I recently completed my senior high school in 2019 and have become interested in fighting for justice and protecting my fellow countrymen from criminals. I truly need this opportunity. I plan to attend the police academy the following year as I’m fixing my matric results this year. Should you need anyone to mentor, please consider me as well.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Kgomo.”

I received a response right away.

“Hello, Miss Kgomo, I am honored and more than anything happy to see young people doing something useful with their lives. We can meet at the Cape Town City library at 9 a.m. I will be having a group session with other young people. You will receive the full guide on how you could be a part of my mentorship program and what you will gain while attending. Enjoy your day.”

I couldn’t wait to share the good news with my partner. Wednesday morning, I arrived at work feeling energized; even Mr. Phenyo could recognize that I was in a good mood. I could see him smile, or perhaps I was exaggerating.

“My African Queen!” Mika shouted, hugging me tightly, as was his habit.

“Go through the file and see what I found out while you were playing date with a mysterious lady,” I said jokingly.

Mika blushed for a while. He went through the file so quickly and hugged me.

“This is it. This is our killer,” he said.

“But how can we be sure? What could the constable want with Tanya?” I wondered.

“Let’s find out!”

Mika and I drove all the way to the Cape Town City library, where we found Mr. Fisher conducting a group session like he said he would. We waited until the session had ended.

“Could I help you?” asked the constable.

“Yes, we need to ask you a few questions regarding the abduction of Tanya Engelbrecht,” replied Mika.

Mr. Fisher stormed out of the library. His eyes were red. Mika and I ran after him. We captured him before he could go far. But he was not showing signs of fear, only signs of sadness.

“When did she get abducted?” he asked.

The head of police kept all paranormal cases a secret from the police officers, including constables.

“A few days after you had paid the Engelbrecht family a visit, Tanya was abducted. Can you please tell us what was the reason behind your visit? Let’s start there, and don’t say you were the boyfriend because Mrs. Engelbrecht already told

me that her daughter was not dating anyone at the time,” Mika said.

“Tanya and I were involved, but we had to keep that a secret,” the constable voiced out.

“Why would you keep such a thing hidden?” Mika asked, the very same Mika who hadn’t told me the name of her date.

“I have been married for ten years, but I have fallen so deeply in love with Tanya that I could not even hide it anymore. I ended up breaking my own rules and visited Tanya in her home.”

The man seemed sincere, but then again, what if he was lying?

Mika and I looked at each other, then put our gaze back to the constable. Overwhelmed with sadness, Mr. Fisher continued to sob.

“Who would do this?” he asked.

“We will find out, I promise you, sir. We will find this monster!” Mika said, patting the constable on the shoulder.

“Can I tell you a secret? I too once lost someone I cared about. We found her body behind a dumpster,” said Mika.

I was shocked. Mika had never told me that before.

"I would like to help with the investigation as well."

Mika glanced at me for a while, then took me aside.

"There is no need to hide; we will erase his memories afterward!" Mika whispered. We turned back to the constable.

"Okay, you can help us, but you can't involve your colleagues; this case is only supposed to be handled by my unit!" I said firmly.

"Can we trust you, constable?" Mika added.

"Yes, you can trust me!"