him the details of the dentist. Then she showed him out.
Before he drove off, Kubu phoned Samantha and asked her to contact the dentist and get the records to the pathologist right away. He also asked her to contact Broadhurst cemetery and arrange another exhumation for the next morning. That would be definite as soon as Ian confirmed the identity of the body in his laboratory.
AT 8:30 A.M. ON Thursday, a much more imposing coffin rested on the table in the pathologist’s mortuary. When the lid was levered off, Owido’s sightless eyes stared up at Ian and Kubu. Even before the autopsy, there was no doubt about the unpleasant and violent nature of his death. Even Ian’s face registered shock.
Although Kubu had kept the second exhumation quiet, Rampa had got wind of it somehow or had simply realized that Kubu would quickly see through his ruse. Detective Thibelo, who’d been keeping a careful eye on him, followed him to Tlokweng and arrested him as he tried to cross into South Africa. Thibelo treated Rampa with nervous respect, and carefully handcuffed him to the passenger-seat armrest. He’d heard a rumor that Rampa could make himself invisible.
FIFTY-THREE
KUBU WASN’T ENTIRELY COMFORTABLE when he opened the door to the interrogation room just after lunch. Intellectually, he didn’t believe that witch doctors had any real powers, only that they relied on the power of suggestion to influence their clients’ lives. But, he had to admit, he had a niggle of concern about confronting Rampa.
“So, Rra Rampa, we meet again. This time I hope you’ll tell the truth.”
Rampa didn’t respond, but Kubu noticed how he was clasping and unclasping his hands. Kubu pressed the button to start the recorder and completed the necessary formalities.
“Kopano Rampa, you are under arrest for the murder of Mabulo Owido, a Tanzanian citizen. You are also under suspicion for the murder of Lesego Betse and Tombi Maleng, two schoolgirls who disappeared from near their schools.”
“I haven’t killed anyone!”
“You have the right to have a lawyer present. Do you want one?”
“No. I haven’t done anything.”
“Okay. That’s your choice.”
Kubu flipped through his notebook until he reached the page he wanted.
“Rra Rampa, this morning we exhumed another body that you buried recently. Your documentation and that of the cemetery indicates that it was the grave of one Aka Ndode. The problem is that the body in the coffin was not Aka Ndode, who was a black male. We believe it was the body of the Tanzanian I mentioned, Mabulo Owido, who was an albino.”
Rampa just stared at Kubu.
“In addition, we’ve now verified that the body we exhumed yesterday, which should have been the unknown person you claim was delivered by ambulance from the morgue, was in fact Rra Ndode. Moreover, Mma Ndode tells me that before the funeral she saw her husband in the coffin the albino was buried in, not the cheap pine one in which we actually found him.”
Rampa wiped his brow with the back of his hand.
“Finally, the documentation for the unidentified man you buried was a forgery. So the evidence for a willful switching of the bodies is overwhelming. I’m sure the Ministry of Trade and Industry will agree, revoke your license, and probably press charges.
“But that’s the least of your worries,” Kubu continued. “The person whose corpse we exhumed this morning—the albino—did not die of natural causes. He had been murdered and several organs had been removed, almost certainly for muti.”
Rampa jumped up. “I didn’t murder anybody!” he shouted.
Kubu ignored the outburst and continued. “We also have a signed confession from a man, Wilson Demene, who claims he helped another man, Sunday Molefe, kidnap Owido. We have a record of the fact that Molefe sent a text message to your phone shortly after Owido disappeared. We also have a witness who says you left your house about that time. No doubt to pick up the albino, so you could kill him for body parts.”
“I haven’t killed anyone! You’ve got to believe me!” Rampa screamed.
“How can I believe you? All the evidence points to you. What can you tell me to change my mind?”
Rampa shook his head, his face looking as though he were in great pain.
“All right, let’s take this one step at a time. Tell me how the two bodies were switched. Who did it? Who murdered the albino?”
“I swear I didn’t kill anyone.”
“But did you switch the bodies?”
Rampa covered his eyes with his hands, but said nothing.
“Did you bury the bodies?”
Rampa was now shaking.
“Let me tell you