LITMIR.BIZ

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to the toilet. I wanted you to see him.’

      ‘He’s a friend who I used for my purposes.’

      ‘How?’

      ‘I asked him to show me his business operations on the pretext that I wanted to invest in his business.’

      ‘Is Shirish part of your unit?’

      ‘No, I told you. I work alone.’

      ‘He says that he is part of your unit.’

      ‘He is bullshitting. He knows nothing about my work for the ANC.’

      ‘He says that you recruited him.’

      ‘He is lying. I work alone.’

      Lieutenant Botha turned back to the album of photographs. Paged through it. ‘Do you know this person?’ He smiled, his finger pointing at a picture of Ebrahim.

      ‘Yes, I do. I know him as Ahmed.’

      ‘When did you first meet him?’

      ‘In January of this year’

      ‘Where?’

      ‘He came to my optometry practice.’

      ‘He just showed up at your practice?’

      ‘No, he had an appointment.’

      ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘I had an appointment with a patient by the name of Ahmed Shaik in the middle of January. He showed up and during the consultation he told me that he was sent by Ivan to meet with me.’

      ‘Why would you trust him?’

      ‘Because he had the proper code.’

      ‘Code? What code?’

      ‘When I last met Ivan in December 1984, he said that someone will come to meet me in the new year under the name of Ahmed Shaik. I should know that he had sent this person to me. He also said that I should ask the question “How is your mother?” The person would respond by saying that “My mother is well and had just come out of hospital in Swaziland”. This was the code.’

      ‘Did Ebrahim use this code?’

      ‘Yes, Ahmed did.’

      ‘Did you know who Ahmed really was?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘What did he ask you to do?’

      ‘To get him an apartment.’

      ‘Is that all?’

      ‘And a car.’

      ‘Did you get him the car?’

      ‘Yes, I did.’

      ‘Where did you get it from?’

      ‘I bought one from my dad, who buys and sells second-hand cars.’

      ‘Under whose name did you register the car?’

      ‘Under the name of Selim Arieff. I used a false identity number and address.’

      ‘What else did you do?’

      ‘Nothing else other than to meet with him once a week in his apartment to see whether he was okay. If he needed anything he would visit me at my practice.’

      ‘What were you doing with Ebrahim and Shirish in the Amsterdam area?’

      ‘Ahmed said he wanted me to take him there.’

      ‘Why?’

      ‘I was to leave him there.’

      ‘Why did you take Shirish?’

      ‘He knew that area well. He has business clients in that area.’

      ‘Did he know that you were going to drop Ahmed off?’

      ‘No, he did not.’

      ‘He must have known!’

      ‘No, I told him nothing. He did not know. Ahmed was going to ask me to stop at a specific spot. He was going to jump off and I was to drive away. That was the plan.’

      ‘Surely, Shirish would ask you what was going on?’

      ‘Yes, I figured that he would. I had a prepared answer.’

      ‘What were you going to tell him?’

      ‘Nothing. I was going to say, it was none of his business.’

      ‘Did you go there to pick up arms?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘Who were the people that Ebrahim met in the Holiday Inn in Ermelo?’

      ‘I don’t know.’

      ‘Did he not say anything?’

      ‘No, and I did not ask. It was none of my business.’

      ‘Who is Myreen?’

      ‘My cousin, my father’s brother’s daughter.’

      ‘Is she part of your unit?’

      ‘No, she is not. I have already told you that I operate alone. I rented a flat for her. She needed a place to stay. I got her a place and paid the rent. My arrangement with her was that I get to use one of the rooms. I kept that room locked all the time. She did not know what I did in it. As a matter of fact, she never saw me in the flat at all. She is completely innocent of my activities.’

      ‘What did you do in that room?’

      ‘I had a photostat machine in it. I used to photostat my office work.’

      ‘Why not keep the photostat machine at your office?’

      ‘The office is too small as you would have seen. It was my intention to use that room for my office administration work.’

      ‘Where is Ebrahim?’

      ‘I don’t know. When we came back from Ermelo, I asked Ahmed to leave as soon as possible. I have not seen him since.’

      ‘Why did you advise him to leave?’

      ‘Because of the military roadblock and I sensed that the Ermelo Holiday Inn was under surveillance. I also saw surveillance around my flat.’

      ‘I see. Are you trained in counter-surveillance?’

      ‘No, I am not, I am just observant.’ I immediately regretted this bragging. I had to stay humble. I could not be overconfident or arrogant.

      If Lieutenant Botha caught the tone of my voice, he didn’t show it but paused for a while before he asked, ‘Did you ever meet Klaas or Hélène?’

      ‘Who are they? I don’t know any Klaas or Hélène.’

      Again, he showed me the photographs of Hélène, Ebrahim and Klaas.

      ‘No,’ I said, ‘the only person I know in these photographs is Ahmed.’

      Lieutenant Botha sat back into his chair and studied me. He smiled the MacGyver smile and began the questions all over again, this time trying to find contradictions in my story. We went over and over the same questions. I held my ground and kept my cool. I played the part of a humbled and broken man. Lieutenant Botha liked this, he revelled in his superiority. It made him feel that he had won the game. But he was oblivious of my game to buy time.

      Eventually Lieutenant Botha called in some colleagues to guard me and left the room. Through the windows I could see the setting sun. The third day was over. A great relief came over me. I closed my eyes and dozed in the chair.

      Lieutenant Botha was not gone long, returning with a tape recorder. He sat down, said nothing but stared at me. Then he smiled. I wondered whether he knew that his smile was a dead give-away in an interrogation. He lit a cigarette.

      ‘Who was the person

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