The Satanic Mechanic by Sally Andrew

Author:Sally Andrew
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canongate Books

CHAPTER FORTY

When I got home, the message light was flashing on my phone. I knew it would be Henk, so I just called him.

‘Maria, where have you been?’

‘At my therapy group. Didn’t I tell you I was going? It ran a bit late.’

‘Can I come round?’

‘I’ve got a piece of Pikkie’s pumpkin pie for you.’

I whipped up some cream as I listened to the messages he had left. Three of them, each sounding more urgent than the next:

‘Maria. Please call me when you get in.’

‘I need to see you.’

‘Where are you?’

He arrived without Kosie, which was a message in itself.

There was a spark in his eyes. Was he angry? He leant forward to give me a quick kiss, then he put a yellow bag on the kitchen table. A Spar plastic bag.

I took a deep breath. ‘It was an interesting session,’ I said. ‘I’d like to talk to you about it.’

‘I need your advice,’ he said, taking three bottles of mustard from the plastic bag.

It was the fire of excitement in his eyes, not anger. But not the going-to-bed kind of excitement.

‘Mustard?’ I said.

I looked at the bottles of Colman’s, Dijon and Spar mustard on the table. Henk’s moustache whiskers were twitching, like a dog on the scent of a hare.

‘This is to do with the Slimkat case, isn’t it?’ I said.

‘Do you think you can tell me which of these was used in the poison sauce?’

He arranged the bottles neatly, like a police line-up.

I said, ‘I didn’t taste it, you know. I just smelt it on Slimkat’s napkin.’

‘Ja, but you could tell it had garlic in it, and that the mustard used was different from that in the usual kudu sosatie sauce.’

‘What is this about?’ I said.

I laid a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream on the table in front of him, but he didn’t even look at it.

‘Open them,’ he said. ‘Smell them. Tell me what you think.’

‘I made Pikkie’s pumpkin pie,’ I said. ‘It’s nice cold, but I can heat it up if you like.’

‘Please, Maria,’ he said.

‘How come you suddenly want my help with the case now?’ I said. ‘What happened to me staying out of police business?’

‘I was worried for your safety, you know that. But it’s not dangerous to smell mustard. And I trust you to stay out of danger.’

I thought of all the dangers I’d been through that very evening, but now was not the time to speak of them.

‘I just want your professional advice,’ he said.

‘Okay,’ I said, and sat down at the table. ‘You eat your pie.’

He picked up his fork but kept his eyes on me.

I opened the bottle of Dijon mustard and sniffed it. ‘This is the mustard they used in the Kudu Stall sauce.’

Henk nodded. ‘Ja, you are right, that’s the one.’

‘How do you know? Did the Kudu Stall give you the recipe?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘They used Dijon mustard, and they didn’t add garlic.’

I clicked my tongue. ‘They wouldn’t give me the recipe.’

‘It’s the ingredients of the poison sauce that I need your help with here.

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