"What do you mean you don't know where she is?" Aden asked loudly.
"Calm down sir. Her sister told us that she had not seen her since yesterday afternoon." Kannemeyer said.
"If she had done anything to Aïda I'll strangle her with my bare hands."
Aden heard foorsteps behind him.
"Aden what's going on? Who will you strangle?" Johanie asked.
What was she doing here?
"Mrs Harmse, please wait outside my office. I'll question you later."
"Why do you want to question me? Am I a suspect?"
"No, Mrs Harmse. We don't even know if a crime occurred but, you were the last person to see Miss Völlenhoven. It's mandatory for you to be interviewed. Now, please I need to speak to Mr van den Heever in private. Close he door behind you."
"Okay...I'll be outside." Johanie closed the office door behind her.
"Please sit down sir." Kannemeyer said to Aden pointing to a chair in the other side of his desk.
Aden took the seat.
"We are doing everything in our capacity to find Miss Völlenhoven. We are looking for Miss November as well. We've employed extra officers to do as much as possible."
Aden stared blankly at the detective. Did this man really expect him to be calm?
"I won't be calm untill you find Tiffany and send her back to prison, for good." Aden spat.
"If she had anything to do with Miss Vollenhoven's disappearance she will be prosecuted." Kannemeyer responded.
"No, detective. I want her prosecuted either way. She's broken her bail conditions when she left her sister's house."
"Sir I-"
"Aden. Please, just call me by my name."
"Aden, do you have any idea where Miss November might be?"
Aden thought for a moment but nothing came to his mind.
"Do you have an idea?" Kannemeyer repeated.
"No but if I remember anything I'll inform you."
"Good. Anyway, Miss November would not get too far, most of the public know who she is. Take comfort in that, Aden.Erm, please excuse me. I have to interview Mrs Harmse. I want to find out how she slept so peacefully while Miss Völlenhoven disappeared in the middle of the night.
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"Thank you for coming so soon, Mrs Harmse." Kannemeyer said.
"No, problem, officer and please call me Johanie."
"Okay."
"Johanie, I need to know what happened last night. I want to know every detail. Tell me what happened after you and Miss Völlenhoven got to the flat."
"Well...not much."
Collin raised his brows at her. What does she mean, not much? A woman is missing.
"We...we got into the flat and then Aïda asked me if I needed anything. I said that I needed to take a shower. Aïda pointed me to the shower and gave me a pair of her pyjamas to wear. After I was done she also took a shower. I checked my e-mails and social media accounts wh...while she was showering. When she came back she checked the door and windows and got into bed with me. We fell asleep within minutes."
Kannemeyer eyed Johanie with a bored look on his face. She got scared.
"Mrs Harmse, how do you know that you both fell asleep?"
"Pardon...I don't understand?"
"It's a simple question, how do you know that you both fell asleep?"
Johanie looked at him like he was speaking a strange language.
"Let me rephrase, which one of you two fell asleep first."
Johanie thought for a moment.
"It's not a hard question, Mrs Harmse."
"I think I slept first."
"You think or you know?"
"I must have fallen asleep first because...I...I don't remember when she fell asleep. I just remember waking up this morning to an empty flat."
The detective's poker face made Johanie want to run away.
"Mrs Harmse tell me, why did you not raise the alarm when you woke up alone in the flat."
Johanie looked down at her fingers and rubbed her sweaty palms together.
"I thought that she left for work. She goes to work very early in the morning. I had to leave early too. I had an audition to get too."
"Hmm. So you left right after waking up. Did you take a bath or shower."
"No. I got dressed into my clothes from yesterday and left. I...I was in a hurry so, I didn't shower. I only washed my face and brushed my teeth. I didn't even have time to eat. Aïda had given me a toothbrush the previous night. It was with the pyjamas."
Kannemeyer stared silently her for a few seconds but, to Johanie it felt like forever.
"Mrs Harmse, I need you to write everything that you've just said down in a report. I also need timestamps," Kannemeyer handed her a sheet and a black pan, "Start writing. I'll be back I first minutes."
Johanie did as she was told while Kannemeyer was away.
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Aden was sitting inside his car at Aïda' s flat. The forensics team were inside looking for evidence. He daydreaming about her returning to get flat of Tuis Kombuis as if never happened.
He tried Zoë's number again by there was still no response. He was both fuming and worried at the same time. How could she not answer her phone with her line of work?
Tiffany was missing, Zoë's phone went straight to voicemail and even Adriaan did not answer his phone.
Adriaan had called the coach last night. According to the coach he had pulled out of the remaining games of the tournament due to his mother's illness. Aden had heard this from the coach when he had called him to inform him about his withdrawal from the tournament.
He dialled Adriaan's number again but, to no avail. According to what Johanie had told him, in the afternoon, cellphone reception was very bad where the senior Harmses lived.
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Back in Detective Kannemeyer's office Johanie was feeling like a duck out of water. The officer had been staring at her report for the last ten minutes. She just wanted to go home.
"May I leave? I want to leave before it gets too late." Johanie said.
"Not so soon, Mrs Harmse." Kannemeyer responded.
He folded his arms across his chest.
"Is something wrong?" Johanie asked.
"Mrs Harmse, did you write all the events of last night and this I
morning down?" Kannemeyer questioned cocking his right brow.
Johanie fumbled with her fingers in her lap.
"Did you, Mrs Harmse?"
"Yes, I did."
"Why are you lying to me, Mrs Harmse?"
"Wh...what are you talking about, detective?"
Kannemeyer got up from his chair and leaned on the wall behind the chair, crossing his arms. Johanie was so scared.
"You told me that you got up washed your face, brushed your teeth and left. You were in such a hurry that you did not even shower or eat, yes?" Kannemeyer questioned.
"Yes, I said that. It is the truth." A nervous Johanie responded.
"Hmm. You were in such a hurry that you left without cleaning yourself yet, you had more than enough time to clean Miss Völlenhoven's flat. The neighbours saw you." Kannemeyer retorted.
Johanie was paler than usual and she was naturally very pale.
"You left her door open while cleaning. Neighbours observed you singing and cleaning. Apparently, you even mopped the floors yet, according to you, you had no time. One of the tenants even took some photos of you."
Kannemeyer cleared his throat waiting for a response from her.
"Er...I forgot about that."
"You forgot?"
"I forgot."
"You forgot that you sweeped and wiped away possible evidence. I must say, Mrs Harmse, you did a great job with the bleach. You truly did a great job disinfecting every surface."
The next moment the room was immersed in the smell and sounds of Johanie's farts.
"I want my call my lawyer." A very embarrased Johanie uttered.
"There's no need for that Mrs Harmse. You may leave. I'll call you if I need to see you again."
Johanie rushed out of the room.
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"Bring the evidence as soon as possible. I'll meet you in my office in an hour. Do not be late." Kannemeyer ordered.
It was three in the morning and Kannemeyer got off the phone. He had just spoken with one of the guys from forensics. So much for an uninterrupted nights sleep but, this peace of evidence was about to break the case wide open.
The man on the other side of the line had been very excited.
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Aden groaned as he read the newspaper aricle on his laptop. The article reported on Aïda's disappearance but, what made him angry was the fact that reporter had been more interested in gossip.
The headline read: The woman Aden had dumped Tiffany for, is missing. The article went on to speculate possible reasons for her going missing. According to the journalist Aïda had either ran away due to fear of Tiffany or someone had done something to her because of Aden. Possibly a fan of his. Or she was just chilling somewhere with friends or family, off the grid.
Aden wanted to sue the newspaper for the bad reporting but he did not have time. He had to get in touch with Zoë. She had not returned any of his calls.
It was six in the morning and Aden was having his breakfast, well trying to. Between the horrible article and his worry for Aïda, getting food down had not been easy. His whole body was on edge. He went to bed at one in the morning and had probably only slept for three hours throughout.
Zoë's phone was still unreachable so he continued scanning through the news on his laptop. Another article got his attention. It stated that Johanie was an person a person of interest in Aïda's disappearance. It came to light that Johanie not only hid information but also that she got rid of possible evidence.
Aden could not believe his eyes. He dialled Johanie's number to find out the truth but alas, her phone was switched off.
He was about to go to the Harmse home when his phone rang. He did not recognize the number.
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"Officer Mbula, please call a press conference for ten this morning. We need as many journalists here as possible." Kannemeyer odered the media liaisons officer.
"Yes sir." Mbula answered.
Collin scratched his head nervously. Things just got real and what was worse is the fact that they've lost a whole day. The police were playing catch up from this point on. He just hoped that they would find a living person and not a deceased one. Things looked bad, very bad.
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"Hello?" Aden asked with shaking hands.
"Aden?" The whisper came from the other and of the line.
"Zoë!" Aden exclaimed.
"Yes, it's me, Aden. How are you?"
"Forget that, Zoë. Why did you not answer any of my or Johanie' s calls."
"My phone was off."
"Duh! Why was it off?"
"I don't use that number anymore. I have a new phone and number. I forwarded my number to all my clients and most of my family. I forgot to give my number to you. I'm so sorry."
"How did you know that I was looking for you?"
"Well, I still have my old phone. I checked it a few minutes ago and saw all the missed calls and messages from you, Johanie and Martin. Any news about Aïda yet?"
"No. Zoë, I need to know information regarding her family."
"Honestly I don't know much but I'll give you the little I have."
Zoë shared what she knew and Aden sat out to contact the family.
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Aden parked his car in front of the hospital where Aïda's mother, Evelynn, worked.
Zoë had given her name, her designation and had even sent a link of Evelynn Majied's Fb account. Aden had called her and she told him that she was at work. He told her that he would meet her there. She told him the department and there he was.
Evelynn was waiting for him at the entrance of the hospital. She looked him up and down in a very flirtatious manner. Aden felt uncomfortable especially since he had seen way too much of Mrs Majied on her Fb account profile picture.
"How on earth did Aïda get her hands on such a beautiful man," she licked her lips, "miracles never cease."