Read Online Death Dealing by Ian Patrick - Free Book Online Page B

Tshabalala. Not just Student Constable any longer but Constable . Sounds great. Next step
you’re going to be a detective.’
    ‘That’s what I’d like to do. You’re
my role model. Except for the martial arts. I’ll never lift my legs that high.’
    ‘You just have to keep training,
that’s all. I’m glad you’re coming to the next course. I’ve got some hot stuff
to show you all. It’s good to see you’re coming back to me for more
punishment.’
    ‘Actually, I’ve really missed your
classes, Navi. It’s been nearly three months since my last one. Just before I
went away I felt I was getting quite strong, you know, and getting better at
it…’
    ‘You were. You definitely were. I
was very impressed with your kick-boxing in that last
class. It’s going to be good to have you back.’
    ‘Anyway, thanks
for giving me the time. Especially on a Sunday. I got you a coffee. I hope I got it
right after such a long time away. White, no sugar?’
    ‘Perfect, thanks. So what’s this all about? I haven’t had a chance
to have a proper chat about your three months in Greytown. How was it up there?’
    ‘Well, what I wanted to chat about
is connected to what happened there. But the main thing I wanted to discuss is
the research project I have to do for my degree.’
    ‘Oh? OK, Mavis, I’m all ears.’
    As Pillay reached for her coffee, and
used the towel to wipe the perspiration off her face, Mavis shifted a little
uncomfortably in her chair and started.
    ‘We have to do a research project
for one part of the degree at UNISA, Navi. A dissertation. We’re allowed to
propose our own subject and as long as our supervisor is happy with it we can
go ahead. So I managed to persuade him to let me research the case of one
specific criminal and to weave through my research some of the different
arguments that demonstrate the theories we’ve been learning in tutorials and
assignments.’
    ‘An actual practising
criminal? South African?’
    ‘Yes. A guy from
KwaZulu-Natal. Someone in the files, and who was mentioned some time ago
in the newspapers, and…’
    ‘Won’t you face a problem with
confidentiality, and stuff like that?’
    ‘Yes, that’s exactly right. I
couldn’t just go ahead and write it all up without sorting out those things,
but my supervisor came up with a solution, and introduced me to a new word,
too.’
    ‘Oh?’
    ‘Yes. My criminal - and a lot of the
stuff he did and where he did it and when - is going to be anonymised.’
    ‘Anonymised? Old Dipps is going to
have a field day with a word like that.’
    ‘Yes. I know. That’s why I’ve kept
it secret from everyone. Except you.’
    ‘Don’t worry, Mavis. You can trust
me. I’ll keep it all to myself. I know how those guys can tease with things
like this. But presumably there’ll be a record somewhere of who this anonymised
guy is? I assume you can’t just invent the guy?’
    ‘That’s right. Students can do this
kind of thing, where names and actual events are protected, but only on
condition the supervisor is given a reference spreadsheet identifying all the
real facts and people behind the anonymised information. I suppose that’s to
prevent students just making things up. So, anyway, on that basis my project
was approved.’
    ‘Sounds
reasonable. So, you’ve found a
bad guy and you’re writing up a case history on him. How does that tie in with
the rest of your degree? I thought you were into science?’
    ‘Well, I am. A big focus in this
project is on DNA analysis and finger-marks and fingerprints, and the science
around that. But there’s a big emphasis on context and causes and management of
crime cases, and related other information. So there’s a lot of other stuff
ranging from sociology to history, too. Part of the multi-disciplinary stuff they
want us to do.’
    ‘I wish I’d had the chance to do
something real like that at university. Instead, I became an expert on one -
only one - of the battles Napoleon fought