My 3rd Novel: The Powder of One. Simon Sayer is walking along a beach finds a 25kg drum of cocaine. He is faced with several obvious choices. He decides to hand in a drum of 22 kg to the Police. There's only one problem, the find is reported in the media. Someone knows how much the drum was supposed to contain: Spider Biti & Crusher Payne, come calling at Simon's door!
A crazy cast includes:
Aunty Rosa Parker - busybody
Chief Inspector Walter Geiss- Police
Detective Inspector Giraffe McCloud
Edwin Hornblower - An outrageous queen with a taste for the outrageous who is not unhappy to hear about Simon's walk on the beach.
Willy Seymour - a caretaker with cameras where they should not be
Iona Fortune - rich girl with a secret
Spencer Fortune - Millionaire
Robert More - Attorney Senior Partner
Sue More - Rob More's daughter and junior partner.
Add a wedding that should be band and which has one hotel and three castles!
THE POWDER OF ONE
CHAPTER 1
Everyone expected the Castles to lay on a spectacular society wedding, and they did not disappoint. Simon's in-laws even had even ensured that, in addition to a Disc Jockey, a six piece band had entertained the guests in the Mount Nelson's premier banqueting venue. Prior to the wedding Simon had suggested that perhaps having both a band and a DJ was a little over the top. He had been unceremoniously overruled by his mother in law. If only they had heeded his advice. Perhaps then the wedding might not have ended on such a sour note.
Or if only the band had, like the DJ, been content to accept payment on the day of the wedding, by internet transfer, instead of insisting on payment at the end and in cash. So, when the wedding finally drew to a close and the lights came up, Simon’s father in law, Sander Castle, reached for his jacket which had been hanging over his chair for the past few hours. To his great shock, the brown enveloped containing the band's not insubstantial payment was no longer in his inside pocket. A frantic yet diligent search yielded nothing.
All suggestions that Sander Castle might have left the critical envelope at home were quickly quashed by Bridgette Castle, who confirmed that she had earlier checked for the envelope herself and that it had been in her husband's jacket. Her face dropped.
"Oh, no, I probably caused it." Her shoulders drooped too. "Silly me, I probably alerted the thief..."
"Nonsense!" Sander interjected loudly." We're all friends and family here." For an instant it seemed as if he had directed a disapproving glance at the side of the main table at which Simon's family were seated. He then shifted his gaze to an approaching wedding Co-ordinator whose red face dominated her swift approach.
"What sort of staff do you have here? I'm sorry to say it without proof, but I can't accept that it was one of our guests. I shall expect the Hotel to pay for the band for now. And if you know what's good for you, you'd best consider leaving it off the final account."
"Of course we'll attend to payment of the band," the co-ordinator replied. "But I'm afraid I cannot accommodate you any further until the matter is fully investigated, which I can assure you it will be. I have been here for nine years and nothing like this has ever occurred here before."
#
The incident also led to tension between Simon and his new bride during the honeymoon. Simon felt that Abbey's father had excluded all the Castles as suspects from the get-go whilst in contrast, the Sayers and friends seemed to have been consigned to the a provisional suspect list.
"Oh, don't put on so," Abbey replied. "I'm sure you just imagined it."
"Yes, like I imagined we might have a say in our wedding."
#
They returned from honeymoon three weeks later. They were met at the airport by his new in-laws, who insisted that they the couple join them at home for the first viewing of the wedding video.
"I'm sorry, I've demonstrated the patience of a saint until now, but I just have to see whether that man did justice to our efforts,” Bridgette declared excitedly.
Simon was exhausted. It was the last thing he felt like doing. Even Sander piped up.
"Good lord, woman. Enough about the video. It will keep until the weekend. They're tired, and quite frankly, so am I."
However, when Brigitte Castle had her mind set on something, there was no changing it, and everyone meekly joined her in the mansion's viewing room where a large LCD television clicked into life.
To Simon's surprise, he found himself enjoying the video. Its quality was worth the princely sum the Castles had no doubt paid its maker.
But towards the end, Sander Castle grunted and grabbed the remote out of his wife's hand.
"Give me that," he said. He rewound the video a little.
"But we've just seen that dear," Bridgette moaned. "That's part of their opening dance.
"I know, but that isn't," he said pointing towards someone in the background of the high definition video. He was standing behind the main table.
"I thought so," Sander declared emphatically.
After the man had checked to see that everyone's attention was indeed fixed on the opening dance, there was no mistaking that his hand then reached into the pocket of an unattended jacket in order to swiftly remove a large brown envelope from its inner pocket. The man was Simon's step-father.
The marriage was annulled by agreement a few weeks later. And this is how it came to be that Simon Sayer arrived in Mariner's Cove to make a fresh start.
#
Mariner's Cove was more of a hamlet instead of a village. Located on the Cape Town side of Kleinmond, it consisted of twenty two sea-side cottages, one small apartment block and one fruit stall which sported a lone fuel pump. The two story apartment block had five flats, two of which shared the ground level with a small estate agency which also contained a four table coffee shop. A section of the coffee shop included a store small enough to confirm that little significance could be attached to the appellation 'convenience' which was on display outside.
A bell on the top of the door rang as Simon opened the door. A rotund, lady in her late fifties or early sixty's beamed at him from behind her desk.
"Good afternoon, sir. You've come to collect the keys for one of the houses then," she ventured in a friendly tone.
"No, my name is Simon Sayer. I've actually bought apartment number five of Satin Court. Sound's strange saying that aloud since I've not seen it."
"Ah, so you're our mysterious new neighbour," the lady said excitedly, smiling as she rose. She lifted her reading glasses as she gave him a quick once-over "Ooh, I now that I can see you better I think that there may be a bit of cat fight over you. That blonde hair, and those blue eyes ..." She paused. "I must apologise. I used to have manners. I think I spend too much time in the kindergarten."
"Kindergarten?"
"Yes, that's flat number three. Two of them sharing. And you're just their type. Of course, that's until they decide whether you're family or not?"
"Family?"
"Yes, Family?" the lady repeated. "Family is apparently their code for gay." Again she paused. "Please mind my manners yet again. I'm just talking away and you don't even know my name. I am Rosa Parker. But you can call me Aunty Rosie, everyone here does." She turned around and leaned over the desk as she reached for a set of keys. "I'm the Chair of our Owners Association. I also lease this space from one of the other owner's Mr Spencer Fortune. I live at unit two, which is next door on the ground level. Unit one is our old caretaker, Willy Seymour. Units three, four and five are on the seond level. A lovely view of the sea you have."
They were interrupted by the doorbell which rang as the glass and wood framed door swung open to reveal a stunningly beautiful woman in her mid-thirties. She had short black hair, an olive complexion and pale, haunting blue eyes, which appeared all the more striking by the professional manner in which her eyeliner had been applied.
'Probably a model,' Simon thought.
She glanced straight though Simon as started speaking.
"Hi Aunt Rosie, any mail for me?"
"No, dearie. But while you are hear, let me introduce Simon to you. Simon Sayer was it? This is Iona Fortune from number four. She's the daughter of my landlord, Mr Spencer Fortune, as I told you."
"Hi," Iona said without entering or showing any expression. Simon decided not to bother to extend his hand.
"Hello, Iona," he replied politely. "Pleased to meet you."
"Sure thing. I must fly. Catch up later," she responded before closing the door and heading off.
"I thought you said the neighbours were friendly?"
"Oh don't you worry about her. She's on her planet. Our caretaker, Willy Seymour thinks she's a Koeksuster."
"Koeksuster?"
"You don't speak any Afrikaans then do you. It means a Cake Sister, in English, literally, but what it really means is..."
"You don't have to explain. You mean she is...er family." Simon's pleasure at having picked up the local lingo so quickly was cut short.
"No. I also said that once but Edwin Hornblower then told me that if she is a koeksuster, that would not make her family. I must say, I never asked whether that was because she is a Fortune, because we don't like the Fortunes, or because she could be a koeksuster."
"Pity if she is," Simon said. "She's a really beautiful woman."
"Oh No," Aunt Rosie lamented loudly. "So you're into women. Edwin will be so disappointed, I know already." She laughed raucously, and then looked a little apologetic. "I'm sorry, but Edwin is my favourite. I could just eat him up. And I do so love it when something new takes his fancy." She paused as if assessing him again. "I make you at about thirty-five, forty...right?" She smiled confidently at him.
"Yip, thirty-eight."
"Well, then Constance Pleasure is too young for you. She's only twenty. But don't let that put you off if you like the younger ones. Constance usually keeps to herself. Not a big talker. Likes to read and she studies. She sticks to Edwin mostly, but she's been known to be no disgrace to her surname when the mood takes her." Aunt Rosie blushed. "But you didn't hear that from me, mind you!"
"Of course not," Simon replied with a wink. As he did so, he made a mental note not to tell Rosie Parker, or the Dailey Sentinel, as she could just as well have been named, more than she really needed to know.
"What made you decide to buy here, without even seeing it for yourself? And what did you do and do you intend to do if you don't mind my asking?"
All that seemed to be missing was a powerful lamp, a German officer's uniform and accent, and for her to say:
‘We haf vays und means of making you talk. And all of zem... are painful!’
A crazy cast includes:
Aunty Rosa Parker - busybody
Chief Inspector Walter Geiss- Police
Detective Inspector Giraffe McCloud
Edwin Hornblower - An outrageous queen with a taste for the outrageous who is not unhappy to hear about Simon's walk on the beach.
Willy Seymour - a caretaker with cameras where they should not be
Iona Fortune - rich girl with a secret
Spencer Fortune - Millionaire
Robert More - Attorney Senior Partner
Sue More - Rob More's daughter and junior partner.
Add a wedding that should be band and which has one hotel and three castles!
THE POWDER OF ONE
CHAPTER 1
Everyone expected the Castles to lay on a spectacular society wedding, and they did not disappoint. Simon's in-laws even had even ensured that, in addition to a Disc Jockey, a six piece band had entertained the guests in the Mount Nelson's premier banqueting venue. Prior to the wedding Simon had suggested that perhaps having both a band and a DJ was a little over the top. He had been unceremoniously overruled by his mother in law. If only they had heeded his advice. Perhaps then the wedding might not have ended on such a sour note.
Or if only the band had, like the DJ, been content to accept payment on the day of the wedding, by internet transfer, instead of insisting on payment at the end and in cash. So, when the wedding finally drew to a close and the lights came up, Simon’s father in law, Sander Castle, reached for his jacket which had been hanging over his chair for the past few hours. To his great shock, the brown enveloped containing the band's not insubstantial payment was no longer in his inside pocket. A frantic yet diligent search yielded nothing.
All suggestions that Sander Castle might have left the critical envelope at home were quickly quashed by Bridgette Castle, who confirmed that she had earlier checked for the envelope herself and that it had been in her husband's jacket. Her face dropped.
"Oh, no, I probably caused it." Her shoulders drooped too. "Silly me, I probably alerted the thief..."
"Nonsense!" Sander interjected loudly." We're all friends and family here." For an instant it seemed as if he had directed a disapproving glance at the side of the main table at which Simon's family were seated. He then shifted his gaze to an approaching wedding Co-ordinator whose red face dominated her swift approach.
"What sort of staff do you have here? I'm sorry to say it without proof, but I can't accept that it was one of our guests. I shall expect the Hotel to pay for the band for now. And if you know what's good for you, you'd best consider leaving it off the final account."
"Of course we'll attend to payment of the band," the co-ordinator replied. "But I'm afraid I cannot accommodate you any further until the matter is fully investigated, which I can assure you it will be. I have been here for nine years and nothing like this has ever occurred here before."
#
The incident also led to tension between Simon and his new bride during the honeymoon. Simon felt that Abbey's father had excluded all the Castles as suspects from the get-go whilst in contrast, the Sayers and friends seemed to have been consigned to the a provisional suspect list.
"Oh, don't put on so," Abbey replied. "I'm sure you just imagined it."
"Yes, like I imagined we might have a say in our wedding."
#
They returned from honeymoon three weeks later. They were met at the airport by his new in-laws, who insisted that they the couple join them at home for the first viewing of the wedding video.
"I'm sorry, I've demonstrated the patience of a saint until now, but I just have to see whether that man did justice to our efforts,” Bridgette declared excitedly.
Simon was exhausted. It was the last thing he felt like doing. Even Sander piped up.
"Good lord, woman. Enough about the video. It will keep until the weekend. They're tired, and quite frankly, so am I."
However, when Brigitte Castle had her mind set on something, there was no changing it, and everyone meekly joined her in the mansion's viewing room where a large LCD television clicked into life.
To Simon's surprise, he found himself enjoying the video. Its quality was worth the princely sum the Castles had no doubt paid its maker.
But towards the end, Sander Castle grunted and grabbed the remote out of his wife's hand.
"Give me that," he said. He rewound the video a little.
"But we've just seen that dear," Bridgette moaned. "That's part of their opening dance.
"I know, but that isn't," he said pointing towards someone in the background of the high definition video. He was standing behind the main table.
"I thought so," Sander declared emphatically.
After the man had checked to see that everyone's attention was indeed fixed on the opening dance, there was no mistaking that his hand then reached into the pocket of an unattended jacket in order to swiftly remove a large brown envelope from its inner pocket. The man was Simon's step-father.
The marriage was annulled by agreement a few weeks later. And this is how it came to be that Simon Sayer arrived in Mariner's Cove to make a fresh start.
#
Mariner's Cove was more of a hamlet instead of a village. Located on the Cape Town side of Kleinmond, it consisted of twenty two sea-side cottages, one small apartment block and one fruit stall which sported a lone fuel pump. The two story apartment block had five flats, two of which shared the ground level with a small estate agency which also contained a four table coffee shop. A section of the coffee shop included a store small enough to confirm that little significance could be attached to the appellation 'convenience' which was on display outside.
A bell on the top of the door rang as Simon opened the door. A rotund, lady in her late fifties or early sixty's beamed at him from behind her desk.
"Good afternoon, sir. You've come to collect the keys for one of the houses then," she ventured in a friendly tone.
"No, my name is Simon Sayer. I've actually bought apartment number five of Satin Court. Sound's strange saying that aloud since I've not seen it."
"Ah, so you're our mysterious new neighbour," the lady said excitedly, smiling as she rose. She lifted her reading glasses as she gave him a quick once-over "Ooh, I now that I can see you better I think that there may be a bit of cat fight over you. That blonde hair, and those blue eyes ..." She paused. "I must apologise. I used to have manners. I think I spend too much time in the kindergarten."
"Kindergarten?"
"Yes, that's flat number three. Two of them sharing. And you're just their type. Of course, that's until they decide whether you're family or not?"
"Family?"
"Yes, Family?" the lady repeated. "Family is apparently their code for gay." Again she paused. "Please mind my manners yet again. I'm just talking away and you don't even know my name. I am Rosa Parker. But you can call me Aunty Rosie, everyone here does." She turned around and leaned over the desk as she reached for a set of keys. "I'm the Chair of our Owners Association. I also lease this space from one of the other owner's Mr Spencer Fortune. I live at unit two, which is next door on the ground level. Unit one is our old caretaker, Willy Seymour. Units three, four and five are on the seond level. A lovely view of the sea you have."
They were interrupted by the doorbell which rang as the glass and wood framed door swung open to reveal a stunningly beautiful woman in her mid-thirties. She had short black hair, an olive complexion and pale, haunting blue eyes, which appeared all the more striking by the professional manner in which her eyeliner had been applied.
'Probably a model,' Simon thought.
She glanced straight though Simon as started speaking.
"Hi Aunt Rosie, any mail for me?"
"No, dearie. But while you are hear, let me introduce Simon to you. Simon Sayer was it? This is Iona Fortune from number four. She's the daughter of my landlord, Mr Spencer Fortune, as I told you."
"Hi," Iona said without entering or showing any expression. Simon decided not to bother to extend his hand.
"Hello, Iona," he replied politely. "Pleased to meet you."
"Sure thing. I must fly. Catch up later," she responded before closing the door and heading off.
"I thought you said the neighbours were friendly?"
"Oh don't you worry about her. She's on her planet. Our caretaker, Willy Seymour thinks she's a Koeksuster."
"Koeksuster?"
"You don't speak any Afrikaans then do you. It means a Cake Sister, in English, literally, but what it really means is..."
"You don't have to explain. You mean she is...er family." Simon's pleasure at having picked up the local lingo so quickly was cut short.
"No. I also said that once but Edwin Hornblower then told me that if she is a koeksuster, that would not make her family. I must say, I never asked whether that was because she is a Fortune, because we don't like the Fortunes, or because she could be a koeksuster."
"Pity if she is," Simon said. "She's a really beautiful woman."
"Oh No," Aunt Rosie lamented loudly. "So you're into women. Edwin will be so disappointed, I know already." She laughed raucously, and then looked a little apologetic. "I'm sorry, but Edwin is my favourite. I could just eat him up. And I do so love it when something new takes his fancy." She paused as if assessing him again. "I make you at about thirty-five, forty...right?" She smiled confidently at him.
"Yip, thirty-eight."
"Well, then Constance Pleasure is too young for you. She's only twenty. But don't let that put you off if you like the younger ones. Constance usually keeps to herself. Not a big talker. Likes to read and she studies. She sticks to Edwin mostly, but she's been known to be no disgrace to her surname when the mood takes her." Aunt Rosie blushed. "But you didn't hear that from me, mind you!"
"Of course not," Simon replied with a wink. As he did so, he made a mental note not to tell Rosie Parker, or the Dailey Sentinel, as she could just as well have been named, more than she really needed to know.
"What made you decide to buy here, without even seeing it for yourself? And what did you do and do you intend to do if you don't mind my asking?"
All that seemed to be missing was a powerful lamp, a German officer's uniform and accent, and for her to say:
‘We haf vays und means of making you talk. And all of zem... are painful!’
