Paulos Terreblanche

Mike Retief, a lawyer by the name of Terreblanche, and an advocate called Clyde Abercrombie - a senior partner with an equal interest in the law firm Abercrombie and Abercrombie - sat in Abercrombie’s boardroom.

Abercrombie and Terreblanche were the prosecuting lawyers in Roderick’s case.

Terreblanche was an inflexible, rugged man and had a nasty scar on his cheek. Some believed it to be the result of a fight with a person destined for jail, but he denied that. He claimed it was from a car accident years ago.

He and Abercrombie were at similar ends of the scale, except that he was working his way towards get a red brief bag – the signal of his elevated status from lawyer to advocate. Terreblanche thought: A couple more years, and I’ll show Abercrombie... He looked at the man. He was jealous of his friend. Abercrombie had beaten him to the position of advocate.

Clyde Abercrombie was a success story. He’d enjoyed a high hit rate since he was awarded the bag. He’d scored 32 wins and had three losses, which he had put down to misfortune.

He was quite tall – exactly 1.85m– and of average build, but he had notable bright-red hair, which had earned him the nickname Fiery. No doubt that had to do with his temper at school, too. He certainly hadn’t lost his hot-headed surliness.

Abercrombie, who was standing, as he preferred to do, noticed Terreblanche and turned “We’ve got to get you working for us. Mike’s got that crucial evidence - the bracelet with the blood smeared on it. Mike, tell him what you’ve found.”

Mike stated: “The DNA proved it’s James Roderick’s.”

Terreblanche said: “We’re obliged to reveal the existence of the bracelet to the judge with the defending counsel present. That goes for the diamonds, too. I wonder where they are now.”

“I don’t know,” Mike said.

Terreblanche said to Mike: “Roderick’s trial begins in several months. I’ll take the bracelet from you before then.”