Page 158 of The Scene of the Crime
‘I think he was having a heart attack,’ a wide-eyed Anderson finally managed to say.
‘Did you pressure him at all?’ Jessica asked.
Chapman shook his head. ‘No. Even though we’d started asking some pertinent questions about Cole and the diamonds, we took it easy.’
‘Then he started getting short of breath. I just thought it was a ploy to stop the interview and give him time to talk to Michelle,’ Anderson said.
‘Clearly it wasn’t,’ Jessica remarked.
‘Did Michelle tell you anything useful?’ Anderson asked her. She recounted their conversation.
‘Do you think she was lying?’ Chapman asked her.
‘Not about how she met Cole and the sapphire ring, but I think she knows exactly what Johan and Cole were up to and coached her husband on what to say. Michelle had an answer for everything and at the same time was fishing for informationabout the investigation. In my opinion she is an accomplished liar and I doubt we will ever get the truth out of her.’
‘De Klerk gave us virtually the same account as Cole about how they knew each other, the incident with the sapphire ring, the diamond lab and all that,’ Anderson said.
‘Then why didn’t he tell Michelle, if it was all legitimate?’ Jessica asked.
‘And if he’d fallen out with Cole, why did he invite him to the house?’
‘Unfortunately, we didn’t get that far,’ Chapman admitted.
‘Did he say anything about the smuggled diamonds?’ she asked.
‘That was when he suddenly clutched his chest and cried out in pain. We realised he wasn’t putting it on and pressed the panic button.’
‘Maybe all his lies caused his stress levels to go through the roof,’ Dawn remarked.
Doctor Babu came into the waiting room. ‘I’m sorry to tell you this, but Mr De Klerk passed away before we could get him to surgery. It looks like he had a heart attack.’ For a moment they all stood in shocked silence.
‘How is Mrs De Klerk?’ Dawn asked.
‘Obviously she’s very distressed. She’s with Johan, and I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to speak to her. She thinks your line of questioning may have been over-aggressive, causing his heart attack.’
‘I can assure you we were not aggressive at all,’ a worried-looking Anderson said.
‘What doyouthink caused the heart attack?’ Chapman asked Doctor Babu.
‘It could have been any number of things.’
‘Could it happen due to stress while we were interviewing him?’ Anderson asked.
‘It’s possible, but I’d like to ask how Johan behaved when you spoke to him. Did he say he was feeling any symptoms like chest pain?’
Anderson looked at Chapman, wondering who should answer. Eventually Chapman did. ‘He was a bit croaky as his throat was dry. He kept taking sips of water. I noticed he had difficulty lifting the bottle to his mouth, but I thought he was just tired. He could still answer our questions, and at one point, he started rubbing his left arm.’
‘I asked him if he was OK. He said yes, and it was just pins and needles,’ Anderson added.
‘Did his heart rate monitor show any change while you were talking to him?’ Doctor Babu asked.
‘We were paying more attention to him than the monitor, but his breathing did get a bit laboured. At first, we thought he was putting on an act, but when he clutched his chest and cried out in pain, the heart monitor started beeping and that’s when I pressed the panic button,’ Anderson told him.
‘Obviously I can’t be certain, but I don’t think your questioning led to Johan’s heart attack. Initially, due to the trauma he suffered, he had high levels of potassium in his blood, which we monitored and brought down with medication. A sudden increase in potassium levels can cause heart palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pain, numbness or a tingling sensation in the limbs.’
‘Like the pins and needles Johan said he was feeling?’ Anderson asked.
‘Yes. All the symptoms you witnessed in Johan are an indication of severe hyperkalemia. It’s a life-threatening condition that can cause a heart attack and requires immediate medical attention.’
