Free Steeped in Blood by David Klatzow Page A

that has worked extremely well for twenty-three years. I have been doubly blessed in that she has been able to raise our children, James and Cathryn, as well as engage in her passion for archaeology. James is interested in physics and mathematics, and Cathryn has a passion for the arts, in particular Shakespeare, both following in the family traditions.
    In 1989, a couple of months after the Long Street fire investigation, I was contacted by Vic Lewis, a loss adjuster who called me in to investigate in the Maritime & General Insurance Co. v Sky Unit Engineering case. Vic was a snappy dresser and was transported around in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes-Benz. He openly bragged that his suits cost R1 000 each, which was a fortune in those days. Mine cost around R75 each, and Vic was not shy to tell me, ‘Yes, I can see that!’
    Sky Unit Engineering was a company that manufactured spare parts for cars. There had been a downturn in the economy, and two lathes in their factory had spontaneously and inexplicably caught fire. The insurance company, facing a large claim for loss of profits, decided to pay out. The claim had hardly been paid when someone took a forklift truck and flattened the rest of the factory. The insurers were now in a bit of a state. They were deeply suspicious, but they could not prove any foul play, and decided to reinvestigate the lathe fire that had occurred some two years previously.Fortunately, the burnt lathes were still in storage, and I was called in to investigate the matter.
    These lathes were complicated assemblies of motors, hydraulics and electronics, and I soon found myself in an area about which I had little knowledge. With great persuasion, I managed to convince the insurers to allow me to appoint Professor Charles Landy, the then head of electrical engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, to assist me in unravelling the complex electronics of the machine.
    The lathe was made up of two sections, both of which had been burnt in the fire. One of the sections was a hydraulic part that was joined via a rubber grommet to the other section. The door on the one side had been closed, so the only way that the fire could have spread would have been through the grommet. I tested the potential spread of the fire myself by removing the grommet. It was easy to see: there was evidence of burning lower down and higher up, but there was a distinct unburnt section in between. The fire hadn’t gone though the grommet. This meant that there had to have been two fires – which suggested that the lathe fire had been deliberate.
    I needed to see one of these lathes in an unburnt state in order to compare it to the burnt lathe, confirm my finding and complete my investigation. There were no such machines in the country other than our burnt one, so the insurance company reluctantly agreed that I could travel to Cremona in the north of Italy, to the home town of these lathes. (Cremona, incidentally, is where the Stradivarius violin has its origins.) In Cremona, I was able to confirm what I had suspected. On investigating an unburnt lathe, I could establish how it worked and was then in a position to rule out certain allegations that were presented as causes of the fire.
    The case eventually made its way to court. Sky Unit Engineering was represented by the legal firm Deneys Reitz, with John Neaves the appointed attorney. The attorneys had flown in an expert from London to deal with the case. His brief became obvious tome very quickly: he had clearly been instructed to deal with my evidence and to discredit it as best he could.
    I was cross-examined by Jules Browde for the better part of a week. I will never forget his opening statement: ‘Doctor, I am waiting with bated breath. My client is waiting with bated breath. The court is waiting with bated breath to hear how my client is alleged to have set his lathe alight.’
    I replied rather flippantly, ‘I think he poured petrol over the lathe, and put a match