The covenant - James A. Michener [562]
Now came the time to investigate the little girl herself, the one who had technically committed the offense. Petra was brought into the room and told to face the interrogators, who went through the tedious business of asking her profound questions when everyone knew that it would be the physical examination that counted.
Even so, little Petra responded with answers that were innocent and sometimes charming. Yes, she understood this was a serious business. Yes, she knew that if she were indeed Coloured, she would have to go to a school with her own people. Yes, she knew that every group had its own place in South Africa so that it could be happy. In fact, she knew a great deal and demonstrated the intelligence of which her teachers had spoken, even those who wanted her expelled.
'Now, Petra, walk to the end of the room and back.' It was clear to Mr. van Valck that she walked like a Coloured.
'Now we come to the most important part.' It was Mr. van Valck speaking in a rather conciliatory voice, for he was about to impose the one inspection that some people deemed foolproof. 'Slip down your dress,' he said as gently as he could.
So the little girl, shyly but with no fierce embarrassment, dropped her dress and then her petticoat until she stood practically naked before the commissioners. Since her breasts had not yet formed, she felt no need to cover them with her hands; nervously she twined her fingers over her flat stomach. 'Drop your hands to your side, Petra, so we can see how you stand,' Detleef said, and the commissioners examined her, paying special attention to the small triangle at the base of the spine, for as Mr. van Valck had assured them: 'If that's dark, you can be sure she has Bantu blood.' Dr. Adams, ashamed of himself for participating in so ghastly a ritual, looked at the triangle and saw only the properly developing spine-tip of a little girl.
When the Albertyns, all five of them, were dismissed from the room, the commissioners excused Dr. Sterk and the two policemen and started their deliberations, and it became quickly evident that Mr. van Valck was determined to find the family Coloured, while Dr. Adams, a naturally sardonic type, would have none of it; indeed, he appeared to be contemptuous of the whole affair. The deciding vote would therefore be cast by Van Doorn, and he intended to be as just as Solomon.
I think we should begin our deliberations with prayer,' he said in Afrikaans.
'Why?' Adams asked in English.
'Because we're about to decide the fate of a family,' Van Doorn replied.
'Seems to me it's already decided,' Adams said. 'Not a shred of evidence that family's Coloured.'
'That's what we're here to decide,' Van Doorn reminded him, and he launched into a long, fervid supplication to God, asking Him to monitor their deliberations as they endeavored in good conscience to protect the nation.
Before the voting could begin, an investigator from Detleef's office broke into the room without having been invited and handed the chairman a report: 'It's what you asked for, Mr. van Doorn.' For three weeks this man and four of Detleef's assistants in Pretoria had been scrutinizing the Albertyn past, because the government was determined that this important race-classification hearing be conducted so as to evoke maximum impact.
'Mr. van Doorn, sir,' the investigator whispered. 'I don't think you'd better let anyone see our report.'
'The other members are entitled . . .'
'It was the other members I was thinking of.'
Moving apart from Van Valck and Adams, Detleef read the document and became ashen. He was astonished that detectives could uncover so much and appalled at the possible consequences of what they had learned. The detective, seeing his dismay, whispered, 'Shall I burn the report, sir? I made only one copy.'
It was the severest moral test Detleef would ever face. His whole being urged him to quash this report, but the dignity of his office and its obligation to purify the race took precedence. If at this first hearing he smothered evidence, all subsequent