His eyes flickered towards the house. ‘We were only called out this morning.’

It was only then I noticed the figure on the veranda covered by a white sheet.

‘Was it Bulawayo?’ I asked.

‘Who’s that?’

I could imagine how guilty Maud would feel if he’d done anything. I started towards the house. Phillips tried to reach out and take my arm, but I swerved and he missed.

‘Who’s Bulawayo?’ he asked.

I sped up and took the steps two at a time. The screen door was hanging off its hinges. There was no sound coming from inside.

I called out Maud’s name. Another policeman appeared from nowhere, blocking the entrance; he wasn’t the same one who’d come to interview me with Phillips; he was shorter and had a thin moustache.

‘Sir –’ he said, looking over my shoulder.

Phillips was beside me. He took my arm, and I let him this time.

‘Mr Miller,’ he said. ‘I’m so sorry to tell you, but your sister was shot last night.’

‘That’s ridiculous,’ I said. ‘I don’t know who you’ve found, but I want to see Maud.’

‘She’s been taken to the morgue. I asked one of my men to get in touch with you to identify her.’

He was still holding my arm; we both looked down at it, and he let go, seeming embarrassed. I stepped back and turned on my heel, surveying the garden; for a moment, I expected to notice that this wasn’t Kiboko, that I’d taken a wrong turn somewhere.

‘Who’s under the sheet?’

Phillips led me to the white mound, and I saw now that it wasn’t one figure, but three. I felt my legs go weak.

Phillips drew back the top of the sheet. I looked at the faces then at Phillips. I wanted to explain that I knew them, and I didn’t.

‘Do you recognise these men?’

I nodded.

‘Do you have names for us?’

‘Abdullah our head boy, Joseph our cook, and Kamante, one of our totos.’

I made my way back to the veranda steps and sat down. Phillips stood in front of me. My head felt like it was about to explode.

‘What happened?’

He shifted from one foot to the other. ‘From what we understand, three gunmen broke in after dinner, and shot your sister. She was sitting in the armchair at the time. The bullet went right through the book; she most likely died instantly.’ He shifted back to the first foot. ‘They killed the only other person in the room – your head boy. We’re unclear on whether anything has been taken.’

So Solly hadn’t been with her. I tried to slow my breathing down, and found my gaze dragging itself back to the shapes to my right.

‘And Joseph and Kamante?’