“A cobra,” she whispered to Mma Ramotswe. “Under my desk. A cobra.”

Mma Ramotswe moved slowly away from the window. As she did so, she picked up the telephone directory that had been lying on her desk. It was the closest thing to hand, and she could, if necessary, throw it at the snake to distract it from Mma Makutsi. This was not to prove necessary. Sensing the vibration made by the footfall, the snake suddenly lowered its hood and slid away from Mma Makutsi’s desk, heading for a large waste-paper bin which stood at the far side of the room. This was the signal for Mma Makutsi to recover her power of movement, and she threw herself towards the door. Mma Ramotswe followed, and soon the two women were safely outside the office door, which they slammed behind them.

The two apprentices looked up from their work on Bishop Mwamba’s car.

“There’s a snake in there,” screamed Mma Makutsi. “A very big snake.”

The two young men ran across from the car to join the shaken women.

“What sort of snake?” asked Charlie, wiping his hands on a piece of waste. “A mamba?”

“No,” said Mma Makutsi. “A cobra. With a big hood—this big. Right at my feet. Ready to strike.”

“You are very lucky, Mma,” said the younger apprentice. “If that snake had struck, then you might be late by now. The late Mma Makutsi.”

Mma Makutsi looked at him scornfully. “I know that,” she said. “But I did not panic, you see. I stood quite still.”

“That was the right thing to do, Mma,” said Charlie. “But now we can go in there and kill this snake. In a couple of minutes your office will be safe again.”

He turned to the other apprentice, who had picked up a couple of large spanners and who was now reaching out to hand one to him. Armed with these tools, they slowly approached the door and edged it open.

“Be careful,” shouted Mma Makutsi. “It was a very big snake.”

“Look near the waste-paper basket,” added Mma Ramotswe. “It’s over there somewhere.”

Charlie peered into the office. He was standing at the half-open door and could not see the whole room, but he could see the basket and the floor about it and, yes, he could make out something curved around its base, something that moved slightly even as his eye fell upon it.

“There,” he whispered to the other apprentice. “Over there.”

The young man craned his neck forward and saw the shape upon the floor. Letting out a curious half-yell, he hurled the spanner across the room, missing the target, but hitting the wall immediately behind the basket. As the spanner fell to the ground, the snake reared up, its hood again extended, facing the source of the danger. Charlie now threw his spanner, which also struck the wall but in this case fell in such a way that it hit the end of the snake’s tail. The tail whipped round as the snake struggled to find its balance. Again the head swayed menacingly, the tongue darting in and out as the reptile sought to make sense of the noise and danger of its surroundings.