“Yes,” said Mma Makutsi. “I know him well.” She paused. “Do you think that he knows about Charlie?”

The woman took a swig from her bottle of beer and then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Hah! I think that he will not know about Charlie. And if I were Charlie I’d be very careful. That man comes back to Botswana to see her every few months and then Charlie had better be away for the weekend! Hah! If I were Charlie I’d go right up to Francistown or Maun when that happens. The further away the better.”

Mma Makutsi glanced at Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, who was following the conversation closely. Then she looked back at the woman and asked her question. “Does that man, the husband, help to run this place? Does he come here ever?”

“Sometimes,” said the woman. “He phones us sometimes to leave messages for her.”

Mma Makutsi took a deep breath. Mma Ramotswe had told her that when one asked the important question—the question upon which an entire investigation might turn—one should be careful to sound calm, as if the answer to the question really did not matter all that much. This was the moment for such a question, but Mma Makutsi found that her heart was beating loud within her and she was sure that this woman would hear it.

“So he phones? Well, you wouldn’t have his telephone number over there, would you? I’d like to speak to him about a friend we have in Johannesburg who wants to see him about something. I had his number, but …”

“It is here,” said the woman. “It is through in the kitchen on a piece of paper. I can fetch it for you.”

“You are very kind,” said Mma Makutsi. “And when you go through to the kitchen, you can get yourself another beer, Mma. Mr J.L.B. Matekoni will pay.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

REMEMBER ME?

MMA RAMOTSWE had tried very hard to contain the feeling of dread which stalked her now, like a dark shadow. She had tried to put Note Mokoti out of her mind; she had told herself that just because Mma Potokwane had seen him this did not mean that she would do so. But none of this had worked, and she found herself unable to take her mind off her first husband and the meeting that she knew he would seek with her.