Mma Ramotswe’s eyes wandered up for a moment to the certificate on the wall behind Mma Makutsi’s head. It was the certificate from the Botswana Secretarial College, proudly framed, with the motto of the College in bold letters under the College title: Be Accurate. And under that, the remarkable result, inscribed in a hand that must have marvelled at the figures it was obliged to pen: 97 per cent.

“Anyway,” went on Mma Makutsi, “Mr J.L.B. Matekoni listened to all this, and then he leaned forward and he shook a finger at Charlie, just as he did when Charlie shouted at me that day and called me the rude name.”

A warthog, thought Mma Ramotswe. Yes, he called you a warthog, and I think you called him one too, if I remember correctly. She thought this and tried not to smile as for a brief moment an image of a warthog in big round glasses crossed her mind. Big round glasses and green shoes with blue linings.

“Mr J.L.B. Matekoni told him that he was a very silly young man,” continued Mma Makutsi. “He said that young men should not run off with ladies who were much older than they were. He said that it was asking for trouble. He also told him that he should act more responsibly and find a nice girl of his own age whom he could marry. He said that this was what the Government was saying men should do, and that Charlie should listen to what the Government had to say on this subject.

“And all the time Charlie was looking down at the ground and wringing his hands, like this. I almost felt sorry for him. In fact, maybe I did feel a little bit sorry for him, although he had asked for all of it and only had himself to blame.

“And then I heard him promise Mr J.L.B. Matekoni to behave better in the future and I heard him say that he knew that he had been very stupid and that he would not be stupid again. Those were his very words, Mma, and I wrote them down on a piece of paper which we can keep in the office here and take out and wave at him some time in the future if we need to do so.”

Mma Ramotswe looked at the piece of paper which Mma Makutsi had produced. Yes, it might be useful, but they should remember, she said, that Charlie was still a young man and that young men were apt to do foolish things, and that they probably all had to learn by their mistakes. Mma Makutsi was more grudging about it, but eventually agreed that he had probably suffered enough and should be given another chance. Perhaps he would meet a nice girl now, and all would change, although she had to admit to some reservations about that.