“Back to work,” Hungry said, stifling a smile. “I believe you have some.”

Hungry led Klay and Tenchant through a doorway into her windowless private office. As she closed the door, Klay glimpsed Sehlalo offering a yogurt to his coworker. That was good. A team that stuck together was important.

Hungry indicated her office’s two wooden chairs, placed the sandwich on a bookshelf, and took a seat behind her desk. She withdrew some papers and a laptop from her briefcase. “We refer to Miss Edna’s weight problem as her daughter’s wedding,” she explained. “Her daughter Rosie’s been married four years now and lives with her husband and two children in Cape Town, but sometimes we must find a way to express the things we dare not say.” She looked briefly at Klay. “Shall I give you a bit of background, Mr. Tenchant? This office—”

“Tenchant’s fine.”

“Tenchant. Okay then. You are here to do a story on our investigation and prosecution of the wildlife trafficker Ras Botha. Naturally, this is a sensitive situation. It is not generally appropriate for us to discuss our work with outsiders, especially foreign journalists, and never a case in progress. But Tom has written about Botha in the past. The Sovereign is respected throughout our country, and my superior is aware of your presence. There are certain limits you will have to abide by, but I have also instructed my team that you are here to support our investigation, and we, your story. We believe in your magazine, and we believe your work can help us.”

“Any publicity is good publicity,” Tenchant said.

“No. Good publicity is good publicity, Tenchant.” She looked at him sharply. “Let me give you a bit of background on who we are and what else we’re doing. Three years ago, our president, Gabriel Ncube, appointed his son-in-law, Justin Franklin, to be our country’s public protector. Franklin is now in prison, arrested for bribery by Officer Sehlalo.” She nodded in the direction of her doorway. “Our president saw opportunity in his son-in-law’s arrest. Gabriel Ncube’s entire career has been marred by criminal allegations, including murder, the rape of an underage girl, and selling off mining, defense, and other state interests to line his pockets. He saw a way to cleanse himself politically. He appointed the esteemed advocate Angela Mabaso to replace his son-in-law as public protector, and he very publicly encouraged her to create a new anti-corruption task force to rid his government of wrongdoing. She accepted his advice and created this ad hoc anti-corruption unit. But she did not accept his suggestions on how to staff it. Against the president’s wishes, she chose me.

“The public has nicknamed our unit the Wild Dogs after the animals’ reputation for biting and eating their victims while on the run. Somehow, we have sometimes become the Hungry Dogs. Which I am afraid is also true . . .