“Enough to persuade people to give you their money,” observed Mma Ramotswe.

If Mr. Polopetsi had not picked up a critical note before this, he now did. He looked hurt. “I do not persuade people, Mma Ramotswe. I give them the opportunity. There is a big difference, you know.”

Mma Potokwane agreed. “Oh yes, there is a big difference, Mr. Polopetsi. Just as there is a big difference between a thin cow and a fat one. There is a very important difference, I think.”

He looked bemused. “But of course there is, Mma Potokwane. It’s the same difference as between a fat child and a thin child—you know that very well, in your line of business, I think.”

Mma Potokwane made much of taking this remark lightly. “Hah, yes! Perhaps I need to choose my words more carefully.” But then she added, “The difference I was talking about was the value of a thin cow and that of a fat cow. Many pula, Rra.” She paused. “Mma Ramotswe here knows that only too well, you know. Her father was a big expert on cattle—one of the best in the country. You know that, don’t you, Mr. Polopetsi?”

Mr. Polopetsi shot an anxious glance at Mma Ramotswe. “Yes,” he said. “I’ve always known that, Mma.”

There was a brief silence before Mma Potokwane continued. “And that difference in value, Rra, is because of the cost of feed. How much does it take to fatten up a cattle beast if the grazing is bad because of the drought? Four hundred pula? Five hundred? Maybe even more. Cattle feed is never cheap, is it?”

Mr. Polopetsi frowned. “I never said it was, Mma. Everything is expensive these days—even lunch at the President Hotel.”

Nobody laughed.

“So what interests me,” Mma Potokwane continued, “is how it’s possible to make much of a profit on fattening up livestock when the cost of feed is high. When it’s cheap and plentiful—yes, I can understand it then. But when it’s very high and it has to come a long way…How can you make a big profit in those conditions, Rra?”

Mma Potokwane turned to Mma Ramotswe. “Do you understand it, Mma Ramotswe? How can this Fat Cattle Club give such good returns when nobody else can make much of a profit on fattened cattle?”

Mma Ramotswe had begun to feel sorry for Mr. Polopetsi, who had started to squirm under Mma Potokwane’s gaze. “We’re not trying to catch you out, Rra,” she said. “It’s just that we’re concerned—”

“But there are others,” interjected Mma Potokwane. “There are plenty of others who will be interested in catching you out. They will ask the same question, but not over a cup of tea in the President Hotel.”