Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi exchanged disapproving glances.

“And then, Charlie?” pressed Mma Ramotswe. “And then what happened?”

“Then I got up and poked at the mattress with my finger and felt the wooden headboard. Very smooth. And I said, Well, I'm not too sure, really, about this bed. I will need to look at beds in other shops. It's a big purchase, you know. And then …” He paused, adding extra dramatic effect to what he was about to say. “And then, Violet came up and whispered to me, If you buy this bed, Rra, then one day soon Ill come along and help you try it out. That is what she said! Some lady, Mma Ramotswe! Ow! One, two, three!”

Mma Ramotswe's eyes opened wide. “I knew it!” she exclaimed. “I knew it, Mma Makutsi! That is how Violet Sephotho manages to sell so many beds.”

Mma Makutsi shook her head. “It is so shameful,” she said. “It is so shameful that this has been happening under Phuti's nose and he did not know what she has been saying to the customers.”

Charlie raised a finger. “Maybe he does, Mma.”

Mma Makutsi frowned. “What do you mean, Charlie?”

Charlie looked awkward. “I might have told him myself, Mma. I didn't mean to, but … Well, you see, what happened was this. After I had told her that I was going to think about it, I started to leave. But I saw a man looking at one of the beds as if he was inspecting it. As I walked past him I whispered, You should buy one of these beds, Rra! You get a lot of extras! I was just trying to be friendly—one man talking to another, you know. Anyway, he stood up, this man and he turned round, and I saw it was your Phuti Radiphuti, Mma Makutsi. Yes! And he said, What are you talking about? So I told him and he started to shake—like this, Mma—and he said, She is a very wicked lady and he walked off towards her and I came out, Mma. That is all.”

Mma Ramotswe looked at Mma Makutsi. “I do not think that we need to do anything more, Mma,” she said. “Phuti now knows about the …”

“Bad woman in his bed,” supplied Mma Makutsi, adding, quickly, “department.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

TEA WITH MMA POTOKWANE

OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS the staff of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency—that is, Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi, with some assistance from Mr. Polopetsi—were more than usually busy. The atmosphere in the office, though, was not as strained as it sometimes was during busy periods; in fact, it was rather light-hearted, not dissimilar to the mood that prevailed in the weeks before Christmas, when everybody was looking forward to parties and celebrations. Christmas was, of course, still some time away; what led to the lightness of mood now was the evident happiness of Mma Makutsi. The tensions that had arisen on the appointment of Violet had disappeared the very afternoon of Mma Ramotswe's exposure of the real reason for her sales success. Phuti Radiphuti, an upright man, had been profoundly shocked to hear of her sales technique, and had dismissed Violet immediately. The enraged former manager of the bed department had stormed out, meeting Mma Ramotswe and the others, still standing beside the van in the car park.