When the young woman had left, the receptionist glanced at the door and gestured for Mma Makutsi to go in. Then she continued with her nail-painting. Mma Makutsi rose to her feet and made her way to the door, knocked, and without waiting for an invitation, went in.

THEY LOOKED at one another in astonishment. Mma Makutsi had not expected this, and the sight of this woman behind the desk deprived her of all the poise she had summoned for her entry. But in that respect she was equal with the woman behind the desk; equal in other respects too, as it was her old classmate from the Botswana Secretarial College, Violet Sephotho.

It was Violet who recovered first. “Well, well,” she said. “Grace Makutsi. First the College. Then the Academy of Dance and Movement. Now here. All these crossings of our paths, Mma! Perhaps we shall even find out now that we are cousins!”

“That would be a surprise, Mma,” said Mma Makutsi, without saying what sort of surprise it would be.

“I was only joking,” said Violet. “I do not think we are cousins. But that is not the point. The point is that you have come here looking for a job? Is that correct?”

Mma Makutsi opened her mouth to reply, but Violet continued. “You must have heard of us. We are what are called head hunters these days. We find top people for top jobs.”

“It must be interesting work,” said Mma Makutsi. “I wondered whether…”

“It is,” said Violet. “Very interesting.” She paused, looking quizzically at Mma Makutsi. “I thought, though, that you had a good job,” she went on. “Don’t you work for that fat woman who runs that detective business next to that smelly old garage? Don’t you work for her?”

“That is Mma Ramotswe,” said Mma Makutsi. “And the garage is Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. It is run by…”

Violet interrupted. “Yes, yes,” she said impatiently. “So you’ve lost that job, have you?”

Mma Makutsi gasped. It was outrageous that this Violet, this fifty-per-cent (at the most) person should imagine that she had been dismissed from the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. “I did not!” she burst out. “I did not lose that job, Mma! I left of my own accord.”

Violet looked at her unapologetically. “Of course, Mma. Of course. Although sometimes people leave just before they’re pushed. Not you, of course, but that happens, you know.”

Mma Makutsi took a deep breath. If she allowed herself to become angered, or at least to show her anger, then she would be playing directly into Violet’s hands. So she smiled gently and nodded her agreement with Violet’s comment. “Yes, Mma. There are many cases of people who are dismissed who say that they resigned. You must see a lot of that. But I really did resign because I wanted a change. That’s why I’m here.”