“Of course you were. We must think of late people because I believe they’re still with us—in a way. And so a late person can stay with you all your life, until it is your turn to become late too. And the late person doesn’t want you to be miserable. A late person doesn’t want you to think that your work is no use. A late person wants you to get on with life, to do things, to make good use of your time. That is well known, Rra. It is very well known.”

He said nothing, but she knew that he had heard her words.

“So, let’s finish our tea, Rra. Then we can look at that tree over there. Its leaves are very fine, Rra, and I want to show them to you.”

They walked to the far side of her garden. “We have a lot to be grateful for, Rra,” Mma Ramotswe said. She gestured to the small patch of her country that made up her garden. Her gesture took in her fence, and beyond that the road, and beyond that all Botswana and the world. “All that,” she said. “That is what we have to be grateful for.”

She did not look at him, because she sensed that he needed privacy, and a man may be embarrassed by his tears. So she simply touched him lightly on the arm and waited until he was ready to walk back.

He thought: The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection. Then he thought: Not really. But he smiled nonetheless.

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About the Author

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, the 44 Scotland Street series, and the Corduroy Mansions series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh and has served on many national and international organizations concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and taught law at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland.

Also available as an ebook by Alexander McCall Smith:
In the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series:
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency • 978-1-4000-7765-6
Tears of the Giraffe • 978-1-4000-7767-0
Morality for Beautiful Girls • 978-1-4000-7766-3
The Kalahari Typing School for Men • 978-1-4000-7941-4
The Full Cupboard of Life • 978-0-375-42324-6
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies • 978-0-375-42357-4
Blue Shoes and Happiness • 978-0-375-42426-7
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive • 978-0-375-42479-3
The Miracle at Speedy Motors • 978-0-307-37719-7
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built • 978-0-307-37810-1
The Double Comfort Safari Club • 978-0-307-37900-9
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party • 978-0-307-37963-4