Clovis Andersen looked down at the floor. “Well, I must say I’m very pleased by that. And I hope you find it useful. You never know when you write a book—often you don’t hear from the folks who have read it, and then …” He shrugged. “Then you think: ‘Well, I guess nobody’s read it after all.’ ”

Mma Ramotswe shook her head vigorously. “But of course people have read your book, Rra,” she said. “All over the world. That book is read all over the world. There are many detectives who have read it—I’m sure of that.”

“You’re very kind,” muttered Clovis Andersen.

Mma Makutsi now made another intervention. “God brought you here,” she said.

He turned round in his chair to look at her. “I beg your pardon, Mma?”

“God brought you here,” she repeated. “You have been brought to see us by God himself. That is very clear.”

Clovis Andersen looked nonplussed. “Well, actually, I was driving past and I saw your sign. I have a rental car, you see, and when I saw the sign I thought that as a matter of professional courtesy I might call in and introduce myself—since we are all in the same profession.”

“That is a very good thought,” said Mma Ramotswe. “And we are very glad that you did.” She looked over the room towards Mma Makutsi. “I think you should put on the kettle, Mma. Mr. Andersen is thirsty and would like some tea, I think.”

Mma Makutsi rose to her feet and picked up the kettle. She would not raise the subject now, since they had a visitor, and such an important visitor too, but it occurred to her that she was always the one to make the tea. That had been her lot, in a sense—to make the tea for other people; but why should it always be the case? She was now Mrs. Phuti Radiphuti, and it was about time that people started making tea for her. Time for tea, Mma Ramotswe. Would you mind putting the kettle on? It was a delicious, delicious thought, but not one to be expressed just yet.

THEY TALKED FOR almost an hour, well into the lunch break. Most of the talking was done by Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi, with Clovis Andersen making only the occasional intervention, nodding in agreement at some points, expressing surprise at others. From time to time Mma Makutsi picked up the copy of The Principles of Private Detection and read out a sentence to illustrate a point; Clovis Andersen, although he seemed flattered at these references to his work, was also reticent, making self-effacing gestures as if it embarrassed him to be considered an authority. Mma Ramotswe told him of the times they had relied on his advice and how his pithy comments had proved to be exactly the guidance needed, and Mma Makutsi added to this with examples of her own.