Mma Ramotswe froze. Her mind went quickly to those she loved: Which one of them had had some terrible accident, was even at this moment under the surgeon’s knife at the Princess Marina Hospital? Had something happened in the garage? Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni had said that one of the pneumatic jacks was playing up—had it failed altogether and a car come down on him, pinning him to the ground? Puso? Motholeli? They should be safely at home from school by now, but there were always perils, even in that short walk between the house and school—only a few days ago a car driven by a young and inexperienced motorist had mounted the pavement and knocked over a fruit-seller …

“Fanwell …,” Mma Makutsi began.

Mma Ramotswe gasped. “Oh no, Mma, oh no …” Fanwell was dead. He had been under the car when the jack had failed.

Mma Makutsi quickly understood the conclusion that Mma Ramotswe had jumped to, and she corrected the mistake. “No, Mma, he is not late—nothing like that. He has been …” She struggled with the word; it was just so unlikely, so impossible. “He has been arrested.”

Mma Ramotswe’s relief on hearing that the worst had not happened was tempered by shock. “Arrested? Surely not, Mma? Not Fanwell …” She tailed off; the unspoken thought was that if Charlie had been arrested it would not be so surprising.

“Yes,” said Mma Makutsi. “If they had arrested Charlie, then maybe it would not have been so surprising. But Fanwell? No, Mma, it is a very shocking thing.”

Mma Ramotswe nodded. “I know, Mma, I have often thought that Charlie was asking for trouble.” She paused. “Do you think that they made a mistake? Do you think they thought that Fanwell was Charlie?”

“It is all a big mistake,” replied Mma Makutsi. “But it is not that mistake. No, they knew that Fanwell was Fanwell, and he was the one they were after.”

Mma Ramotswe crossed the room to her desk and sat down. “There is other bad news too,” she said quietly. “Mma Potokwane has been dismissed from her post. At the end of the month she will no longer be the matron.”

Mma Makutsi shrieked. “No, Mma. That cannot be. It cannot.”

Mma Ramotswe explained what had happened. She had found Mma Potokwane in her house, she said, and had been given the news directly. Mma Potokwane told her that she had had the news given to her by the secretary to the board of directors of the orphan farm. The directors had decided, she was told, that her attitude to the proposed new buildings had been unhelpful and obstructive. In the circumstances, since she had shown herself unwilling to comply with the properly determined policy of the board, it was thought that she should be replaced with somebody who could embrace the new approach to cost-effectiveness that the board had endorsed. And with that, her regime was brought to an abrupt end.