Lukha looked down at the wrinkled yellow T-shirt he was wearing. It had a bright rainbow printed on it and the words ‘Build a better tomorrow’ written in a 1970s psychedelic font that followed the arc of the rainbow. When was the last time he had paid any attention to what he wore? He didn’t even remember receiving the T-shirt in one of those bales of donated clothing that came from Scandinavian countries via the Lutheran World Federation and were distributed in the camps. When he looked up, she was looking at his hair, which is what made him dig his fingers through mountains of hair that had not welcomed a comb in many months, then scratch his scalp.

‘I’m here to see Chief Inspector Spokes Moloi,’ he said.

She looked at him for so long a moment that he began to fear that perhaps the Chief Inspector and his wife, Mrs Loveness Moloi, had moved away. He really needed to talk to the Chief Inspector. But what if he couldn’t? Lukha was on the verge of panic when she said, ‘He is not here.’ Before he could respond to this news in any way, she asked, ‘What do you want with him?’

‘I need to talk to him,’ Lukha said, his fingers still raking his hair.

She was just about to respond in a way that Lukha was sure he would not have liked when another voice came from within the house.

‘Who is at the door, Dikeledi?’ it asked.

‘A stranger,’ Dikeledi replied.

Dikeledi would probably have left it at that, but luckily the door was opened wider and Mrs Loveness Moloi and a warm vanilla scent greeted him.

‘Oh, it is you, Lukha,’ she said with a smile. ‘It is so good to see you again. Please do come in.’ Her invitation and the hand she placed on his arm were even warmer than the scent of vanilla. It was all too much for Lukha.

‘I’m here to report a murder,’ he said, refusing to be let into the house.

‘A murder?’ Mrs Loveness Moloi said, her warmth neither dissipating nor diminishing.

‘A murder I committed,’ he said.

Dikeledi sharply sucked in her breath and gave him an ‘I knew it’ glare, but Mrs Loveness Moloi simply said, as she guided him into the house, ‘The Chief Inspector will be here soon, and you can tell him all about it.’

Lukha had no choice but to follow her into the inviting home.