After the applause and laughter that had followed the Chief Superintendent’s speech died down, Spokes prepared to stand, but the lovely Loveness stayed him with her hand, and that was when he noticed that the Sub Inspector was rising to give a speech of his own. He was followed by the Sergeant Major, who was in turn followed by the Senior Sergeant, who was in turn followed by the other Senior Sergeant, who was in turn followed by a group of junior officers Spokes had worked with on various cases, and who took turns to thank him for all the things he had taught them over the years, and vowed to carry on his example. By this time, the still radiant and smiling lovely Loveness was crying. Her tears turned to tears of laughter when a group of young constables read out a litany of words beginning with the letter ‘M’ in the hopes of landing on the Chief Inspector’s middle name.

By the time Spokes stood at the podium, four hours had passed. He told the crowd the story of a young man who had returned home from the war with only a singular inheritance to his name – a grandfather and father both hanged by the neck until they were dead and silenced forever. The young man could have worn this inheritance with shame and anger, but he did not want to. He felt that there was a lesson in these deaths that he needed to learn. It was only when he, quite by chance, solved his first case that he understood what that lesson was: the dead need not be silent forever; past wrongs need not go unpunished; the truth need not remain always hidden. Justice had to prevail. It was the purpose of the BSAP and the CID to ensure this, and he was very proud to have served in their ranks for all these years. He had been humbled by what he had learned from each and every one of them, and he urged them to continue their good fight against the forever silence.

Spokes did not think the speech warranted the standing ovation it received before the BSAP band, to his surprise, struck up ‘The Regiment Continues’, and the officers and invited guests made a procession to the canteen where more than tea and cake awaited them. The ladies of the Women’s Institute chapter to which the lovely Loveness belonged had prepared a veritable banquet, much to the officers’ delight.

It was only when they left the canteen two hours later that Spokes found the courage to look at his wristwatch. The 33rd Annual City of Kings’ Township Ballroom-Dancing Competition would commence in exactly forty-five minutes at City Hall. They had no time to lose. As the lovely Loveness, Dikeledi and Lukha made their way out of the building, Spokes stopped by the Desk Sergeant’s desk to sign over the various keys still in his possession.