Kate looked down at the notes she had made when Helen Segole had been to her office. She knew the whole case was a long shot, but Helen’s despair was motivation enough for her to spend at least a day nosing around. It was a murder after all. The best place to start would be with the Minister.

Kate always preferred face-to-face interviews rather than the telephone. So much was lost through the phone. Also, she preferred no appointments. A surprise visit from a police detective always knocked a person off kilter, the best time for them to say something they may not have otherwise. So, she got in her car and headed for the Ministry of Telecommunications.

In the parking lot, she spotted a car in the spot reserved for the minister under the shade netting. Good, she thought, he’s in. She parked her car under the blazing September sun and made her way to his office.

Lush carpets, panelled walls and big heavy furniture gave the intended impression of power and wealth. Kate felt intimidated by neither. In the outer office, she found an older woman, dressed smartly in a brown suit, talking on the phone in the pleasant voice of a secretary long at the job. Putting the phone down, she turned to Kate. “Can I help you?”

“Yes,” Kate said showing the secretary her badge. “I’m Detective Kate Gomolemo, I wanted to speak with the minister if he has a few moments to spare.”

The secretary looked surprised. “Are you the Kate Gomolemo from Malaka, OT’s sister?”

Kate smiled. She’d get in to see the minister with no difficulty now. Anyone who knew Kate’s wild sister, OT, had to be on the side of good. Kate nodded. “Yes, that’s me.”

The woman came around the desk to give Kate a hug. “Your sister talks about you all of the time. She never said that you were so beautiful though. The way she talks, you single-handedly capture most of the criminals in Botswana. I expected someone a bit bigger and tougher looking.”

“OT, as you probably know, has a tendency to exaggerate.” Kate smiled, thinking of her big sister. She was one of a kind, OT, full of fun, with a heart as big as the country.

The secretary introduced herself as Mma Tshuba of Palapye. “The minister is busy with a phone call right now and was just about to leave for a meeting. I’ll phone the driver and tell him that he’ll be delayed and I’ll let you have a few minutes.”

She patted Kate on the back then sat back at her desk and made a few phone calls to clear a bit of time in the minister’s schedule. Kate silently thanked her sister OT for being friendly with every person that she met. It came in handy sometimes. Mma Tshuba looked up from the phone, “You can go in, Kate.”

Kate’s knock on the heavy wooden door was answered by an authoritative, “Tsena.”

The minister was busy with papers on his desk and didn’t look up. “Dumela rra,” Kate said.

He looked up at Kate. “Oh, sorry, I thought you were the driver. Do we have an appointment?”

Kate looked him over. He was a big man, both tall and heavy, a bit older than her, maybe fifty. He had been part of the rich and powerful for some time and was used to its benefits: expensive suit, heavy gold cuff links, and haircuts from Johannesburg. Not her type, but she’d try not to pre-judge him for it.

“Hello Mr Sesinyi. I’m Detective Kate Gomolemo from the Gaborone Police. I wondered if you have a few minutes, I’d like to ask you a couple of questions if you don’t mind.” She gave him a smile that she knew men like him would interpret the wrong way.

“Of course, Ms Gomolemo,” he said. “Please take a seat.”

Sitting, she fished out her notebook from her big leather bag. Flipping a few pages she said, “I understand on the morning of August 27th, you received a phone call from Helen Segole of Segole Engineering. Do you remember that call?”

The mention of Helen seemed to annoy the minister and the smile he’d been wearing vanished. “Yes, of course I do, her father was killed that day. I think you know I’m an MP for that area, Tswapong actually, but Mahalapye is my home. We don’t get many such murders that side. It is a day I remember well. Especially since I’d spoken to her that morning.”

“In that call she made you aware of some discrepancy in the tender her family’s company was bidding on, I believe.”

“Yes, she told me about Bernard Motlokwa being a director in the company that got the tender. I didn’t think it was significant. But I did tell her I’d investigate.”

“You didn’t think that the general manager of BOTEL being on the board of the company that won the tender to build the new BOTEL headquarters was significant? I find that hard to believe.”

“I meant that the tenders are decided by the tender board. I thought that it wouldn’t have mattered much. He had no input whatsoever regarding the decision. Anyway, I’ve only just joined the ministry as you know. I’m still investigating. I don’t know Mr Motlokwa well enough yet to make a decision.”

Kate nodded trying not to reveal what she really thought, that he was lying through his not very disguised teeth. “So what about Ms Segole’s call, did you tell anyone about it?”

“No, of course not. As I said it is a matter still under investigation.”

“So you don’t think the call and the murder a few hours later are connected?”

The minister smiled. “I know Ms Segole is mourning the loss of her father and is probably still quite angry about losing the tender, but the Mahalapye police have assured me that Mr Segole’s murder is being investigated. They have a few leads, none of which I can reveal to you. Anyway, you’re probably better placed to find out for yourself, but none of them have anything to do with the tender.”

The phone rang and he picked it up. Putting it back in place he said, “I’m sorry to be so abrupt, but I have a meeting and the driver is waiting. Perhaps you could make an appointment with my secretary and we could continue this conversation another time.”

He stood up and held Kate’s hand while walking her towards the door. “I hope to see you again soon,” he said, before closing the door. Kate doubted he meant his words.

Back at the office, Kate phoned the Mahalapye police to try and get more information about the case. They had a few leads. According to the station commander, there was a man who had promised to kill Rre Segole on numerous occasions in front of witnesses. It had something to do with an argument over the man’s ex-wife. He believed that Segole was dating her. Nothing had come of it yet. There were also a few people who owed Segole money and were not too happy about Segole sending his lawyers after them.

“The funny thing is,” the station commander told Kate. “We get almost daily calls from the Minister of Telecommunication about this case. It’s as if he wants to be helpful, often giving us new leads, but somehow I feel he’s being intrusive instead. Most of his leads are dead ends that waste our time. It’s a bit frustrating when they use us for politics like that. I feel he wants to make out he’s doing something for his constituents. But at our expense.”

Kate hung up wondering if some of the far-fetched accusations made by Helen Segole may just turn out to be the truth after all. It was obvious that the minister was hiding something. He wasn’t comfortable with her asking question about the BOTEL tender and Goitsemang Segole’s murder, though he attempted an air of nonchalance and helpfulness. Kate decided that she would go straight to the source the following day. She would visit Nicholas Khan.

But tonight she needed to get home. John was coming over for dinner and she wanted things to be just right. She was not the best when it came to household duties but tonight she wanted to make a serious effort.

***

Tell us what you think: Do you think Kate is playing with fire when she questioned the minister? Do you think she might be in danger? Why?