Monday morning, Kate was thankful to be driving to Mogobane. After two days with the thunderous voice and personality of her sister, the silence inside her car was heavenly, even given the background scent of goat urine on the carpets. When Kate entered the small, tidy station office, she was surprised to see Constable Lecheng already at work though it wasn’t yet 7:30.

“Here early Lecheng?” Kate said.

“Yeah, I thought we might try to go and see the Molales again. I was thinking some more about that boy on the weekend. Maybe you’re right, maybe he knows something he’s not telling us.”

Once again, Lecheng surprised her. Suddenly, he was anxious to get to work, giving ideas for where the case should go. Kate decided that Lecheng was not as easy to figure out as he had first appeared.

As they drove out to the lands, Kate made an attempt at small talk. “So how was your weekend?”

“I worked. Matebele had to go somewhere and I was the only one available. Anyway, it was mostly quiet. A few fights, nothing serious. What about you?”

“I went to Malaka to collect my sister. My son’s getting married.”

“Is that so?” Lecheng said, raising his eyebrows in surprise. “I didn’t think you were old enough to have a son that could be getting married.”

“We got married young, my husband and I. It’s not so common now a days, I guess.”

They rode the rest of the way in silence. Kate thought about Mary Matebele and wondered where her husband had gone off to for the weekend. Maybe they went together, Kate hoped, to find help, maybe from their families in the traditional Setswana way.

Once again as they came out of the dip in the road, Kate’s eyes drifted to Mmagosego’s deserted compound. What happened in there that night? When would all of the secrets be revealed? When would the murdered children and their grandmother find justice? If nothing else, Kate knew that she wouldn’t rest until they did.

The police car pulled into the Molale’s compound in a cloud of dust. When it settled, Kate could see that Neo was with his father at the side of the main house skinning a goat.

“Dumela, Rre Molale,” Lecheng said as he walked towards the duo.

“Dumela, Constable Lecheng,” Mr. Molale said wiping his hands and putting a protective arm around his son. “I was wondering when you’d be back.”

He instructed Neo to collect chairs from inside the house, then they sat down in the shade at the side of the house.

Kate could feel that Rre Molale had made a decision to be uncooperative. His body language and curt responses spoke more than any words could. She would have to choose her words carefully. “Yes, we were here the other day. You weren’t around, but we spoke a bit with Neo.”

He looked at his son who stood leaning against the house. “Yes, he told me.”

“That’s actually why we’re back. We thought perhaps Neo had something he’d like to tell us. He seemed nervous that day.”

Mr. Molale put his head in his hands and stared at the ground, moments passed before he spoke. “I think maybe, Detective, that you don’t understand this village. There are dangerous people here, evil people. What must honest, hardworking people like myself do? Being a hero will only make them come after me.” He shook his head, still staring at the ground, trying to convince himself that keeping quiet was the right thing to do.

“Mr. Molale, five people are dead. Do you want their murderers to walk free?” Kate asked, beginning to get annoyed.

Mr. Molale shot to his feet, anger in his eyes. “Who are you? You’ll find them, put them in jail, the courts will set them free. They have money, they hire lawyers. Then after some time they’ll come for me, they’ll come for Neo. Where will you be then? Back in Gaborone that’s where!”

“Mr. Molale, I promise you if these people are caught, they won’t go free. I will make sure that they at the very least spend their life behind bars.”

The older man slumped back into his chair refusing to budge from his silence. “I saw something,” a thin, quivering voice said. Kate looked up to see Neo was the one speaking.

“No Neo, don’t say it. Please, my son, don’t,” his father begged.

“I can’t let them go free, Rre. They killed Gosego, she was my friend. I loved her. They killed her for nothing, nothing at all. She never hurt anyone. No, I will speak, it is the right thing to do,” the young boy stood taller, showing them the man of principle that he would soon grow into.

“That night I was awake at the fire. I had gone to the kgotla but came back here after I had a disagreement with one of my friends in town. I arrived late and made a fire to heat tea. I knew Gosego and the boys had remained behind with their grandmother. Gosego had come and told me before I left for the village. She was angry. She had given me some notes for her girlfriends who would be waiting for her at the kgotla.”

“When I was at the fire I saw two figures heading for Gosego’s compound. I wondered who it could be, it was late and I knew everybody was at the kgotla, I had seen them there. So, I followed. I couldn’t get very close because it was a full moon and there are very few trees and places to hide. I saw them go in the house and I waited.” He stopped and gulped back tears that threatened to flow. For this, he knew he had to be a man, crying would not do. “I don’t know why I didn’t make a noise to distract them. I knew they were up to nothing good. I knew it, but I kept quiet and waited.”

“No, Son, it was not for you to stop them, you’re just a boy. No one expected you to stop them. You’re being brave now when others, even myself would have chosen otherwise,” his father said to reassure him.

The boy continued. “I saw them come out, after a long time, and then they went back in the hut. Still I couldn’t make out who they were. But then when they came out again, the fire from inside threw light onto one of the man’s faces and I saw it clearly. I knew the man too. It was Mosenene Moropa.”

Kate looked at Lecheng. “Do you know him?”

Lecheng nodded. “Yes, he’s a man from the village. He’s unemployed, spends most of his time at the shebeens or getting piece jobs out at the lands. I know where we can find him.”

Kate stood up and went to Neo, taking him by the shoulders and looking into his eyes, still filled with fear. “Neo, we will keep your identity secret unless we need you later as a witness. There is nothing to be afraid of. You have been very brave and I won’t let you down.”

Stopping at the car, Kate turned back to Neo, “Are you the one who sent us the note?”

Neo looked up at the tall detective who he prayed would live up to all that she promised, “Yes I did, I am the one who sent the note that brought you here.”

Kate and Lecheng drove quickly back to the village. They needed to collect this man as soon as possible. It was likely he had been hired and the right questioning might be enough to get him to reveal his bosses as well as the other man Neo saw who was with him that night. Lecheng knew the regular shebeens where Mosenene could be found and on the third one they were lucky. The tall, scruffy, middle aged man put up no resistance when they pushed him into the back of the patrol car, it was almost as if he had been waiting for them.

Back at the police station they pushed him into the cinder block interrogation room. Sitting heavily down on the metal chair kicking his feet out in front of him, a slight smile appeared on his face.

Kate sat across from him, hesitating a bit before speaking. She knew suspects like this. They thought that they had one up on the police and that no matter what took place, they would walk free. Kate promised herself this one would not.

“So Mr. Moropa, on the night of the kgotla celebration, when the children were murdered at the lands, where were you?”

“Me? Why ya askin’?”

“Just answer the questions, Mr. Moropa. The sooner you answer the sooner we can all be out of here.”

He looked at a new gold watch on his arm. “Yeah, you know I’m supposed to meet someone after lunch. You think we’ll be through here by then?”

“If you cooperate I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t make your appointment,” Kate lied. She quickly glanced at Lecheng who stood behind Mosenene, leaning his back against the wall.

“So what about that night?” Kate continued.

“If I remember correctly I was with some friends. I was with Senatla, Kgotletsa Senatla. I think you know him, go and check it out if you don’t believe me.”

“We have a witness who saw you coming out of the burning house that night?” Kate asked almost as an aside, looking down at the papers on the table.

“Who the hell said that?” his anger flared. “Who’s saying that? I want to know? I know my rights, you know.”

“I can’t say who it really was but what I can say is that some friends are not really friends, wouldn’t you agree Mosenene?” Kate asked pushing the trail as far away from Neo as she could.

Mosenene thought for a moment and then nodded his head. “Yeah, some people can’t be trusted, that’s for sure.”

“Sometimes, people come forward to protect themselves and forget all about the friendship. Now my advice to you is, protect yourself. You talk now and maybe I can sort out a deal for you. There’s not a court in this country that won’t hand out a death sentence for the killing of four kids and an old lady. You want to hang Mosenene? Is that what you want? Is your life really worth that gold watch there?” Kate surprised him. Quickly he pulled his arm under the table to hide his most prized possession.

He shook his head back and forth agitated, trying to sort out his thoughts. “No, no, no… you’re just trying to mix me up. No one’s gonna talk, everybody knows better than that. No one’s gonna hang.”

Gaining his composure, he turned to Lecheng, someone he thought he could trust. “So can I go? You don’t really got nothing on me, do ya?”

“I don’t see any reason you shouldn’t be able to go.” Lecheng replied. Kate’s eye’s flashed at him. What was he saying? They finally get a lead and Lecheng wants to cut him free, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Constable Lecheng can I see you outside for a minute?” she managed to squeeze out. Once away from the door so the suspect couldn’t hear, she continued, “What the hell are you doing? He’s not going anywhere. We’ve got an eyewitness who puts him at the scene of the crime. Are you crazy? He’s our only hope!”

“The way I see it he’s not talking. He’s not a clever bloke as you can see. He’s gonna leave this place and lead us straight to his accomplices. Then we get them all.”

“And what if he gets away? You going to watch him all night? We don’t have the resources for this?” Kate was nearly shouting in frustration.

Matebele came out of his office to see what all of the noise was about. Kate explained , “We interviewed someone who saw Mosenene Moropa at the scene of the murders that night. We have him in interrogation but now Lecheng here thinks it’s better we cut him loose so that he leads us to his partners. I say we don’t have the man power.” She decided not to name Neo, the less people who knew right now the better.

Matebele’s brow furrowed as he thought the issue over for a moment. Then he said, “Lecheng has a point. If he’s willing to cover the night shift I don’t see any problem. Cut him loose you stay on him until dusk and then Lecheng will take over. It’s a small village where can he go?”

Kate couldn’t believe her ears. Where could he go? There’s a whole big world out there, she thought. But then, she respected Matebele and maybe with a little effort they might just get everybody in one swoop. It didn’t look like Mosenene was planning to talk anyway and he was their only lead. With a jump of faith, Kate decided to follow their plan.

Kate turned to Lecheng. “You go home and sleep. I expect you to be wide-awake tonight. I’ll let him loose and take my shift. This is it Lecheng, don’t screw it up.”

The afternoon passed uneventfully. From the police station, Mosenene made a beeline for the nearest shebeen, where he stayed put drinking, if Kate had kept count correctly, five cartons of chibuku. But just as the edge of the sun fell below the horizon, Mosenene decided it was time to move on and swaggered to his feet heading towards the centre of the village. Kate followed far enough behind not to be noticed, but in his state he probably wouldn’t have seen her if she drove up right next to him.

He stopped at a prosperous looking compound with a patch of green grass at the front of a face brick house. “Koko!” he shouted at the gate. After three more tries, Kate saw a lace curtain at the front window move and after some minutes she was surprised to see Kgotletsa Senatla, the VDC chair, come out of the house. Kate was too far away to hear anything but mumbles but it was clear that Kgotletsa wanted Mosenene to leave as quickly as possible. He had the man by the arm and tried walking him back towards the gate he had come through but the drunken man would not budge. In frustration, Kgotletsa shoved him out of the gate and Mosenene stumbled and hit the ground hard. The fall sobered him up. Kate could clearly see his face from her position at the side of the wall behind a tree. He was angry and he shouted so that Kate heard clearly, “I’ve got traditional doctors too!” Then he stood up, dusted himself off and staggered home.

Lecheng found Kate sitting outside Mosenene’s unfenced compound. “So anything happen?” Lecheng asked.

Kate was still angry at his insubordination and not yet sure that he was trustworthy. She decided to keep the argument between Kgotletsa and Mosenene to her self for the moment.

“No, nothing. He’s inside. Stay awake tonight. I’ll see you in the morning.” She started her car and sped away.