The drive was not a long one to get to the spot where Mosenene Moropa decided to take his own life. His lifeless body hung from a thick branch of a towering Acacia tree, moving slightly in the stiff August wind from the rope he’d used to do the job. Lecheng stood next to his patrol car staring at the body and Kate’s anger rose again. Another death she believed Lecheng was responsible for. If he would have been watching as he was supposed to have been Mosenene wouldn’t have been able to come out here to hang himself.

“Lecheng,” Matebele greeted him as he walked towards the body. “Have you touched anything?”

“I haven’t done anything, I was waiting for you,” Lecheng glanced at Kate who pretended that he wasn’t even there. She was looking at the ground beneath the body.

“Where are his footprints?” she asked.

Matebele and Lecheng joined her. “It looks like they’ve been wiped clean, swept away from the way it looks,” Matebele said and then turning to Lecheng. “Did you do this Constable?”

Lecheng, knowing he was already in some deep trouble by having let Mosenene escape said quickly, “No, Sir. I told you I’ve been waiting at the car since I called you.”

Kate was slowly making circles outward around the hanging corpse, searching on the ground. How does a dead man sweep his own footprints away? Someone tampered with this scene. Was it Lecheng? Why sweep away the footprints of a man who committed suicide? Or maybe it wasn’t suicide. Suddenly, Kate’s eye caught a footprint in the sand between the tall, blades of dry grass. “Mr. Matebele, come and look at this,” she shouted.

Matebele bent down closer to look at the footprint. It was a boot of some kind, that was clear. There was writing on the sole of the boot but in reverse it was difficult to decipher. “It looks like “Champion Attitude”. I’ve never heard about any boots like that before. You know anything Lecheng?”

Lecheng was nodding his head. “Yeah I know them. My girlfriend told me that they’re some big expensive cowboy boots from Texas in the States.”

Matebele stood up, confused. “Why would your girlfriend know something like that?”

Lecheng hesitated, not wanting to reveal the rest of the story he had started. “Kgotletsa told her, she used to be his girl friend. He’s got a pair of boots from that company, his son sent him from the States, wears them all the time. I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”

“Why would Kgotletsa be out here when Mosenene was killing himself? Or maybe it wasn’t a suicide but a murder?” Kate thought out loud.

“I think we need to bring Kgotletsa in for questioning. Lecheng, cut the body down call the mortuary and get a cast of those boots. We’ll see you in the village. Let’s go collect the man, Detective,” Matebele ordered.

Kgotletsa was a man who couldn’t hide his feelings well. He was furious that Matebele thought he could come into his home and arrest him. “Who do you really think you are? You and that uptight detective of yours? So you’re the big man today?” He shouted insults as they handcuffed him and pushed him into the back of the patrol car. “But not such a big man in the bedroom though, are you Matebele? Can’t even manage to make a baby with your wife? What kind of man are you then? I’ll sort you out don’t worry.” He shouted back to his wife, a grey haired woman standing at the door in her apron, wringing her hands in fear. “Phone the lawyer.”

Kate watched Matebele for the temper that she knew he had, but it remained hidden. At the police station they had just begun to question Kgotletsa when his lawyer arrived from Gaborone. The overpowering smell of his after-shave filled the interrogation room, making only enough room in the air for his fug of condescension.

“Do either of you have any smidgen of evidence from which you could put together an actual charge against my client?” he asked Matebele and Kate, with his nose slightly elevated and a feigned British accent.

“It’s early stages, Mr. Serole but we want to hold your client for 24 hours to ensure no evidence or witnesses are tampered with,” Kate attempted.

“I don’t think so, Detective. I doubt the State wants a lawsuit for unlawful detention. I suggest I leave with my client, you people should attempt to get your ducks in a row and then you’ll get back to us.” He stood up taking Kgotletsa by the arm. “Do you need a lift home?”

Kate stood up to protest but Matebele stopped her. “They’re right, there’s nothing we can do right now.”

Kate knew she was watching a murderer leave and felt helpless knowing that she could do nothing to stop it.