Detective Kate Gomolemo hung up the phone with a smile on her face. It had only been a few months since John Mogami got out of prison, but already she was happy to hear that he was putting a new life together. Two years in prison was difficult for him. When Kate saw him the first time after he was released, she nearly didn’t recognize him. His hair was cut short, nearly shaved completely. He had lost weight and his face seemed older and had a set seriousness about it. She was worried that she wouldn’t find anyone there that she might want to be friends with anymore.

But she needn’t have worried. John was a survivor. While in prison he had finished a course in agriculture and now had plans to establish a fully-fledged dairy farm and horticulture project at his cattle post outside Lobatse. His enthusiasm when he talked about it was infectious. His new plans helped, somewhat, with coping with his new single life and being away from his children, the most difficult part of his divorce. He tried to see them every weekend, but Boitumelo, his ex-wife, was sometimes difficult.

She blamed him for all of their problems. They lost their big house in Phakalane. There were no more flashy cars and private schools. They all suffered because of John’s inability to refuse a bribe, according to Boitumelo. She never saw her role in the crime and John didn’t bother to point it out. He accepted the full blame of his actions; guilt still weighed heavily on him and probably always would.

Kate found it all a bit problematic. She’d been the one who put John in prison. She’d been investigating the murder of a young woman in his office at the Roads Department and uncovered the corruption he’d been involved in. He’d been forced into a corner. Kate spotted that straight away. John Mogami was a good man, an upright man, who made a terrible mistake. He’d been punished for it, and now he wanted to get on with his life. And funny enough, he seemed to want to make the cop who’d sent him to prison part of that new life he was designing.

Despite all of it, Kate was looking forward to dinner that night with John. First, though, she had piles of paperwork to attend to. She had just finished with a case of armed robbery of a bank involving the owner of the security company that had been employed to guard it. It had been a whirlwind case as the underpaid security guards were more than happy to rat on their boss. Before Kate knew it, the boss was arrested and court dates were set. She never had a chance to catch her breath or to catch up on the mounds of paperwork for the case. She pulled the largest pile of papers towards her and started to sort them out when the phone on her desk rang. “Hello, Detective Gomolemo.”

“Kate, it’s me. I’ve got something here I want you to see.” It was Kate’s boss, Mr. Modise. She hung up and made her way to his office on the third floor Gaborone Central Police Station. She knocked on the door and heard him on the phone inside.

“Tsena,” he shouted from behind the door and went back to the phone. “Okay, bring him in for questioning. Maybe he’ll think again about keeping quiet.” He hung up the phone then picked up a folded piece of notebook paper on his desk and handed it to Kate. It was dirty like it had been handled for some time and the edges were ragged as if torn from a hardcover. The writing was in black pen, but it looked to be a child’s writing, with a child’s grammatical errors. “I got this today.”

Kate read it out. “Things in Mogobane are going wrong. The burned people were not burned. They are murdered. Please help.” Kate turned it over to look for a name or address but there was nothing.

“That’s all there is. It was sent in an envelope with no return address. I think it’s about those five people who burned in the house at the lands in Mogobane on Wednesday. What do you think?” He looked up at Kate, his best detective, he trusted her instincts.

“I don’t know. I didn’t pay that close attention. I’ve been busy with that bank robbery. What was the story on that?”

“Just an accident. I understand the report said that the paraffin lamp got knocked over in the night. Burnt all five people to ashes.”

Kate looked at the paper again. A kid wouldn’t do this unless he really thought something was up or if he was playing a trick. “I’m not that busy. I need to finish up the paperwork for the armed robbery then I could go out there the first thing tomorrow and take a look around if you think I should. ”

“I think that’s a good idea. Just sniff around make sure everything’s okay. I’m sure it’s nothing but better we check it out just in case.”

Kate arrived at the Mogobane Police Station just after 8:30 in the morning. The tidy garden and immaculate walkways were evidence of a leadership that took no shortcuts. Kate had heard all about Station Commander Matebele. He was a hero among some of the local police for his strength and ability to get all he needed from a suspect. A “no nonsense man” as Kate’s boss had described him. She got in the office and was told that the station commander was waiting for her.

Kate held out her hand to the large man behind the desk. “Good Morning, Rre Matebele. I’m Kate Gomolemo.”

“Yes, I know. Please take a seat. Mrs. Gomolemo, you might not know this, but I knew your late husband. He was a good man. He helped me with my problematic nephew who had attended school in Mochudi when your husband was the headmaster there. Thanks to your husband’s strict hand, that boy is now at the university. I was very sad when I heard about him passing away. I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you for your kind words,” Kate said. She knew many Batswana men like Rre Matebele. Respectful men, committed to duty, to family. Men like Kate’s husband. She instinctively liked Asst Sup. Matebele, and not just for his comforting words.

“I think my boss phoned you about the note that we received.”

“Yes, I know all about it. I’ve got the file here and the officer on the case is waiting for you outside in the car. He will help you in anyway for as long as you need him. He believes it was a simple fire. Everything’s in the file. Constable Lecheng is his name.” Matebele handed her the file. She glanced at the details of the case.

“Okay, let me not take any more of your time. Thanks again for your help.” Kate stood up collecting the file.

Matebele walked her to the door. “Anything that you might need, Detective Gomolemo, don’t hesitate to ask. We’re at your service for as long as you need us.”

Constable Lecheng was having trouble sleeping at night thanks to the sight of those burnt bodies that kept playing over and over in his nightly dreams. But during the day, sleeping seemed to come easily. So it was no surprise that Kate found Lecheng in the patrol car, his head hung back over the seat and his mouth wide open in a noisy snore.

“Constable Lecheng?” Kate said poking her head through the window.

“Yeah?” the startled Lecheng said a bit too loud, suddenly awake and confused. “Yeah? So what do you want?”

Kate didn’t like the tone he had taken since he had been the one sleeping on the job. “I’m Detective Gomolemo from Gaborone. Asst. Sup. Matebele said that you’d take me out to the nearby lands to see where that fire took place.”

“You? The detective? I didn’t know ladies were detectives nowadays.” He shrugged his shoulders in a “you learn something new every day” kind of way. “Get in I’ll take you out there.”

***

Tell us what you think: What do you think of Lecheng’s attitude to women?