As they neared the address Mrs Pilane gave them, Jade realised it wasn’t far from the warehouse where Roger spent his last days: the ‘bad side’ of town. They stopped in front of 245 Pleasant Boulevard.

“Do you think people live there?” Debra asked. The sign said, ‘Pleasant Hotel’ but it looked nearly as far away from pleasant as you could get. “It looks like it should be condemned.”

Inside, they found a very fat woman behind a counter that had security bars to the ceiling.

“Good morning,” Debra said.

“Yep,” the woman said, not getting up. “What you want?”

Undeterred, Debra continued, “We’re looking for a man, Tshego Zambane.”

“Gone.”

“Do you happen to know where?” Debra asked.

“Sure.”

“Could you tell us?” Jade said, starting to lose her patience.

“Why should I?”

Jade took out her badge. “Because if you don’t I think we’ll need to get the health inspectors down here to take a look around your little establishment.”

“You ought to know where he is then if you’re the cops. You’s the ones took him.”

“The Vale Police arrested him?” Jade asked.

“Yep.”

“When?”

“Took him about a month ago. Owes me rent too.”

At the Vale Police Station, they found that it was true. Tshego Zambane was in lock-up and had been for a month and half. He was awaiting a court case and no bail had been posted so they were keeping him inside until the case was heard.

“Well, that’s him out.” Debra said. She and Jade sat in the car outside the station. “He was in jail long before Roger was taken from his house.”

“I say we take a ride over to Quartz Engineering. Apparently their offices are downtown,” Jade said. She pulled out the card they got from Miller Carling to check the address again and then they headed that way.

They drove a bit then Debra asked tentatively, “So have you made any decision about the baby?”

“What am I supposed to do, Debra? Look at me. What sort of mother would I be? My life is a constant series of crises. I couldn’t do that to a kid.”

Debra smiled. “I think every mother thinks that before it happens. But most women find a way to make it work.”

“And Owen? What do I do about that?”

“I think it’s okay to leave Owen out of it for a while. You need to get your mind sorted first. You decide what’s best for you. Then you’ll see what to do about Owen.”

They drove a bit more in silence.

“But you know,” Jade said, “this might be my only chance. It’s not like I’m ever going to marry anyone. I’ve never had a relationship longer than six months. I never even considered having kids and now suddenly here I am. Maybe there’s some reason this happened.”

“Now don’t go all New-Agey on me,” Debra said, joking.

“See? Pregnancy is already messing with my mind.”

***

Tell us: Can unlikely-seeming people, like tough Jade, become good mothers?