Read In the Company of Cheerful Ladies for Free Online Page B

it into her drawer. “You seem to have a lot of money there. Where did you get it? Have you robbed a bank?”
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    The apprentice laughed. “I would never rob a bank. That is just for fools. If you rob a bank, then the police will surely catch you. That is always true. So don’t rob a bank, Mma!”
    “I have no intention of robbing a bank,” said Mma Ramotswe, laughing at the suggestion.
    “Just warning you, Mma,” he said casually, ostentatiously putting the roll of notes back into the pocket of his overalls. Then he sauntered out again, having resumed his whistling.
    Mma Makutsi looked across the room at Mma Ramotswe. “Well!” she exclaimed. “What a performance!”
    “He’s up to something,” said Mma Ramotswe. “Where would he have got hold of that money if he weren’t up to something? Do you think he borrowed it from somebody, from some foolish person
    who doesn’t know what those young men are like?”
    “I have no idea,” said Mma Makutsi. “But did you see the look on his face? Did you see how pleased he was with himself? And did you see that he was wearing one white shoe and one brown shoe? Did you notice that?”
    “I’m afraid I didn’t,” said Mma Ramotswe. “What can that mean, do you think?”
    “It means that he has two pairs like that,” said Mma Makutsi, laughing. “Or it means that he thinks he looks smart. I think it is because he thinks it looks smart.”
    “He’s a good enough boy at heart,” said Mma Ramotswe. “He just needs to grow up a bit, don’t you think?”
    “No,” said Mma Makutsi. She paused before continuing, “Do you know, Mma? I think that he is seeing a rich woman. I think that he has found some lady to give him money. That would explain the money itself, but it would also explain the fancy shoes, the grease on the hair, and the general air of being very pleased with himself. That is what is happening, if you ask me.”
    Mma Ramotswe laughed. “Poor woman!” she said. “I feel sorry for her.”
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    Mma Makutsi agreed with this, but she felt concerned for the boy too. He was only a young man, and very immature, and if this woman was much older than he was, then she might be taking
    advantage of him in some way. It did not look good for a young man to be spoilt in this way by some bored, rich woman. He would be the one to be hurt when the whole thing came to an end, as it undoubtedly would. And in spite of everything, she liked the two apprentices, or at least felt some responsibility for them; the responsibility that an older sister feels for a younger brother, perhaps. The younger brother might be foolish and may get into all sorts of difficulties through his foolishness, but he remained the younger brother, and he had to be protected.
    “I think we should watch this situation,” she said to Mma Ramotswe. And Mma Ramotswe nodded her head in agreement.
    “We’ll think of something,” she said. “But you are right, we do not want that young man to come to any harm. We must think of something.”
    THEY HAD A GREAT DEAL of work to do that day. A few days previously, they had received a letter from a firm of lawyers in Zambia, asking them to help in the tracing of a Lusaka financier who had disappeared. The circumstances of his disappearance were suspicious: there was a large hole in the company’s finances and the natural conclusion was that he had taken the money. This was not the sort of matter with which Mma Ramotswe normally
    liked to concern herself; the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency preferred to deal with more domestic matters, but it was a matter of professional honour that no client would be turned away, unless, of course, they deserved to be. And there was also the question of money. This sort of work paid well, and there were overheads to be taken into account—Mma Makutsi’s salary,
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    the cost of running the tiny white van, and postage, to name just a few of the items that seemed to consume so much of the profits
    each month.
    The financier was believed to be in Botswana, where he had