She loves him dearly and often thinks of him as she solves her cases, and as she decides to become engaged to Mr JLB Matekoni and accept the orphans he took in. He left her a herd of 2,000 cattle; she sold most of them to start her business. She kept about 60, which a cousin watches for her. Mr JLB Matekoni: Owner of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors garage, and possibly the best mechanic in Botswana. He is a very kind man, in his forties. He suffers from depression when this novel opens. Mma Grace Makutsi: She is the secretary to Mma Ramotswe, very efficient, known for scoring 97 on her final exam at the secretarial college. She wears large glasses. She is caring for one of her brothers, dying from disease. She is in her twenties. She has been given the title of assistant detective, and acting assistant manager at the garage. Richard: Brother of Mma Makutsi, who now lives with her in her rented room on the Lobatse Road. He is very ill, with a terminal illness. Mma Silvia Potokwani: Matron of the orphan farm outside Gaborone. She is a most persuasive woman, in seeking help for her orphans and keeping the place running. She finds a quiet place for Mr JLB Matekoni to recuperate. Motholeli: Thirteen-year-old girl taken as foster child by Mr JLB Matekoni. Her mother died when she was 7. The custom of her people was to bury a newborn still nursing with the mother, if the mother died for any reason. Motholeli recovered her brother from the shallow grave and headed for the road, where a kind couple picked her up. She and the baby were in hospital, as Motholeli had tuberculosis and the boy needed care. Recovered from the worst of it, the two are taken home by a woman at the hospital. She has a recurrence of TB that leaves her unable to walk, and she uses a wheelchair. When that family must relocate for the husband's job, she and her young brother are placed at the orphan farm, and then taken as foster children by Mr JLB Matekoni. She writes her own story for school, saying she has had three lives. Puso: Five years younger brother of Motholeli. He is a lively boy, well-behaved like his sister, who has been caring for him since his birth. He and his sister are