Mma Ramotswe expected opening a business to be difficult. When the lawyer who had organized the sale of her father’s cattle gave her the profits, he tried to warn her that no one would want a lady detective. Mma Ramotswe countered that women notice more than men, and pointed out that the lawyer’s fly was unzipped. She used the profits from the sale to buy herself a house on Zebra Lane and an office at the foot of Kgale Hill, which she worked hard to renovate. Finally, she hired a secretary named Mma Makutsi. The Agency opened on a Monday, and by noon they had their first client: Mma Makutsi herself.

Mma Malatsi’s husband Peter disappeared on Sunday; she thought he had gone to church, but he never reappeared. Mma Ramotswe agrees to take the case, and soon learns that Peter Malatsi had been drowned during a baptism ceremony at a large river. She brings a neighbor’s dog to the river and waits until a large crocodile approaches, then shoots it. Digging through its stomach, she finds rings and wristwatch, which she brings back to Mma Malatsi. Mma Malatsi confirms that the jewelry belonged to her husband, and expresses relief that he was with God, and not another woman.