Kwei Quartey - Murder at Cape Three Points

HE DIDN’T HAVE to make the call. Two hours later, his phone rang and the screen showed the American doctor’s number.

“Inspector Dawson?” He was wide-awake and cheerful this time, to Dawson’s relief. “This is Dr. Taryque. Were you the one who called earlier on?”

“Yes. Doctor, I apologize for waking you up. I forgot about the time difference.”

“No problem at all. Are you in Accra?”

“No, Takoradi. I believe you were here about four or five months ago?”

“Yes, that’s right. Nice town. How can I help you?”

Dawson liked Taryque’s open, friendly voice. “I’m investigating the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Smith-Aidoo. I don’t know if you recall those names.”

“The oil guy and wife, right? The case had just started when I was there. It’s still unsolved?”

“Yes. Am I correct that you took some photos of these two victims at the postmortem?”

“I asked permission and Dr. Hector Cudjoe, the pathologist in charge, was fine with it. Why, is there some kind of problem?”

“Not at all. I’m working on whether both victims had powder burns at the entry wounds. Do you recall, Doctor?”

“I believe it was only the man, but I can email the pics to you to confirm it, and that way you’ll have them for the case record.”

“That would be great, Doctor. Thank you very much.” Dawson supplied his email and then ended the call.

He sat for a while, contemplating that he had not yet established the exact nature of Charles Smith-Aidoo’s association with Lawrence Tetteh. It was vital that Dawson find that out, because two murders a month apart of men connected to the oil industry was too close a coincidence to accept at face value. Figuring out the connection might even provide insight into both killings. Obviously, he could not go to Superintendent Hammond over this, because the man seemed to want him to stay well away from the Tetteh murder. At some point, Dawson would confront Hammond about that, but first he wanted more ammunition in readiness for his attack.

To whom, then, could he turn for help with the Smith-Aidoo-Tetteh connection? He thought of Jason Sarbah, who had extended an open offer to help if Dawson thought there was something he could assist with. Dawson decided to take Jason up on that and he dialed his number.

“I need some assistance, sir,” Dawson said, after Jason had answered the call and they had exchanged greetings. “I hope you can help.”

“Certainly, Inspector. I’ll do my best.”

“I’d like you to keep this confidential. Charles Smith-Aidoo was in touch with Goilco CEO Lawrence Tetteh months before their deaths. I’m trying to establish the basis of their association with each other.”

“I see,” Jason said, with some hesitancy in his voice. “And where do I come in?”

“Would you have any communications between them, either on paper or email, that I could look at?”

“Oh,” he said, not sounding terribly enthusiastic about the idea. “If that’s available in company records, I’m afraid it’s confidential.”

Dawson wondered what had happened to all that previous willingness Jason had expressed. Why the sudden reticence? Was there something particularly sensitive about this area, and if so, what did it have to do with Jason? On the other hand, Dawson reasoned, it might just be normal protectiveness of company records.

“Please, sir, you did say you would help me in any way you could,” Dawson reminded him.

“That’s true.” He laughed nervously. “I tell you what-let me ask Mr. Calmy-Rey and get back to you with an answer.”

“Okay, that’s fair.” If Calmy-Rey said no, then Dawson was willing to use some more “persuasive” tactics.

“Can you give me a couple of hours to give you the final word?” Jason asked.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“Oh, before I forget,” Jason said, his voice lightening. “I wanted to let you know that we can schedule your visit to the Thor Sterke rig next week Monday.”

Honestly, Dawson had forgotten about that. Having never flown in his life, he was a little apprehensive about going up in a chopper. Did he really need to go to the rig? What if he found a connection between Charles and Tetteh and that enabled him to crack the mystery? But, he argued, that still wouldn’t eliminate his need as a good detective to familiarize himself with the surroundings into which the Smith-Aidoos drifted. What about photographs? No, nothing beat being there in person. It’s also possible that from talking to people on the rig, Dawson might discover something hitherto unknown. Sure, there was a statement from George Findlay, the oil installation manger with whom Dawson had spoken before the gentleman left for Scotland, but what about other witnesses on the rig?

“Inspector? Are you there?”

“Yes, yes, I’m here. Certainly. Monday will be fine.”

“Good,” Jason said. “I’ll let you know the details. Please remember that your arrival on the rig means some adjustments in the daily schedule, so if you could make every effort to fulfill your plan to visit, as it will be hard to do that in the future.”

“Of course. I understand.” Well, that settles it , Dawson thought as he hung up. I have to go-fear of flying or not.

DAWSON HAD SENT Chikata back to Axim to try to track down other members of FOAX besides Quashie Quarshie. By lunchtime he wondered if he was going to hear from Jason about the possibility of looking at any communications between Charles and Lawrence Tetteh. He was surprised when he received a call in mid-afternoon from a number he didn’t know, and it turned out to be Roger Calmy-Rey himself.

“Jason told me about your interest in seeing these communications,” he said after he’d exchanged greetings with Dawson. He sounded very serious. “It isn’t something the superintendent required from us. May I ask why the interest?”

Calmy-Rey sounded as wary as Jason, and suddenly Dawson felt the need to be just as cautious. Both of them were being cagey. Was it just because of company privacy policies, or was there something else-something about Charles’s association with Tetteh that adversely involved Jason and/or Calmy-Rey?

“It has to do with the investigation,” Dawson said noncommittally while sharpening his voice a little.

Calmy-Rey paused. “Very well. I can provide you with some selected emails, but I can’t release everything because there may be proprietary information included.”

“Whatever you can do is appreciated,” Dawson said.

“Can you meet with Jason around five thirty? I will not be here.”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Calmy-Rey.”

DAWSON ARRIVED AT the Malgam Office at the appointed time and was escorted straight up to Jason’s office.

“Please, have a seat,” he said to Dawson. He seemed edgier and more distant. “I’ll show you what I’ve got for you.” Jason rolled up a chair next to Dawson and opened up a thin folder. “Mr. Calmy-Rey authorized me to show you these.”

Jason passed the first page to Dawson.

“This is an email from Lawrence Tetteh to Charles in September last year, some months after Mr. Tetteh had become the CEO of Goilco.”

Charles, please see attached Goilco’s new mission statement. I developed it in collaboration with PIAC.

“What is PIAC?” Dawson asked.

“Public Interest and Accountability Committee. It’s a statutory body established to monitor government compliance in the use and management of Ghana’s petroleum revenues. Tetteh was a stickler for high standards and accountability. Goilco’s role of partnering with international oil companies, enabling the training of Ghanaian citizens in the petroleum industry, and so on are spelled out in the mission statement, but Tetteh added another layer to it, almost like a moral code.”