Kwei Quartey - Murder at Cape Three Points

Ah, this is what I want , Dawson thought ecstatically. “So, it’s not true that you welcomed Silas to the house in the afternoon or that you were home when you heard a gunshot and saw Silas running from the house?”

She bowed her head. “Yes, please. It’s not true.”

“It’s okay.” Dawson didn’t want her to feel any shame or embarrassment. He could tell she was the kind of person who easily accepted undeserved blame. “Who told you to say that you were home that day and that you saw Silas?”

“Two policemen,” she said softly, almost fearfully. “They came to see me the next morning to ask me what happened. I said to them that I had already told an inspector from the police station what had happened the night before, and they had already taken my statement. They told me that the inspector was not working on the case anymore and that I had to sign a new statement.”

Dawson exchanged a glance with Chikata. These two so-called policemen had probably been imposters or BNI guys.

“Did they tell you their names?” Dawson asked.

“No, please. They told me to come with them and they took me inside their car. One was driving and the other one sat with me in the back. They drove me far to somewhere around the Trade Fair site, and they didn’t say anything. I was afraid to ask where they were taking me.” Charity’s voice was shaking with emotion. “They found some lonely place and parked the car there. They told me I was in trouble because since I was the only one who found Mr. Tetteh dead, then probably I was the one who killed him. So they’re going to arrest me.”

She sniffed, wiping her nose with the back of her hand and brushing tears away.

“I told them I can never kill Mr. Tetteh. I begged them for mercy. Then they said they had to arrest me, and the one who was driving said he was going to handcuff me, and the other one said, ‘No, don’t do it.’ And I begged them, ofaine, ofaine , don’t take me, please. They said they knew Silas killed Mr. Tetteh, and they could arrest him if I confirm it for them. If I don’t confirm, then they have to arrest me rather.”

Charity was wringing her hands and curling her feet inward. Dawson could see how much anguish the story was causing her. “They said I should make another statement saying that I saw Silas coming to kill Mr. Tetteh. They would write it for me, and I would sign it. Then when the time came to testify in court, I have to say the same thing as I said in the statement, and they said they will teach me how to say it. So I signed the statement, and they let me go.”

She looked up at them almost apologetically. Dawson was angry but not with her.

“There’s nothing else you could have done,” he said, doing his best to reassure her. “I would have done the same thing if I had been in your position. Did the two policemen ever return?”

“Once, about one week later. They said they had arrested Silas for killing Mr. Tetteh, and they wanted to thank me for helping them but that later they would need me again to make the statement in court.”

Dawson’s jaw was clenching and unclenching. “Don’t worry. You won’t have to.”

Her eyes searched his face with both hopefulness and pleading, as though she had finally found someone she could lean on.

“Charity,” Dawson said, “do you know what a pen drive is?”

“Yes, that small thing to stick into the side of the computer.”

“Did Mr. Tetteh have one?”

“Yes, please.”

Without warning, she smiled, taking Dawson completely by surprise. He realized he had not yet seen her smile. “Do you know where I can find it?”

“He gave it to me to give to you.”

Dawson’s heart stopped. “What?”

“You were the one he said would come.”

“We don’t understand what you’re saying,” Chikata said, coming so far forward in his chair that it almost tipped over.

“He told me that certain people hate him,” she said. “Even, some of them used to threaten that they would kill him. He told me that if he dies, many different detective policemen will come to ask me questions, but only one will really care, and one day-he didn’t know when-that one will come to see me and that I should give the pen drive to that one who cares, but to no one else. When you came this morning, and I heard you say, ‘We have to care about Mr. Tetteh,’ I knew you were the one.”

Dawson was reeling. He felt heat and chills alternately in his face. “You have the pen drive here?” His voice almost shook.

“Yes. Please, I’m coming.”

She went into another room. Dawson looked at Chikata, speechless in disbelief. Charity returned seconds later. Into Dawson’s hand, she dropped a shiny, dark blue 8 GB pen drive inscribed with the word GOILCO.

This has to be it , Dawson thought. This pen drive held the solution to the mystery of who killed the Smith-Aidoos. He tried to curb his enthusiasm. His hunch could easily be wrong-again-he cautioned himself. Still, in spite of his trying to restrain his exuberance, he had a certain feeling, a feeling he had something very hot in his hand.

THE TIME WAS ALMOST eleven when Dawson and Chikata left Charity. They had spent hours talking and not only about Mr. Tetteh’s murder. Conversing with the two men in rapid Ga, Charity had become relaxed and full of good humor. She had then insisted that they join the family for a meal of kenkey and fried fish.

No good would come from trying to get back to Takoradi at this late hour, and in any case, they were dead tired. They drove around and finally found a cheap place to stay for the night.

“I can sleep in the car,” Baah said.

Dawson and Chikata looked at each other and laughed.

“Oh, why you dey laugh?” Baah asked in surprise.

“ Chaley , dis no be Takoradi,” Chikata said, grinning. “Dis be Accra.”

Dawson put his arm around Baah’s skinny shoulders. “Come on, you’re not going to sleep in the car. It’s too dangerous.”

Dawson paid for one room. It was all he could afford right now. The accommodations were the lowest of the low: a bare ceiling bulb, two low-set, lopsided beds with thin foam mattresses, and no toilet, bathroom, or even a sink. The public facilities outside were unpleasant. Baah sat in the one plastic chair and dozed off almost immediately.

Chikata looked for an electrical outlet but didn’t find one.

“Ah, well,” he said, switching on his laptop and sitting on the bed beside Dawson, “we’ll run it as long as the battery lasts.”

He popped in the pen drive. Dawson was trying to tone down his sense of anticipation so that if nothing on the pen drive turned out to be of interest, he wouldn’t feel crushed with disappointment.

The first thing they found on the drive was a set of emails between Charles and Tetteh.

From: Charles Smith-Aidoo

10 April 2012

To: Lawrence Tetteh

Subject: Re: Corporate responsibility

Hello, Lawrence -

I understand your concerns, but Malgam is working very seriously on developing a fund to cover the cost of cleaning up any spills.

Charles

Original Message

From: Lawrence Tetteh

8 April 2012

To: Charles Smith-Aidoo

Subject: Corporate responsibility.

Charles – the lack of serious commitment by Malgam to prevent environmental degradation by oil spills concerns me greatly.

After this exchange, no communication appeared between the two men until 10th May, when Charles sent a brief message:

I’ve been trying to call you regarding what we discussed. It appears your phone is off. My brother, I’m appealing to you as a fellow Ghanaian and colleague, please, don’t do this. This could threaten everything that we’ve achieved so far. All whistleblowers eventually suffer contempt, and they all come to regret their actions.