“No problem. Is that it for today?” Chikata said.
“Why?” Dawson asked knowingly. “Where are you going tonight?”
“There’s a private party tonight at the Champs Bar at Stellar. Do you want to come?”
“No, thank you.”
“Come on,” Chikata said, laughing as he went to the door. “Your wife isn’t here.”
“I prefer to stay out of trouble.” A thought occurred to Dawson. “What kind of party is this?”
“I don’t really know. The manager of Champs invited me.”
That was typical for Chikata. People invited him to everything.
“While you’re there,” Dawson said thoughtfully, “keep your ears open for anything interesting. For example, I understand there was a rumor that Fiona Smith-Aidoo was having an affair. See if you dig up anything like that.”
“Okay, boss, I will.”
“And don’t get drunk,” Dawson called out. “I need you fresh for tomorrow.”
IN THE MORNING, DAWSON was just out of the shower when Chief Superintendent Lartey called to ask how the case was progressing. Dawson gave him a quick summary of events so far.
“Move it along,” Lartey said crisply. “I need you and Philip back as quickly as possible. Cases are coming in all the time, and I want both of you to attend a new forensics course in two weeks.”
First he rushes me here to Takoradi. Now he’s trying to rush me back to Accra.
“How is Philip doing?” Lartey asked.
“Fine, sir. Very comfortable at the hotel.”
If the chief super detected the jab, he didn’t let on. “I want you to give him more free rein. Let him take the lead as much as possible. I’d like him to move up to inspector when you get to chief inspector. That is, if you do. How you perform on this case might determine that.”
Not that you’re trying to pressure me, Dawson thought. “Yes, of course, sir.”
He was glad to get off the phone with his boss as he answered a knock on the door. It was Chikata.
“How was the party?” Dawson asked as he invited him in.
“I’ve seen better,” Chikata said.
“Did you hear anything useful?”
Chikata dropped into the sitting room chair. “I was talking to a woman who used to work in Smith-Aidoo’s corporate affairs department. She says she resigned, but I got the feeling she might have been sacked. Anyway, she was boasting that Takoradi has a much lower crime rate compared to Accra, and I said, wasn’t Charles Smith-Aidoo brutally murdered some months ago? I didn’t tell her what I do, by the way. She was drinking and her tongue was loose, so I got her to say more. She told me she had heard that Fiona was having an affair with some businessman in town, and maybe it was the businessman that killed her and Charles.”
