“I borrowed it from the woman at the reception desk,” he said, folding it and leaning it against the wall. “I am now officially a Takoradian. Do you know I have never used an umbrella in my life?”
Dawson thought for a moment. “Now that you mention it, neither have I. People in Accra don’t know anything about them.”
They went to the sitting room.
“Yeah, Dawson,” Chikata said, sitting down with one leg swung over the arm of the chair. “I just talked to this Peter Duodo guy in Accra.”
“Oh, good,” Dawson said, brightening. “What did you find out?”
“In fact, I thought the man was going to cry over Smith-Aidoo.”
“What do you mean?”
“Very nice, soft-spoken gentleman. His voice started to shake. Seems like he’s still in grief. He and Smith-Aidoo grew up together in Takoradi and they had been friends since secondary school. Duodo moved to Accra about ten years ago for his real estate business, but he and Smith-Aidoo stayed in touch.”
“Aha,” Dawson said, nodding. “So they were close.”
“It seems so. When the oil discovery came along, Smith-Aidoo tried to persuade his friend to open an office in Takoradi and buy up some land along the coast while it was still cheap. He told Duodo that Malgam was looking to partner with someone for development in the Cape Three Points area and that Smith-Aidoo was negotiating with the chief of Akwidaa. Smith-Aidoo said he was going to see if he could cut Duodo into a deal. I asked Duodo if Smith-Aidoo would get a kickback in that case, but he denied it.”
“He probably wouldn’t admit it if it were true,” Dawson said, “but if it is, maybe someone at Malgam got wind of Smith-Aidoo’s dealings with Duodo and didn’t like it.”
“That isn’t all. Something else came up during my conversation regarding Cardiman. After the meeting, as he and his wife were leaving Ezile, Smith-Aidoo called Duodo to say that he had told Cardiman that if he didn’t voluntarily vacate the Ezile property, it would be easy to pay off Nana Ackah-Yensu to kick Cardiman out. Smith-Aidoo said that led to a heated discussion between him and Cardiman.”
Dawson sat forward with increasing excitement. “Cardiman didn’t say that at all. He said quite the opposite-that he had parted with Smith-Aidoo on good terms.”
“Doesn’t sound like good terms to me,” Chikata said, flatly. “Now listen to this: While he was on the phone with Duodo, Charles said that he and his wife were debating whether to drive up to the lighthouse. Cardiman had told them as they were leaving that the view of Cape Three Points was spectacular and that they must see it before they leave.”
