Christine had begun to snore lightly. He smiled down at her. Silly girl. She never believed him or the boys when they told her she snored. He moved her head over to her pillow and rolled over. No need to switch the lights off because there had just been another power cut.
Oh, Ghana, he thought as he drifted off, what are we going to do with you?
THURSDAY MORNING, HE saw that he had missed a call from Dr. Smith-Aidoo. He tried her number. She didn’t pick up, so Dawson left her a text to say that he would try calling her again later on.
Before returning to Takoradi, he paid a visit to a friend of his at the Vodafone store on Oxford Street.
“Confidential, okay?” he said to Emmanuel in his deliciously chilled office.
“Always,” Emmanuel replied, leaning back. With his hefty weight, his executive chair went all the way back with a squeak.
“Do you remember the story of Lawrence Tetteh?” Dawson asked. “The CEO of Goilco who was shot about five months ago?”
“Of course.”
“I need the mobile number he was using.”
“Was Vodafone his provider?”
“Yes.”
“Then I can get it for you, no problem. By the way, what phone service are you using these days?”
Dawson winced. “Chaley, sorry. Still with MTN.”
“What!?”
“Okay, let’s make a deal. If you get me that number, I’ll switch to Vodafone.”
They shook hands on it.
IT WAS LATE afternoon when he got back to Takoradi by bus. Dawson wanted to give Dr. Smith-Aidoo an update on the investigation, but each time he had tried to call, he had gotten an error message that the “subscriber’s phone has been turned off.” Dawson doubted that very much. It was much more likely a problem with the network. On the off chance that Dr. Smith-Aidoo was at home, he took a taxi to her house at Airport Ridge. Her car wasn’t in the driveway. He got out and knocked on the front door. He waited a couple minutes and tried again, but everything was quiet.
Thinking he’d try Charles Smith-Aidoo’s home, he had the taxi skirt the center of town, back to Shippers Circle and past Planter’s Lodge to Beach Drive. The taxi driver blew his horn, and after a few moments, Gamal opened the gate and they pulled in.
“Good eve’ng, sir,” Gamal said, saluting to Dawson as he got out.
“Good evening, Gamal. Have you seen the doctor today?”
“Please, I have not seen her.”
“If she comes, can you ask her to please call me? You remember me?”
“Yes, please.”
“Thank you very much, Gamal.”
Dawson was just about to turn and leave when he realized he would be missing an opportunity.
