Wife of the Gods (27 page)

“Oh.” Her expression changed to concern. “Is everything all
right?”

“Yes, thank you. Took care of it.”

“Good. Come. Uncle Kweku is inside.”

He was listening to a news bulletin on a tiny portable radio,
but he switched it off as Dawson and Auntie Osewa walked in.

“How are you, Darko?” he said, smiling broadly. “How is
everything? Have a seat.”

They chatted for a few minutes.

“So,” Auntie Osewa said, “any news on the investigation?”

“That’s partly what I came to talk to you about,” Dawson
said.

“Is that so?” she said.

“Inspector Fiti told me you’ve reported that Samuel went into
the forest with Gladys that evening. Is that true?”

Kweku shot his wife a quizzical look. “You did? He did?”

She nodded. “I was collecting firewood when I saw them.”

“You never told me,” Kweku said evenly.

Osewa shrugged, unperturbed. “I didn’t even think it was
important until some of the women collecting water at the pump said
they had heard Samuel had been arrested and the police were looking
for information about him.”

“Auntie, do you mind if I ask you a few questions and write down
your answers?” Dawson asked.

“Of course
I don’t, Darko. You have to do your job.”

He fished his notebook from his shirt pocket. “Can you say about
what time you first saw Samuel?”

“Well, I don’t wear a watch,” she said apologetically, “but the
sun was soon about to go down.”

“So maybe around five thirty or five forty-five,” Dawson said.
“And where were you exactly when you saw them?”

“There is a place between Bedome and Ketanu where I get my
firewood. I was collecting it when I heard some people talking. I
went to see what was happening, and that’s when I saw them.”

“How far away from you were they?”

“When you were coming, did you see the two houses before
ours?”

“Yes.”

“From here to the one farther away from us.”

“I see.” That was about three hundred meters. “Do you remember
the clothes they were wearing?”

She laughed. “Ei, Darko, you are giving me a tough test. The boy
– well, you know his clothes are nothing special. Just some torn
khaki trousers and something like a red shirt, or orange, with no
sleeves. And Gladys was wearing a blue and white skirt and blouse
with Adinkra symbols. Very pretty. She always wore beautiful
clothes.”

“You couldn’t hear what they were talking about?”

“No, too far away. Do you know the firewood place?”

“No, I don’t.”

“If you’re walking from Bedome, before you come to Mr. Kutu’s
compound you will see it on this side.” Osewa indicated her
left.

“I see. Thank you.”

“But anyway, after Samuel and Gladys had been conversing for a
little while, Isaac Kutu came from his compound and told Samuel to
go away and leave her alone.”

“I thought you said you couldn’t hear anything from that
distance.”

“I could hear some of it now that Mr. Kutu and the boy were
shouting at each other, and I could see what Mr. Kutu was saying
because he was shaking his finger at Samuel like he was warning
him. And so the boy went away.”

“Which way did he go when he left?”

“In the direction of Bedome.”

“And then what happened?”

“Mr. Kutu and Gladys conversed for a little while, and then he
went back to his compound and she started walking back to
Ketanu.”

“And then?”

“And then I saw Samuel come out of the bush and accompany her on
the path.”

Dawson’s hand froze. He had picked up a tremor in Auntie’s
voice, a ruffling of its smoothness. An eerie sensation came over
him like a thousand creeping spiders.
This has happened
before
.

The scene came flooding back. The evening Mama, Cairo, and Darko
had visited Auntie and Uncle.

The game of oware was nearly over. Auntie Osewa had just come
in from outside. Uncle Kweku asked her where she had been. “I went
to set the rabbit traps,” she said. Her voice felt so strange to
Darko that it jolted him
.

Back then, he had not wanted to think she was lying, and now
Dawson had the same disturbing feeling.

He recovered. He didn’t want Auntie Osewa to sense anything was
amiss.

“And what happened next?” he asked.

“The boy held Gladys’s hand and tried to put his arms around
her, but she didn’t want that. They stood there talking some more,
and he was trying to persuade her. She would make as if to walk
away, but he would always come around in front of her, begging her
not to leave. And after a while, they went into the bush.”

“He didn’t take her by force?” he asked.

“No, nothing like that.”

“After they went in, did you see anyone else around?”

“Not anyone close by that I can remember.”

“Okay, thank you, Auntie.”

“Not at all, Dawson. Anything you want to ask, just tell
me.”

“Oh, yes, now that you mention it, there
is
something
else. Do you know if there was anything going on between Isaac Kutu
and Gladys?”

“No, I don’t know anything about that.”

“I heard that she wanted to steal his medicines from him,” Kweku
said.

“Really?” Dawson said. “Who told you that?”

“It was just some talk.”

“I don’t think it’s true,” Osewa said, shaking her head firmly.
“She wasn’t like that, Kweku. She was a very good, honest woman.
You shouldn’t say anything bad about her now that she’s dead.”

“I’m just telling you what I heard.”

Auntie Osewa turned dismissively away from him. “Stay with us
and eat, Darko, will you?”

His salivary glands sprang into action at the thought of Auntie
Osewa’s cooking.

“I’d love to,” he said.

And for now, he put the worrying questions out of his mind.

∨
Wife of the Gods
∧

D
awson left Auntie
Osewa around seven that evening after a meal of goat meat stew and
rice, and he made his next stop the Mensahs’ house. Lights were on
inside. Dawson tapped on the side of the front screen door, which
was tightly shut to keep the mosquitoes out.

“Who is it?” Charles’s voice answered.

“Inspector Dawson.”

Charles came to the door and opened it with a smile. “Good
evening, Inspector. Come in. You are welcome. We’re having a family
meeting. Gladys’s funeral is tomorrow.”

“Ah, I see.”

The front room was packed with people, and it was noisy and
stifling with the heat of bodies. Several discussions were going on
at once over the funeral preparations – the food and drinks, the
drum and dance troupes, where the body would be placed, the seating
arrangements, and so on.

Elizabeth spotted Dawson and walked over. “How are you?” she
said, smiling sweetly.

“I’m well, Elizabeth. Can I talk in private with you and Charles
and his parents?”

“But of course.”

Elizabeth extracted Mr. and Mrs. Mensah from the tumult, and
they went into a room off to the side.

“I want you all to know that I’ve found Gladys’s diary,” Dawson
told them. “At least for now, I won’t say exactly where I found it,
but it’s safe with me and I’ll return it to you as soon as I can. I
haven’t located the bracelet yet, but I’m still looking.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth and Charles chorused, and Gladys’s
parents echoed them.

“Please, Inspector Dawson,” Mr. Mensah said, “Inspector Fiti was
here earlier on and he told us Samuel has confessed to killing
Gladys.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Dawson said.

“Not sure about what exactly, Inspector Dawson?” Elizabeth
asked.

“I have a problem with how the confession was obtained.”

“We don’t want the wrong person to be arrested,” Charles said,
“but at the same time we want to be able to say who killed my
sister, because the longer we don’t know who did it, the more
people say bad things.”

“What kinds of bad things?”

Charles glanced at his aunt.

“Why do you have to bring this up?” Elizabeth asked
frostily.

“Because it’s important,” Charles said. “Inspector Dawson,
there’s a rumor that Auntie Elizabeth is a witch and that she used
her powers to kill Gladys.”

“It’s all talk,” Elizabeth said with a toss of the head. “They
can’t do anything to me. They are jealous of me, and that’s all
there is to it.”

“We’re just saying be careful, Sis,” Mr. Mensah said. “Don’t go
anywhere without someone accompanying you, all right?”

“Come on. I’m not a child, Kofi.”

Mr. Mensah looked at Dawson and shook his head. “That’s the way
she is. Stubborn as a goat.”

All of a sudden, Mrs. Mensah broke her silence, and it startled
Dawson. She looked at him directly with soft but intense eyes.

“You must go after Isaac Kutu, Mr. Dawson. He is the one who
started all these rumors about a witch, and I know he’s doing it
because he doesn’t want anyone to be suspicious of him. He’s a
dangerous man, a liar who pretends to be as good a healer as his
father was. I warned Gladys to stay away from him, but she didn’t
and now she’s dead. Samuel did not kill her. He is a harmless,
useless boy. They should let him go and lock Isaac Kutu up
instead.”

∨
Wife of the Gods
∧

E
arly saturday
morning, Dawson got dressed, grabbed a quick breakfast of oatmeal
at the corner kiosk, and then headed for the other side of town.
After Mrs. Mensah’s stunning words last night, he was most
certainly going to pay a visit to Isaac Kutu.

The Mensahs’ house was along the route, and as he approached he
saw a crowd outside, along with three parked minivans. Dawson
spotted Elizabeth and pulled over.

“Morning, Dawson,” she said as he came up.

“Morning, Elizabeth. What’s going on?”

“We’re getting a delegation together to pick up the body.”

It seemed to Dawson like a lot of people to carry out this one
mission. There was much animated discussion until it was finally
decided who would go to the VRA Hospital mortuary. They piled into
the vehicles and sped off.

“Where are you going?” Elizabeth asked Dawson.

“To pay Isaac Kutu a visit.”

“I hope you’ll be able to attend the funeral?”

Dawson loathed funerals, but he said, “I will be sure to pay my
respects.”

♦

Dawson stopped at the police station on the way to Isaac’s
compound. He intended to see Samuel and was mentally prepared for a
confrontation with Inspector Fiti if he was there.

Fortunately, neither the inspector nor Constable Bubo was in the
station, although Gyamfi was at work at his desk. It seemed
sometimes that Gyamfi ran the place.

“Morning, Dawson.” He appeared subdued.

“How are you, Gyamfi?”

“Fine, sir.”

Dawson searched his face. “Everything all right?”

Gyamfi flashed one of his brilliant smiles. “Yes, everything is
fine.”

“Can I see Samuel, please?”

Gyamfi hesitated. “Yes, all right. But you have to hurry before
Inspector Fiti gets here. I don’t want trouble.”

“I’ll be quick. Thank you.”

Samuel was pacing in his cell, as if he had new energy.

“Are you okay, Samuel?” Dawson asked.

He came to the bars. “I’m fine, sir.”

“Have they been treating you well since yesterday?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did you have something to eat?”

“A little bit.”

“What about your family? Did they come to see you?”

Samuel shook his head. “They don’t want to talk to me anymore,
sir. Well, my father doesn’t.”

Dawson said nothing to that, but he made a mental note to visit
Mr. Boateng and persuade him that his son needed him.

“I want to ask you about that evening you talked to Gladys,”
Dawson said. “Do you remember what she was wearing?”

“I remember it was a blue skirt and blouse. Very nice. With
white.”

“Blue and white? That’s all?”

“And with Adinkra symbols on it too, sir.”

Samuel had just confirmed Auntie Osewa’s description of Gladys’s
outfit. It was a strange conflict for Dawson. He didn’t want his
aunt to turn out to be a liar, yet he wished it wasn’t true that
Gladys had gone into the forest with Samuel and that it had been
the last time she was ever seen.

Dawson tried another angle. “You know the place people like to
get firewood?”

“Yes, I know it. Why?”

“Did you see anyone cutting firewood there that evening?”

“No. Not that there wasn’t someone there, just I didn’t notice
anyone. Have you found something that will free me?”

“Not yet,” Dawson said, “but I want to move you to Ho Central
Prison as soon as possible. At least I know one or two people there
who will make sure you’re treated well.”

“Ho Central?” Samuel’s face fell. “I don’t want to go to another
prison. I only want to be set free.”

“I know you do, Samuel. Believe me, I want that too, and as soon
as I can make it happen, I will. In the meantime, I want you
somewhere safe where neither Inspector Fiti nor Constable Bubo can
lay a hand on you.”

“I see,” Samuel said dejectedly. “Okay. You know best, sir.”

“Just tell me something and I will never ask the question
again,” Dawson said gently. “Look at me and tell me the truth.
After Mr. Kutu had told you to leave Gladys alone, did you secretly
come back and kill her?”

Samuel’s eyes locked on his. “I didn’t, Mr. Dawson. If only
someone, just one person in the world, would believe that I didn’t
kill her.”

“That one person is me.” Dawson put a curved finger through the
bars. “Shake.”

The detective and the prisoner locked their fingers
together.

“I’ll be back to see you,” Dawson said.

But just as he was about to leave, Gyamfi put his head around
the corner.