His perspective on the approach to the case had changed. Perhaps he and Chikata should be seeking a fisherman with a motive to kill the Smith-Aidoos or a fisherman willing to do it for the money. If they found the fisherman, whoever else was involved-whether it be Brian, DeSouza, Jason, or Cardiman-would become clear.
His phone showed that Hammond had called late that morning. He tried reaching the superintendent without success and decided to grab a cab to Headquarters. Hammond was likely to be there.
Seidu, who was standing outside as Dawson walked up to the building, gave him a surprisingly curt nod and not much of a greeting. Something’s wrong, Dawson thought. The ASP had been perfectly affable before.
He knocked warily on Hammond’s door and entered. The superintendent paused briefly from a report he had been writing and then returned to the document without a word.
“Sir?” Dawson said cautiously.
Hammond dropped his pen abruptly and looked up, his jaw hard. “What are you trying to do? Infuriate the whole of Takoradi?”
Dawson immediately guessed what this was about, but he played innocent. “Sorry, sir. I’m not sure what you mean.”
“What possessed you to confront Mr. Jason Sarbah with the obnoxious accusation that he performed a human sacrifice on Charles and Fiona Smith-Aidoo?”
“I didn’t accuse him of that. I asked him if human sacrifice was a consideration to save his daughter’s life.”
“It’s the same thing,” Hammond said, gesturing in exasperation. “The accusation is implied. This is a respectable man, Inspector Dawson. You can’t ask him such insulting questions.”
“He called you about it, sir?”
“No, his lawyer came here this morning to talk to me in person. In fact, I’ve never seen Mr. DeGraft so furious and upset. You dragged them out on a Sunday when everyone is trying to get some relaxation and just to ask these offensive questions? Oh, Awurade!” It was the first time Dawson had heard the superintendent swear in God’s name.
“I need to examine all possible angles,” Dawson said quietly.
“No, you are examining impossible angles. Human sacrifice. Are you crazy? I will have to complain to Chief Superintendent Lartey about you. This is too much.”
I can’t let him do that, Dawson thought, an alarm going off in his mind like a siren. It was vital that nothing ruin his prospects for promotion, and this just might do it. “Respectfully, sir, before you do that, I have some questions.”
“What kind of questions?” Hammond snapped.
“May I sit down?”
The superintendent nodded as if he hated to grant the permission.
“I now know that the Lawrence Tetteh listed in Charles Smith-Aidoo’s phone was the same one as the CEO of Goilco,” Dawson said. “They were in direct contact with each other before Tetteh’s death.”
Hammond appeared startled, but kept his composure. “How do you know that?” he challenged.
“A friend of mine at the Vodafone main office in Accra confirmed the number for me, and I have email documents that Jason Sarbah gave me last week showing communications between the two.”
Dawson had the folder from Sarbah. He took out the papers and passed them to Hammond. He read them, swallowing hard once and handed them back. “Okay. So what? My contact at Vodafone here in Takoradi must have made a mistake.”
“Or is it that you tried to prevent me from finding out the connection between Tetteh and Smith-Aidoo, sir? Have you been instructed by your superiors to suppress any investigation of who killed Lawrence Tetteh?”
Hammond’s eyes narrowed. “This is insubordination, Dawson. I will have you up before the disciplinary board if you’re not careful, and then you might as well say goodbye to any chances of making it to chief inspector.”
That didn’t faze Dawson. The balance of power was in his favor. “I don’t think you really want me in front of the board, sir, because I’ll say what I know and the outcome might adversely affect you.”
“You’re threatening me?” Hammond asked angrily. “What gives you the right to threaten me?”
“I’m not, sir. I’m not.” Dawson sighed heavily. “I don’t even understand why we’re fighting. It started the moment I first stepped into this office. We’re supposed to be on the same side: hunting down killers. I understand you might not like a junior officer from Accra coming here to investigate, but that’s how the system works. What am I to do? Refuse Chief Superintendent Lartey’s orders? That will have me before the board, for certain. Please, sir, I’m appealing to you. Let’s do this differently.”
Hammond rubbed his forehead slowly as he tapped the bottom of his pen repeatedly on his desk.
“I wanted to steer you away from the Tetteh affair,” he said at last, lowering his voice. “So yes, when I told you that the Lawrence Tetteh in Smith-Aidoo’s phone wasn’t the same one as the Goilco CEO, it wasn’t true. Now I regret handling it that way, but I don’t regret the intention behind it. I was trying to protect you.”
“Protect me? From whom, or what, sir?”
“The Tetteh murder is a no-go area.” His voice dropped even lower. “Someone high up in government is involved.”
“Silas is just a scapegoat, then,” Dawson said. “He didn’t commit the murder.”
Locking eyes with Dawson, the superintendent said nothing, but his expression gave the answer.
“Who in the government wanted Tetteh dead?” Dawson asked softly.
“Tetteh was honest to the very last pesewa, and he was ready to expose anything he considered immoral or fraudulent. That’s why so many people hated him. They say he was intending to blow the whistle on some corrupt dealings between an MP and the oil companies.”
“Who is ‘they,’ and how do you know this, sir?”
“I have a contact. I can’t give you a name.”
“Who is the corrupt MP?”
Hammond pressed his lips together and shook his head very firmly. “Look, Dawson, I don’t need to give you every detail. It’s better for you that I don’t. All I’m trying to do is make you understand that you should leave the Tetteh business alone. It’s too dangerous.”
“There’s a cover-up, and you want us to go along with it?”
“I didn’t say that,” Hammond said impatiently, turning his palm up. “I’m saying we don’t need to get involved at all. The Bureau of National Intelligence officially has the case, so let’s just confine ourselves to the Smith-Aidoo murders. Leave Tetteh’s alone. Don’t get mixed up in things that can get you in trouble. This is no time to jeopardize your career.
“Now about the other matter. I realize I have been treating you badly. I’ve never had a case for which a petition was made. My cases solved rate is high, and I suppose I was too prideful. I apologize to you.”
He wants to be on my good side now, Dawson thought. What a difference a good threat makes. “It’s okay, sir. Thank you.”
“Is there anything I or ASP Seidu can help you with?”
“No, sir. Thank you. I’m waiting for Chikata to return from Axim.”
“Very good.” As Dawson stood up to leave, Hammond said. “Please keep this conversation strictly between us.”
Dawson couldn’t promise that far. “I’ll do my best to, sir.”
He left the room quickly to avoid making more of a commitment. He hadn’t yet decided what to do. The fundamental question he had been facing about whether the Tetteh and Smith-Aidoo cases were connected was even more pressing because now, there was the smell of a cover-up. If it wasn’t possible to solve one murder without solving the other, then Dawson could not avoid “getting mixed up” with Tetteh’s case, as Hammond had put it.