Chapters (109)
- Part One
- ONE
- One day earlier
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- PART TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- EIGHTY-FOUR
- EIGHTY-FIVE
- EIGHTY-SIX
- EIGHTY-SEVEN
- EIGHTY-EIGHT
- EIGHTY-NINE
- NINETY
- NINETY-ONE
- NINETY-TWO
- NINETY-THREE
- NINETY-FOUR
- NINETY-FIVE
- NINETY-SIX
- NINETY-SEVEN
- NINETY-EIGHT
- NINETY-NINE
- GLOSSARY
- Acknowledgments
- Continue reading
- Part One
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
Dazz smiled, but then his blood froze to ice as something struck him. Courage buying that 52-inch TV fitted the profile Uncle Cleo had just depicted: a sniper with money to spend on expensive toys.
FIFTY-FOUR
FIFTY-FOUR
May 25
Mid-morning Monday, Sowah burst out of his office and came to Emma’s desk. “Let’s go,” he said. “I’ve located Sana Sana and he’s willing to meet.”
Emma jumped up and followed the boss out of the building. His gout had cleared up and he was walking faster than Emma had ever seen.
“How did you find him?” she asked.
“Not by phone,” Sowah said. “I used a network of street contacts who worked through the weekend.”
“Outstanding, sir.” She got into the passenger seat of his nice but modest Kia. Sowah simply wasn’t a flashy kind of man. “Where do we meet him?”
“Somewhere around Circle,” Sowah said, “but I don’t know the exact location. Once we get there, we’ll park, I’ll call his guy, and he’ll take us to another location. Sana doesn’t meet or live in one place all the time. He’s constantly on the move.”
“What a life,” Emma said, shaking her head. “I don’t know how he does it.”
“Nor I,” Sowah said. “How was your weekend?”
“Fine, sir,” she said, not planning on talking about her date. “In fact, it was special.”
She related the story about Kojo’s newly discovered talent. “He’s never liked paper and pencil, or even crayons. But because he’s so drawn to anything with a screen, I suppose the tablet liberated his gift, in a way.”
“Perhaps so,” Sowah said. “You seem to love working with the children.”
Emma smiled. “It’s sometimes a lot of frustration, but the small rewards make it worth it. Like Kojo.”
“I imagine he teaches you a lot about being patient.”
Emma nodded. “He does. And gives me practice in peering inside someone’s mind.”
“That’s why you’ll make a good detective.”
“Thank you, sir.”
They parked near Ernest’s Chemists on the northeast side of Nkrumah Circle and Sowah made the call, telling the guy on the other end where they were. He showed up after five minutes, a lanky man of about nineteen wearing ratty slide slippers. He didn’t say much except “Morning,” and they followed him off the beaten track into a deeply set huddle of residential shacks built on treacherous terrain. Walking down ever-narrowing passages, they came to a small, vomit-green house. Outside the door was a security man with a mass of knotted muscles. He patted Emma and Sowah down before holding the door open to let them in. They entered a musty, semi-dark room where it took a few seconds for their vision to accommodate.
“Good morning, Mr. Sowah.”