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
He disappeared under the surface for a few seconds and struggled to free the object from the vegetation, which proved difficult. Solomon joined him in his efforts until the two men could finally secure their cast net around the mass, and then Zacharia got back in the canoe to help paddle it to the nearest available space onshore. Solomon jumped out and pushed the canoe securely onto land. Wincing from the odor, they rolled the thing up onto dry land. It was a coarse, sodden grayish-brown sack about three meters in length and swollen with its contents. They could make out the shape of rocks at one end, but the rest was a firm, unyielding, rubbery mass.
“It’s the man,” Zacharia said, breathing hard from their efforts. “The American they said was thrown in the river.”
Solomon looked back and forth between his father and the grisly find. Zacharia stared at it awhile, then took out his fish knife. He cut a long slit in the sack at its bulkier end and took a brief peek inside. The odor assaulted him so strongly that he recoiled as though jabbed with a spear. He’d seen enough, in any case.
“My phone,” he said to Solomon, who always safeguarded his father’s device. Solomon gave it to him and Zacharia squinted a little at the phone’s screen as he looked for Emma’s number. Finally, he found it. He took a deep breath and called.
FIFTY-EIGHT
FIFTY-EIGHT
March 3, Accra, Ghana
On multiple occasions, Gordon had considered calling Josephine and then put it off. Cas was pressing him to do so, but Gordon had wrestled with how he would “look” to Josephine: stupid, a sucker, some kind of crazy white guy with a lust for African women so strong that he’d allowed himself to be hoodwinked by a bunch of kids?
He had to swallow his pride, though. As Cas said, Gordon knew the wife of Ghana’s top cop, so how could Gordon not get in touch with her.
His heart was in his mouth as he dialed her number. Josephine didn’t pick up the call, but she returned it minutes later.
“Hello?” she said. “May I know who is this, please?”
Gordon was using a local line, so she would not have recognized it or had him in her contacts.
“Hi, Josephine,” he said brightly. “How are you? This is Gordon.”
There was the slightest of pauses, and then she said, “My goodness, Gordon! You’re in Ghana?”
“I am. In Accra.”
“Akwaaba! How long have you been in town?”
“Just a couple of weeks.”
“Are you at a hotel?”
“I was at Kempinski, but I moved to a bed and breakfast yesterday. More privacy here and it’s a lovely home.”
“I’m glad. Oh, what a lovely surprise.”
“It would be nice to see you,” Gordon said hopefully.