“You must have been devastated,” Emma observed. “Were you angry with Ponsu?”

“I wouldn’t say angry,” Josephine said, twisting the used tissues around in her fingers. “He did his best.”

“And over the years, you kept in touch with Mr. Ponsu?”

“Off and on.”

“When Mr. Tilson went to Ponsu’s shrine in Atimpoku,” Emma said, “they had a verbal tussle in which Ponsu warned him, ‘you should fear plenty other people before me.’ By that he meant people with power and privilege like yourself. Once Mr. Tilson had left, Ponsu must have called you to tell you all the American man had said. Tell me if that’s correct, Mrs. Akrofi.”

Her jaw set, Josephine looked away and said nothing.

Emma shifted position, kneeling on the floor where she was back in Josephine’s line of sight. “I’m not judging you, madam. This is only a matter of the truth. You have more wisdom than I do, so I don’t need to tell you that the truth will set you free. The burdens you’re carrying right now—your husband’s arrest, your son’s suicide—those alone are too much to bear. Don’t add another load on your shoulders.”

Josephine’s face betrayed no emotion, but she was fidgeting uncomfortably.

“Mrs. Akrofi?” Emma prodded. “Please, let’s get through this together, eh? What do you say?”

The room was silent for what seemed a long time before Josephine shrugged and spoke in a low, husky voice. “He became the enemy.”

“Mr. Tilson, you mean,” Emma said, her eyes fixed on the other woman’s face.

Josephine nodded. “Yes, him—Gordon. He changed, became a different person. I had enjoyed his company while I was in Washington, but when he came to Ghana, I hated what I saw in him. He was like a garden spoiled by weeds. Because of his experience with the scam, which I felt was entirely his fault, he was bitter and vindictive. Worst of all, he joined forces with Sana Sana.”

“That could not stand,” Emma agreed.

“And no one threatens my husband,” Josephine added. “No one.”

“I hear you,” Emma said, “so when Ponsu revealed Gordon’s threats and his attempts at intimidation, you were outraged?”

Resigned and drained, Josephine said, “Yes.”

“So, you took action, of course.”

“Well, at that point, there was only one thing to do, wasn’t there? I told Kweku to get rid of Gordon. I didn’t care how he did it. I just wanted that American gone.”

Josephine sat slumped, her bottom lip trembling and her eyes welling.

Laryea came close to her and gently rested his hand on her shoulder. “Josephine Akrofi, I am arresting you as a co-conspirator to murder and attempted murder, and an accessory to murder. You do not need to say anything further, but anything you do say may be taken down and used in evidence against you in a court of law.”