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
“Yes,” Tilson said. “I was convinced that she was part of a scam and I told my dad that. We argued about it. He was convinced Helena was real and he was in love with her. He Skyped and called her over a period toward the end of November last year until early February fourteenth—Valentine’s Day, strangely appropriate—when he took off for Ghana without warning. After he got to Accra, he messaged me to say he had met Helena and was ‘having a good time,’ as he put it. But then a few days later he confessed there was no Helena at all. He was furious as well as despondent and embarrassed. I told him just get out and come on home. He seemed to agree at the time, but after he had thought about it for a couple of days, he changed his mind, decided to stay in Ghana and simply make it a vacation.”
“Did that surprise you?” Sowah said.
“Yes,” Derek said. “It seemed like an about face. After Dad realized he’d been a victim of a hoax, he seemed only to want to return to the States.”
“Yes, I see,” Sowah said. “On the other hand, would it seem so out of character for him to decide to make the best of it and take a vacation? After all, he’s paid for the whole thing—why not? And you mentioned he was in Ghana as a Peace Corps officer many years ago, so perhaps he wanted to experience the new Ghana?”
“That’s exactly the reason he gave me, and although I wasn’t in favor of his decision initially, I eventually made peace with it. Actually, for a moment I wondered if maybe my father had met yet another woman and didn’t want to tell me about her.”
“Ah,” Sowah said, a smile creeping to his lips. Something was farcical about that idea and once Derek began to laugh, Sowah and Emma joined in.
“Okay, maybe not,” Derek said, growing serious again. “Getting back to the story, the month of March passed and it seemed like the situation was settling down. Then, in the first week of April, I read an article by a family friend in which he describes my father’s experience with this scam and further reveals that my dad is staying in Ghana to investigate the crime against him.”
“Oh,” Sowah said. “Was that true?”
“Exactly my question,” Derek said. “So I called Mr. Guttenberg—the author of the piece—about it and he told me he and my dad had decided that he might as well stay in Ghana to find out who had perpetrated the fraud on him.”
“This was obviously news to you,” Sowah said.