Children of the Street - [24]
Turning to the clothes hanging from a nail in the wall, Chikata dug through all the shirt and pants pockets. He checked the two pairs of ragged tennis shoes on the floor. Nothing so far. There was a portmanteau in the corner packed with bottles of beer and plates. Chikata took the items out one by one. He found the odd fork and knife on the bottom as well as something flat wrapped in a newspaper. Chikata removed it. It was a hefty knife with a razor-sharp edge. The blade, about eight inches long, caught the meager light in the room and flashed it back. Chikata took the knife to the doorway to examine it in the late afternoon sunlight. The blade was clean except for some water spots, but along the bolster between handle and blade, there was a red stain that Chikata could have missed had he been careless. And indeed, the murderer could have missed the same spot as he washed the blood off the knife he had used to stab Musa Zakari in the back.
15
When Dawson returned home, Christine was getting dinner ready. Hosiah was watching TV in the living room. Dawson’s spirits lifted the instant he saw his son. He picked him up high in the air, suspending him there for a few seconds before bringing him down again.
“How’s my boy?”
“I’m fine, Daddy.”
“Hungry?”
“A little bit.”
“Remember what we said about salt in your food makes your breathing harder?”
“Yes, Daddy. I know I can’t have any salt now.”
“Good boy. TV off in five minutes for dinner, all right?”
Once Hosiah was in bed, stress and lack of sleep began to take their toll on Dawson and Christine. They washed the dishes and put them away with energy flagging fast.
Christine sat down heavily at the table. “By the way, what was all that about, having to run off to CID today?”
Dawson took the chair next to hers. “It had to do with the case I told you about-the boy in the lagoon. First we got a preliminary identification on him as a Musa Zakari, and then we found out that a friend called Daramani had been seen with the victim a day before he was found dead. They brought Daramani in for questioning, and it turns out he and I know each other.”
“Who is he?”
“A guy I arrested years ago for stealing. After he’d done time, I kept in touch with him.”
“I don’t remember your talking about him. What was the interest in him about?”
Dawson rested his palm in hers and fiddled with her fingers. He sighed.
“What’s going on, Dark?”
“We don’t talk about this, but I know you know I have a weakness for marijuana.”
“I do.”
“I used to get together with Daramani and smoke it.”
“Used to?”
“I’ve given it up. I haven’t smoked in five months now.”
“Really?” She jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms around him. “Sweetheart, I’m so proud of you.”
Dawson laughed. “Thank you.”
“Has it been tough for you?”
“Sometimes the desire pops up. Kind of like a quick jab. But I’m making it.”
“Is it when things get tense at work? Is that what makes you want it?”
“I don’t know, quite honestly.” He looked at her. “How do you feel about it? Why don’t you ever say anything?”
She pursed her lips contemplatively, and that made Dawson suddenly want to kiss her. “Maybe I don’t say anything because I find it difficult to deal with and to sort out,” she said. “I mean, I don’t like the idea of your using wee, and something about it just doesn’t go with your personality. But I don’t see that it makes you any less a good person. On the other hand again, it is a drug, which makes you a drug user, and that sounds so ugly.”
“I agree with you. Look, obviously I’m not proud of it, otherwise I would come home in the evening and announce to you and Hosiah that I’ve had a good smoke today. So that’s why I decided to stop.”
She nodded. “I’m glad. I think sometimes I worried that…”
“That what?”
“That it was Hosiah and me making you so stressed you had to smoke for relief.”
He chuckled, pulling her over to him and wrapping his arms around her. “You’re so silly.” He kissed her. “That’s not it at all. I couldn’t live without you and Hosiah. I love both of you more than anything or anyone in the world. You know that, right?”
“News to me,” she said teasingly and then laughed. “Yes, of course I know that. We love you too.”
He kissed her again.
“Look, Dark,” she said, “I want you to kick the habit, and I want to support you. I don’t know if there’s anything in particular I can do, but if there is, will you please tell me?”
“Thank you, Christine. I will.”
“So anyway,” she said after a moment, “back to Daramani. What happened in the end?”
“Lartey didn’t want me interrogating him because of conflict of interest and all that, so he had Chikata do it. He made a mess of it trying to make the case that Daramani killed Musa because he was jealous of him and his girlfriend.”
“Did they release Daramani?”
“You must be joking. He’s in jail right now, and Chikata went and got a search warrant for his place.”
“Do you think they can get a conviction?”
“I doubt it. He didn’t do the deed, that much I know.”
“Are you going to try to intervene?”
“I don’t think I’ll need to. This is not going anywhere. Let’s go to bed.”
Darko Dawson, Chief Inspector in the Ghana police service, returns in this atmospheric crime series often compared to Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels.Darko Dawson has just been promoted to Chief Inspector in the Ghana Police Service – the promotion even comes with a (rather modest) salary bump. But he doesn't have long to celebrate because his new boss is transferring him from Accra, Ghana's capital, out to remote Obuasi in the Ashanti region, an area now notorious for the illegal exploitation of its gold mines.When Dawson arrives at the Obuasi headquarters, he finds it in complete disarray.
At Cape Three Points on the beautiful Ghanaian coast, a canoe washes up at an oil rig site. The two bodies in the canoe – who turn out to be a prominent, wealthy, middle-aged married couple – have obviously been murdered; the way Mr. Smith-Aidoo has been gruesomely decapitated suggests the killer was trying to send a specific message – but what, and to whom, is a mystery.The Smith-Aidoos, pillars in their community, are mourned by everyone, but especially by their niece Sapphire, a successful pediatric surgeon in Ghana's capital, Accra.
Опорск вырос на берегу полноводной реки, по синему руслу которой во время оно ходили купеческие ладьи с восточным товаром к западным и северным торжищам и возвращались опять на Восток. Историки утверждали, что название городу дала древняя порубежная застава, небольшая крепость, именованная Опорой. В злую годину она первой встречала вражьи рати со стороны степи. Во дни же затишья принимала застава за дубовые стены торговых гостей с их товарами, дабы могли спокойно передохнуть они на своих долгих и опасных путях.
Как часто вы ловили себя на мысли, что делаете что-то неправильное? Что каждый поступок, что вы совершили за последний час или день, вызывал все больше вопросов и внутреннего сопротивления. Как часто вы могли уловить скольжение пресловутой «дорожки»? Еще недавний студент Вадим застает себя в долгах и с безрадостными перспективами. Поиски заработка приводят к знакомству с Михаилом и Николаем, которые готовы помочь на простых, но весьма странных условиях. Их мотивация не ясна, но так ли это важно, если ситуация под контролем и всегда можно остановиться?
Из экспозиции крымского художественного музея выкрадены шесть полотен немецкого художника Кингсховера-Гютлайна. Но самый продвинутый сыщик не догадается, кто заказчик и с какой целью совершено похищение. Грабители прошли мимо золотого фонда музея — бесценной иконы «Рождество Христово» работы учеников Рублёва и других, не менее ценных картин и взяли полотна малоизвестного автора, попавшие в музей после войны. Читателя ждёт захватывающий сюжет с тщательно выписанными нюансами людских отношений и судеб героев трёх поколений.
Александра никому не могла рассказать правду и выдать своего мужа. Однажды под Рождество Роман приехал домой с гостем, и они сразу направились в сауну. Александра поспешила вслед со свежими полотенцами и халатами. Из открытого окна клубился пар и были слышны голоса. Она застыла, как соляной столп и не могла сделать ни шага. Голос, поразивший её, Александра узнала бы среди тысячи других. И то, что обладатель этого голоса находился в их доме, говорил с Романом на равных, вышибло её из равновесия, заставило биться сердце учащённо.
Валентин Владимиров живет тихой семейной жизнью в небольшом городке. Но однажды семья Владимировых попадает в аварию. Жена и сын погибают, Валентин остается жив. Вскоре виновника аварии – сына известного бизнесмена – находят задушенным, а Владимиров исчезает из города. Через 12 лет из жизни таинственным образом начинают уходить те, кто был связан с ДТП. Поговаривают, что в городе завелась нечистая сила – привидение со светящимся глазами безжалостно расправляется со своими жертвами. За расследование берется честный инспектор Петров, но удастся ли ему распутать это дело?..
Если вы снимаете дачу в Турции, то, конечно, не ждете ничего, кроме моря, солнца и отдыха. И даже вообразить не можете, что столкнетесь с убийством. А турецкий сыщик, занятый рутинными делами в Измире, не предполагает, что очередное преступление коснется его собственной семьи и вынудит его общаться с иностранными туристами.Москвичка Лана, приехав с сестрой и ее сыном к Эгейскому морю, думает только о любви и ждет приезда своего возлюбленного, однако гибель знакомой нарушает безмятежное течение их отпуска.