Children of the Street - [27]
“I don’t know, maybe about thirty minutes.”
“And then William went to bed, right?” Dawson asked. Chikata was eyeing him with curiosity, wondering what the conversation was all about.
“Yes,” Alex said.
“But you stayed behind with your other friend, Houdine, playing cards.”
“Correct.”
“Until what time?”
“Almost two, and then we packed up.”
“You must really like cards.”
“We like beer even more. We play cards and drink and have fun.”
“Understood. So here’s my question: did Daramani come back before you and your friends called it a night?”
“Yeah, he did.”
“What time was that?”
“One-something. Maybe one-fifteen, one-twenty or so.”
“Did he go straight back to his place?”
“Yeah. Well, not exactly straight. He was drunk, paa.”
“Ah,” Dawson said. “Interesting. Alex, if I need to get in touch with you again, can I always reach you at this number?”
“By all means.”
“Thank you very much.”
As Dawson hung up the phone, Chikata asked, “Who was that?”
“Guy called Alex,” Dawson said. “He and two friends were playing cards near Daramani’s place when Daramani showed up with Musa the Saturday night before Musa was found. One of the friends, William, lives two doors down from Daramani.”
“Eh? How do you know all this?”
“I went to Daramani’s place on the weekend to look around. That’s where and when I met William.”
“Wait, wait, I don’t get you. This guy William said what?”
“Daramani and Musa came along a little past eleven after delivering the scrap metal,” Dawson explained. “At the time, William was playing cards near Daramani’s place with Alex and one other friend.”
“Okay. Go on.”
“So the three of them see Musa leaving from Daramani’s place around midnight, and then Daramani himself leaves about twelve-thirty. Just after that, William goes to bed, but Alex and the other friend, Houdine, are still playing cards. Around one-twenty in the morning, they see Daramani coming back. He goes straight to bed. Alex and Houdine finish up around two.”
Chikata was absorbing all this.
“If Daramani murdered Musa,” Dawson continued, “he must have done it at or near Korle Lagoon, because without some kind of vehicle, which Daramani doesn’t have, he couldn’t have moved the body very far. So the question is, how did he leave his house in Nima at twelve-thirty, get to Agbogbloshie, kill Musa, dump his body in the lagoon, and get back to Nima at one-twenty?”
“He could have taken a taxi there and back.”
“It’s about twenty minutes from Nima to Agbogbloshie. Forty minutes for the roundtrip. Where’s the time to commit the murder?”
Chikata’s eyes darted back and forth as his mind searched for an answer.
“Any ideas?” Dawson probed.
“Daramani could have left his house again after Alex and Houdine had finished playing cards at two o’clock.”
Dawson shook his head. “I doubt it. According to Alex, Daramani was so drunk he could barely walk a straight line.”
“Em, maybe these guys-Alex and William or whoever-are really Daramani’s friends and are covering for him.”
Dawson tilted his head side to side, considering. “Hmm. Seems unlikely, but maybe you’re right, who knows? Oh, well, we’ll see.”
He went back to his paperwork, and Chikata stared at the wall for a moment. Abruptly he got up and left the room. Ten minutes later, he was back.
“My uncle wants to speak to you,” he told Dawson tersely.
With Dawson in the execution chair in the boss’s office, Lartey said coldly, “I understand this weekend you went after information regarding Daramani.”
“Yes, sir. Two separate witnesses have given me concurring accounts that make it very difficult to see how Daramani could have killed Musa.”
“While Daramani is under suspicion of murder, Dawson, you may not conduct any investigations. Didn’t I make myself clear on this?”
“I’m confused, sir. Are you saying I’m off the case?”
Before Lartey could answer, Dawson’s phone rang and he looked at the ID. “Oh, sorry, sir, I have to answer this. It’s from Korle Bu DNA Lab. Hello, Dawson speaking.”
“Inspector, this is Jason Allotey.”
“Yes, hi, how are you, Jason?”
“I’m fine. You owe me some nice tilapia.”
“You’ve completed the DNA?”
“Yes. Record time. You have a positive match with the lagoon guy.”
“You are incredible, Jason. Thank you very, very much. I will personally deliver the best tilapia in town.”
“Excellent. I have a question for you, however. Is CID investigating avian murders these days?”
“What do you mean, avian murders?”
“The blood on this knife D.S. Chikata sent us isn’t human. The red cells are nucleated. In other words, the blood of a bird. You still want DNA testing?”
Dawson chuckled at first. Then he progressed to a full-throated laugh.
Lartey stared at him. “What’s wrong with you, Dawson?”
“Jason, would you mind speaking to Chief Superintendent of Police Lartey?” Dawson handed his boss the phone. After listening for a moment, the chief supol was visibly displeased.
“Thank you, Mr. Allotey,” he said tightly. He handed the phone back without a word.
As Dawson returned to the detectives’ room, Chikata was coming out. He gave his boss an anxious, searching look.
“My uncle just called me, and he doesn’t sound too happy. Is he annoyed about something?”
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.
Будущее Джимми Кьюсака, талантливого молодого финансиста и основателя преуспевающего хедж-фонда «Кьюсак Кэпитал», рисовалось безоблачным. Однако грянул финансовый кризис 2008 года, и его дело потерпело крах. Дошло до того, что Джимми нечем стало выплачивать ипотеку за свою нью-йоркскую квартиру. Чтобы вылезти из долговой ямы и обеспечить более-менее приличную жизнь своей семье, Кьюсак пошел на работу в хедж-фонд «ЛиУэлл Кэпитал». Поговаривали, что благодаря финансовому гению его управляющего клиенты фонда «никогда не теряют свои деньги».
Очнувшись на полу в луже крови, Роузи Руссо из Бронкса никак не могла вспомнить — как она оказалась на полу номера мотеля в Нью-Джерси в обнимку с мертвецом?
Действие романа происходит в нулевых или конце девяностых годов. В книге рассказывается о расследовании убийства известного московского ювелира и его жены. В связи с вступлением наследника в права наследства активизируются люди, считающие себя обделенными. Совершено еще два убийства. В центре всех событий каким-то образом оказывается соседка покойных – молодой врач Наталья Голицына. Расследование всех убийств – дело чести майора Пронина, который считает Наталью не причастной к преступлению. Параллельно в романе прослеживается несколько линий – быт отделения реанимации, ювелирное дело, воспоминания о прошедших годах и, конечно, любовь.
Егор Кремнев — специальный агент российской разведки. Во время секретного боевого задания в Аргентине, которое обещало быть простым и безопасным, он потерял всех своих товарищей.Но в его руках оказался секретарь беглого олигарха Соркина — Михаил Шеринг. У Шеринга есть секретные бумаги, за которыми охотится не только российская разведка, но и могущественный преступный синдикат Запада. Теперь Кремневу предстоит сложная задача — доставить Шеринга в Россию. Он намерен сделать это в одиночку, не прибегая к помощи коллег.
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.
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.