After Mrs. Akrofi’s arrest, Emma took a cab to CID, where Thelma Bright had scheduled a meeting with Commissioner Andoh. Traffic en route was predictably slow and it gave Emma enough time to call someone she was dying to talk to. Derek picked up after three rings. “Emma! So good to hear from you. How are you?”
“I’m very well, thanks. Is this a good time?”
“For you, any time is good.”
She smiled. “That’s sweet of you. I’m calling with news.”
“Is it good?”
“I would say so, yes. Do you remember a woman called Josephine whom your father mentioned in his emails to Casper?”
“Yes, the woman Dad had met here in DC.”
“Yes, they were friends there, but in Ghana your dad became a danger to Josephine. He was getting closer and closer to knowing the truth about how high the sakawa scams went up the chain and Josephine was afraid of her husband being exposed. That would threaten their whole life as they knew it, and she couldn’t abide by that.”
“So, you’re saying . . . she had my father killed?”
“Yes.”
“My God.”
“She conspired with Kweku Ponsu and his bodyguards to have your dad attacked and dumped into the river.”
For a moment, Derek was silent. Then he said, “That’s so sad, so pitiful. I don’t understand it.”
“Mrs. Akrofi even targeted two other people she considered a menace,” Emma said. “One was assassinated—presidential candidate Evans-Aidoo, while the other, Sana Sana, escaped the attempt. Again, Derek, I can’t tell you just how deeply sorry I am that this has befallen you and your father.”
“What about you?” he asked. “You told me how you were almost dumped in the river yourself. Was that Mrs. Akrofi’s doing as well?”
“No. That was just Mr. Ponsu getting tired of me all on his own.”
“All on his own?” Derek snorted. “Funny way of putting it.”
He fell quiet again and Emma gave him a moment before asking, “How do you feel?”
“I suppose I’ll go through different stages,” he said. “Right now, I feel a kind of satisfaction that these people have been caught, but a sense of sadness and futility as well. But above all, I’m grateful to you for keeping your promise and even risking your own life to get to the bottom of this. I’m forever in your debt. Thank you, Emma.”
“You’re so welcome. Thank you for bringing the case to us.”
Thelma opened the door of the director-general’s office to let Emma in.
Andoh was at his desk talking on the phone. At length, he hung up and looked at the two women in front of him. “Yes?”
“Do you remember me, sir?” Emma asked.
He frowned. “I don’t think so. Who are you?”
“Emma Djan is the name. May I sit, sir?”
Andoh gestured at a chair on the other side of the desk, but instead of sitting there, Emma picked up the chair and brought it next to him. Then she sat down.
Andoh moved away. “What are you doing?”
“Remember in January how close we sat at this desk, and how you put your hand on my thigh?”
Andoh looked at Thelma. “What is going on? This is outrageous.”
“And then,” Emma said, standing up, “you asked me to follow you here.” She rose and walked to the door of his secret chamber. “We went inside, you told me to sit in the chair in the middle of the room, and then you attempted to rape me.”
“Nonsense,” Andoh snapped. He looked at Thelma. “Get her out of here.”
“But what she says is true, sir,” Thelma said. “I’ve worked for you for many years and learned a lot from you. But what prevents me from wholeheartedly respecting you is what I suspected about how you treat young female recruits—what you do to them. It was that night in January when you attempted to rape Miss Djan that I finally had the evidence. I was returning to the office to get something I had left behind when I heard voices and Emma’s screams. I crouched behind your desk as she came running out, and then I followed her to the washroom and talked to her from the other side of the stall door. I know this happened, sir.”
Speechless, Andoh stared at them.
“Thelma and I will be spreading this on social media and TV and radio,” Emma said.
Andoh looked both incredulous and disdainful. “Who will believe you?”
“A lot of people,” Emma said. “Especially women. And the way President Bannerman is feeling right now, I suspect he will too.”
“What do you want?” Andoh demanded. “Money? I can give you money.”
“No, sir,” Emma said. “We want nothing more than a public confession and apology to the women you’ve assaulted.”
Andoh snorted. “Stupid. Do you think I will submit to this extortion?”
Emma pulled out her phone and went to her Facebook page. “You see this, sir?” she said, flipping the phone around so he could see the screen. “I’m prepared to send the information out right now.” She took Andoh’s picture. “Thelma will also post. After that, it will only be a matter of time before many other women you’ve assaulted come forward. You have until tomorrow to make your mind up. If Thelma doesn’t hear from you, we’ll post the alert everywhere.”
Andoh got up abruptly, knocking his executive chair backward. “Get out.”
“Thank you, sir,” Emma said. “We’ll be listening for your public revelation and apology tomorrow. Thelma can book your TV appearances, I’m quite sure. Good night, sir.”