It was a pleasant morning and Judith, after serving her beloved husband his breakfast that consisted of Made in Tema Tom Brown, with toasted bread and a small portion of salad, gave him a peck to send him away to work.

As soon as her husband left for work, she quickly tidied up the kitchen, had her bath, dressed up to leave for her secret appointment with Dr Alow, the middle-aged Doctor who had just moved to the city. He actually was a Specialist Obstetrician and since she wanted to surprise Koo with a positive pregnancy test report, she wanted to visit him at his office straight from the clinic with the happy news.

Koo had taken the Lexus, which was more or less hers, to work so she took the Pathfinder. She drove carefully and as she descended the hill on the new site end of the area, she found to her consternation that the brakes weren’t working.  Nothing she did was working. She fought to control the steering,  but nothing she did, worked.  She took the sharp curve that led to the Hari Krishna area and in approaching the small junction,  crashed into a parked tipper truck,  flipped over and fell in a ditch.

 

Dazed, she freed herself from the seat belt,  crawled out of the car and walked for a few minutes and collapsed heavily in front of a neat looking estate house about two hundred metres from the scene of the accident.

Kweku Hima had nothing much to do that day at the office and was in the office of his boss, chatting and just keeping each other company when he received a call from an unsaved number.

“Hello, who am I talking to please?”

“Koo, it’s me o Fii, your small boy.”

“O Fii, how are you doing?”

“Massa Koo I’m fine. It’s just that one of the boys told me that he saw your car in a ditch at New Site.”

“Oh no. I’m at work and my Lexus is parked under the shade, hahaha.”

“No, Massa Koo, he said it was the Pathfinder.”

“I see.. ok I’ll check and see. Thanks, Fii.”

 

His heart missed a beat and as he was about to call Judith to confirm or otherwise,  he received a call from Joanna,  IGP’s wife.

 “Hello, Koo it’s me, Joanna.”

“Yeah Joanna,  how are you? Long time”

“Yes I’m good, IGP didn’t come home last night. Have you seen him? My calls aren’t going through.”

“Don’t worry. You know the nature of his job. I’m sure he’s alright.”

“Hmmm, I’m worried. I hope nothing bad has happened to him since he’s not a womanizer.”

Koo was finding it very difficult to continue with the conversation so he deliberately ended the call and switched it off to prevent Joanna from calling him again.

 

He then called Judith from the landline in his boss’s office but it rang and rang with no response.

“What is the problem, Kweku?” his boss asked after observing him for some minutes.

“I need to speak to my wife, Carlos.  Someone saw the Pathfinder in a ditch near our area.”

“Calm down. Alright, give me the number and let me also try calling.”

He switched his phone back on, and immediately Joanna’s call came in.

“Joanna, I’ll call you. I have an emergency.”

“Where at all could she be?” he said, sweating.

He then left the office,  went home but she wasn’t home and remembering that Fii had told him that the car was found at the road to New Site, he drove along that stretch and found the car in the bush. He found his wife’s phone and purse in the car but not his wife.

 

Desperate now, he called for a tow truck and after it was taken away, he went in search of her. He went from hospital to hospital but she was nowhere to be found.  Then, he went to the Police to report that his wife was missing

He then called Appiah Kubi but he wasn’t picking up so he sent him a WhatsApp message to call him as soon as possible.

It was only when IGP and Mavis had returned to the hotel room from the poolside and had satisfied their unquenchable desires that he saw Koo’s message.

Almost immediately, Joanna called him.

“Eeei Appiah where are you? I have been sick with worry.”

“I had an emergency and had to leave town quickly.”

“And you didn’t bother to tell me about it? Anyway, when are you coming home?”

“This evening,” he said.

He then called Koo only to receive news of Judith’s disappearance.

***

The following day, Appiah Kubi, the Private Investigator was not happy at all. He had not been able to solve the case of the slashed tyres, the burglary at Koo’s house, and now his wife was missing? Though it had been established that the brakes of the car were tampered with, he was nowhere near solving the case.

Something caught his eye on the TV and he increased the volume to hear Captain Tease, the world acclaimed TV journalist who happened to be a childhood friend of Koo announcing the disappearance of Judith Hima.

“Anyone who gives any information leading to her being found would be given a handsome reward,” Tease said.

And Joanna who had been observing him furtively said.

“I hope you have nothing to do with her disappearance since both of you disappeared at the same time.”

“What? Are you out of your mind?” he said and left the room.

 

Kweku Hima on the other hand was at the end of his tether. He could not concentrate on anything.  All he wanted was news of his wife being found alive. All he wanted was his wife to come home.

Although he knew his wife had had an accident due to the vehicle’s brakes being tampered with, what was eating him up was what her fate could be. He wondered if she was alive or dead.  He sighed and stoop up to clean the kitchen for the second time that morning. Not even the efforts of the police and Captain Tease had yielded the desired results.

He was still brooding when he received a call from Adiza

“Hello,” he said, gruffly.

“Good morning Koo.”

“Morning.”

“Koo, I’ve heard something I want to share with you.”

“And…”

 

“My brother has news that can help unravel the mystery of how some Effiakuma boys raided your home.”

 Koo jerked up in the sofa.

“Where can I see you?”

“I’m at my Shop. Just come over to the junction close to where I live, my container is right at the corner.”

“Ok, I’m on my way.”

He called IGP at once and asked him to come over immediately and went upstairs to freshen up.

Appiah quickly rushed out of the house, happy that he had a valid reason to go out of the house as the atmosphere there was becoming too toxic for his liking.

 

In less than thirty minutes,  Appiah had picked up Koo and they were on their way to Adiza’s place at Kwesimintsim Zongo.

Her container shop, ADIZA’S BEAUTY HOLE was a 40-foot container that had been divided into 3 unequal parts with perspex, with the Hairdressing part taking half of the structure. ..while  Pedicure and  Makeup sections shared the rest.

It had comfortable chairs and was well decorated and well ventilated too. Adiza had hit a jackpot and she knew it because it was well patronized.

Because of the sensitive nature of what Adiza wanted to say, she took them to her room just behind the shop.

“Welcome to my humble abode as they entered the single room that had a TV on top of the fridge at one corner with a double size foam mattress on the carpeted floor.

“Thank you,” they said in unison.

“My brother, Fatau told me that some boys in Effiakuma are responsible for the theft and the slashing of your tyre too,” she explained “they even wanted to ambush you but your stopping at Cape confused them so they damaged your tyre and left. They even tampered with your car’s brakes but you didn’t drive that car that day.”

“Ohh, my God,” IGP exclaimed, “Did he tell you who was responsible for setting Koo up?”

“He didn’t but let me call him, he’s here.”

 

“Would he talk to us?”

“He’ll do anything I ask him to do,” she said.

And so Fatau, a 22-year-old junkie was summoned in and he confirmed everything Adiza had said and even added that Koo was to be kidnapped and tortured.

What about my wife, who kidnapped her?”

“I didn’t hear anything about that but I’ll snoop around  and see.”

“Ok, can you meet me at No 9 at 7:00 p.m. so that we go and see the area,” IGP said.

“No p, I go wait for you.”

“Thank you, Adiza,”

 

“No thanks, Koo, you are the reason I’m now a respected woman in this community and I’ll be grateful to you forever.”

“Hmmmmm.”

“Don’t worry too much, we’ll find your wife. My brothers are snooping around.”

“Let’s go then,” IGP said. “But Adiza, where can I get some Fura and Noono to buy?”

“Look at this man o,” Adiza scoffed playfully.”How can you  ask me that when Marvelous Mavis lives where  the Fura factory is.”

“Hahaha, I hear wai.”

 

 

That same day, at 7:35 pm, Fatau and IGP  did a recce of the ghettos including a house suspected of being a place for stolen items, and IGP made a visual and mental note of perimeters of the building,  its entrances and escape routes for a possible raid of the place.

They left after some few minutes to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

The following day, IGP,  feeling that it was time to beat them at their own game, called up the men needed for the hardball approach he had decided to adopt. He went to New Takoradi to talk to Yabrɛ and Obishi to do the needful for a quick resolution of the case.

Congo, a well built 6 footed man of 21 years did not allow any weekend pass by without going to the Last Hour  Beach since he really loved the place for its serenity and offered him the opportunity to meet fresh ladies.

He saw a cute lady, Diana, who kept smiling at him and being intrigued,  approached her and in no time, after self-introductions and doing justice to a few bottles of Guinness,  were headed towards the abandoned swimming pool near the golf course and even before they got there, his hands were all over her believing that he was in for an easy lay.

 

They got to the poolside, away from prying eyes and as soon as they started tearing each other’s clothes off, Yabrɛ and Obishi, in police uniforms appeared out of the blue and arrested them but they deliberately allowed Diana, who was actually a friend of Yabrɛ to escape.

They blindfolded and took him to a place at Monkey Hill to interrogate him.

“Why did you bring me here,” he asked.

“We are here to listen to you,” Yabrɛ said

“I don’t know anything about anything,”

“What about the burglary at Mr Hima’s place?”

“I don’t know,” he said, aggressively.

“Ok, let’s see how strong you are. OB, bring the blade,” Yabrɛ said calmly.

“Why don’t we use the axe?” Obishi said.

 

“You bring the blade and if he proves stubborn and doesn’t sing,  we’ll try the axe.”

An ugly looking flick knife was produced and as soon as Congo saw the knife, he started talking.

“Please, please don’t hurt me, I’ll talk, I’ll talk. A lady paid us to rob the man and also kidnap him.”

“Amazing,” Yabrɛ said and forcefully pushed the knife into Congo’s handcuffed hand.

“Agyeei… and we also damaged his car brakes.”

“Who kidnapped his wife?”

“We didn’t. I don’t know anything about it, I swear.”

“OB, bring the axe,” he said, and asked again, “How many are you.”

 

“Four.”

“Names.”

:Alex, Koti Poison, Soja and me.”

“What’s the name of the lady?”

“Hajia. That’s the name I know.”

“Is this Haijia?” Yabrɛ said,  showing him a picture of Hassana.

“Yes yes, that Hajia, Haja Mey Dollars.”

Yabrɛ drew a line with the knife on Congo’s arm and Obishi teased.

“Why don’t we cut off a finger with my axe,” he said.

“Ohh ewuradze, “I’m sorry, I beg of you.”

“And who killed the man’s wife?”

 

“I don’t know..no one please”

 Yabrɛ then stepped out to call Appiah to brief him on their findings.

“Congo, Alex,  Koti Poison and Soja carried out all the operations but we drew a blank on the wifey part. We’ll release him at night.”

“Noted.”

Yabrɛ walked back into the room and with deliberate nonchalance and spoke.

“OB, bring the axe. Now Congo, tell me everything from the beginning.”

“We were paid to waylay the man and maim him,  steal his car, his properties and rape his wife,” he sighed and replied.

“Good boy,” he said and punched him, dislodging two of his teeth.

 

So it came to pass that Congo, Alex, Koti Poison and Soja were arrested that very night and the den for stolen goods was raided and all the stolen items retrieved including other items the Police knew nothing about.

Hassana was also arrested and upon interrogation, admitted that Kweku Hima had not done anything to her to justify what she did to him.

She begged for mercy and confessed that it really was not her idea to torment Koo but the one who made her do it was Mr Musah, a former colleague of Kweku Hima who was jealous of the successes Koo had chalked since he left 3 Brothers Company.

Though Koo was happy at the turn of events, his heart was not at peace because Judith his wife was still missing.

And as for Appiah,  on his way from the police station,  he passed by Marvelous Mavis place and after a couple of hours of extraordinary bonding,  left for home.

“Welcome o, mewura.”

“Thank you.”

 

He had his supper, watched the news for a time and feeling sleepy, went to the bedroom to sleep but Joanna his wife had other ideas.

“Honey, I miss you. It’s been a long time since we made love.”

“Did Chelsea win?”

“No o.”

“Did Newcastle beat Liverpool? “

“No, there was no match today”

“Okay. I see” he said, pushed her away, turned his back to her and was asleep in no time.

 

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