It was about six o'clock on Wednesday evening. Charles was lying on the floor. He was starving with hunger. He had not had anything to eat the whole day. Somebody quietly unlocked the outer door.
A boy walked in and knocked softly on the window of the cellar door. Charles stood up. It was not completely dark. In the little light, Charles could see the boy's face.
"I'm sorry I couldn't bring you any food yesterday," the boy whispered. "Tousie was in the house the whole day. Has he brought you food today?"
Charles shook his head.
"Have this." The boy handed him another bag of cooked rice. "That's my own supper."
"Thank you very much." Charles quickly ate up the food.
"Who are you?" he asked the boy.
"I'm the houseboy here. Listen! You must get out of here before Tousie comes back tonight!"
"Is he the man who imprisoned me here?"
The boy nodded.
"He left the house not long ago. I hope he'll be away long enough for you to escape."
"How do I get out?"
"The cook has a key to this door, hanging in the kitchen. In the evening, Carol, our mistress, always rings and asks the cook to bring her champagne. When he takes the champagne to her room, I'll steal the key," explained the boy.
"We'll need a torch," said Charles. "It will be very dark, and I don't know my way around the grounds."
"I'll get that for you," whispered the boy.
"Why are you doing this for me?" Charles asked.
"They're going to kill you," the boy said. "Madam is evil. I'm afraid of her. I heard her talking to Tousie this afternoon."
"What did they say?" asked Charles.
"They're planning to kill you tonight."
Charles shivered.
"What I'm doing is risky for myself," the boy went on. "If Tousie discovers I've helped you, he'll kill me as well as you. I'm going to run away with you. I've packed my things already. I know a bush path that leads to the main road. OK?"
"Yes," whispered Charles. "How about the dog?"
"I'll take care of it. Don't worry. I'll be back with the torch and key."
The boy closed the window and left.
Charles's hands shook with excitement. He would soon be free.
**********************
At six o'clock that same evening, the departure hall of Kotoka Airport was very busy. Gyan stood in the middle of the KLM queue. He was wearing grey trousers and a jacket. His brown suitcase was beside him. In his left hand, he held some papers which looked like his travel documents.
The queue was getting longer. So far, he had not seen anyone with a suitcase like his. He moved along the queue, hoping something would happen.
Mallory stood at the edge of the crowd. She was wearing a beautiful blue batik dress. She felt tense. She kept looking up and down the KLM queue. From time to time, she looked at the crowd around her. A woman stood beside her. She was an officer from the drug squad.
Then Mallory saw him — the slim man with the Afro curls. He had suddenly appeared in the queue and was not far behind Gyan.
Mallory tapped her companion.
"You see that man with Afro curls?" she whispered.
The squad woman looked towards the queue.
"Look! He has a brown suitcase exactly like Gyan's."
The squad woman nodded.
"That's the man. He's the one who switched suitcases with Casper. And he's the man I saw coming out of the shop two days ago."
"Let's wait and see what happens," the squad woman whispered.
Mallory noticed a woman leaving the crowd. She tapped her companion again.
"That's the woman from the shop. That's the woman who trapped Casper into buying the blue suitcase."
"Are you sure?"
Mallory nodded. "She's changed her appearance with the makeup and the sunglasses, but she's the same woman."
"I'll be back in a minute." The squad woman moved out of the crowd. She was not away for long.
"She's making a phone call," she told Mallory.
A few minutes later, the fair-skinned woman was back in the crowd. The squad woman watched her carefully.
The queue had moved forward. Gyan was now the third man from the counter. The noise came suddenly. Gyan was waiting for it. He had already seen the man with the brown suitcase. He had also seen the porters starting a crush at the counter.
The queue of passengers moved forward in the crush. Gyan looked down and saw the man with the Afro curls quickly switch suitcases and break off the name label on one.
Gyan caught hold of the man's jacket. He tried to hold on to it, but the jacket tore and the man got away. Gyan ran after him through the crowd.
The man did not get very far. Two pairs of hands caught him before he could get to the exit.
The woman in the turban walked quickly out of the airport and towards the car park.
The squad woman followed her but did not try to stop her. At the top of the steps leading down to the car park, she pulled a VHF radio from her handbag and spoke into it. Then she went back to the departure hall.
Emma got into a BMW, started the engine, and began to reverse. She bumped into another car. She swore as she got out.
"Can't you see where you're going?" she shouted at the driver of the other car.
"Sorry, ma'am." The driver smiled but did not move.
Suddenly, a voice behind Emma said, "You are under arrest."
She turned around. "For what?"
"For drug trafficking." A squad man held up his identity card. "Hand over your car keys and put out your hands."
The man held out a pair of handcuffs.
Emma did not argue. The handcuffs were put around her wrists. The squad man opened his car door and helped her climb in.
A few minutes later, a group of men and women came down the steps into the car park. Some got into the squad car, others into Emma's BMW. One of the men was holding two polythene bags. Two identical brown suitcases were pushed into the back of the BMW.
The two cars drove quickly out of the car park. Amaga was driving the BMW.