Death at the Voyager Hotel Read Online Free PDF Page A

concentration was very high, so it appears that she
had an excessive amount to drink prior to entering the pool. We therefore
conclude that this was an accidental death, and that she most unfortunately
drowned as a result of being highly intoxicated.”
    Paula was
stunned. “Highly intoxicated? I don’t understand. Heather was not a heavy
drinker. In fact, she drank very little.”
    “Could it be
simply that you never witnessed her drinking heavily?”
    She thought she
detected some sarcasm in his tone. “But no one else has reported her drinking
heavily either,” she objected. “Otherwise, I would have surely heard something
about it.”
    “Sometimes the findings
at autopsy come as a shock to the loved ones of the deceased,” he said. Maybe
he was trying to be sympathetic, but to Paula he only sounded condescending.
    “But why was
she naked in the pool?” she demanded, hearing her voice rise. “Can you explain
that?”
    “Please, Mrs.
Djan, as I’m sure you know, alcohol reduces one’s inhibitions. I have seen many
strange things as a result of alcohol consumption. This is not the worst of
them.”
    “Maybe you can imagine Heather taking off all her clothes to swim naked,” she said
heatedly, “but I cannot. Are you sure this isn’t some kind of mistake? Perhaps
her blood sample was accidentally switched with someone else’s?”
    “Oh, no, I
don’t think so,” he said, and Paula could hear him smiling in tolerant amusement,
which annoyed her.
    “Something doesn’t
fit, Chief Inspector,” she said emphatically. “I just know something is wrong.”
He didn’t comment, and that aroused her suspicions. “I think you sense it too.
I think you know something is wrong but your superiors at CID would much rather
drop this. I know how it works over there. They’ve instructed you not to go any
further, am I not correct?”
    “The case will
be officially closed by the day’s end,” he answered decisively.
    “Please, you
didn’t answer my question.” She felt desperate. “Your higher-ups ordered you to
discontinue the investigation, didn’t they?”
    “No, Mrs. Djan.
I’m very sorry for the bad news. Goodbye.”
    She sat staring
at her desk without seeing, and jumped as Gale came in.
    “Morning, boss.”
She stopped in her tracks. “What’s wrong?”
    “I can’t
believe it!” Paula exclaimed in shock. “I’ve just gotten off the phone with
Chief Inspector Agyekum. He says the conclusions from the autopsy are that
Heather drank heavily and became so intoxicated that she went swimming naked in
the pool and drowned.”
    “No!” Gale
exclaimed, dropping her backpack on the floor. “ Heather? How can that
be? I’ve never seen her drink to excess. Have you?”
    “Certainly not.
The first time she was at my house was for the Sunday lunch for the staff, and she
might have had one beer at the most. The second time was that Saturday evening
to celebrate her birthday—remember?”
    “Yes,” Gale
said, nodding. “She had a glass of champagne—said it was sweet the way she
liked it, and that she wasn’t much of a drinker.”
    “I’m sure
there’s more to this story,” Paula said. “How can Chief Inspector Agyekum not
see how strange it is that Heather was found naked?”
    “He doesn’t
know her the way we do.”
    “Well, did he
ask what she was like?” Paula asked sharply. “No, he did not. What kind of detective
is he?” She brooded. “And this is going to drag Heather’s name through the mud.
People will say, ‘ah, well, she suffered the consequences of swimming while
drunk. And what in heaven’s name are they doing over there at that school? Some
alcoholic woman coming from America to teach our children? Swimming naked in a
public area?’ You know, we don’t like that kind of thing in Ghana.”
    Gale sucked her
teeth three times in rapid succession as she imagined the troubling scenario.
    “And then we
have the kids to worry about,” Paula said in growing dismay as all