Free Death at the Voyager Hotel by Kwei Quartey

glanced
at Thelo, who was mirroring her own look of surprise. “If she was in the water
for say, six or seven hours,” she asked Biney, “could enough decomposition take
place for that effect on blood alcohol to occur?”
    “It could, yes.
Decomposition is slower in water than in air, of course, but this time of the
year in Ghana, ambient temperatures even at night are high, and the water in
the pool was probably warm as well from natural solar heating during the day.
Both those factors would increase decomposition. Once she’s out of the water,
putrefaction starts to accelerate, so one has to get the serology samples drawn
as quickly as possible to avoid errors, even if the body is refrigerated. If it’s
not done expeditiously, the alcohol levels will rise even more.”
    Paula’s heart
was racing. Dr. Biney’s eye-opening information was bolstering her case. Out of
the corner of her eye, she saw Thelo sitting very still, and she knew that he
had not been expecting this at all.
    “What about the
autopsy itself?” she asked eagerly. “Shouldn’t the pathologist have been able
to distinguish between homicidal and accidental drowning?”
    “That brings us
to the second question,” Biney said. “A shortcoming of law enforcement all over
the world is the tendency to assume that a drowning death is an accident,
especially when it takes place in a swimming pool, which is particularly associated
with recreation and fun. If Heather’s body had been discovered under a bush or
even at the side of the pool, everyone from the first policeman on the
scene to the pathologist would have a high level of suspicion regarding foul
play.
    “Not so with
drowning deaths. Signs of struggle may be absent, altered, or difficult to
interpret because of the changes induced by hours of immersion in water. So
while I don’t approve of a hasty rush to the conclusion that a drowning is
accidental, the bottom line is that homicidal drowning is a more difficult case
to prove, and it’s for that very reason that I personally believe that there
are many, many more homicidal drowning deaths annually than we realize—not just
here in Ghana, but internationally.”
    “That’s a lot
of people getting away with murder,” Thelo said somberly.
    “Indeed,” Biney
said. “There’s something else, too. If Heather was murdered by drowning, it
means she would have struggled terribly for a minute or so. That tremendous
exertion of the muscles would also accelerate decomposition and bring the
alcohol levels up.”
    “Oh, my God,”
Paula whispered in horror at the thought of Heather fighting for her life.
    “I apologize
for being so graphic,” Dr. Biney said.
    “No, it’s all
right.” She looked at Thelo before going on. “Doctor, is there a chance you
could get the case reexamined, and that you could do the autopsy this time?”
    Biney
hesitated. “Em…I don’t think it’s an unreasonable request, but in practice we
may run up against a lot of opposition, from the pathologist who did the case right
up to the Director-General of CID. It will take a lot of persuasion to reopen
the investigation, and even then—well, you know how slowly things move over
there.”
    “Yes, we know,”
Paula and Thelo chorused.
    “I’m going to
be out of town until next Wednesday,” Biney said, “but let me see what I can do
when I return. I don’t want you to get your hopes up too high, though.”
    “We understand,
Doctor Biney,” Thelo said. “Thank you for offering.”
    “Not at all. If
there’s anything more I can help with, please feel free to call.”
    Thelo hung up
and looked at Paula.
    “Well?” she
said.
    “I’m flabbergasted,”
he confessed. “I didn’t know all that stuff about the bacteria.”
    “It validates
everything I’ve been saying,” she said quietly. “This was no drowning accident,
Thelo. Heather was murdered. Someone has to reopen the case. Should we call
Agyekum?”
    He frowned. “No,
better let Dr. Biney take it