On a Monday morning, eighteen months after Stephen and Emily's simple but impressive marriage, Kojo Ganyo and Afia had their marriage blessed at the small Trinity Baptist Church. The ceremony took place on a Monday afternoon because Kojo Ganyo wanted just a handful of people to attend and, besides, he insisted that he did not want his marriage widely publicised. "The work I do can expose you to harm if those who want me dead know that you are my wife," he had explained and Afia had been content to go along with his suggestion, although she was not convinced her life could be in danger in any way.
"It's not how elaborate the ceremony is that counts, although if one can afford that, it gives some emotional satisfaction," she had assured the young man. "What matters most in all these things is that God is invited into the marriage and it has His approval."
Although Afia had earlier nursed the hope that they could all have a multiple wedding, Mr Adams had bulldozed his way into her dreams and taken everything out of their hands, although the older man had reluctantly agreed to the young couple's pleas for a low-keyed ceremony. Afia had consoled herself that she had, after so many years of waiting, got a man whom she loved and who was equally passionate about her and was willing to take her to the altar as she had prayed for.
Kojo Ganyo had initially kicked against a church wedding ceremony, saying it was a waste of time and money. He had, however, changed his mind later when he started attending church services with Emily and Stephen. Some time later he had registered as a member with the Trinity Baptist Church and things had changed after that.
"When we get married, God must be in it to make it work," he had said as he began to take his Christianity very seriously.
Kojo Ganyo, encouraged by the remarkable transformation that had taken place in his close friend, Stephen, had decided, out of curiosity, to follow the couple to their local church, the Trinity Baptist Church. He had noticed, first of all, that Stephen quit smoking and then dropped out of their social drinking club. The guys made fun of him and Kojo Ganyo had been blistering in his attack on his close friend but that seemed to goad Stephen on into clinging more to his new faith.
Next, his close pal began to attend church and read his Bible voraciously as if his very life depended on it. He had been initially amused as Stephen began to back his speech with Scripture and then gradually he had stopped smiling smugly when his childhood friend began to pray, not only for him but for other friends as well. That would have elicited a patronising smile from Kojo Ganyo but for the fact that Stephen's prayers were being answered by God to his amazement.
He recalled vividly those days when it was clear to all of them that Dr Newman had won the competition hands down through the connivance of Mrs Adams. Stephen had subsequently moved out of his father's house and Emily had cut them all off. They had attempted to meet her at the university campus but she had snubbed them and driven away without a backward look at them. It was just a hopeless case at the time but Stephen had kept repeating that his God would make Emily initiate contact with them. Kojo Ganyo had kept quiet at that time.
Stephen was going through a very painful period of his life and he did not want to aggravate the terrible situation by pointing out the futility of such prayers. They all knew that Emily was reticent and when they set out to the university campus to see her, they were convinced she would give them a hearing. But she had walked out on them, contrary to what they both expected of the young lady. Later attempts to get her on phone had also failed.
"I have prayed that God should make Emily call you if she will not call me and I have faith in God that He will answer my prayer. I was framed up and as things stand now nothing I say will convince her that I'm innocent. Only God can resolve the current stalemate. She will call you, Bobby," Stephen had insisted.
To Kojo Ganyo's surprise, Emily had indeed called him out of the blue. He was with Stephen when the young lady called and he quickly took advantage of the opening they needed and invited her for a chat. "I knew she would call today because we now have information which will prove my innocence," Stephen had stated and he immediately offered a prayer of thanksgiving as he listened in awe.
"When she comes, tell her about the evidence of my conversion. Get her to talk to Auntie Okaibea on phone about how serious I am with my new found faith. If you do that, Emily will be more than ready for reconciliation. I know that being an unbeliever, as she used to refer to me, had been a major challenge to her. Even when I started going to church, she said I was doing so merely to please her and that I might later return to my old ways after we get married. Tell her my faith is for real and, tell her what you have seen and heard about my faith in God and I can assure you, all will be well."
Kojo Ganyo had decided to test Stephen's theory by taking Emily to the bedroom when she called later and he had said exactly what he was told by Stephen to say. He had also made Emily talk to Auntie Okaibea on phone for confirmation, just as Stephen had instructed. He was tremendously amazed when it worked like magic with the young lady. That was when he took a firm decision to embrace Stephen's faith. If Stephen's God could do such amazing things, he was determined to follow his friend's example.
He discussed his plans with Afia who agreed to join him as members of Trinity Baptist Church where Emily and Stephen worshipped. Thereafter, he had watched with growing interest as everything had slowly but steadily returned to normal between Stephen and Emily up till when his friends decided to tie the nuptial knot. He also knew that his friends had a simpler wedding from the elaborate one Maxwell Adams had planned because the couple had joined hands and prayed fervently to God to soften the older man's heart. "The heart of kings are in God's hands and He turns it like the watercourse," Emily had told him when they shared their fears with him. God had answered that prayer also. Wasn't Emily's God so wonderful, Bobby had thought at the time.
Now, one year on, Emily was expecting her first child and the Adams were beside themselves with joy. He rejoiced with his friends and was secretly looking forward to when he and Afia would also have children.
Kojo Ganyo and Afia visited Stephen and Emily and the sight of Emily's extended abdomen had later led to conversaton about the old doctor who allowed his obsession with criminal abortion to degenerate into vigorous attempts to prevent all other women from ever becoming pregnant and having children. As they discussed the late doctor, Kojo Ganyo updated his friends on his investigations and everyone present was left dumbfounded.
"Newman was hurt, very hurt initially, but as he continued to mull over what had happened to him, he became angrier. Wrath soon turned into vengeance and with time it became an obsession which reached its peak at the sight of a pregnant woman attempting to terminate a pregnancy. This increased his stress level till he had to compulsively commit the crime. One of my friends who is a clinical psychologist explained that to me when I consulted him about Dr Newman and what could have turned such a fine doctor into a monster," Kojo Ganyo paused and then continued.
"At the rural communities where he worked, Dr Newman began to see cases of what he had grown to abhor; girls trying to abort pregnancies. Daily, that sight reminded him of Maya and what started as an attempt to save lives degenerated into a compulsive criminal behaviour. He started removing the wombs of those who reported with abortion complications, but as those cases became fewer and fewer over the years because the rural dwellers had begun to give the phenomenon their own interpretation, he began to extend his hatred to all other women," he explained and assured that they understood his explanation, he continued.
"Two of his nurses who became suspicious of what was going on died in very mysterious circumstances outside the communities where he worked. When he could no longer operate because there were no new cases, he had to retire from those communities. It has taken several months to unravel his crime, but when the police invited him for interrogation, no one thought he would end his life. Even a friend of mine had pointed out to me that it would have been very difficult to build a strong case against him, although I doubt it.
lf he knew he had covered his trail very effectively, why did he commit suicide?"
He paused to drink water. "Maybe he feared the huge publicity that his trial may generate," Stephen suggested.
"But how could such a famous, respected medical doctor descend so low? What could have driven him to it?" Afia asked with perplexity as she shook her head in sheer disbelief.
"You were not listening to me, my dear woman," Kojo Ganyo chided. "I explained earlier that a woman called Maya had hurt and humiliated Dr Newman several years ago and the pain was so deep that he ended up using drugs to escape reality. After rehab, he consciously decided to put the past behind him, so he travelled to India to study but unfortunately for the then young Newman, he continued to nurse the hurt, which later turned into bitterness and then wrath. He had put the past behind by leaving the US, but that was only geographically. He however still remained a very angry man. He was angry that another man had snatched his wife from him solely because his rival had money, lots of it. He was therefore, determined to make money, lots of it, and so he went into the drug business. He never trafficked it himself but he had people who did all the dirty work while he enjoyed the booty. Hiding in the rural areas also gave him the perfect cover he needed.
No one suspected the handsome, selfless patriot who could work gratis for years in very deprived communities which other doctors despised. In our part of the world, we do not question the source of wealth. If you have it, we respect you, no matter how you made it. Why did no one question the man's source of income? Look at his vast estate, for instance. How could money from the mobile clinics in villages bring in so much when about ninety nine per cent of the time he did not take money from his patients? Even the government of Ghana cannot provide such free medical services all the time, the way Dr Newman did it. Yet, nobody raised an eyebrow and everybody, including the security service, was content to look the other way."
"We thank God Emily never got round to marrying him. By this time, she'd have been dead," Afia remarked.
"Yes," Kojo Ganyo nodded. "Although it was obvious that he felt attracted to her, I believe he tried to marry Emily to shift attention from his affair with Mrs Adams. He did a similar thing when Mr Adams became suspicious earlier in his relationship with Mrs Adams and that had worked. I always maintain that when your cup is full, it is full; no amount of pleading, bribery or cajoling can help you. Look at how he lavished money on Emily. It was obscene." He turned to Emily as he spoke and asked, "What did you do with the car he gave you?"
"We sold it and gave the money to the Osu Children's Home," Stephen replied.
"Now that we have put all that behind us, I think we should begin to celebrate God's goodness to us," Kojo Ganyo suggested.
'Thanks to Dr Newman, I have finally made peace with my Creator and now I can confidently call myself a child of God. I also have a wife, after several years of searching. Not an ordinary woman, but a beautiful, humble, resourceful, bank manager who is also in the family of God. By the way, I need an answer to a nagging question. Tell me, Emily, why do women behave the way they do? When Afia and I met, we hit it off immediately and I proposed love to her. After that, she began to keep me at arms' length and did everything she could to put me off. When I call at her place, she will be very busy or engaged with one thing or another. She confused me so completely that I began to wonder if she loved me as I earlier thought she did! Why?" Emily and Afia laughed. "Didn't you enjoy the chase? Didn't that make you want to marry her quickly?" Emily asked amidst laughter. "Well, all is well that ends well," Kojo Ganyo conceded.
"I thank the Lord that I now have a wife." "Since we are counting our blessings, may I also add that in the next few weeks I'll be the proud father of Salma Adams?" Stephen had announced. "Of who?" Afia and Emily asked in unison. "No!" Kojo Ganyo exclaimed. "The baby will not be called Salma. If he's a boy, he'll be called Thel and if she is female she'll be Thelma!" There was an uproar of laughter. "I think I prefer Salma to Thelma," Emily declared as she wiped tears of joy from her eyes.
'This is the joy of marrying someone who is your peer. Can you imagine what the old doctor would have named his child if he had allowed it to live?" Kojo Ganyo teased. "Samson Newman!"
Everyone laughed.
"Sometimes it pains me when I think about such a great, talented person like Dr Newman ending up in ignominy," Emily stated. "Maybe it's because I got quite close to him, knew him better than most people, perhaps. I've been reflecting over his misdeeds and I think that when he turned to God and became a Christian, he should have asked God to take away the hurt and any pain he still had from his marriage to Maya. What happened to him could have killed him, but God would have removed the pain if he had taken it to Him in prayer. If Dr Newman had done that, he could have had a fresh beginning which only the knowledge of Jesus Christ as one's personal saviour could make possible. He would have been alive today. I also believe that if he truly knew the Lord he would not have gone into an adulterous relationship with another man's wife."
"That being the case, you would not have met Stephen," Bobby pointed out with a smile. "You were introduced to the old doctor as a cover up for their amorous relationship."
"All right, folks, I think we should put Dr Newman behind us, Stephen suggested. "I don't want to hear his name again after today. He is dead and gone to his dark, hot grave. May he remain there in silent torment as we also get on with our blest lives. New or old man, we are through with him. Bobby, let there be no more whispers from the past after today."
The friends agreed that they would put the unfortunate Newman affair behind them and move on with their lives, but Kojo Ganyo secretly nursed the hope of uncovering more facts on Dr Newman's crimes. He was writing his first crime and detection novel and he wanted to investigate the criminal mind. Who else could provide the launch pad but old Dr Newman? He mused as they all settled down to eat dinner at Stephen and Emily's New Legon residence where Afia and Kojo Ganyo were spending the weekend.