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Acknowledgements
I wish to express my gratitude to everyone who had a hand in ensuring that this project came to fruition. It has been no easy task and has taken many months to compile..
In my research I faced a number of limitations, basically to do with time resource as well as source material. However I wish to express my gratitude to my research assistant Jonathan Lungu who spent hours intensely reading through a ton of literature.
I give special thanks to Kalombo Chilongoshi for his incisive and carefully thought out review of the plot. I am equally indebted to Tracy Collins for her insightful review.
I am also grateful and indebted to Tissah “TK” Kombe for her useful suggestions and for proofreading the material.
I am thankful to Kasao Chinyanta, Anthony Musonda, Fungai Kalindawalo and Mwila Kabaso for their unwavering support and encouragement throughout the project.
My family deserves special thanks for their support and understanding especially during the long nights of work.
*****
Senior Detective Phil Chisha of the Zambian Police service leads a team into investigating the circumstances surrounding the discovery of a woman’s corpse in the university of Zambia grounds. Each step along the way slides him deeper into a slippery world of obscene crime involving ordinary people while he also tries to manage his feelings for a newly recruited young police woman.
*****
Chapter 1
IT was a body of a middle aged black woman. Apart from being clad in a suggestive silky wet black dress which left a great deal of her breasts as well as her thighs exposed as it held her body tightly, there wasn't much else one could discern into her. Her wet soaked hair was long and dark and swept backwards further enhancing her large forehead. The blue eyebrow markings matched her blue lipstick but may have appeared awkward to those considering her dark complexion. She was lying on her left flank with her left leg slightly bent forward, thereby exposing her red, lacey pants.
"How long has she been in the water, Ray?" Senior police detective Phil Chisha asked the team pathologist who was kneeling near the body.
"Hard to tell so far. I need to conduct a autopsy first," replied Ray, drawing down her eyelids one after the other with a gloved finger. He then felt for her pulse by pressing the area around the front of her neck. As Ray was examining the woman, Phil noticed the gold chain around her neck. There was also a gold earring on her right ear. Her fingernails were painted blue.
Ray stood up and removed his white coat. He nodded to the two men in police uniform who were standing vigil nearby and they immediately moved to carry the body.
Phil looked at the woman again and noticed the wet patch of green grass beneath her. A few meters from where the woman lay was a body of water, a small pond. It was one among a group of ponds known collectively as the Goma Lakes. Beyond the ponds were trees and bush shrubs. Behind him stood a growing crowd of onlookers, and further beyond them- approximately a hundred meters away- stood the hostels of the University of Zambia, Great East road campus.
Phil regarded the crowd closely and landed his attention on a bald headed man wearing an old brown jacket who was loudly explaining the events to no one in particular. Removing the dark sunglasses from his eyes, Phil walked over to the man and said, "Can you tell me what happened here sir?"
Shivering, the man stretched his arms sideways and replied, ''Me bwana I know nothing, Me I just come from Kalingalinga and going to work in town. This is my short cut everyday. Me I see people standing here saying oh dead person, dead person so I run here to see. I swear bwana I know nothing."
Phil nodded and put his glasses back on. Cosmetically they matched his black sleeveless coat which he wore over his white shirt. He then walked away from the crowd and moved towards the old navy blue police van in which the body was since moved to. Ray and two other cops sat at the back of the van and Phil took the passenger seat in front.
Only after the police van had driven away did relative tranquility return to the Goma Lakes region of the university, whose name was derived from one of Africa's best academicians, Professor Lameck Goma.
"I wonder why such a beautiful woman would commit suicide," said Sub Inspector Nawa Nawa, his eyes fixed firmly on the meandering road ahead as he drove the van.
"We will find out," replied Phil. "But I have a bad feeling about it. Maybe it’s the nshima and eggs I had for breakfast."