Hung Out to Dry

by Hadford Howell

  “Sir, I take it he has a wife? When did she last see him?” asked Vickers.

  “Yesterday (Tuesday) morning when he left home for work. Look, I’d normally get one of your people to work with the Station Sergeant at District B, that being the appropriate police station as the Deputy Governor lives in St George, to go over and speak with the staff at CBOB before visiting his wife at home. But Governor Edwards called me directly five minutes ago to request that I put one of my top sleuths on the case. Let me correct myself. Dr Edwards asked for you by name, Johnny,” concluded Jeremie.

  “Really! I didn’t know the Governor knew my name,” stated a surprised Vickers.

  “Well, now you know that he does. Now, I’m told that the Deputy Governor is not known to be unreliable. He’s a strict work to home sort of guy, a family man. No vices that I’ve been told about…at least so far. I can understand Dr Edwards’ concern. I’d like you to pop over to the Bank and speak with him, the Deputy Governor’s secretary and other staff who work closely with him. That’s all appropriate. Try to gain some more background on the good Deputy. Was he working on something special for the Bank, the Ministry of Finance, etc.? Has he been ill or absent from work lately? Then go see his wife. Once you’ve done that, come back here and let’s discuss what you’ve found. We can then decide what our, I mean your next step should be. How’s that sound?” asked Jeremie.

  “No problem, sir, but you haven’t mentioned the Deputy Governor’s name yet, although I think it’s Lewis. Have we had any dealings with him before?” asked Vickers.

  “My bad! Sorry Johnny, you’re right. His name is Dr Albert Maurice Lewis. He’s a dual national – Bajan born, lived in the US for many years. He worked at the IMF and the World Bank before re-locating to Barbados three years ago, initially on a one-year secondment from the World Bank to CBOB. When the Deputy Governor’s position came up, Dr Edwards offered Dr Lewis a two-year contract with an option to renew for a similar period which was accepted.”

  “I take it that he accepted without hesitation?”

  “Yes. Dr Lewis resigned from the World Bank and became a contracted CBOB employee. Dr Edwards told me that around that time, Dr Lewis had indicated that he had welcomed the chance to get away from the cold, hopefully for good. He also wanted to make an enhanced and ongoing contribution to Barbados’ economic development. Dr Lewis is married. He has two grown children who both reside in the United States. The boy is a successful lawyer in New York and his sister’s a management lecturer at a Texas university.”

  “Good for them. Tell me something. Is his first contract close to an end and if so, any word on if it’s expected to be renewed by CBOB?”

  “Good questions. Dr Edwards and I did not get into that, so why don’t you ask him about the state of Dr Lewis’s contract when you meet him shortly?”

  “Will do, sir. I’ll visit the Bank and speak with Dr Edwards. After that, I’ll visit Mrs Lewis. With luck, I’ll be back here by late lunchtime with something for us to munch on. Can I take Inspector Moss along with me? I suspect he’ll end up being our lead 24 x 7 person on this case if we don’t find Dr Lewis by nightfall. I’d rather not tie myself down on this one, just in case something big breaks on the ECC security screen project. Remember, the Test Match and ECC project we’re already running,” said Vickers.

  “Yes, of course. By all means take him along. I’m up to my neck in paperwork with special security requests from Ryan Appleton for all these cricket VIPs who start arriving around lunchtime for the Test Match. So, you’re right, just in case I need you to deal with something bigger over the next week or so, get Moss in on this. Pop across and show Governor Edwards that our force takes the disappearance of his Deputy seriously.”

  “Okay. Speak later.”

  “I guess I’ll have to alert Colonel Burke of this situation at the Bank. He needs to be made aware, as he’ll probably want to mention it to the PM in an updated SSB before tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting. It would be great if we could have this all cleared up by then, Johnny – or at least to be close to solving this problem.”

  “Yes, Commissioner.”

  Once out of Jeremie’s office, Vickers passed by Inspector Byron Moss’s desk. Tapping him on the shoulder, he simply said, “Come with me, young man.”

  Two minutes later, the two senior officers headed out of RBPF HQ in central Bridgetown to commence the three-minute walk over to the Tom Adams Financial Centre and Governor Edwards’ eighth-floor office.

  Vickers briefed Moss along the way.

  ***

  Five minutes later, after making a brief call to Elvis Springer, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance & Economic Affairs, Jeremie left his office to speak with Jasmine Boyt. Once their conversation had ended, he returned to his office and called Colonel Burke to inform him that the CBOB’s Deputy Governor was missing.

  Jeremie was surprised at the quiet way Colonel Burke received this information. Trevor’s in a good mood, he thought after replacing the receiver. Perhaps after his dozen years as BIB Director, he was used to receiving and processing difficult news or information on national situations. Comes with the territory.

  That caused him to briefly reflect on his position as Barbados’ top cop.

  ***

  Okay, thought Colonel Burke to himself. This is different! Senior Government officials in Barbados were not known to disappear into thin air for no apparent reason. Today was definitely not going to be as they say, another day in paradise.

  There was work to be done. Colonel Burke placed a call to Valerie Holloway, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security (MNS). He wanted to learn some more about Dr Albert Lewis.

  ***

  Hon. Preston Grant MP, Minister of Tourism, International Transport and Sport sat in his office reviewing the points he should make during a pre-arranged television interview that he would record with Britain’s Sky Sports lead cricket correspondent in another half an hour. He was to be joined in the interview by Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Brathwaite, CEO of Barbados Tourism Hospitality Inc. (BTHI), the Government agency responsible for executing the tourism policy set by Grant’s Ministry. An interview would also be taped with Neal Butler, President of the BCA at 3:00 p.m. that afternoon in New Kensington Oval’s boardroom.

  The knock on his door caused him to look up.

  “Come in.”

  In strode Eunice Atwell, his secretary.

  “Mr Minister, the Sky Sports people have arrived. I’ve placed them in the conference room where they can set up for the interview.”

  “Thanks. Eunice. Any sign of Miss Brathwaite yet?”

  “Reception rang just before I came into you. She’s on her way up, sir.”

  “Very well. Please show her in once she reaches. I need to ensure that we’re both on the same page for this Sky Sports thing.”

  “Of course, Minister,” said Atwell as she left his office.

  A minute later, Atwell knocked again and opened the door. She did not wait for an answer this time. In walked Liz Brathwaite.

  “Good morning, Miss Brathwaite, are you interview-ready?” asked Grant, looking up from behind his desk.

  “I think so, Minister,” Brathwaite responded with a disarming smile.

  Atwell closed the door behind Brathwaite and retreated to her outer office.

  Now alone, Minister Grant spent a few seconds admiring Brathwaite before stating, “My God, Liz, you look lovely today.”

  “You too, PG, if I may be allowed to say so in a Minister’s innermost sanctum,” replied Brathwaite.

  He came from behind his desk and went over to Brathwaite. They exchanged a long and passionate kiss that ended with them patting each other on their respective backsides. Once they were apart, she immediately reached into her handbag for a tissue to wipe away her lipstick that was on Grant’s mouth.

  “Darn, now that you’ve got me going, I must make some running repairs!” said Brathwaite.

  “Sorry. Please use my bathroom,” said
Grant, reaching for his tie to check that his immaculately tied knot had not been moved out of place during their embrace.

  It was not yet public knowledge that Grant and Brathwaite were ‘an item’. They had been seeing each another discretely for a couple of months now and had managed to keep family, close friends, colleagues and staff unaware of their romantic involvement. Truth be told, they’d been surprised that their relationship had not yet been discovered. Both were young (late thirties), single and attractive. They knew this situation would not last for much longer, Barbadian ‘gossip and rumour mongering’ within its society being what it was.

  Both officials were very good at their jobs. They were well-qualified, suited, committed and dedicated to the task of presenting the best side of Barbados’ tourism and sporting attributes to an interested overseas international and local audience.

  Having regained control of themselves, they sat down to focus on the core messages they would seek to get across to their British audience in another fifteen minutes.

  “You’re going to be great in this interview, Liz,” said Grant who had returned behind his mahogany desk to sit in his executive chair.

  “You too, PG. We’re both going to tell the Brits about our wonderful country, its tourism and sports policy initiatives, including the new initiatives we’ll be launching ahead of the next winter season at this year’s World Travel Market in London in November,” she opined from her seat opposite Grant’s desk.

  “Indeed. Question. Has the Advanced Tourism policy paper you took to Cabinet two weeks ago been approved yet? I mean, are you sure we can mention it today?” asked Brathwaite.

  “Not approved yet, but I fully expect that paper to be ratified shortly. It’s on tomorrow’s Cabinet Agenda, so I hope to be able to push it through because it has been discussed at the last two weekly Cabinet meetings. The Sports Are Us paper, well, that’s not on this week’s Cabinet’s Agenda for tomorrow, but I’m advised by the Cabinet Secretary that it will be there next week. At Petra Carmichael’s retirement reception on Tuesday night, I secured the PM’s approval to mention both papers during my interview,” responded Grant.

  “Great,” said Brathwaite.

  Ten minutes later, Grant and Brathwaite left his office.

  Waiting for them was Rosalyn Dalrymple, Grant’s Permanent Secretary. Together, they journeyed to the Ministry’s conference room. Each of them carried a copy of the prepared opening statement Grant would make at the start of the interview which would ‘air’ on Sky Sports television network during the lunch break on Day 1 (Friday, 20 April) of the Test Match. He was also scheduled to give a live, follow-up solo interview to Sky Sports during the tea interval on Day 3 (Sunday, 22 April) of the game by which time he hoped West Indies would be in an advantageous, if not a winning position.

  ***

  Marjorie Ruck was awaiting the arrival of Chief Superintendent Vickers and Inspector Moss on the ground floor reception area of the Tom Adams Financial Centre. Ruck quickly signed them into the guest book before leading them to the lift. They ascended to the eighth floor and were led into Governor Dr Rollerick Edwards SCM’s office.

  After the introductions, he addressed the two RBPF officers directly.

  “Thanks for coming over so quickly, gentlemen. I’m most grateful to Commissioner Jeremie for his prompt response to my request for assistance. Deputy Governor Lewis’ disappearance is of great concern to all of us here at the Bank. It is unlike him not to make contact with his wife, Marjorie or myself during any twelve-hour period. So, something is very wrong. How can you gentlemen help us get to the bottom of this situation?”

  “Can we see his paper diary or, if he doesn’t keep one, the electronic calendar on his computer showing his appointments for the past two weeks up to this coming Friday? Also, was Dr Lewis working on anything sensitive that you know of – secret even, that someone outside of this office might want to obtain?”

  Edwards responded.

  “Nothing that I’m aware of, but…” he looked at Ruck enquiringly, in case she knew something he didn’t.

  “No, nothing out of the ordinary, sir,” was her response.

  “Good. Now let me see Dr Lewis’s diary and the electronic calendar on his computer that would be a start. We’ll see what they suggest to us. We’ll then head over to Dr Lewis’ residence to speak with Mrs Lewis. After that, depending on where we stand, we’ll probably return here to speak with staffers who have worked most closely with him and who interacted with him on his last day at the office on yesterday. Depending on what our investigation show, we hope to report back to you before close of play, say around 4.00 p.m. Is that okay with you Governor Edwards?” asked Vickers.

  “Yes, yes. Happy for you to get cracking on this matter. I’m available should you need me anytime today. Either Joyce, my secretary or Marjorie here can break into anything I’m doing if either of you gentlemen wish to speak with me should that help any part of your investigation.”

  “Thank you, Governor Edwards. That’s good to know. We’ll try not to disturb you unless we have some good news to report. So, until later, sir.”

  “Very well. Thanks again gentlemen.”

  The meeting was over. There were handshakes all around, before Marjorie led the two RBPF officers out of Edwards’ office and into her own. She kept Dr Lewis’ paper diary and so, once this was reviewed for any potential leads, she would then go into Dr Lewis’ office and switch on his computer to see what was in his calendar for the previous and current week.

  As she did not know his password, CBOB’s Systems Administrator was requested to retrieve Dr Lewis’ two current passwords from the safe that contained all CBOB employees’ passwords in case of an emergency, which this now was.

  Fifteen minutes later, with access having been gained to Dr Lewis stand-alone computer, nothing out of the ordinary appeared that would shed any light on his possible whereabouts. Nevertheless, armed with pages of the past fortnight’s entries, Vickers and Moss left the CBOB and headed for the Lewis residence in the secluded Rowans Development in St George which was a twenty-minute drive away, traffic permitting.

  ***

  Edwards was in a reflective mood.

  Following his meeting with Vickers and Moss, he tried hard to return his mind to the second draft of the CBOB’s First Quarter 2018 economic report on Barbados that was set to be released to the country in another five days (on Monday morning, 23 April). While it was not his practice to amend the drafts of any of the Quarterly or Annual economic reports, he liked to see each draft as it was being worked on by what he considered to be an excellent and experienced team of technocrats. He was of the opinion that he should be informed of, but would not interfere with any of CBOB’s economic findings or conclusions on the country’s economic performance. The truth should always be told to the country. Politicians were, of course, entitled to their views on CBOB’s work and output, but it would always and only present the facts under his watch. The chips would fall wherever they did.

  Edwards was fortunate in two ways. The economy was doing fine, with steady if not spectacular growth of 2.7% per annum for the past two years. Also, since taking up office he had discussed, but never gotten any pressure to enhance the economic figures, whatever they were, from the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs (also the Prime Minister) or his Permanent Secretary. This had not been the case, going back to when the now Opposition Progressive Barbados Party (P.B.P.) was in Government.

  Edwards pushed aside the draft of the First Quarterly 2018 economic report and swivelled his large executive chair around to take in the view out of his eighth-floor window towards the St George valley in the distance. It was really Dr Lewis’ department which oversaw collection of the data used and undertook the analysis before compiling these and other reports issued by CBOB. In his absence, and until his return to work, he would have to pay closer attention to them.

  So where is Albert? It’s not like him to skip work for any part of a day, let alone pa
rts of two. Edwards sincerely hoped that Dr Lewis was okay and would be safely back at work soon. A return tomorrow would be ideal.

  Edwards swung his chair around to face his desk. Across the room, he noticed the three-word collage located on the wall directly in front of him. Love… Laugh… Live. This had been presented to him five years ago by his former economics faculty at the London School of Economics on his being appointed CBOB Governor.

  Sight of the collage drew him to look across his office to his right near to the door leading to his secretary’s office. There stood a second collage on his wall, with slightly different words which spoke to his personal philosophy of Think… Reflect… Act.

  Edwards picked up his desk phone to speak with his secretary, Joyce John before quickly replacing it.

  Silly me, he thought. He’d forgotten that John had taken the day off to be with her retired sister Gloria Griffith who lived in St Lucy. Today was Griffith’s birthday. The two sisters had always been close, so much so that their family members referred to them as ‘the twins’, even though they were born five years apart.

  He called Ruck. “Marjorie, please come in for a minute.”

  “On my way, sir.”

  Ruck quickly appeared. Edwards initialled the second draft of CBOB’s First Quarter 2018 economic report on Barbados before closing the file containing it. He gave the file to her.

  “Please pass this to Claire Parnell. In Dr Lewis’ absence and as Head of the Research Department, she should proceed with any later updates to the proposed report.”

  “I’ll take it to her right away, sir.”

  “Many thanks and, Marjorie, let’s keep Dr Lewis’ absence as quiet as we can for as long as we can today please. If asked, just say he’s not in yet. If he’s not back with us by tomorrow morning, then I guess we’ll have to go public to staff, media and whoever.”

  “Yes, Governor, fingers crossed that we see Dr Lewis shortly, and in one piece.”