Kudos Larry,dis story is a masterpiece and has kept me on my toes.pls update ASAP!

[i][/i]the most maddening part of the madness

lol...Larry will not kee me o

let me continue reading

EIGHTEEN

Mrs. Hannah Malik was ushered into the investigation room with the assistance of Daniel Famous. She was dressed in flowing white gown – she wore nothing but white; white gown, white veil, white shoes, white wristwatch and white-rimmed spectacles. She only needed white wings to become an angel – an old angel. She looked amazing. As she stepped into the room through the door, the light from outside in the background made her seem to radiate halo, like a saint. But as she walked in, she appeared to be in a state of what seemed to be bleakest dejection.

Lot stood up from where he sat and drew out a chair for her. She thanked him warmly for his kind gesture before sitting down. Mrs. Malik looked majestic – like a queen. There was an aura of respectfulness about her; an honour that was pleasant to behold. The first thing Daniel noticed about the woman was her hands. They were the most elegant hands he had ever seen, slender and long-fingered, and as supple as those of a young girl. Her wrinkled face was somewhat squarish, no more as beautiful as it would have been in youth, but it was disturbing and vivid in the way that makes you think of old times even when you do not know what times.

“Do not mind my attire,” she told them, not smiling. “I’m a widow, and I prefer mourning my husband’s death in white, rather than the common black.”

“Isn’t that a bit inappropriate? Lot said, “Black is regarded the normal colour for mourning.”

“I don’t like wearing black, I only forced myself to wear it on the day of my husband’s burial. I’m not planning to wear it for the next one month or so, I’ll rather wear white – a colour of purity.”

Lot shrugged at this. It wasn’t his place to argue with the widow. It was her decision. Whatever colour she preferred to use in mourning her husband wasn’t any of his business. His business here was to find out who killed her husband.

“You look great in white.” Daniel complimented. He noticed again the grey hairs on her head which were quite visible now; and he supposed her deceased husband had put it there with his paint brush of misery. He felt sorry for her. She wore bitterness as though it were a crown.

“I look great in every colour, that’s what people say.” Hannah replied him grimly.

“I intend having a conversation with you, and this is as good a place as any to investigate your husband’s death,” Lot said, “I shall have to ask you a number of questions.”

“As you wish.”

“I’ll need to know if it’s okay by you.”

‘Of course, my husband’s death must be investigated. He cannot just die in vain, and I’m relying on you to bring the truth to light.”

“I’ll be asking you some questions, Mrs. Malik, I’ll need you to answer all the questions with utmost sincerity. Some of those questions may be personal, but I assure you that I won’t ask them if I don’t feel they are important in the investigation.”

“Okay, I’ll co-operate as much as I can. Just don’t ask me if I saw anything.”
Lot smiled, he was beginning to like the woman. She seemed both clever and intelligent.

“Mrs. Malik, for how long have you been married to your husband?”

“Over thirty-eight years. Please call me Hannah.”

“And what a lovely name is Hannah. Did you know it is derived from the Greek? It translates, ‘God has favoured me’.”

“I know. I was the only child of my mother.”

‘On the night of the unfortunate incident, did you hear anything?”

“I heard a very loud scream – the scream was a shriek, a very strange noise like a shriek.”

Lot looked at her sharply, then he nodded and asked, “What else did you hear?”

“After the scream, the next sound I heard was a couple of shuffling feet across my window. I stayed in my room with my door tightly bolted. I needn’t go out to check the source of the scream because there wouldn’t be much to see. Of course, considering my sightlessness.”

“I’m very sorry about that.”

“My blindness isn’t your fault.”

“If I may ask, madam,” Lot asked, “What led to your sightlessness – or were you born blind?”

Hannah smiled ruefully, “No, I wasn’t born blind. My blindness stemmed from a terrible motor accident on Highway 99.”

“Highway 99?”

“You know the express-road, don’t you?”

“The one that connects with the Third Mainland Bridge?”

“Exactly. I was driving home that evening at around seven when the vehicle suddenly appeared at the curve. I lost my nerve and crashed head-on with the oncoming vehicle. The next thing I knew was that I was thrown through the windshield, then my head hit something hard and then blackout.” She smiled, “Well, it has been blackout since then. I regained consciousness in the hospital but I didn’t regain my sight. The doctor said I hit my skull against a steel and the impact affected my optic nerves. In the explosion minute fragments hit both my eyes, perforating my cornea. According to him, the corner is a thick membrane that covers the eye. Each eye is filled with a substance that appears somewhat like egg albumen that keeps it inflated like air in a tyre. My eyes were mildly penetrated, the fluid leaked and the eyeballs collapsed. I suffered a rather severe concussion from the impact which put my normal vision out of focus. The doctor assured me that my blindness was temporary and within a few months, or a year at most, my sight would return. But it has been almost a decade now and I’m still as blind as a bat. I’m still full of hopes though. I’m certain that when I regain my sight I’ll not only see people but also possess the ability to see through their souls and read their thoughts.”

Daniel smiled and said, “I admire your optimism, but that is quite far-fetched.”

Hannah replied him, in her voice was a finesse of seriousness, “It’s close-fetched. Before I became blind, I used to read a lot. I read about a man named Homer who, as a six-year-old child, suffered a mysterious neurological disorder that left him unable to smell anything for the next thirty years. One day, when he was thirty-six, as he picked a rose to savour the sight of it and the texture of its petals, his sense of smell returned to him full-power, so overwhelming him that he fell to the ground in shock. In the years thereafter, while he enjoyed every bewitching scent of a world, rich in them, he was so sensitive to the fragrance of a rose that he could smell a bush of blooms two streets away and knew before he opened the door of a flower shop if it had a generous supply of roses or was temporarily out of stock.”

“That’s quite some story, Mrs. Malik.” Lot commented.

“You don’t know what I can risk to regain my eyesight. Again, call me Hannah.”

“If you don’t mind, Hannah – can you remove the pair of glasses? I’ll like to see the eyes.”

“I don’t mind,” said Hannah. She slowly released the spectacles covering her eyes. Her eyelids were shut.”

“Can you open the lids?”

She obeyed slowly, and Lot saw one of the most beautiful pair of eyes he had ever seen. Even though sightless, her eyes were as bright as emerald, wide and searching. They seemed to be looking at Lot. The detective leaned forward and waved his palm across the face. But the eyes maintained their positions, the eye lids did not even blink.

“ What are you doing?” Hannah asked, “Waving your hand across my face.”

“How did you know that?”

I felt it; I felt the little breeze your palm blew across my eyes. A lot of people have done that to me many times just to confirm if I'm truly blind.”

“Did your eyes hurt when you woke up in the hospital?”

“Are you serious?”

“Quite serious. Did it hurt?”

“I screamed for mercy to every god I knew and all the gods I didn’t know. The doctor said it was because my vision was trying to adjust to the blindness.”

“I pray you regain your sight soon.”

“Me too, thanks.”

“Now, let’s come back to the next part of the case, I believe you heard about the second corpse we found last week.”

She nodded.

“What can you tell us about the man?”

She replaced the glasses on her face gently before replying, “I don’t know anything about the man.”

“Do you know that the man called himself Abel Malik?”

“So I heard.”

“Do you know any Abel Malik?”

She paused for some time before replying, “Abel is my first son.”

kaylasparkz: Kudos Larry,dis story is a masterpiece and has kept me on my toes.pls update ASAP!

Thanks bro. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Flakeey: [i][/i]the most maddening part of the madness

lol...Larry will not kee me o

let me continue reading

LOL! I hope the phrase isn't censored. You always make me smile with you rather hilarious comments.

Good morning, ma'am.

Adinije: Gan gan gan! #inthetuneofnollywoodmovies# Larry u go give person heart attack o!

Lol! You're such a darling. I remember that tune well. Lol!

ezeigbo194: Fire on

Okay, my good friend. I'm honoured to still have you by my back.

LarrySun: LOL! I hope the phrase isn't censored. You always make me smile with you rather hilarious comments.

Good morning, ma'am.

not at all boss
morning sire

and why is Daniel overprotective of Remi? abegy jor..Lot is too wise, i knew he would find out..the old man is good

*still reading*

The family where cain made the brother to rape the sister hmmmm so the sister name is hannah if am not mistaken. The vail of the story is removing small small. Larrysun weldone oooooooo

haha
which kain thing be dis naaa?

Abel is Hannah's first son...
Abel's mother died the day Cain's mother died in the same hospital *confused*
and is it not, another Abel dat was forced to sleep with his sister?
how many Abels do we have now? 3? *scratcheshead*
wo, Larry come back and clarify things here o.. i'm running out of patience...chaiiiiiiiii

Larry...3 gbosas for you
weldone man

bigsholly: The family where cain made the brother to rape the sister hmmmm so the sister name is hannah if am not mistaken. The vail of the story is removing small small. Larrysun weldone oooooooo

still confused o

i wouldn't say i'm confused, infact i now understand the story. Hmmmmmmmmm


Mr Larry wouldn't say more than that

This story is one of a kind but Please don't tell me David killed Abel n his dad so he can claim all the properties,he's my namesake Abeg.

Flakeey:

not at all boss
morning sire

and why is Daniel overprotective of Remi? abegy jor..Lot is too wise, i knew he would find out..the old man is good

*still reading*

Daniel loves Remi. Sometimes, we fall in love with the wrong people. I'm speaking from the detective's perspective.

bigsholly: The family where cain made the brother to rape the sister hmmmm so the sister name is hannah if am not mistaken. The vail of the story is removing small small. Larrysun weldone oooooooo

The sister's name is not Hannah, it's Ruth.

Flakeey: haha
which kain thing be dis naaa?

Abel is Hannah's first son...
Abel's mother died the day Cain's mother died in the same hospital *confused*
and is it not, another Abel dat was forced to sleep with his sister?
how many Abels do we have now? 3? *scratcheshead*
wo, Larry come back and clarify things here o.. i'm running out of patience...chaiiiiiiiii

Larry...3 gbosas for you
weldone man

Lol! Are you really this exciting? Chaiiiiii...lol!

pweeeetychi: i wouldn't say i'm confused, infact i now understand the story. Hmmmmmmmmm


Mr Larry wouldn't say more than that

Really? You understand the story already? That's fast.

LarrySun: Okay, my good friend. I'm honoured to still have you by my back.

my pleasure

This surprised Daniel, but the detective seemed unperturbed. “You mean you had a son before David?”

“Yes.”

“Where is he now?”

Hannah spread her hands, “I don’t know. He has vanished with no more trace than any ship that has sailed into but not out of the Bermuda Triangle.”

“You should tell me more than that Hannah. We are talking about your son here.”

“It’s a long story. Telling it would open up old wounds.”

“I’m sorry but you’ll have to tell it; the old wounds may solve the murders.”

She shrugged and began, “Abel was born in 1977, he should be 36 years old by April sixteen. When he was fifteen, he left home to somewhere unknown; he heard from ever since.”

“Why did he leave home?” not asked immediately.

Hannah shook her head, “Why are you asking this, detective?”

“Because I have to know, Hannah. I have to know if that corpse we found was really your son. If what you told me is right, then the corpse we found is about the same age as your Abel. I have to be sure of the corpse’s identity. Everything is connected with your husband death, trust me. So, I will ask again, why did Abel leave home?”

Tears came flowing sown the woman’s cheeks, she did not attempt to wipe them off, and when she spoke, her voice was heavy, “Can you plese tell the third party here to excuse us?”

“Why should I do that?” Lot asked.

“I’m going nowhere!” protested Daniel, “we are investigating this case together, the detective and – I.”

Hannah said, “What I’m going to tell you should be handled in the strictest confidence. If it leaks out, my family may be shattered. I don’t want Daniel hearing about this because of the relationship he has with my granddaughter. But if you, Detective Lot, can give me your word that he’d try to keep his mouth shut, then I’ll tell you.”

Lot cast Daniel Famous a quick glance before speaking, “I give you my word, Hannah.”

The old lady sighed as though she was tired. Then she spoke, ‘Twenty-one years ago, a stranger broke into our home.”

“A burglar?”

“No, the man took nothing. He kept talking about Nemesis.”

“He broke into your house to lecture you about Nemesis? Go straight to the point, Hannah.”

“The man was like a devil – as ugly as a mud fence. I’ve never seen anyone uglier in my life. At first, I thought he was wearing a mask, but he wasn’t. The face scared the daylight out me. I was more afraid of him than the gun he was holding.”

“What did he come to your home for?”

“He came to do us evil. He seemed to have known my husband, because he was talking to him directly’ trying to remind him of something that had happened eight years prior. He kept uttering the word ‘Nemesis”. Everything he was saying carried no meaning with me – his words were no different than those of a madman. He continued speaking, even shouting – he seemed not to care if anyone was listening to him or not. Every word came like thunder and he was waving the pistol in his hand maniacally.”

“Where did that happen? Here in this compound?”

“No, it wasn’t here. We were living in Jos at the time.”

“Continue, I beg of you.”

“No one could speak among us. Even my husband was visibly scared, but his face did not register any knowledge of ever knowing the man.”

“What about your children? Were they with you then?”

“Only Ruth and Abel were with us – David was boarding in a secondary school. Ruth was home for the semester break; she was seventeen years old at the time and was in her first year at Rivers State University. Abel had just concluded his senior secondary school final examination, so he was at home seeking admission.”

“What about your other children?” Lot consulted, “Gabriel and Esther.”

“Gabriel was only four years old at the time and he was asleep in the inner room, and Esther was not yet born.” She was nibbling at her lower lip now.

“Okay, the picture is getting clearer. What happened later on?”

Tears cascaded down her cheeks again, and her lips shook as she narrated, “After the stranger had finished depleting his expletives, he ordered us all into the living room where he extracted a rope from his bag which he gave to Abel to tie my husband and me down to our chairs. He tried to remind Jamal about how he’d done the same thing but his words were senseless.

“After he’d made our son tie us up, he told both Abel and Ruth to undr*ss themselves nak*d.”

“What!” Bellowed Daniel.

“He threatened to shoot them dead in front of us if he was not obeyed. To convince us that he wasn’t joking, he unclipped his pistol and showed us the bullets in the magazine. None of us doubted his insanity. My husband and I began imploring them to obey the madman. His gun was pointed at my children as he made a countdown from ten. He was going to shoot one of them dead if, after the countdown, they weren’t undressed. By the time he counted to one, the kids were stark naked – both in the altogether; ashamed and embarrassed; they were weeping so sadly. Then the devil ordered them to do the most horrifying act – he told them to perform a sexual intercourse with each other, right there in our presence. It was evil!”

“You’re saying that the man who broke into your home ordered your children to sleep with each other?" Lot said.

Hannah broke down and wept like a baby. Lot waited a moment, watching the crying woman before he asked the dreaded question, “Did they?”

He could see the effect of the question as the woman shuddered. It appeared as though she was briefly attacked by epilepsy. She did not give reply to the question.

Lot asked again, “Did they?”

The woman’s words came very loud and sharp, “How could they not?” she screamed, “The man was going to kill them. I watched the horror with my own eyes. Jamal shut his eyes to avoid seeing the horrible act, but I watched it – I watched my children sleep with each other! Do you know how horrible that is? Do you know the curse that comes with such act? Do you know the plague that may afflict such family? No, you don’t, and you can never imagine it because it wasn’t you who had to witness such abomination! You don’t know the gravity of such evil!”

This astounding news did not seem to affect detective Lot in the least. He did not move or even blink. His wonderfully shrewd eyes remained fixed on the widow. He waited silently, he listened to her as she jabbered until she gained control of herself. The woman was near-hysteric. When Hannah had cooled off, he asked, “What happened after that?”

“After the intercourse,” Hannah said exhaustedly, “The monster left us, saying that what happened was enough punishment. He came, destroyed our lives and left – just like that. If I saw the man, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. But of course I’m blind, I may never see him. I pray my children do that justice.”

‘Are your other children aware of this truth?”

“No, they’re not. And I’m begging you both to keep it that way.”

“Was that why Abel left home?”

“After that terrible night, my husband and I decided that it would be good if both children never saw each other for a long time. The next day, we took Abel out of Jos to Benin-City where we rented an apartment for him. But Abel took the unfortunate act worse than us all. After just two weeks, he packed his belongings out of the apartment we rented for him and disappeared. It was as if he never existed. All efforts to find him proved futile – he never showed up, not for once. After five, ten years, we forgot about him. Believing that he’d somehow met with an unfortunate accident and died. We never mentioned his name in the house. Both Gabriel and Esther did not know that they had another older brother, and David believed Abel was dead.”

“Hannah, do you think that the second corpse we found was really your lost son – Abel?”

The lady thought over the question critically, “He could really be. If he really was Abel, it’d break my heart gravely. It would be too much for me to lose a husband and a son within just a week. There were only three of us who really knew about Abel; if it wasn’t my son, then either Ruth or my husband had been playing a dangerous game. You must investigate the case carefully, detective. It may go deeper than meets the eye.”

‘If you hadn’t lost your sight, would you have recognized your son now if you saw him?”

“Which mother wouldn’t recognize her own child?”

“The corpse we found was heavily bearded. The beards could have changed his original facial outlook.”

“Detective, I would recognize my child if I saw him – beard or no beard.”

‘Okay, what about your daughter, Ruth? Would she have recognized him?”

“I don’t know about that, but it’s been over twenty years since the tragic event, the image of her brother might have dulled in her mind. And again, the name might spur some unpleasant remembrance. Honestly, I don’t know if she’ll recognize him or not.”

“I guess we all have to depend on your daughter about the true identity of Abel.”

“There another way you can know if that corpse you found was truly Abel.”

“How?”

“The corpse isn’t buried yet, is it?”

“No, he’s still in the morgue.”

“Good. If the corpse was really my son, it would have a long scar at the back of its left thigh.”

“Are you sure? How is that so?”

“Abel has had the scar since he was six when he fell off a mango tree.”

“Are you sure he still had the scar?”

“Of course, I’m sure. The scar was still there when he was sleeping with his sister.”

“That will go a long way. Thanks a lot, Hannah. I’ll call the morgue and ask them to confirm what you just said.”

“Okay.”

“Was it you or your husband who christened your son Abel?”

“My husband.”

“Why did he name him that?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know. He only said he heard the name in a hospital somewhere and decided he was going to name his son Abel if he had one.”

“Before you leave, I’ll like to ask you one final question. Do you know the name of the man who attacked your family?”

“How can I forget the name of the man who came to destroy my family? He spoke his own name when he heard us call our son Abel. He said it was God’s will that he was there with us.”

“What’s his name?”

“He called himself Cain – Cain Martins.”

LarrySun: Really? You understand the story already? That's fast.

Mr, i don't understand anything o, i just said that. The only picture i can get clear now is that we might have 2 abels in this story........ 1 abel was cain's son and 2nd abel that's Jamal's son.
I guess i'm right...
And another thing, who was the caller that summoned the whole family together for the celebration??
But who could have killed Jamal........

Still very confused

LarrySun: Lol! Are you really this exciting? Chaiiiiii...lol!

Am I? dunno

*Sobs*
i feel so bad for Hannah, Abel and Ruth
Jamal brought this upon himself and family, once you do evil, not only u will suffer it, the children will also suffer (Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit but generations feel the tooth enamel), nemesis really caught up with him.
no wonder Ruth turned out to be the way she is

(the unforgiving Cain revenged in a very barbaric way, I remember how he killed the nurse who mistakenly made him sterile )


nice update sir..waiting for more

* in Gai's voice* naaaaaani!


Men, this is great. Larry nice work!

NINETEEN

“What!” Daniel exploded, only after the lady had departed. “Don’t tell me Mrs. Malik was referring to the same notorious Cain Martins of whom you and I were familiar.” His insides screamed No! in a hundred different languages.

“I’m afraid it’s the same Cain.” Lot replied solemnly, thinking deeply.

“How is that possible?” demanded Daniel rhetorically, “I can’t believe we’re investigating a murder case involving the man who nearly killed—”

“Please stop, Famous,” Lot cut him off, “Let’s concentrate on the case.”

“This is utterly unbelievable, detective. It’s unbelievable!”

“Nothing is ever as it seems, Famous. I learnt that the hard way a long time ago.” He shifted in his seat. “What do you think about the woman’s explanation?”

“You can see the tears on my face. Her story is so pathetic. I wonder how you always remain dry-eyed after hearing stories of this nature. Don’t you feel any emotion?”

Lot ignored his question and asked, “Aren’t you seeing something worse in her narratives?”

Daniel frowned, “Something worse? What are you talking about?”

Lot said, “How old is Remi?”

“She shouldn’t e more than—” Daniel stopped himself abruptly here, his eyelids were stretched and his mouth was agape with an astonished O. the significance of the detective’s question now registered in his mind, "You mean—you mean—Remi could be—” he could not complete the statement.

Lot completed it for him, “Yes, Remi might be Abel’s daughter. Look at it this way; what if Abel wasn’t sent off only because he slept with his older sister? What if he was sent off because his sister became pregnant for him?”

Daniel suddenly stood up and backed away from the table, as if the furniture had suddenly turned into a serpent. ‘No—no! It can’t be! It mustn’t be!”

"If Remi is twenty years old, it could be.” Lot said.

“I’m in love with her!” Daniel screamed out. “Please, it mustn’t be—Remi mustn’t suffer such a cruel fate! She’s too innocent for this.”

“Is she really innocent?” Lot asked sharply, “No one is innocent until the criminal has been caught. Come back to your seat, Famous, there is no cause for alarm yet. We still need to ascertain if the corpse we found is really Abel Malik.”

“Mrs. Malik said Abel was having a scar on is left thigh. Shouldn’t you call the morgue to confirm?”

“I wanted to go to the morgue and confirm with my eyes, but I can just call the doctor there to check the corpse.” Lot took his phone and dialed Doctor Bantu’s number, “Hello—doctor? Yes, it’s the detective. Okay, thanks for the compliment. Before I sign your autograph, I want to confirm if you know the phone number of any of the doctors presiding over the morgue where we deposited that second body. Yes, okay. Please call one of them and ask him to check the corpse for any visible scar on the left thigh. Okay, thanks. Please call me back as soon as you get the facts. Thanks, doctor.” He ended the call.

“What did he say?”

‘He’ll call me back. There is another angle we need to check concerning that corpse. You remember what happened before I sent you forth to Sawmill Lane?”

"Nothing happened. Except that we managed to decipher the content of the note, but we were too late still. If we had broken the numbers sooner, that man might probably still e breathing now.”

“Look here,” bellowed lot. He struck the top of the table with such a sharp blow with his fists that the sheets of paper fluttered off. "Believe anything, but never believe that the man died because we didn’t decipher the note on time—the man was long dead before you arrived at the scene.”

Daniel looked at Lot askance, “When you said ‘long dead’, what time exactly did you mean?”

“He was dead about two or three hours before you arrived there. That’s what the doctor said.”

“Have you forgotten that you spoke with him on phone? That was less than an hour before I reached Sawmill Lane.”

“The only explanation to that is that the deceased wasn’t the man I spoke with on the phone.”

“I don’t want to believe that is likely.”

“Speaking with someone on the phone is, in a certain sense, and aside from the mechanical interventions, somewhat like speaking to a person in the dark. You hear the voice alone. There is no personality or physical appearance to distract you from your impression of the voice itself. If you heard a voice on the phone, without having seen the speaker, and later you met the speaker in real life, you might not recognize him, because his appearance or his personality might destroy the impression of the voice.”

“What you’re telling me now may jeopardize this investigation. What if the doctor was wrong? What if you actually spoke with him and someone murdered him before I got there? I always disregard medical evidence about the time of death, which is bound to be faulty in short-time diagnoses.”

“The doctor is not wrong, I had another doctor examine the corpse. The man was long dead before you got there. And the voice of the man I spoke with on the phone wasn’t the voice of the murdered man.”

“You can’t be sure about that. Remember, voices on phones can easily be manipulated. You admitted it yourself, sir.”

“Not everyone can easily manipulate their voices like Helen Paul, but I’m not much concerned about the voice but of what the man who picked the phone said.”

“What did he say? You didn’t tell me.”

“The first thing the man who spoke with me on phone said was that it was nice hearing my voice again. He said those words as though he knew me.”

"Of course, the deceased might know you. Quite a popular detective you are. In fact, we have no other detective in this country who can match you in wits.”

Lot’s reaction to the compliment was nil. He said, “That statement the man made was contrary to line 16 of the note.”

Daniel picked up the copied text of the note, counted sixteen lines, read the words thereon and sighed, “I’m not following your train of thought, sir.”

“ ‘I shall be waiting to cite the quote’,” Lot quoted, “That was what the writer of the note wrote. But he didn’t cite any quote.”

Daniel frowned, wondering whether he was supposed to know what his superior was talking about, “Are we still talking about the second corpse? Or are we trying to compose a new stanza for Hare Krishna?”

“Bare your mind, Famous, and you’ll see the flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. What did God give you for a brain—a mixture of pap and garri?”

“God is in the best position to answer that question.”

“Famous last words,” commented Lot and continued, “From that line 16, anybody—except you—could see that the writer of the note was going to tell his recipient—if indeed the reader was able to find the out the phone number—just for his caller to be certain that he was the one, he’d quote out the quote which, according to you, was extracted from Shakespeare.”

Daniel continued staring at Lot incomprehensibly; the detective noticed this and shook his head in pity before continuing.

“Therefore, the first words I said when I spoke with the supposed scribbler of the note was the first line of the quote, expecting him to quote the rest of the lines. But, alas, he didn’t understand why I said those words—he only told me how good it was to finally speak with me.” He looked at Daniel seriously and said, not without slight rudeness, “You now understand what I’ve been trying to tell you, don’t you?”

Daniel still did not get the full significance of the detective’s narration, but he nodded—any otherwise protest, he knew, might invoke the investigator’s ire. He said, “Do you realize what you’re saying though? Not to mince understandings, I think you’re trying to tell me that the man we found there in Sawmill Lane was murdered by the same person who killed Mr. Malik.”

“Yes,” agreed Lot, “That’s the only logical explanation for now.”

“Then who do you think was the person who spoke with you on phone?”

“It could be the murderer. Remember that the deceased already confessed in the note that he was afraid that his life was being threatened. I’m sure you’ve not forgotten about V. The letter may not be of much importance because the murderer might have given his victim any bogus name he could think of., but still, we shouldn’t disregard it.”

“A bogus name which even Mr. Malik might happen to have known? Come one, detective Lot!”

"At least, unlike you, I am using my brain. These crimes weren’t the ones committed at the spur of the moment. They’re well-planned, and the mystery is not expected to be unraveled. But when it comes to crime, no matter how tightly-knitted it is, there always remain one or two loopholes. And I suspect that the party who is committing these crimes is very much experienced. So, coming back to my explanations, the murderer eventually found out about the plan—whatever the plan was—and took the necessary step he could take to prevent the plan from being carried out. And I’ll bet my day’s meals that the preservation of his identity was one of the reasons he killed them.”

“If you so much believe that the person who committed the crime in Sawmill Lane was one of our suspects here then you should give a good explanation of how that could be humanly possible. If you are accusing a man in London of killing a man in New York by shooting an arrow across the Atlantic Ocean, you must produce a plausible explanation of how he was able to do it.”

“The corpse was reported dead before we were able to completely crack the note. There was more than enough chance for the murderer to slip out and commit the deed. The two police officers who should have watched over the household members weren’t around at the time—they were escorting the landlord’s body to the morgue.”

“There’s something very important we seem to be leaving out, what about the playing cards found by the corpse? Do they not mean anything?”

Lot smiled, “I admit, the criminal is quite a clever one—he reminds me of Richard.”

“Richard is not a criminal.” Daniel scowled.

“How many times am I going to tell you that everyone is a criminal? All I’m saying is that this criminal we’re trying to hunt down is almost as clever as Richard Kish. The criminal is committing the crimes and intentionally leaving clues behind.”

“Which criminal would be daft enough to try such?”

“This one believes so much in his own ingenuity; he was leaving clues behind but was very certain that he would never be caught. These clues, however, may lead us in wrong directions, thereby leaving him free and wide. We must be very careful.”

“Are you saying we shouldn’t find out why those cards were left there?”

"You can’t expect me to easily pull a rabbit out of a hat at will, but take your mind back to the night of the first murder. When you checked the corpse the first time there was nothing on him, but when I arrived I found about it a half-burnt note. That note was not burnt accidentally, it was carefully burnt in half. No accidental burn would result in such near-perfect dissection. The criminal wanted us to concentrate our attention on unravelling the content of the note while he tidied up his crime. Now we have another distraction on our hands—the cards.”

‘At least, let’s find out what message lies in this too.”

It was at this time the detective’s phone rang. He picked up the call, listened for a few seconds and thanked the caller before hanging up.

“That was from the morgue,” he told Daniel, “The corpse is having a scar behind his left thigh. It appears to be the scar of a slash, but it has healed smoothly.”

“Then the corpse we found is truly Abel Malik—Ruth’s brother. Mrs. Hannah Malik wasn’t lying after all. This saddens my heart, detective.”

pweeeetychi:


Mr, i don't understand anything o, i just said that. The only picture i can get clear now is that we might have 2 abels in this story........ 1 abel was cain's son and 2nd abel that's Jamal's son.
I guess i'm right...
And another thing, who was the caller that summoned the whole family together for the celebration??
But who could have killed Jamal........

Still very confused

The truth shall soon surface.

Flakeey: *Sobs*
i feel so bad for Hannah, Abel and Ruth
Jamal brought this upon himself and family, once you do evil, not only u will suffer it, the children will also suffer (Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit but generations feel the tooth enamel), nemesis really caught up with him.
no wonder Ruth turned out to be the way she is

(the unforgiving Cain revenged in a very barbaric way, I remember how he killed the nurse who mistakenly made him sterile )


nice update sir..waiting for more

The two evil men (Jamal and Cain) destroyed each other's families. So sad.

rapmike: * in Gai's voice* naaaaaani!


Men, this is great. Larry nice work!

Thanks a lot, bro.

Good morning Larry, sorry i cant check my mail now.

But this ur story dey confuse me ooo

pricelesslove: Good morning Larry, sorry i cant check my mail now.

Oops! Good morning, ma'am.

Remi, a product of i.n.c.e.s.t?
it better not be true...damn it!

this suspense is too much to handle o..the more you read, the more confused you get

oga Larry, weldone o, yu hear?

Flakeey: Remi, a product of i.n.c.e.s.t?
it better not be true...damn it!

this suspense is too much to handle o..the more you read, the more confused you get

oga Larry, weldone o, yu hear?

Lol! I hear. Thanks ma'am.