CONTINUED


the fact he was in fact telling the truth about the old man who clearly had one time stated he had eyes at the back of his head which detected the presence and absence of officers within the bureau; something everyone had come to believe.

‘hahaha, definitely dc, anyway, let me leave you to settle down but I will be back for more gist surely, take care.’ Fred said before he waved the detective good bye just as Cyril sighed in mild frustration at the thought of having hours of unnecessary chatter with his buddy later on however he was determined to have a good time today.

And by 2:31 pm after he had had a good smoke and was now fully ready to enjoy the afternoon, he was however disturbed by rapid knocks on his office door such a way they irritated him but this wasn’t fred.

‘boss, its open wide.’ Cy said quickly readjusting himself as he wondered if the smell of cigarette had long left the office just as his boss walked in.
‘oh there you are, I thought I was going to have to knock the door down before I got an answer.’ The loud and coarse voice of his boss fired as he took one of the vacant chairs in the office, the fat short former military personnel turned NICB’s commissioner in his usual fashion of long sleeves tucked into a pair of worn out trousers and old sandals gave a quick sniff into the air as he made himself as comfortable as he could.

‘You know those things will kill you faster than a gun holding a bullet to your head right?’ he said. ‘anyway, I am going to make good use of you as much as I can before any of those two get their hands on you.’ He said in between hot laughter hoping the joke this time was good enough however Cyril’s awkward stare made him cut to chase. ‘kid, I tell you what, I got a little job and this is personal. He paused and took a good look at the detective as if to read his mind. ‘yes, it’s off the records but it’s a pretty messy situation I want you to help me help someone who once helped me, can you do that for an old man like me?’ he asked calmly.

‘I am guessing you have tossed this offer around and no one wants to work an off the book case for you any more huh?’ Cyril asked with a dull smile, it was no mystery while he came banging the door anymore, the boss needed help with a case no one wanted obviously because it wasn’t going to attract neither a recommendation nor a pay bonus as many others did.

‘hahaha, clever kid but you would right?, for me, your boss who let you enjoyed a whole month of leave without disturbing you, right?’ his boss replied , quite eager for a reply.

‘sure boss, anything for you.’ Cyril said probably because there was a part of him that wanted to dive straight into a case once he returned to active service.

‘exactly I will have one of the boys send you a file, you let me know when you ready to move.’ His boss replied cheerfully as he stood to take his leave. ‘but seriously next time I find you smoking within this building, you and I are going to have a more serious discussion.’ He said, this time his tone showed a genuine reason for the detective to be worried.

The detective sighed knowing how close he was to getting into some serious problem with his boss over his smoking habit, anyway it didn’t really matter now, he had a case to worry about.

CHAPTER TWO



Barely four days after the body of a female student had been discovered lodged in a gutter, the students protest had only found more reasons for their protest however this was causing more problem for the likes of sergeant mike and his companions now meant with the challenge of finding out whatever they could about the murder.

‘how can this guys be protesting over the issues of corruption and embezzlement when you wouldn’t even let the police do their jobs, ehn.’ One out of the two constable who joined sergeant mike for the trip to higher field complained bitterly in their hilux outside the school whilst the student prevented all cars from entering.

‘we should be out already, I don’t have all the time in the world to stay here and wait for this guys to realize this is not going to help us nor them.’ Sergeant mike said impatiently as he starred with discontentment from the hilux.

‘can’t we talk to Jacob or –‘

‘don’t bother with the boy abeg, If they don’t want to let us in then we should let them do what they like, I can’t go around answering query for shouting on a rich man’s kid.’ The sergeant said cutting short one of his constables.

Ring..Ring...Ring!

The sergeant scampered for his phone inside the hilux. ‘hello sir, Ehm no sir, we are working on it right away, you mean there is someone coming from the bureau today, hah. No problem sir, yes sir.’ The call went dead as the constables starred at him waiting for an explanation seemingly to his sudden demeanor.

‘everyone get down, we have to go talk to this people, they have assigned a detective over the case of the dead girl, they say he has arrived station and is been led here by an officer, if he finds us out here I am very sure he will not be pleased.’ The sergeant said.

They went down and approached the students as carefully as they could to begin talks with Jacobs and his protesters.
‘I want you all to calm down please, we have a job here to do, we need to go in so we can investigate the-‘

‘with all due respect sergeant, we can’t allow that, we know what has happened to one of our own calls for this but if we have our demands to make and we will not let anyone go through the gates except those in their so called high places come down to address us as they should.’ Jacob rebuked the sergeant quickly much to the excitement of the students.

‘so are you saying you won’t let us go in.’ the sergeant asked again, this just for the sake of asking, he knew the kid was tough and with the students behind him, it would be almost impossible to have his way.

‘that’s a big no officer, we won’t and we can’t allow you inside.’ Jacob replied blatantly as the sergeant and his companions watched in frustration.

CONTINUED



A few minutes passed before the phone of the sergeant ran again but this time detective Cyril was on the other side of the call; apparently he and the other officer were stuck at the traffic created by the protest , some meters away from the gate.

‘just stay where you are sir, I will come get you right away .’ the sergeant said before he left his men to go find the detective who he did see once he cover a few meters.

‘sergeant, may I know what is happening here?’ detective Cyril said with no patience for pleasantries.

‘Ehn, well sir, there is a protest by the –‘
‘and so?’

‘well sir, they are preventing anyone from entering the school at the moment sir.’
The sergeant said quite disappointed at his lack of effort to get the students to comply so far.

‘that’s no problem, let’s go talk to them and see what they want.’ Cyril replied following the sergeant back to the gates where the protest was been held.

The sergent had hoped to introduce the detective to the students perhaps that would set the tone right for the detective , however the detective brought his gun out and released the safety off immediately setting the alarm bells off for some of the students who became mute at the moment.

‘this is a 9mm glock, it’s a standard military issue which can do a lot of damage even to a bullet proof vest, this is the type of weapon whose bullet shells was found on the body of Claire Madum, the girl who was shot, killed and dumped in a gutter, now it will interest you to know that this weapon can hold 17 rounds of ammunition, meaning this weapon in the hand of the killer can still be used on someone in fact maybe on one of you next time, now I don’t know which injustice you all want corrected here but I am damn sure that the killer of that girl doesn’t give a damn about it, if you want justice for the students then let the police do their job, let us fight for justice for one of you, Claire madum.’ The detective said, as loud as he could.

He didn’t need to wait to see the students reaction his little talk had caused but the gates were swung open, in the eyes of the students, was a mixed feeling of fear, confusion and anxiety as the detective walked past them.

The hilux covered the distance between the gates and the murder scene were the body was discovered, he had been told the place had been sealed but with the foul smell of refuse and all, he doubted the police instructions were ever listened to.

Apparently Claire madum wasn’t another nobody in higher field university, she was the daughter of a ex governor and an ex beauty queen and music vixen, there wasn’t a lot to go on with her case in fact the actual file had been passed to him an hour ago when he arrived at the police station with the only reasonable clue been the choice murder weapon. He decided not to spend more time than he needed to over there once he discovered the scene had been tampered with.

‘ the reports said, you and some men were on ground that day. What was your assessment?’ Cyril asked the sergeant as they walked back to the hilux.

CONTINUED



‘sir, I don’t really know but the body seemed okay apart from the three gun shots, normally you would think she might have been robbed or something but her phone, bag and all were found untouched, I think she was assassinated sir. The sergeant replied.

The detective was still thinking of a reply and his next course of action when a convoy of three cars approached them. ‘sir it’s the vc, I was told he would be around today.’ The sergeant added as the vc was led out of the car.

‘good afternoon sir.’ The sergeant greeted as the vc and two other officials joined them where they stood.
‘good afternoon sir.’ Cyril greeted. ‘good afternoon officers.’ The vc replied a little bit agitated.

‘sir, this is detective Cyril, he is-‘

‘detective?, they sent a detective to investigate the murder?’ the vc asked almost in disbelief.

‘is there anything wrong with that sir?’ Cyril asked quite observant of the disapproval in the vc’s voice.

‘eh , oh not at all, you may carry on with your investigations its just that this is coming at a time where the students and the media in general wants to have a piece of me even when the EFCC have found no evidence of embezzlement or fraud against me, i can’t deal with another – I mean the school can’t deal with another scandal anyway detective it is imperative that you always brief me on the progression of the case, the media can’t have an upper hand here, it won’t be good for any of us, I mean the amount of scandalous articles they keep publicizing about me is ridiculous, I swear I am going to sue.’

The vc said but of course , this was him just been the selfish and self centered opportunist he was.

‘sure but you would have to file a number of paper works and probably I might have to interrogate you on why the vc needs information on an active murder investigation as well.’ Cyril said as eyes widened over his words.

‘sir, a call just came in, I believe we should be on our way now.’ A young security operative along the others who were with the vice chancellor reminded him.

‘hahaha, that was funny detective, anyway I will leave you to your work, please carry on.’ The vc said amidst doubt and uncertainty over the words of Cyril as he returned back to the convoy and drove off.

‘sir did you really mean what you just said?’ the sergeant asked still unsure if the detective’s words were meant to be some joke or not.
‘of course it was a joke but you have to decide if it is a funny one or a serious one.’ Cyril replied dully he had hoped to say something else before his phone began to ring, it was the station’s dpo.

‘hello sir, oh really, yes, just tell him to hold on a bit longer we are through here for now and heading back if he doesn’t mind.’ Cyril answered the phone call.

‘who was that sir?’ the sergeant asked curiously.

‘it’s the dpo, he says a friend of Claire has some information he would like to share, so if you don’t mind I think for now, we are done here so we can go.’ Cyril replied.

CONTINUED



They arrived at the station and the detective was led to a waiting room where claire’s friend was waiting.

‘I was told you have some information you wanted to share with us over claire’s murder?’ Cyril said as he anticipated what the young man had to share.

‘yes officer-‘
‘its detective, detective Cyril.’ The detective corrected quickly.

‘oh I am sorry detective anyway detective, I and Claire used to be lovers before but four months ago we broke up and she has been seeing this other guy lucas but you see lucas isn’t a clean guy, I can swear it, everybody on campus knows lucas is a hustler kinda guy, so he does a lot of stuff to keep afloat you know, he is not like me or the other guys who can-‘

‘so he does a lot of things which could endanger her or you feel-‘

‘no officer- I mean detective, he got her into some wacky shits this I know of and now look at her, she winds up dead, shot and dumped in a gutter like some nobody, I told her lucas was no good for her but –‘

‘is that all you have to say?’ the detective asked , once again avoiding unnecessary chatter.

‘yes detective, I think lucas has to be questioned, he surely knows more than he is saying or has said, he deserves to pay for what-‘
‘hey, hey calm down, don’t go accusing anyone of anything yet not until we have found beyond proof who the killer is okay?, this is job for the NICB and the police not yours, so thank you for coming around and its important you stick around as well, be rest assured we are still going to see very soon.’ The detective said before he took his leave.

And before the day was officially over at the office, he had decided to try his luck to catch up with claire’s boyfriend , thankfully sergeant mike was willingly to drive him down town to go see him.

Even though his initial statement stated nothing worth worrying or getting suspicious about an his alibi was pretty solid having been confirmed he was at a party, it was critical he had a firsthand interview with him considering the information shared by claire’s ex.

They arrived at the compound and quickly traced claire’s boyfriend’s apartment who did welcome both the detective and the sergeant.

It was obvious he still hadn’t gotten over the loss of his girlfriend, red swollen eyes , a low pitch voice and his slow movement made it quite genuine.
‘I am sorry we have to do this right now but it is important I speak with you.’ Cyril said producing his small jotter and a pen as lucas nodded dully.

‘I need to know of anything that might have stood out which could be a reason for someone wanting to target your girl friend, is there anything or anyone that might have threatened her in any way during the past week, months or there about?’ the detective asked .

CONTINUED



‘No, not at all sir, Claire had no enemies, she was a good girl just trying to survive like I was.’

‘when last did you speak with her?’ the detective asked again.

‘it a day before they found her,that morning to be precse, she told me she wouldn’t be able to make it to the party and I was a bit upset because we had both planned to attend , it was a friend of ours you see.’ Lucas said as his eyes began to fight off some tears.

‘was that strange to you?’
‘what?’
‘was her decision not to show up at the party not strange to you’ the detective asked again.
‘ I don’t know maybe but Claire is quite stubborn, she does what she wants to do and you just got to let her be you know, so I decided not to call her again.’

He sighed pitifully. ‘if only I had known perhaps I would have called her.’
He added.

‘what about you lucas, they say you are a hustler now relax I am not here to question you about whatever that means but I need to know if you have made enemies that might want to harm you in any way as well or get back at you maybe over some arrangement or deal’ Cyril asked.

‘No not at all, I just don’t understand who would want to hurt Claire you know.’ He said , this time his voice fell in between hot streak of tears.
‘what about her ex’s or yours , I mean maybe someone wasn’t happy about this union?’ the detective asked again hoping to get something.
‘No not at all, Claire didn’t deserve to die, she was a good person, someone I loved and cherished, we had-‘

‘I am very sorry for your loss, I think for now we are done, we will put a call through to you if you are needed, we will talk our leave now.’ Cyril said replacing his book back to his coat and bidding the grieving boyfriend good bye.

He seemed genuinely shaken by the events so far which meant he might have been telling the truth however it was time he called it a day he hadn’t made much progress on his first day on the case but tomorrow seemed to hold more promises.

CHAPTER THREE



By 8:30 in the morning the detective had arrived at the station although he imagined he would have to share an office with the sergeant in the main time owing to lack of space which he quickly figured out once he arrived yesterday, he was however greeted by the appearance of lucas who was also just walking into the compound after alighting from a taxi.

He decided to wait for the young man as he wondered what might may have brought him around so early however lucas did notice him waiting and easily recognized the detective from yesterday’s interview.

‘officer, good morning sir.’ He said as he closed the gap between them.

‘Ehn lucas right?, how are you and what are you doing here so early?’ the detective asked hoping to unravel the mystery quickly.

‘sir, I am sorry I didn’t say this earlier but I think there is something I didn’t mention to you.’ He paused and exhaled sharply, working his eyes from one end to another, a sign of anxiety and nervousness the detective figured.

‘do you want to talk about this inside or –‘
‘no, we can talk here, nobody likes coming here to be honest.’ He scoffed dully.

‘please go on.’ The detective said taking out his jotter and pen out.

‘when you asked if I felt her decision to stay away from the party was strange I just realized I might have been partially responsible for that because I think I know where she was while I was at the party.’ Lucas said.

‘go on, am listening.’ The detective urged the young man.

‘you see when you talked about me been an hustler well the truth is yeah I am and whilst for most of the times people think I am into illegal stuff and all which I won’t lie were a big part of my build up at some point, the thing is for a very long time I was participating in some high stakes poker games and other sort of betting activities.’ He paused to wipe a tear of his eye lids.

‘anyways four months ago when I and Claire starting dating she got to know about my little hustle and she caught up with the poker games quite well but I think the money and the games were getting way into her head, two months ago she started spending more time at the club, I didn’t want her to be addicted so I stopped ,hoping she would and honestly I thought she did.’ He paused again.

‘Okay so you think she may not have-‘

‘I know she was there that night and I know she never stopped, her friend maris called me last night, she told me how Claire had made a transfer of over 1.5m to help her get a convertible for her so I did a little digging into her accounts and found a lot of money, I mean sir, there is over 200million in her account, I have no doubt she must have scored big at the club, there is no other way she could have gotten her hands on such sum of money.’ He said.
Perhaps this revelation was going to be the high light of the day, it was a major boost for the detective, there was a good motive , money or some bitter rival who had decided to do away with his or her competition, this was solid gold for his investigation.

‘uh thank you, this is a lot I can assure you, I will check out and see what happens.’ The detective said reassuringly.
‘I wish I didn’t get her involved in the first place you know.’ He said quite sympathetically.

‘its okay, its not you fault, we will bring her killers or the killer to justice that I can assure you, please I am gonna need you to write out maris phone number and address and the said club’s address out and I will go check them out and see what else I can find.’ Cyril added, which the young man did afterwards.

CONTINUED



‘okay, I want you to keep your eyes and ears open, if there is anyone or anything that comes to mind, you have my number, call me or like you did this morning, you can come around , I will put a word out to the officers just in case I am not around, they will attend to you, is that understood?’

‘Yes sir.’ Lucas added before he made his way out of the station just as sergeant mike ran up to join the detective with a document in his hands.
‘good morning sir.’ The sergeant greeted. ‘sir, this just came in from the hospital which is handling the body, it’s the preliminary autopsy result sir, I had it printed out some minutes ago.’

The sergeant said handing it over to the detective, a mere look at it only confirmed the expert observations already made, three lethal shots however one other medical analysis came to mind, there was discovered to be some amount of alcohol in her system which only made him more curious about lucas had said, thankfully he had an address and was feeling the need to hit the road that morning.
‘thanks, do you by any chance know this place?’ he stretched the little sheet with the address to the sergeant.

‘hah, everyone knows this place but its usually not open to everyone so-‘

‘good, I need you to go arm yourself, we are heading there now.’ The detective said impatiently.

‘no problem sir, I will be right back.’ The sergeant said cheerfully as he made his way back into the station while the detective decided to wait for him in the car.
However fifteen minutes had since passed after the sergeant’s cheerful reply and he was still nowhere to be seen which was quite irritating to the detective.
It was only a few minutes more before he noticed the sergeant alongside three other police men walked down hastily to towards him which made him a light down from the vehicle to find out what was happening.

‘sir, there has been another murder at the university, its just been reported right.’ Sergeant mike said frantically.
For the detective this was a terrible news, if both murders could be pieced together then it had the possibility of trashing whatever leads he already had going and even more importantly , it meant he was right after all about the killer been able to strike again.

He returned back to his car as did the sergeant and his companions head for their hilux, kicked into high gear and made his way out of the station.
They arrived just in time to the school’s security guards wading off some students from the scene.

A black lexus 350 carefully parked at the side of the road was the center of attraction this time.
The detective and the sergeant made their way to the security guards.

‘the body is at the passenger side at the front, we were able to identify him as a SUG presidential candidate, they call him piro. nobody knows how long he has been in there, some people say its been there all morning.’ One of the guards says.

CONTINUED



‘if you need any assistance with talking with some of the students, jacob is with them, he has guaranteed full cooperation with the students.’ Another said.

‘jacob? Who is Jacob?’ Cyril asked.

‘Eh oga he is a spokes person for the student, it’s a good thing he wants to help us.’ The sergeant said as they made their way to the vehicle.
They quickly figured out why no one might have suspected a body inside the car as the car windows were tinted black however the nasty bloody scene inside the car was a different story.

As the victims head and brain matter seemed to be everywhere but it was the driver’s seat that told the whole story, three bullets had penetrated it from behind, one which was high up and two more that went through the middle of the seat, a head shot and two lunged into the body, he imagined.

He hated this part of the job however he had to, he walked back to his car to get a pair of hand gloves and returned back to the scene, pulling the body back so it rest on the chair he could see the exit wounds, the head shot was lethal so much that it blew out one of his eye ball and penetrated a small part of the car’s wind screen around the driver’s area which also pointed out to the fact that his victim had been shot and killed at the driver’s seat and moved over to the other seat, he collected two bullet casings he could find inside the car and moved over to the back seat for further investigations.

Where he found only a bible on the seat, it had nothing of worth to be interested in hence he decided to confirm a hunch he had a while ago when he discovered the body, he walked around the vehicle in hopes he found the third casing however a fifteen minutes search had proved abortive which pointed to the fact that this was not where the killing had taken place but rather a dump site.

‘sir, there is someone who Jacob wants you to talk with.’ Sergeant mike said as he approached nearer with two male students.
‘okay, what is the matter?’ the detective said as he moved his eyes from Jacob to the other, carefully observing them.

‘good day sir, my name is Jacob and this is jude, the car you are seeing right here belongs to him sir.’ Jacob said pointing to the black lexus at the crime scene.

‘yes sir, this is is my car, if you check the car, my papers are all in there, sir.’ The young man added.

‘really, oh I see.’ He paused to remove the hand gloves off his hands. ‘okay, so what is the story, young man.’ Cyrl asked producing his note and pen.
‘well sir the truth is I had no idea piro was even in town, he has been using my car to go around just because I owe him some money for a month now‘

‘so let me get this straight he has been joy riding with your car all this time, hmmm okay go on.’ The detective said.

‘last week I was able to get what I owe him thanks to Jacob here and a few others and I have been trying to get my car back but piro seems unwillingly to let me have my car.’ He paused and produced his phone, handling a series of social media messages between both of them over the week which confirmed his words about trying to reach out to the victim.

CONTINUED



‘may I ask, where you were yesterday night?’ the detective said.

‘oh that’s easy sir, I was at a church program sir,Jacob was there as well he can account for my where about sir.’ The young man said again.
‘ is there a chance, he knew Claire madum or someone related to her or something-‘

‘No sir, i highly doubt it.’ Jacob replied.

Anyway this was his assumption as well, it was a double homicide but it didn’t have to be the work of the same killer however the three shots seem to be on point.

‘and if you are looking for someone to really question over this murder, I think beyond doubt, you should talk to marcus.’ Jacob said, to which the other nodded in approval.

‘marcus, who is this marcus?’ Cyril asked scribbling the name down as quickly as he could.

‘he is known drug peddler that piro does business with, their relationship is sort of crazy, today they are at each other’s throat over some unpaid money or incomplete transaction and the next minute they are buddies, they had a major fall out last week where punches were thrown outside club 5 were they usually hang out.’ Jacob said.

‘did you say club 5?’ Cyril asked again as he flipped over the sheets of paper to confirm something else.
‘yes sir, it’s a popular club in town, its where you can find all the people you won’t find here.’ Jacob said with some frown.

If he had hoped to dismiss the thoughts of a possible connection between piro and Claire , this was all he needed to think twice once he realized club 5 was the same club lucas talked about, could piro and Claire have been targeted by the same killer?, now he thought about it, he felt quite certain.
‘I see, so this marcus what about him?’ Cyril asked.

‘like I said he is drug peddler but I doubt he has the guts to do something like this but what I do know is that marcus has a lot of connections to people who can do this, he says it all the times whenever he gets into a fight so I don’t know but if piro is dead, marcus definitely should be your number one suspect.’ Jacob replied.

It was more than the detective could ask for, for now. He wrote the address and contacts of both men and gave them his before he waved them off.
With no other new evidence found on the scene, the body was evacuated.

CHAPTER FOUR



By 6:30 in the evening, the detective was back on tracks with his original plans for the day and with the aid of the sergeant they made their way to club 5.

Its appearance showed a level of sophistication that was bent on attracting the rich in the society, thankfully a quick search up on social media before his trip here gave him an idea about who he was looking for.

The sergeant remained inside the car while he made his way into the club which housed a variety of sections, the whole place looked like a maze and nothing like a club house, thankfully he was quickly led to the manager’s office.

‘an investigation you say?’ the fat bald man asked where he sat comfortably.
‘yes, we have reasons to believe a certain Claire madum and piro frequented this club.’

‘oh yes, Claire was a big gambler I mean for a girl you would think she comes looking for some hunky male to throw her body at but Claire came for the games only and she seemed to be doing well at it, I mean there wasn’t any game she played she wasn’t winning week in ,week out but for the other one, he is a lousy lazy creep who preferred to drink his time here alongside his buddy marcus.’

‘Marcus?’

‘oh yes Marcus, he is around, one of the bouncers can help you find him, he is always where the booze is.’ The manager replied.

He made his way to the would be spot with the bouncer where the drug peddler was enjoying a bottle of beer however marcus was quick to react, optioning to leave immediately once the detective sat in front of him but the bouncers had beckoned on marcus to sit tight with a firm grip on one of the shoulders giving the drug peddler no choice but to sit.

‘relax marcus, don’t play guilty before been accused ,I just want to find out where you fit into my case, so I am gonna ask you some questions and you are going to answer me, if you give me what I want, I will be taking you back to the station and booking you for all the drug related crimes I can think of and even more obstruction of justice, aiding and abetting a double murder and-‘

‘wait, wait, what are you saying chairman, please if this is about piro please I don’t know anything about-‘
‘I don’t believe you marcus, you see I have people who can testify you too had-‘

‘Hah chairman see let me tell, piro is like my big bro, I don’t like his attitude believe me and its why we always quarrel , I mean the guy is a great guy with good sense of humor he likes to go around motivating people with his little talks here and there, he was loved by all you know, he is not the best but everyone liked him and he doesn’t use drugs can you imagine that, a friend of a drug dealer who doesn’t do drugs?’ marcus said frustratingly.

‘what about the guys you know, you have to know something or must have said something marcus, everyone knows the kind of people you move with , you are a drug dealers, you know the kind of people that could have done this, I need names marcus, It’s the only way you don’t leave here in cuffs.’ The detective pressed harder.

‘I swear I never said anything about piro to anyone plus I usually just claim to know people its why how I am able to keep my head on my body, he is a jerk when he wants to be but he

CONTINUED



is my friend okay.’

Marcus said almost whimpering now as the detective produced his hand cuffs. ‘Okay listen, listen I will tell you this okay, piro wanted to come here last night but I told him not to come because of the fight he had with some guy the other day in here.’

The detective decided to observe his demeanor closely for all he knew this could be a fabled tale to get the heat away from him.
‘I don’t believe you marcus, this is bullshit-‘

‘I swear officer, piro had this big fight the other day with some guy that comes here often, even the manager knew about it so I felt he needed to take a chill pill you know-‘

‘I need a name, who is this guy and where can I find him because I will find him and if he has a different story to tell then I will come for you.’ The detective said sternly.

‘I swear I don’t know his name, piro tried to play a bet but he took this guy’s place who came and created a ruckus about it, I had some clients so I didn’t bother to go looking, piro came back and he told me about it, you can ask the manager I am certain the manager knows this person.’ Marcus said.

‘this person you say, he gambles?‘
‘yes sir.’ Marcus explained.

The detective didn’t have to trust marcus’s word but if what he was saying was truth then this person could be the connection between Claire and piro, surely if he was a gambler as Claire was then they must have known each other somehow or might have even gambled once or twice.
‘do you know Claire madum?’ the detective asked.

‘claire?, yes I do everyone knows her here but not personally though, she used to be a top player here but I heard she is dead now.’ Marcus said.
‘hang around kid, I will be back in a few minutes.’ Cy said cuffing one of the hands of marcus to the stool he sat on while he returned back to the manager to confirm his hunch.

‘is there anything else I can do for you?’ the manager asked quite surprised to see the detective back at his office again.
‘i know you must have some sort of records for this bets that are played here because it involves money, I need to check those records if you don’t mind.’ The detective said.

‘am afraid you will have to show me some papers or some sort of authorization for that.’ The manager said dully. ‘look I want to help you but those records hold sensitive customer data which I can’t afford leaking out, I can’t-‘

‘marcus talked about piro having a fight with some guy over a betting game some time ago. who is this person?’ the detective asked.
The manager was a bit hesitant to say anything but soon put up a dull smile.

‘am afraid that information is something I can’t help you with that.’ The manager protested.

‘you know I could go back and get that authorization you ask for along with a convoy of police officers and I might have to seal it up because last time I checked, gambling and the amount of God knows what that happens in here are still-‘

CONTINUED



‘you don’t threaten me officer but enough of that now, I am gonna give you what I know because I want you off my club as quick as I can, you police men seem to irritate customers of establishments like mine plus I also think the killer should be brought to justice, the guy you are looking for started playing three months back, he is a fresh face and does his best to keep it that way in other words, I neither any of my employees know him, he comes around to play some poker and cards and then he leaves, no one knows when he comes in and no one knows when he leaves.’

‘and you expect me to believe that?‘

‘listen officer, I run a club, my club runs on customers, not what they choose to do, he pays the club and the boys well enough so who cares if he is some stranger or not.’

The detective could go on forever and not get any form of remorse from the manager which irritated so he decided to let it go.
‘so what is it that you can tell me to help me find this person.’

‘that you will find out for yourself inside the record book of course.’ The manager said producing a small book which he handed over to the
‘I can’t let you take it out of this office but you can go through it and it will also be wise no one knows their little guilty pleasures is been recorded it wouldn’t be good for business, the person you are looking for plays under the name saint, definitely sure nobody names their kid saint in this bloody country’. The manager said cheekily.

The book contained hand recorded gambles and betting games of various kind played over the course of 9 months, however he was interested in the last three months data which didn’t just show Claire and saint were no strangers to each other but also the fact that the only games Claire scored big on where with this stranger which ran into millions weekly and even more because both played a high staked game of poker worth 8million naira the night before claire’s body was discovered, now the name sounded interesting to him, this could be his guy.

‘is there anything whatsoever you can tell me about this saint?’ the detective asked again as he scribbled down something from the book.
‘if the book couldn’t help then I think I have been most helpful here if you think about, I try not to intrude in my customers affairs more than I need to but I can say one thing about the guy, he is not very good at winning but you know what they say once you are addicted to this sort of things its hard to get free so he keeps playing and as long as he keeps spending I am good with it.’ The manager said as the detective handed the book back to the detective.

‘thank you, you have been very helpful.’ The detective said sternly as he stood to take his leave.

‘and detective, please know that as much as I want to help you catch your killer, your presence here will no longer be welcomed except you have those authorization, I know how long and complicated the whole process is and what is a good business

CONTINUED



without risk management, take your investigations somewhere else detective, I have done my part.’ The manager scoffed as Cyril took his leave finally.
He made his back to marcus only to find the drug peddler missing and his hand cuffs loosened.

‘he asked me to give you this sir.’ The bar man said carrying a bottle of cold beer.

the detective scoffed at the mere thought of the drug peddler thinking he could get away that easily anyway he seemed more like the loud mouthed but toothless drug peddler at the moment incapable of these murders so he didn’t need to bother himself with him anymore.

CHAPTER FIVE



With an ambiguous name such as saint and no real detail to go along, the detective knew he had only one way to get his mystery man, thankfully the record may not have given any crucial detail concerning saint but did give his gambling routines, Tuesdays and Fridays. His plan was simple, he needed to bait saint.

He made some notes down and decided to call who he felt was the perfect bait.

‘hello, marcus is not available at the moment-‘

‘tell him, he lives at 21 budho street, samko area, he deals in marijuana, cocaine, codeine and-‘
‘it’s you again, isn’t it?’
‘yes marcus, its detective Cyril, I need you to trail saint for me tonight.’
‘saint, who is saint?’
‘don’t play that game with me marcus, I know you have heard about saint and you must have possibly seen him, I think he has something to do with your friend’s death and I need your help to be sure.’

‘hmmm, okay but what is in it for me?’

‘I just told you your friend is-okay, listen you help me tonight and I will get off your back for good, you won’t see me again.’ The detective said.
‘that’s a relief and a great deal officer just text me the time and place to meet.’ Marcus replied happily.

As the sun began to give off what was left of its light, the detective had already arrived at the club and had found a good parking spot away from been spotted.

The plan was simple, the manager had clearly told him not to step his foot within the club and yes indeed a paperwork granting him access would only scare any potential suspect away deep into hiding and even more such paper works required detailing that ran into weeks and months with marcus he could do better , identify his mystery guy and get him when he listed expected.

Two more hours had passed since he settled in his car before marcus knocked came by.

‘I need you to tail saint for me on the inside, once he is outside I will take care of the rest, its that simple.’ Cyril said.
‘its not as simple as you say, I can’t have eyes on him because the big guys who come here to play have a separate private section they do this and the bouncers ensure it remains private throughout the game , club 5 has a two other back doors by which anyone can go out and come in as they please so that plan needs some remodeling or –‘

‘come on, I need you to think of something in there, I can’t be in there so you are going to have to try, you can do this.’ Cyril said.
‘now you sound like my dead friend piro.’ Marcus replied with a frown. ‘he is the motivational speaker when you don’t need motivating , no wonder he always gets into trouble.’ Marcus sighed as he walked out of the car.

However at about 9:00 pm marcus had texted the detective.

‘you owe me a week supply of marijuana officer however I managed to talk my way into one of the bar men’s pocket who has just spotted saint, he says he is alone and not playing today, he is checking up on saint every fifteen minutes so be alert.’ The text read as the detective read calmly, once he replaced his phone back where it was earlier , he produced his service pistol and pulled the safety off, he could be dealing with an armed suspect so he had to be prepared.

An hour later had passed before the detective would hear from marcus this time letting him know of saint’s departure through one of the back doors three minutes again.

‘shit’ the detective muttered angrily as he ran out of the car and across the street towards the back of the building where a

CONTINUED



large car park was located at, it could take him forever to know who had gone or who was still around but the detective had been watchful, the club still had one main street road which all came and went through and he had been on the lookout, even more certain his man was still at the car , he began to go around the cars with ears opened, listening carefully for the sound of a car engine fired to life.

‘where are you?’ the detective said as his eyes moved to and fro the various cars until he heard the sounds of two club goers, a male and a female exiting the club , he turned to look only to be caught off guard by saint’s car which had roared into life some distance away from him , his reaction was great siwtfly turning around to wave his weapon at the car but the saint was in no mood to stop, bearing down on the detective who stood in its path and his chance to freedom the detective opened fire on the car.

The shots rattled the air simultaneously, shattering the car’s winds screen and side mirror, he heard the driver scream in agony as he swerved the car so it hit another and came finally to a stop.

The detective approached cautiously still armed and ready to take his next shot if he had to, however he hoped his suspect would choose to live and surrender.

‘help me, I have been shot’ the call came slowly and painfully from inside the vehicle.

‘if you have a gun on you, toss it outside now!’ the detective ordered sternly standing his ground, close enough for a kill shot yet out of his suspect’s range. ‘I need you to toss your gun out of the window now or else you are going to bleed to death.’ He said again but this time there was no response making the detective wonder if saint was already dead however he would dodge a bullet fired from the vehicle almost immediately which made him take cover quickly.

‘you are surrendered saint, I know who you are, give up now and let me help you, toss your damn weapon away now, I won’t repeat this again.’ Cyril said reloading his weapon just as a mob of club goers began to exit the club probably due to the gun shots they might have heard while inside.
Saint returned fire again but this time , it wasn’t at the detective but rather at himself which came with a painful muffled scream and once the detective sensed the gun duel was over, he sighed in regret as he approached the vehicle.

Inside was a young man armed with a glock, his jaw had been ripped apart by the kill shot, he was no one the detective had talked to or interviewed, his mystery identity wouldn’t be for long as the detective snatched his two phones which seemed undamaged from the chaos.

Once the detective collected it, he figured it was time he called the incident in however he was soon joined by marcus who approached the scene as careful as he could, somehow his face showed his confusion and fear over what had taken place.

‘my God what happened here.’ Marcus said from a good distance, away from the car and the detective.

‘apparently the guilty runs when no man pursues.’ The detective said turning his back to stare at marcus. ‘what happened in there?’ the detective asked.

‘ah, it seems he was tipped by the manager over your visit the other day so I guess he went into panic, I don’t know but that Is what the bar man said.’ Marcus said with a shrug.

This however was no time to argue, the club was now part of his crime scene, the manager was definitely going to see him soon but his focus for now was on fact finding, he placed the deceased fingers on the phones unlocking his Pandora box, this was his jackpot, he chuckled as he produced his own phone out and called the sergeant ordering two hilux of armed operatives ready and brought to his location.

‘I think that will be my cue to leave detective, I would be happy if you don’t tell them anything about the drug peddler that assisted you on this one.’ Marcus said cheerfully as he took his leave.

‘what church did piro attend when he was alive by the way?’ the detective asked.

‘Church, nah piro is a muslim, he was hoping to be the first non Christian sug president this school would have.’ Marcus said pitifully as he took his leave.

It may not seemed a lot but the detective already had a gut feeling, a gut feeling that told him the case wasn’t solved entirely however it was time he did go see the manager, this time with handcuffs.

By morning, the police had arrived at higher field university, making their way to the vc’s office for their arrest, it only took one look from the vc at the officials led by the detective

CONTINUED




to know they were here for him.

Perhaps his plans hadn’t been so fool proof now he thought about it.

‘what I don’t get is that why couldn’t you just lauder your money the way everyone else does it rather than use your security operative to lauder tons of millions weekly through poker games.’ The detective asked the vc as he took his seat in the hilux van.

‘the EFCC was onto me and then my security operative told me about club 5, they offered a good way for me to disappear the huge cash I have been hiding in my various accounts into someone else’s account without any suspicion, It was supposed to be simple, I bring in the cash, my man deposits them to club 5 for a poker game with his person, each time he loses, club 5 makes the payment to her account but she-‘

‘but she wanted to play rough and your man decided to kill her for it.’ The detective said, completing the vc’s sentence as he finally pieced the whole thing together. ‘hold on tight, your company is arriving any time soon.’ The detective said with a dull smile.

It was only when the sergeant and three other officers had walked Jacob and his company amidst a mob of students that the vc understood what the detective said.

‘I believe this belongs to you, Jacob.’ The detective said producing a bible from his coat. ‘maybe when next you want to commit a murder under the disguise of another , maybe you should not leave any form of evidence in the car.’ The detective said as they led them past him, into the hilux.
All along he had thought the murders were the work of one killer but evidently, this wasn’t they were the senseless actions of a corrupt school head and a vicious competitor.

Tomorrow the news was going out the story of a newly elected SUG President arrested for murder and his school’s vc also arrested for the same crime.

He heaved a sigh of relief and produced a cigarette stick out, it had been long since he lit up a cigarette, today was a good day to do just that.

DETECTIVE CYRIL IN A KIDNAP AND TWO RESCUES VOL. 3


AFTER THE SON OF A BILLIONAIRE IS KIDNAPPED, CYRIL MUST WORK WITH AN INTERNAIONAL INSURANCE AGENT TO FIND THE BOY WHILE DARK SECRETS THREATEN TO REVEAL A MORE SINISTER PLOT WITHIN THE BOY'S FAMILY.

WRITER'S UPDATE ON VOLUME 3 A KIDNAP AND TWO RESCUES


hello to everyone reading , just want to give you guys an update on a kidnap and two rescues is on going and currently at chapter four and to be honest its one of my best yet and i am pretty sure once its out you will understand why but not for the mature scene lol (obvious sneek peek) but for the story and the characters who i believe i gave an around opportunity to tell the story.

it will be coming out soon enough and i hope you all will read and enjoy it, it will also be on wattpad and okada books as my first entry to the series, i have worked out 10 volumes and there will be seven more after the third before i can then decide what to do with the series thankfully my persistence will pay off and it shouldn't be hard for me to figure what next to do with it.

A kidnap and two rescues is inspired by two characters from the movie tenet , the couple of course who are entangled with the protagonist and i just have to say this is going to be nice but i will leave that to you when you all do get a chance to read it.

CHAPTER ONE



‘If I gave a cent for every problem I had to solve myself, I would be on the streets begging like every other poor Nigerian’ Business guru and billionaire, Mr. Richmond Chiwetel Orji usual philosophical words he lived by and proudly shared with all who really never cared about the narcissist, egomaniac and selfish billionaire.

Not many certainly were certain about how he made his money after his little start up in the oil industry took a deep dive at the time oil prices dropped drastically in the world forcing many start ups such as his into bankruptcy however a year later, the stocks market validated the value and worth of his company to be over 150 billion dollars with his personal net worth been around 8.5 billion dollars, snatching a place in Forbes magazine and the Africa’s wealthiest elites.

However his success in the world of business didn’t come any close to the failures he had amassed walking down the aisle three times in four years with the last, exposing some of his abhorrent attitude to his close circle.

The issues had stemmed from Richmond’s third wife filing from divorce claiming neglect and lack of respect from the billionaire to which a successful trial would mean parting with a huge chunk of his wealth and with the media getting a piece of the action and a clapback at one of their worst critics, it would however be a bitter sour experience for his ex-wife who did not only get divorced but received nothing but a defamation claim worth 200million by Mr. orji.

‘I told you not to take this out to the court but you thought you could take my hard earned money now you are going to pay me down to your last cent.’ He boasted, one of those times she called to beg, it would later turn out to be bitter sour when the news of her apparent suicide hit the media.
No doubt about who was blamed for the tragedy however it was his forth marriage with Elaina Tega, daughter to a former Nigeria’s ambassador that shook everyone with some doubting the purpose of her union with such a man however barely a year after his marriage, Elaina would give birth to his first child and the heir apparent to the billionaire’s business empire.

July 09, 2020 would mark the couple’s tenth year anniversary; not that Mr. Richmond ever felt the need to celebrate such events owing to the fact that this only constituted to unnecessary money spending, the mistress of the house was however hopeful of making something out of it with her son and the help of Mr. Rolland and his new wife, the only known member of the orji’s family that still respected and stayed loyal to Richmond.
However as the saying goes that trouble is brewed in the stead of luxury, it was forty five minutes past her son’s arrival from school that got all the wrong signals blaring in Elaina’s head.

‘I am sure this is just a coincidence, they should be here soon, Brains-Ville Academy called the house while ago to confirm Maryann and okiye had left the building.’ Mr. Rolland said confirming the details of his phone call awhile ago, in hopes of calming her nerves; it was a long time since he saw her like that.

‘then why aren’t they back home, why isn’t festus or okoye or Maryann answering their calls’ she complained stressfully going to and fro with such a frown that made a bad mental expression of a troubled soul.
‘calm down Elaina dear, I am sure it’s this roads again, one time I almost ran into a panic when Rolland wouldn’t get home on time due to the traffic, I am sure it’s nothing to worry about, okoye is there with them, remember.’ Deborah said as reassuringly as she could even standing up from where she sat to go comfort her sister-in-law.

‘call him.’ Elaina paused to turn, her stare lacked no short of intent but the reaction from her brother in-law and his wife seemed somewhat dazed and confused in fact Deborah had paused in her tracks.

‘what, hey calm down Elaina.’ Mr. Rolland said this time, he made the move for her. ‘you can’t go calling Richmond over this, its been just a few minutes, okay here is what I will do, why don’t we send a driver and one of the security guards to go trail them, what do you think?’ he said getting in on her path so she stopped to listen to him.

The response was delayed for a brief second as she seemed to think about it, the wrinkle on her forehead brought about by the worrying soon faded slowly. ‘fine, let’s do that now I just feel really strange about this, please go talk to them now, they must be on their way now.’ She replied.
However Richmond’s reply would be halted as Elaina’s phone rung. ‘its okoye.’ She said with a big smile of relief on her face, answering the call however Richmond and his wife were caught off guard by the next few seconds as Elaina screamed out of fear and sheer panic, her eyes overshadowed by the threat of uncontrollable tears as the phone slipped freely off her hands and right into the tiled floor.
‘what is it, what happened?’ exclaimed Rolland rushing to her aid.

‘they said, they said.’ She sobbed horribly as she went to the ground with Rolland and Deborah rushing to her side.
‘who said what, what did okoye say, Elaina, what is it?’ Deborah asked in sheer confusion as she held on to Elaina beckoning her to calm down to say something but Rolland was a lot faster here, retreating to pick up the phone and investigate.

‘they have kidnapped my son, oh they have kidnapped my son, they said it, they said it a just now.’ Elaina teary voice attracted Olivia and jude, both house helps at the mansion.
‘what, God forbid, how can this be?’ Deborah said panicky as her hands trembled.
‘all numbers have been switched off.’ Rolland confirmed as he dropped the phone off his ears and produced his. ‘take Elaina inside the room, I will get Richmond and call the IG immediately.’ Rolland said firmly. ‘Elaina, please don’t worry, we will have our boy back in no time, I promise you, I have to go talk to people now, I will contact Richmond immediately, please go with Deborah and Olivia now.’ He added marking his exit from the living room.
While the tension was high up within the house, Rolland had made his way out and send three vehicles to trail the road and confirm what had happening after which he then decided to call Richmond; he would be damned if he told the police first knowing how sensitive the issue was and how much his senior brother hated issues involving the police, he rung his brother immediately who had deferred the call twice however unperturbed by this, he dialed again pacing the entrance of the mansion slowly and calmly as possible, eventually Richmond had picked.

‘hello brother, there is a problem sir.’ Rolland said, a perfect mix of calm and tension made his voice sink in properly into the conversation.
‘what do you mean there is a problem, what is this about and hope it doesn’t have to do with my one cent because I don’t have any to spend.’ The tough voice of Richmond responded swiftly.
‘No sir, its Joshua sir, we believe he has been kidnapped.’ Rolland said, a brief silence ensued as Rolland waited for his brother’s reply.
‘that’s a lie, its impossible, my son cannot be kidnapped, what sick joke is this Rolland?’ Richmond barked furiously as Rolland sighed, it was this hot temper and verbal jabs at everyone and anyone whenever an issue was on ground that he hated the most, however this was not the time to be petty and bear grudges against anyone.

‘Sir, its not a joke, Joshua was supposed to be at home like over an hour ago so we could.’ He had to be careful, the earlier plans for a quick celebration with Elaina was meant to be a secret thing with just those within him, his wife and Elaina and her son, God knows Richmond would create a scene if he ever found out he was helping Elaina celebrate anything. ‘joshua was sick so we decided to get home but after an hour of waiting for his arrival we finally got a call, Elaina took the call, she told us what they say, that Joshua has been kidnapped, I have sent up a security team to go check out their claim.’ Rolland said.

‘to go check up their claim?, what is that supposed to mean and how come that woman never told me my son wasn’t feeling well today, I blame her for this, go tell her that she is to be blamed for this and if anything should happen to that boy that she will pay dearly for it.’ Richmond paused to calm himself, his blood pressure was going through the roof already. ‘damn it, this is what women bring into your life, problems upon problems.’ Richmond continued. ‘call them off immediately and whatever you do, do not report to the police yet, those guys would only make things worse and even more want to charge me for all the stress I have to go through, do not report to the police yet, is that understood?’ he added.
‘yes sir, well understood but what about Elaina, she is in great distress what am I supposed to tell her.’ Rolland asked for surety.

‘she can go to hell for all I care, she is the cause of all this anyway I will be home soon, call them off , you take a car and go trail him, if people see a convoy they are going to start

CONTINUED



asking questions and questions attract those noisy bees they call media, take a car and take one of the men and go find out what you can quickly, is that understood?’ Richmond asked again.

‘well understood sir.’ Rolland replied before quitting the call, he shook his head pitifully, Elaina would not be happy about her brother’s refusal to bring in the police on this but he knew his boundaries, it didn’t matter the type of problem or trouble the billionaire couple may have gotten into over the past ten years but Elaina had been accommodating and almost an angel, never once complaining of the same character and attitude that had driven so many away from Richmond because she had Joshua with her, would this be her breaking point he wondered as he raced out to get a security operative.

At 4:15 pm Richmond had arrived home to meet Rolland, Deborah and Elaina in the living room, the atmosphere had the right amount of pressure to make everyone unhinged.

‘so, its true?’ Richmond asked, his eyes set on Rolland who walked up to him to brief him on his trip.
‘we found the jeep at Isikho junction but Maryann, festus and Joshua were missing.’ He paused to clear his throat not because there was really something worth clearing but because of what he had to say next. ‘okoye was shot and killed inside the vehicle and his rifle taken away, I left a security aide on the scene.’ Rolland said.

‘so they killed okoye, hmmm and there I was, thinking I would have to pay a huge sum of money once he retires his position next month.’ Richmond said with an subtle expression that made Rolland flinch for a moment, was that a sigh of relief on his brother’s face over his chief security guard’s death, no it couldn’t be, he waved the thought of his mind as he looked over his brother’s shoulder to stare at Elaina who his wife was doing her best to comfort.
‘they won’t harm a hair on his head I know it, they just want my money, I wonder what this God forsaken country is turning into, able bodied men taking kids hostage over what they haven’t earned, I am gonna show them that nobody touches me or my money.’ Richmond said with a tightened fist and a grin on his face. He soon relaxed his fist and finally turned around to see his wife, a mild frown appeared on his face as he walked up to where she was sobbing.

‘and you, I hope you are happy for what you have just caused, this is all your fault woman.’ He said with renewed anger as Elaina began to sob even more. ‘I feed and I cloth you, I put a roof over your head and you put my boy’s life in danger, uh?’ he fired again much to the disbelief and shock on deborah’s face.

‘brother, please she has been crying all through the day, please can we just focus on bringing Joshua back rather than do this right now.’ Rolland said, the words seemed to cause a bit of friction up his mouth as they came out, it was the one time he knew he had to take a stand for the poor woman, she had been through so much already just to receive such torment from her husband over again.
‘Did you just try to tell me how to talk to my wife?’ Richmond scoffed in disbelief as he turned with flaring eyes ready to launch a new verbal assault on his junior brother.

‘enough Richmond, enough of all this.’ Elaina screamed out in anger as she stood to her feet, coming within feet of her husband as Deborah and Rolland watched helplessly.

She had finally had it, all this years she had had to put up with the bastard’s consistent abuse, verbally, psychologically and emotionally, all this time, she had had to cry herself to sleep and grieve herself to wake the next day, the constant neglect and arrogant behavior wasn’t just driving her insane but had also driven away everything and everyone who could have helped her, but she was a fighter, her meditations never did her any good but her spirit was strong as long as Joshua was with her, the only good thing and constant reminder of how far she had come but her precious had been taken now and her restraint on her emotions loosed, so it was her time to let the bastard know how she did feel about him.
‘I will not take stand here and be insulted by you any more Richmond.’ She sobbed. ‘what did I ever do to you to deserve all this, uh.’ She paused and made sure her voice was firm again. ‘now you listen and listen very well, you are going to get my son back and when you get him back, we are going to have a talk about this insanity you call attitude if you want to have joshua and I in your life for a very long time.’ She darted out of the room, she had said all she wanted to say and nothing in the world was going to change it.

‘you are just joking woman, do you think you can threaten me with such stupid threats, uh.’ Richmond boasted as Elaina disappeared from his sight.
It was however the silent that occurred shortly after between the three that made Rolland feel awkward, uncertain of what to say now, he could only wait and see if Richmond would say something else thankfully Elaina’s phone rung which gave Deborah the fright once she realized who was calling.
‘its okoye’s number.’ She said as she took the phone which Richmond snatched from her hands almost immediately.

‘now listen here and listen properly, you are going to release my son before this day is over or else I am going to deal with you severely.’ Richmond said angrily at his caller who seem to be in no rush to say anything. ‘you pick the wrong boy to kidnap, I tell you, my son must not be harmed or else I swear, I am going to kill you.’ Richmond said again as threatening and sternly as he could be.

‘please brother, you must not talk to these people this way, please let me handle it I beg you.’ Rolland said as Elaina appeared once more; having heard her husband’s voice from the hallway where she had found herself a spot to cry her eyes out when she left earlier.
‘its them, they are calling back.’ Deborah tipped off Elaina as she snatched the phone off Richmond’s hand and gave it to Rolland who stood perplexed for a brief second, his eyes seeking permission from Richmond before he could proceed.

‘fine, you talk to them.’ Richmond said finally, maybe he could have been a little bit more careful about how he spoke but his anger had had the better side of him just like it did at almost everything but Rolland was the considerate and calm at the moment so it was only wise to let him talk to them.
‘hello sir, please is the boy alive and well, we would like to hear from him please.’ Rolland said as calm and composed as he could with Elaina bearing down on his shoulder to get the reply.

‘the next time, I hear that mad man talk, I will ensure the boy pays dearly for it but for now I would have to demonstrate the need for him to shut up his big mouth and let me do the talking, you would do well to put this on loud speaker so everyone listens to this.’ The caller replied who could be easily identified as a male over the phone, a few seconds of silence ensued following a plea over the phone from a female voice who Elaina recognized as Maryann, a house maid at the mansion; she seemed to be begging for the mystery strangers to spare her life however this plea would end with a deafening gunshot repeated after another and another followed by the loud crying of her son.

Rolland turned to stare at Elaina, this time Richmond had drew nearer, his face detailed his fright at what had just happened.
‘that is the lady we found with the boy, she is dead, the driver and the boy are still alive, now do you understand that I am the boss here?’ the male caller replied.

‘yes sir, I understand completely and we are ready to do whatever you want us to do, just tell us what you need and we will do it immediately, please don’t hurt the boy, we are all begging.’ Rolland said as his fear began to set into his calm voice.
‘5 billion dollars for the boy to the Swiss account that will be sent to you shortly, now I know this sort of cash will take a bit of a time, so I will give you two weeks to arrange the money, once the transaction is done, then we can arrange for the boy’s freedom and one more thing, if you get the police involve in this, then I can promise you that you will never ever be seeing you boy again, I will call back three days from now to know the progress that has been made towards the ransom.’ The caller said again before the phone went dead as Elaina went to the ground crying once more.

This was unchartered territory for him, he had been described as one of the most lethal men in the business world, he had done and climbed out of almost every impossible situations all his life with little to no assistant to make sure no one ever talked like that to him but he wasn’t going to let this get the better of him, he would have to be stronger than ever just like he did when everyone thought it was over for him, he was going to come out victorious, one way or another.

‘Rolland, call the I.G immediately, I am not going to pay such large sum of money over this, its impossible besides I pay my taxes, this is their duty.’ Richmond said with a huge frown on his face before he decided to go take a drink. ‘and let this be the last time you try to talk to me about how I speak to my wife.’ He added before he took his leave.

Some 350 km away, deep in the bushes, an ex cult leader and convicted criminal Morris and his gang settled down at one of the uncompleted structures they had decided to make their base

CONTINUED



once they surveyed the place three weeks ago for the operation and for now everything was going to plan.
They had moved Maryann and the boy to a separate room and the driver to another, of course they hadn’t killed her, she was meant to be responsible for the care of the kid for the time been, in fact her abduction came as a good sign after they had initially planned for someone who would be responsible for the boy but her presence meant the option was no longer needed, with one out of the four man gang positioned at the entrance so neither Maryann nor the boy escaped the other three could toy and torment the driver as much as they want for fun and also attend to other important issues like the one he realized he hadn’t done since he made the call awhile ago, he grabbed hold of his cell and dialed the number and waited patiently for it to ring.

‘you were supposed to call me an hour ago, you fool.’ The voice replied angrily as morris gulped down hard on his saliva.
‘I am sorry boss, it won’t happen again, we were trying to relocate them to base that’s why.’ He replied.
‘so how did it go, did they buy it, what did they say?’ the caller asked.

‘of course they bought it boss, we have them where we want, they are clearly in our palms I can assure you that.’ Morris replied satisfactorily, a big smile hanging on his face.
‘now listen and listen very carefully, you have got to be careful that you don’t slip up, this is our chance to put all this nonsense behind us for good, do not ruin this for us, is that understood because that boy’s father is a dangerous man, a very dangerous man you don’t want to play with, he is vicious so I expect you to be at your very best all the time, is that clear?’ the caller warned.

‘yes sir, we are all good over here.’ Morris said.
‘what about the girl and the driver, our interest is the boy alone, make sure you dispose of them as soon as you can, I will brief you on all you need to know as time goes on.’ The caller said one last time before the call went dead.

Morris heaved a sigh of relief, perhaps he could take a quick nap and dream about all the things he was going to do with his share of the ransom, indeed that sounded quite nice now he thought about it, stretching himself full on the ground before taking a good position to sleep off the hectic activity of the day, in two weeks time, he would be living in absolute luxury, the life he never had the chance to live all this time.

By the next 72 hours, the media had their take, it was inevitable once Richmond took the decision to call In the police. ‘Someone is going to slip in the information to one person and another to another, its good marketing for good information and Mr. Richmond orji is good information.’ THE Metropolis Lantern chief editor, Mr. samir ahmed, who was not new to The billionaire’s unnecessary outburtst on everything related media, in fact his company had suffered more law suits filed by Mr. Richmond over its publications over its shady dealings than another person since its inception, so it was only fair, his media house that made the first publication on the kidnap besides he had felt more like Mr. Richmond’s nemesis and now it was open season on the bastard of course and with his dear friend Mr. Mahmud, the I.G on the case, there was sure to be no hindrance to the flow of information, this was personal.

The veteran journalist turned chief editor of lagos most widely read news paper sought to make a call before his phone rang, he gave a dull frown realizing it was a strange number and how he gloated about never receiving calls from unidentifiable persons.
But after ignoring for over five minutes the sexagenarian knew this was something else.

‘who is this and why are you calling me 8 in the morning with a strange number.’ The chief Editor said, his words clear and straight so that his caller knew better than to waste his time.
‘congratulations on your newest report on the kidnapping of Mr. Richmond Orji, its been at the top of the chart since its publication and I would like no other thing than to help you bring Oric oil and gas down on its kneels, its no secret this is personal for you and your tabloid after that punk filled a lawsuit of over 250 million naira which almost crippled your start up four years ago and bruised your reputation badly’ The mysterious caller said.
‘thanks for the offer but no thanks, I have my sources who I trust and if you think I would trust someone who I haven’t met before for information then clearly you think little of my sanity.’ The chief Editor replied blatantly.

‘what I am offering you, is first take on every information in real time as it happens, you should be well aware that by now the case has been transferred to the Nigeria Crimes and Investigations Bureau, which recently gained autonomous status and independent work authority from its parent institution the Nigeria police, meaning your sources in the police force have little to no information, I hear the NCIB is no joke when it comes to leaking sensitive information and may I remind you that this information is solid gold for every media house in the country so I can take my offer to someone with more guts and still get what I want.’ The caller replied.

Clearly his caller knew what he or she was saying because he too had become slightly worried over Mr. Samir’s reluctance to say more, so this was the reason however he had been in the industry long enough to do anything without caution.
‘and why should I trust you to be my source, why are you doing this and most importantly who are you?, if you don’t tell me who you are you can just forget it, take your information somewhere else.’ The chief editor said, although his tone betrayed his words knowing how desperate and resourceful this mysterious person could be.

‘my identity is not needed neither is it important, you and I know that is not the problem and why I am doing this and your need to trust me is simple, I want the same thing everyone wants and that includes you, revenge now my terms are simple, every information I will be sending to you should make the day’s headlines, you guarantee me that and we can both watch that bastard burn to the ground.’ The caller replied with such conviction in his voice that made the chief editor smile.

‘its risky, putting up unverified information on my paper could wreck me for good.’ The chief editor remarked, yet again playing his cards as careful as he could.
‘it’s your choice but I know you will make the right one once you see what I have to offer, I will be sending the first of many to come via an email, it appears Mr. Richmond’s woes has only just begun’ the caller said one last time before he hung up.
The chief editor would have no time to think about the caller’s words before his computer beeped after receiving an email, without further delay he rushed to check up on the mail, the sender simply identified as Stalker55 had sent in, something that was in fact head line worthy and yes of course a whole new dynamic to Mr. Richmond’s woes at the moment.

***********************************

By 1:31 pm, The NCIB had had its top cases to be transferred from the Nigeria police to them, meant for immediate response, among the top cases was Mr. richmond’s son’s kidnapping and although whilst the bureau was still at its infancy with no specific structures, departments for the various crimes that took place and had mainly been thought upon as a murder and cold case file bureau relating to murders, it was certain their newly approved status as an autonomous bureau would make them a focus for every other crimes the police force weren’t able to handle howbeit this new status was a good thing, it meant that they didn’t have to work under the police force, it meant there was some sense of entitlement and pride they could now boast off, it meant little favoritism and nepotism in the face of cases to choose from and more than that it meant its newest commissioner, the man at the helm of affairs at the bureau, Mr. Dede Nwobosi had pushed and fought for something that was achievable.

And with the soon to be approved budget for the bureau which would carter for many of the necessities him and his employees needed to function properly however there was much to do, his office desk had only one file on it at the moment.
‘come in dc, I can hear your cigar breathing breath all the way from the door.’ He said making a bit of a frown so the detective knew he wasn’t okay with his smoking habits.

However his choice over who to take charge over the case on his desk was a reserved, detective Cyril oderga was no doubt one of the best he had managed since he had the opportunity with several other retired commissioner vouching for the 32 years old but for him it wasn’t just the detective ability to crack hard on all cases he had worked but because of his diligence, intellect and moral standards perhaps impacted on him by the boy’s father, a known retired military commander worthy of a medal of valor and unbiased patriotism, he may hate the boy’s guts sometimes over the way he managed his cases but he was damn good at this job.

‘take a seat detective but don’t make yourself comfortable until you have heard what I have to say not that it would matter because I have already made my decision.’ Mr. Dede said as the detective took his seat.
‘chief, what is it, you do know I have an active case I am

CONTINUED



working on at the moment.’ The detective reminded, it was easier he made his most valid points known once he saw the brown file on top of the desk and easily deduced what the unexpected invitation to the office was for.

‘its been transferred to Mike or some other guy, I need you on this asap, its active and an ongoing case.’ The commissioner said sliding the file over to the detective who stared at it but resisted opening it to make his point clear about his discontentment over his case been replaced with another, it was for him the definition of a bad omen.

‘chief, you can’t do that.’ He paused to readjust himself, drawing up his sleeves to the elbows as he would casually do when he was talking serious business. ‘boss you can’t do this, I am almost close to cracking the case, this has been my case for a month and a half now and you want me to give it up without a fight?’ the detective asked in disbelief.

‘relax, I went through the case and I have made sure that whoever is taking it is going to give you credits for it, its simple.’ The boss replied, hoping his little appeasement would work the charm.
‘boss come on, you know I don’t do this for the credits, this is my case, whatever this is.’ He said sliding the file back to his boss. ‘I can’t take it, there are many here who are capable of murder investigations as well, its why the government pay us.’ The detective protested.

‘its not a murder Cyril, it’s a kidnapping.’ He replied sliding the file back to the detective. ‘its why I need you on this, you are the only one who has had experience in such a case before, I read the file about the little girl you helped rescue back then in your army days, it shows a level of sophistication and experience none of the other guys have and its huge, we may have gotten our autonomous status but we still aren’t clear off the tracks, the government and those bloody thieves in government would turn anything that see as a potential fail on our part into a bloody petition to pull this whole thing down, its why I need you on this.’ Mr. Dede said, this time, he was in fact sharing his worries about the constant threat of petitions filled by many other government organizations over their independence, something he had worked and sacrificed for.

He could see the battle going on within his detective over the case at hand, if only he knew this wasn’t even the main obstacle, the real problem he too hadn’t quite figure out to tell the detective over the case.
‘fine, I will do this and whoever is taking up my case doesn’t need to credit me with anything, its not like we get a pay rise for it but I don’t like this.’ He shook his finger to protest before he decided to draw the file closer for further inspection but he halted for while, he had seen the face his boss was making as he drew the file closer, it was not the happy or relieved face he makes when they eventually did come to an agreement over anything rather it was the one which mike, a friend and co detective did mentioned, meant trouble. ‘wait, you knew I was going to take the case already so I am guessing it wasn’t what would make me feel uncomfortable, boss what is it then?’ the detective asked.

Mr. Dede stood up and walked over to a standing cabinet besides his chair and drew out the top receptacle out and got a file out from the properly indexed list of files.
‘this came in almost immediately once we received the file, I want you to first read what you have on the desk first then I will let you know the problem.’ The commissioner said as he returned back to his seat with the file in hand.

The detective made the move besides it couldn’t be worse than been removed from an ongoing case, his ongoing case to be precise.
The file detailed a statement by the complainant and the transfer request, however three minutes into the complainant’s statement gave him an idea of what and who he was dealing with.

Although he had had a long record of dealing with the wealthy and famous of the society he had never had to deal with a kidnapping on such level or involving such people, his records barely scratched the story about the kidnapping and recovery of the girl some years ago during his army days because if the records were scrutinized it would reveal a meager effort on his part towards the recovery, having only realized and exposed the plot and the aim of the kidnap; perhaps it was okay he was given the due credit but for him, it was nothing worth celebrating or making a point about.
‘this is huge, do you really think the NCIB should be handling this case?’ the detective asked.

‘I don’t think so but we can’t object to it, believe it or not those government bodies will come for us over our incompetence over it, it’s a matter of avoiding been a scape goat to the new incoming government that granted us our independence, we don’t have a choice on this and that brings us to this.’ Mr. Dede paused, sliding the second file he had brought back to the detective before he continued. ‘this is from Silver Heritage Insurance Company, S.H.I.C in Johannesburg, SA. the same insurance company that just signed a multibillion insurance contract with the government over the insurance of civil servants in the country’s capital.’ He said, letting the detective read up the details of the document.

Which had stated something that got the detective’s intuition over what could possibly have happened on a high start, it detailed S.H.I.C’s various insurance schemes which among notably was their life insurance policies offered only to those wealthy enough to afford them however, the document was not an advertising opportunity for them but rather the case of one of the insured, who happened to be Joshua Orji, the said kidnapped victim, insured by his father barely a week before the kidnapping.

‘the insurance claim is worth over $125 million dollars.’ The commissioner said as he watched the detective read up the document.
‘so they do want to pay if eventually something happens to the boy.’ The detective said as he read up the remaining parts of the document, the commissioner would have added maybe a little bit of information to that response but this was the part that contained the problem, any minute now the detective would catch on, on the scent of the problem and the tussle would begin but he had an ace card, a low blow to put the fight out of his detective, he immediately swung for the phone for a quick call.

‘hello secretary, get me Mrs. Dencia Mthemba, call him up from the visiting room, he is there, do that immediately.’ He said quickly before he managed to stare at Cyril who had dropped the document and now had the expression of psychotic killer zoning in on its victim, in fact he didn’t even seem he was breathing at the moment as his eyes fixed a cold stare at him.

‘am not taking the case boss, you can’t make me take it, it won’t happen, I am sorry, this is where I draw the line, I am not doing it.’ Cyril refuted as hard as he could like a child would over a cold bath in the morning.
‘they just want their man or their woman to join you on the case, its still yours by NCIB protocols, you still get to call the shots, you still gonna get the credits and everything and need I remind you that they have an existing contract with the government?’ Mr. Dede said pleadingly. ‘I have seen it, this could be our cement to our foundation here at NCIB, they are willing to put in writing a good word out for us to the government over our contributions here, they just want to be certain that there is no funny business on the part of Mr. Richmond and if its possible ensure the safe release of the boy, please Cyril I know your one rule which cancels out team work but this is different.’ Mr. Dede added before a soft knock could be heard at the office door.

‘please come in, Miss. Dencia.’ The commissioner said, putting his frown off and a dull smile on, to welcome the insurance’s personal and leading investigator over fraudulent claims.
Barely just twenty seven, the 5ft tall, brown skin beauty with killer hips and good bust size packaged in a silver colored suit, with nice soft lips and a ridiculous beautiful smile, was no stranger to the game.

A former military personnel with three years of good experience where she was actively engaged in peacekeeping missions across four countries with two major tours, one to congo and the other to Libya on the belts, she had made a name for the insurance company once she left the army and sought for a more lucrative and less dangerous challenge.

She may not been known in this part of Africa but right there in South Africa, she was a force to be reckoned with.
‘Mrs. Dencia, this is Mr. Cyril oderga, one of my best and the detective on the case and Cyril, this is Miss. Dencia mthemba, S.H.I.C’S leading investigator here to assist on the case.’ He made the introduction.

‘it’s a pleasure to meet and to work with you Mr. Cyril oderga.’ She said with a beautiful smile stretching her hand out for a hand shake.
This was it, If the detective was going to let his feelings known about what he thought about teaming up and refusing such, it was going to be this handshake, his refusal to take the handshake meant more than just a welcome, for Cyril it was

CONTINUED



acceptance.
The detective passed a dull frown at his boss; probably best he only had a frown on and not open his mouth to voice his complains and resentment about the whole thing.

‘Its nice to be working with you Miss. Dencia, I have heard a lot about you.’ Cyril said, his frown disappearing as he spoke.
‘oh really, that’s great, thanks.’ She said as professionally as she could.

‘hah, this is good, Ehn, Cyril why don’t you guys go talk more and figure out where best to start from, it would appear a two weeks ultimatum was given to the victim’s parent in other words time is not on our side, its imperative we make this work.’ The chief said. ‘S.H.I.C and the N.C.I.B will be sharing information for the benefit of this case, while I haven’t trashed out the paper works out yet I think its safe to say, we understand how this is going to work, you both are to work closely together till the case is closed, is that understood?’ the commissioner said as his heart made merry with the way everything had played out so far.

‘yes sir.’ They both replied before they took their leave however he couldn’t help ignore Cyril’s stare at him as they made their way out ‘this isn’t over’ the commissioner could translate but it didn’t matter anymore, he had done his duty.

CHAPTER TWO



Mr. Bright Salisu, the VP of Oric Oil and Gas ltd rubbed the wrinkles on his forehead where he sat, the fifty five year old vice president had never been put in such a position that made his frown a mere mockery of the intense anger and frustration deep down in his stomach at the moment.
He stared lazily at the phone from time to time, as his mind battled the thoughts of calling the executive president, Mr. Richmond Orji.

But why should he be bothered, in fact he should be celebrating, this was the moment he had waited for, for over twenty five years now but this wasn’t how he wanted it or the time for it but then would the old fool have ever listened to letting him step up the ladder at some point, he thought to himself.
Anyway this was Richmond’s undoing, the proud egomaniac had had it coming for a long time.
He finally took the phone and decided to pass his call through to the boss.

‘what is it now, why are you disturbing me at a time like this, I pay tons of millions every month only for you to come me over what, uh?’ Richmond asked, his voice bubbling with anger slowly.
‘Sir, we have a problem, a very big problem.’ Mr. bright said choosing to ignore his boss’s unnerving pleasantry.
‘whatever it is you handle it for now, can’t you see I am in a middle of a crisis here, I will drop by at the office tomorrow.’ Richmond replied.
‘sir I don’t think this can wait, it’s about DS Oil and gas our supposedly Dubai contractors who were to help us facilitate the import of refined crude.’ He paused to imagine for a brief moment about M. richmond’s hear sinking deep into his chest once he heard that, well that is the maniac had a heart.

‘Go on, have they given us a clue on when we are supposed to expect shipment?’ Richmond asked.
‘well sir, that is the problem, at 3 am yesterday night I got a call from one of my sources up in Saudi Arabia, it turns out, a team of specialized anti-fraud squad caught and exposed the activities of Gorvidhal bio-pharmaceuticals, a front for a international cyber fraud syndicate operating in the country and across the globe, they are said to be highly sophisticated, organized and well equipped as my source gathered until they were caught.’ Mr. bright said.

‘so what has that got to do with me or my company?’ Mr. Richmond asked as Mr. bright shook his head out of disappointment because by now he felt his boss would already have caught up with the idea that this had to do about DS oil and gas, a shady company with little to no knowledge about their operations offering them access to large import of refined crude for less, you would think by now his warnings over the last two months as stake holders and investors warned that formal investigation should be carried out before anything was authorized would begin to sound an alarm in Richmond’s mind but no rather his voice expressed neither worry nor suspicion of anything.

‘Sir, it turns out that Gorvidhal bio-pharmaceuticals is a parent company to many other illegal companies set up across many countries, they designate fraudulent set ups to regions or some certain countries, it appears dubai has harboured a lot of their set ups in the area of oil and gas, a lot of these illegal and non-existent companies are been traced out currently so I took the liberty of poking into DS oil and gas and sir, I am afraid it’s a charade sir, this so called company is a fraud sir and I strongly believe it is linked to these people, sir we were defrauded sir.’ Mr. bright said.
‘its impossible, everything checked out, the paper works, everything checked out fine, how on earth did this happen?’ Mr. Richmond said.

Usually this where he was to be blamed for doing a terrible job and his need to fire tons of people who had nothing to do with the issue but this was all on his boss.
The signs were clear from the very start, the offer wasn’t even a good bait but Richard had handled everything all by himself and never for once let anyone in on his dealings with the company and just a little authorization from Richmond to carry out an investigation was definitely going to reveal the truth but like every other contract and deals they had had to authorize, he was nothing more of a puppet with no power whatsoever to object or resist his boss from having his way, this was all on Mr. Richmond he reminded himself.

‘I will be at the office within the next twenty minutes, I want you to get a legal team and an investigation team ready, someone, somewhere within the company had to know something, this was a plot against me, but not I nor this company I have worked hard to build with my own sweat and blood will go down easily, it will not happen, someone is going to have to pay dearly.’ Mr. Richmond said furiously, at the top of his voice over the phone.
‘Sir, I only called to let you know I will be calling for an executive meeting with the chief stake holders and investors in a bid to discuss your position as the executive president of Oric Oil and Gas ltd a few days from now, i am sorry sir but if there is anyone who should pay for this mishap then its you sir, I only called to give you the benefit of stepping down so you can focus on getting your son back.’ Mr. bright dropped the real bomb shell, this was the proverbial rattling the hornet’s nest, a formal declaration of war, an ultimate battle for supremacy for the Richmond he knew was not a push over, never in a fight.

‘I see so it was you all along, you made this happen, didn’t you and you think you can easily take my position over this little fiasco don’t you?’ Richmond replied with great intent.

‘I clearly don’t know what you are saying Richmond, I told you not to sign in on the contract, I begged you, I was willing to spare my working hours to help investigate DS oils but just like you have no consideration for the people and their opinions you signed in on them and now the company’s future is at stake, we are taking about billions of dollars of investors and stake holders money gone without a trace, I am only doing this to save this company and everyone here who depend on their jobs to survive, surely you see that I am the good guy here.’ Mr. bright explained in futility.
The dye had been cast, there was no convincing him no matter how obvious the facts was.

‘oh shut up I say, we both know what you really want, my seat but I promise you, you will not get it, not now and not ever, consider yourself sacked already, I want you off my property before I return.’ Richmond fired angrily.

‘I have already done that, it was obvious that was going to be your first move, you see you don’t feed a lion long enough not to know how to avoid been eaten, as of yesterday I became the joint top stock holder of Oric oil and gas ltd with 35 percent, you might posses 45 percent but its enough for me to get a vote of confidence from everyone and I am pretty sure with this reckless adventure of yours that has hurt this company, the executive board members will no doubt support me on this, face it Richmond its game over.’ Mr. bright said with smile of deep satisfaction on his face.
‘game over you say.’ Richmond asked as he roared into a sadistically laughter of mockery. ‘I am surprised that with so many years of putting up with me you still haven’t figured out that I created this game, you had better be ready because I will come for you and everyone who will stand with you against me.’ Richmond said with great anger behind his voice.

Mr, bright had had enough to get him back to his restless state of mind he was before the call, it was time he ended the call, there was no turning back now , he stood and headed for the fridge where he had kept a bottle of whiskey for it was times like this he needed to pour himself a glass or two.

****************************

The duo of detectives had settled down in a new office designated to accommodate them, the boss might be forcing his detective’s hands to ensure this partnership worked but he wasn’t going to play insensitive and let them cramp up on Cyril’s personal office, this one had a two newer desk and four chairs two to each desk with a small couch and three file cabinets, a nice air conditioner and a mini fridge which ironically had nothing inside.
‘so let me get this clear, I will be in charge of the investigations in other words I will be calling the shots on this one, we do as I say when I say we do.’ Cyril said hoping to make his boundaries clear.

‘That is going to be problem Mr. Cyril, perhaps while your bureau is still trying to work out the paper details between both sides I can assure you, I am not here on a watch and report mission, just so you know I am representing one of Africa’s biggest insurance company here, I will be an active and equal partner in areas of decision making, information gathering and every other thing that is integer to the success of this case, if you have any questions or complaints, I will suggest you go talk with your boss he is the one doing all the paper work.’ She replied defiantly setting the scores straight, she was never a push over in matters like this, perhaps a woman, yes but definitely no push over and he liked it for some reason besides there was really nothing he could do once he shook those soft hands of hers, for him that was his legal bind to this partnership and God knows Mr. Dede would jump out of the nearest window rather than listen to his complains now.

‘fine, we will do this, like you said but if you slip up I am calling the shots from there.’ Cyril said.
‘I can assure you that won’t happen detective Its why I was chosen for this job.’ Dencia replied with a smirk on her face.
‘you know what I just don’t get it, your company is like you said one of the biggest, why would they be so afraid to pay the man.’ Cyril asked over where he sat.

‘don’t tell me you don’t smell a conspiracy here, come on think about you put out one of the biggest insurance claim on a nine year old boy and a week later he is kidnapped, it’s the perfect crime if I say.’ She shared her own view over the matter.
‘But he is rich and he has a lot of money, what on earth would he gain from this scheme?’ Cyril replied again as he decided to give her the case file so she read up on the kidnapping.

‘that’s why I was sent here, my people believe this is just some charade of some sort to get the insurance claim on the boy.’ She said as Cyril walked over to her desk, she seemed quite smart and eager to jump into the case.
‘here, its everything they got on the case so far, I have to go pick up some of my stuff from the other office, this place reeks like new stuff to me so I need to personalize it a bit, just read through when I come back we will share our thoughts and go see the orji’s.’ Cyril said handing the file over to her before he made to leave.

CONTINUED



‘am assuming you will need details concerning the insurance placed on the boy?’ Dencia asked.
‘I think I am good here for now, just read through and get ready.’ Cyril said.

It would eventually take the duo around twenty five minutes before they rode out of the building.
‘So my boss says you are supposed to be working sort of undercover for now until a claim is made on the insurance, so you might want to let me handle some of the questionings, reduce the whole suspicion thing about your accent so to say.’ Cyril remarked while they drove closer to their destination.

‘sure but that won’t stop me from asking the questions I need to.’ Dencia replied, producing a silver desert eagle from her bag for a closer inspection: her personal licensed weapon of course.
‘they let you guys carry weapons? I thought you guys just go around investigating fraudulent claims and then report to police?’ Cyril asked as he starred at the weapon in her hands.

‘and sometimes we get to be the first respondents on the scene, I haven’t used it though but one can never be too sure about these things.’ She replied, replacing her weapon back in her bag once she was satisfied with the weapon.

The journey would however take a deep dive into silence with none of them willing to say any more, thankfully they had arrived at the Orji’s mansion.
A mammoth of a structure anyone would say just merely starring at it from the outside but it was the few who made it in that really had an idea about the size of the building itself.

Once they were directed to the parking spot meant for visitors, the duo got down to be greeted by Rolland who had been told of their arrival.
‘Good day detectives, its good to have you guys here, please right this way.’ Rolland said with a sense of urgency.
They were led inside the mansion and then to a private lounge which had the setting of a luxurious ultra modern living room.
‘would you like at all this?’ Cyril said with an expression of marvel on his face once Rolland disappeared from sight.
‘is there anything I can get for you both, maybe drink or coffee or something.’ Rolland said as he returned back.
‘Nothing for us, thanks.’ Cyril said.

‘actually coffee would be nice, decaffeinated with no sugar if possible.’ Dencia replied with a pleasant smile.
‘that’s no problem at all, I will have one of the servants bring that up right away.’ Rolland replied, taking his exit once again as Cyril stared in mild disbelief at Dencia over her willingness to take the offer however Dencia waved it off, producing her tablet and its pen out, all set up and ready.
Elaina made her entrance some minutes after Dencia had been served her coffee alongside Rolland.

She wore a purple satin, with gold embroideries that made beautiful patterns all over it and though she was probably in her mid thirties , she seemed frail and unsettled, a beautiful fair petite woman she was, graceful to behold as her natural long dark hair moved from side to side on her hips lazily when she walked, however her eyes expressed a high level of intelligence and sophistication such that the male detective admired.
‘I am afraid Mr. Richmond Orji, my brother is not around at the moment but this is Mrs. Elaina Orji, the mother.’ Rolland addressed the duo. ‘I was at the scene where we were able to confirm the first call we received was no fluke, one of our security team, one of the best we have got was killed and two of the house employees, a driver by the name festus and joshua’s baby sitter and care giver, Maryann were abducted with my nephew, her son.’ He said, his words tempting to draw a tear from Elaina’s swollen red eyes.

‘I need to go back to my room now.’ Elaina said pitifully drawing the attention of the others to her, Rolland seemed a bit more understanding about her unwillingness to stay any longer.
‘you must excuse the lady of the house, she is not in a very mood right now, I will take every question that you want to ask, she is not feeling well at the moment.’ Rolland said.

‘why won’t he just pay the damn money so I can have my son back uh? Why wouldn’t he give me my son back, I want my boy.’ Elaina’s voice cracked with tears dropping down her cheeks where she sat, putting her brother in-law in an awkward position as the detectives eyes fell on him.
‘Eh, please excuse us for a moment, detectives.’ Rolland said clearing his throat.

He drew near Elaina and seem to whisper something into her ears after which they both stood up and left the lounge.
The detectives didn’t need to say anything but Dencia had passed a stare at Cyril who scribbled something down on his little jotter, they needed no one to explain what that was.

‘I am sorry about that.’ Rolland said as he returned to take his seat. ‘Mrs. Elaina hasn’t been herself for quite some time.’ He made sure to readjust himself where he sat. ‘now if you have any questions, i will gladly try to answer them as best as I can, I live here with my brother so you can take my word for it.’ Rolland said.
‘When was the last time these abductors called and what are their terms of agreement?’ Cyril asked.

‘we haven’t heard from them again since the boy was abducted, they want 5 billion dollars paid to a swiss bank account before the two week’s time which by today is now a week and five days, we are to expect their call by tomorrow.’ Rolland answered calmly.
‘a swiss bank account, hmm that’s untraceable and shows some sophistication on their par and may we know what steps are to be taken towards securing the boys release?’ Dencia asked causing Rolland to stare at her with some uncertainty; apparently her accent caught him off guard.
‘I believe what my partner is trying to say is that, if there are plans by the family to raise the ransom.’ Cyril chipped in noticing the stare.
‘Ehn, well I can assure you that my brother is doing all he can at the moment to raise the money.’ Rolland said with such dredge in his voice knowing this was still an uncertainty, he did catch the detectives stare subtly at one another over his remarks however it didn’t matter, this was what his brother asked him to say if ever asked.

‘Tell us about that morning, everything that happened leading to the abduction.’ Cyril said.
‘well it was like every other day, I and my wife deborah live here at the mansion with my brother so I can tell you there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary although it was my brother’s 10th year wedding anniversary and his wife was hoping to celebrate it, so the plan had been for Joshua to come home by break time which is by his school’s standard 11:15, Maryann the baby sitter, okiye the head of security and one of the drivers called festus were supposed to go pick him up from school just like they have done for the past 2 years, the journey is usually about twenty minutes top however after I think forty five minutes we hadn’t seen them Elaina began to worry, we tried to call but none was going through and then we got the call around 12:10 pm.’ Rolland said recounting the entire ordeal.

‘And is there anyone who might have in the past posed a threat to the family in one way or another?’ Cyril responded making sure to write down whatever he felt was worth it and so far, that was scarce.
‘Well what can I say?’ Mr. Rolland said readjusting himself once more. ‘My brother is the executive president and founder of Oric oil and gas and one of the richest men in the country and Africa in general, I believe the family has had its fair share of what I would call strong criticism but nothing or anyone worth losing a night’s sleep over, I can assure you.’ Mr. Rolland replied.
‘okay but what about you Mr. Rolland, any enemies?’ Dencia asked.

This time Rolland had given it a deep thought. ‘Believe it or not, sometimes the people who fall into the problems sometimes are not those it is intended for.’ Dencia added which made Mr. Rolland scoff dully.
‘I doubt I am the target here with the constant rise of security problems and the issue of kidnappings bursting through the roof clearly the reason for the kidnap is quite obvious.’ Rolland replied.

‘okay then we will be here with an ICT team here, who will help work out tracking and locating the kidnappers and if possible identify them, it’s usually not as easy as I say it , this process could the whole time left so it’s also important the ransom is been worked out, we will commence our investigations fully alongside the ICT team, I can assure you we will do our best to ensure the safe release of the boy.’ Cyril said confidently such that garnered a nod from Mr. Rolland.
‘our home is open to you all detectives, I will do my best to ensure I provide you all with whatever necessary information you need.’ Mr. Rolland replied.

They soon shook hands and made their way out with Mr. Rolland tailing the duo.
‘And please, we will be hoping we can speak with Mr. Richmond and his wife tomorrow, it’s imperative we talk to them.’

CONTNUED




Cyril said as Mr. Rolland halted once the duo got to the exit door.
‘I will see what I can do, detectives.’ Mr. Rolland said before he disappeared into one of the hallways.

*************************

Meanwhile Deep in the forest, far away from civilization, Maryann had woken up in the night, she hadn’t realized how many times during the day she had passed out but Joshua’s persistent crying had woken the baby sitter up.
Dark, Dirty, Dangerous, the environment had the stench of fright written all over it but for her this was nothing compared to the trauma she has been through in life already.

She flinched once she turned to locate Joshua who was coiled up at a corner crying in the dark; thankfully the moon’s light which passed through the barred window allowed her to see around.

However it was now she realized how badly hurt she was with a injury to the back of her head after she was knocked out at some point during the abduction and a few minor injuries she had obtained while they were led here.
‘joshua.’ She called out to the little boy, who soon raised up his head to look at her.
‘Aunty May.’ Joshua called out, his tone expressed a level of fear and anxiety.

Thankfully he looked alright, she decided to creep over to where the boy was, unable to muster any strength to walk.
She eventually joined him where he sat and cuddled him, he seemed weak, dirty and cold.

‘I am here, okay don’t worry just close your eyes and sleep okay?’ she said as softly as she could ensuring her voices showed nothing of her fears.
‘I want to go home aunty may, I want to go home to mommy and uncle and daddy.’ The boy replied sobbing.
‘shhh, don’t cry okay, we will both go home, I promise you, we will both get home and see everyone, okay but you have to sleep now, okay?’ she encouraged the little boy.

‘I am scarred aunty may, I want my mommy.’ Joshua replied sobbingly.
‘I am scarred too jojo but do you still remember what I said the other day about the dark, do you?’ Maryann asked.
‘don’t be afraid of the dark’ the boy replied with some sense of security now.

‘good plus I am here, I will always be with you, okay? Now sleep and not a word again.’ She said as the little boy nodded in silence.
How she wished she was entirely right this time, the whole day had been nothing short of a nightmare and to think Okiye had played a part in their abduction was as baffling as it sounded however this was the case.

They hadn’t been caught under a cross fire or some high level hijack on the road, it was okiye who pulled his rifle on festus and ordered him to stop where they did before their abductors had arrived to collect them but not evil area atoned for, some get an instant taste of karma, they had killed him on the spot and how relieving she felt deep down amidst her fear and confusion to see him lose his life.

She used her left hand to feel her face, a bit numb though but she had felt her pinch on her skin in hopes that this was one bad nightmare she could wake up for however it was easy to realize the obvious, this was as real as it could get.

She sighed helplessly, wiping a tear off her face, she couldn’t afford the little boy to see her cry, she was going to do all she could to make sure they both survived this horror no matter what came their way.
‘Don’t worry, I am here jojo, I will protect you.’ She said quietly to the sleeping child.

CHAPTER THREE




By the first light of dawn, Cyril had managed to pull what he felt was a personal record for him, getting to the office before everyone else including the non essentials who usually made it their habit of arriving extremely early however he was left disappointed when he realized the office door wasn’t unlocked.

‘there you are detective, Good morning to you.’ Dencia greeted him as he walked in with a disquiet look on his face which he brushed off quickly.
‘Good morning to you, what are you doing here this early?’ he asked as he made his way to his office desk.
‘I couldn’t sleep much, I usually don’t when I am on a case and from the looks of it, it seems you too didn’t get enough sleep.’ Dencia replied cheerfully over her desk.

Cyril gave a subtle smile at the response knowing he did get some good sleep.
‘Did you think he was right about the ransom?’ dencia asked thoughtfully.
‘I don’t know, you know this rich men, they are more complicated than a jigsaw puzzle but isn’t it obvious they have to?’ Cyril asked as he took his seat.

‘she didn’t seem to think so.’ Dencia replied as she recollected Elaina’s little drama the other day.
‘I don’t know, we can’t say what that is truly about which is why we are going to find out when we have a chance to speak with her and the husband as well.’ Cyril said confidently before he heard his phone rang, it was Sam the lead ICT expert who was recently brought into the bureau alongside three others to form it’s cyber intelligence unit.

‘Hello sam, how are you?’ Cyril said, his eyes closely observing dencia for the first time since he arrived office, she was a beautiful thing to behold now he thought about it, her red top beneath the silver coat did little to hide her cleavage and how sweet her perfumed smelt such that made him burn with inside with strange desire.

‘sir, boss asked me to call about our trip to the Orji’s, he isn’t sure how you intend to work that out.’ Sam replied over the phone.
‘just get yourself and whoever is coming along ready, be at my office within the next.’ He paused to check his watch on his hand, it was just 7:20 am. ‘one hour, okay?’ he said before he dropped the call.
‘everything alrght?’ Dencia asked.

‘yeah just the tech guy been excited about the trip.’ Cyril said.
‘oh I see, I was thinking we split up on this, we still don’t have a lead or a clue about who is responsible I mean we could be lucky with the idea of tracking call but maybe we can do something else. Dencia replied.
However was a brilliant idea for the detective.

‘yeah, I think it’s a great idea, we have the car which is still impounded down at the police station, I will go get the address, I can try that while you and Sam and whoever he is bringing along can go see the orji’s, I trust you can handle this?’ Cyril asked.
She gave a quick thought before she responded positively.
‘great, I think I will start on that car now.’ Cyril said as he made to leave the office. ‘and if you have anything you need me to clarify or talk about, you can give me a call.’ Cyril added.

‘okay but I think I can handle it, it’s not my first case, detective.’ She said cheekily.
‘and maybe if this takes more time than expected, we could get somewhere to have lunch if you don’t mind.’ Cyril said as he approached the door and for a second when she hesitated to reply, it seemed his bad luck with women was indeed something to be worried about however it was her soft smile on her face that made him think twice about that.

‘sure, that would be great, the food service at my hotel hasn’t been one of the best I have had so far.’ Dencia replied.
‘then you are in luck, I think I have the perfect spot to enjoy a good Nigeria delicacy, see you later detective.’ Cyril said closing the door behind him with a big smile on his face, this seemed like a good day already, he nodded to himself.

At 9:15 am his arrival at the Egba Police station was welcomed with a serious of long paper works which seemed like they would take forever.
‘you will have to wait for some time before we get back to you, each paperwork has to be reviewed and distributed to the appropriate officer of further inspection.’ A police officer said cheerfully.
‘and is this going to take long?’ Cyril replied frustratingly.

‘well it depends on whether the officers are around or not .’ The officer replied as he collected the papers.
The detective heaved a sigh of frustration, it had become reportedly messy between the NCIB and the police force once NCiB got their independence from its parent body the Nigeria police with relationship strained on how cases were been handled and who eventually was reporting to who and now paper works which required little to nothing more than a phone call were now extremely boring and time consuming and was already threatening to take the whole day hopefully Dencia was having a better luck with the orji’s than he was.

‘you just make yourself comfortable for now, there are a bunch of today’s newspaper on the table over there.’ He said pointing to the wooden table before the detective. ‘while I go work this out.’ The officer said, although every of his words seemed to annoy the detective, he seemed cheerfully and willing to help, the detective thought as he gave the man a nod.

It wasn’t any relief to the detective to the detective but it wasn’t a bad idea as he decided to keep himself busy with the metropolis lantern whose bold headlines caught him off guard.

Bolded on the front page were the words “ORIC OIL AND GAS LTD LOSSES BILLIONS TO FRAUD”, he quickly flipped the pages over to read the news, this was a huge find, could the orji’s be having a money problem, the news had given tremendous details on the business contract between Oric and the supposed fraudulent company however he would hold off his thoughts when the officer arrived all smiles.

‘Detective, it seems you are in luck today, they have been signed and verified.’ The officer said brandishing the various documents in his hand at the detective. ‘so you will have to follow to the back to check up on the vehicle.’ He added.
‘thanks but is it okay I take this piece?’ Cyril asked pointing to the newspaper he had been reading.

‘sure, not that anyone reads them that much, its all yours detective.’ The officer said, letting the detective have the newspaper.
They arrived at the impound and the officer was quick to spot the black suv jeep.
‘yeah, that’s the one over there, take all the time you need with it.’ The officer said handling the keys over to the detective. ‘I can assure you its not been tampered with, everything is still intact because we are expecting it to be returned back very soon since a formal request has been submitted by the owners.’ He added before he decided to let the detective do his work while he took a moment to rest.

The car seemed pretty new and well maintained, tinted black window glasses and custom made plates to march.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as he observed closely, he produced his phone hoping to take a few pictures of the vehicle as well once he opened the car.

Inside shared no further details than the outside did except for the dried blood stained passenger’s seat at the front.
He took a few pictures of it before he decided to check out the back seat, yet again there was nothing suspicious which made the whole abduction hard for him to imagine.

He returned the keys back to the officer and decided to clarify a few more things before he left.
‘is it possible for you to help me with the address of the morgue where the security detail who was killed was deposited in?’ Cyril asked.
‘Am sorry I can’t help you with that.’ The officer replied thoughtfully.

‘oh I get it, another round of paperwork and verification and all of that, right?’ Cyril asked.
‘Oh no, not at all detective, I can’t help you with that because the body has been collected by the family already, I am guessing they want closure as quickly as they can.’ The officer said.
The response was quite disappointing but it didn’t come as a surprise even more the officer was correct.

‘okay, anyway thanks for the assistance, I will be on my way now.’ The detective said before both men shook hands and went on their various ways.
Cyril arrived at the office by late afternoon but Dencia hadn’t returned yet.
Surely they were having a better time than he is, he thought as he settled back in his chair.

‘there you are.’ Detective mike said, with a big mischievous smile on his face as he let the door wide open.
Cyril rolled his eyes away from his visitor, maybe if he didn’t show a lot of interest in whatever the detective had to say, he would leave on time. Because surely mike was only around for little talks he found quite unnecessary.
‘dc, whats the story my man, I heard you got a new girlfriend.’ Mike said, snatching the seat before cyril’s desk.
‘what, who said that, since when does working a case with a female detective become a relationship gist.’ Cyril asked totally unsettled by mike’s words.

‘oh come on, since when did Cyril agree to partner with anyone surely this is a partnership with other ships, I know now.’ Mike said with a wink.
‘its nothing like that, okay we are working on a case and as soon as we are done, this partnership you talk of is dissolved instantly trust me, I would recommend you go disturb someone else over relationship talks.’ Cyril replied.
‘she is single and guess what her ex happens to be a Nigerian, she broke up with him like four months ago.’ Mike said with wide eyes flashing at his detective who seemed a bit lost with the revelation.

‘what, wait how did you know about this and why are you telling me?’ Cyril asked.
‘so you mean you haven’t checked her social media page, wow man see this is the perfect time to make a move, the boys in the bureau know what’s a complete package and let me tell you, they are ready to dive in if you think you are not up for the job you know, I mean we all know how poor of a romantic person you are, this is your God given chance to atone for all that.’ Mike said cheekily.

But damn it if this busy body of a detective wasn’t right about his poor attempt at romance, he thought to himself for a minute.
‘hey guys, good afternoon detectives.’ Dencia announced herself as the office door swayed opened startling the men as they turned around to stare at her.
‘hello pretty, I see you are still contesting with the sun over who is hotter.’ Mike said with a wink at her, which made her chuckle. ‘a personal opinion.’ Mike said as he stood to leave. ‘I think you are hotter, anyway I got to jet, later detectives.’ He

CONTINUED


concluded, quickly dishing off a sly expression at Cyril before he left the office.
Mike sure knew his way around the ladies he thought to himself seeing her blush when the detective complemented her with a cheap one liner.
‘does he say that to every woman he comes across?’ Dencia asked as she took her seat behind her desk.
‘what, sorry I didn’t get that?’ Cyril asked.

‘that one liner of his about been hotter than the sun, its not a very good one at all, I can assure you.’ Dencia said with a dull smile, this however made Cyril chuckle.
‘oh so what about you, how was it, what were you able to find out?’ She said in a haste once she realized she hadn’t asked about their case.
‘Nothing really although I did find this.’ Cyril said before he brought out the newspaper and walked over to her desk to show her. ‘it would appear Oric oil and Gas is in some financial issues, they got defrauded.’ Cyril said letting her read the headlines. ‘and what about you, how was it, how did it go?’ he asked.

‘oh nothing, they never called so it was a lot boring than you are probably imagining, i was unable to get Elaina to talk with me and Mr. Richmond wasn’t around but I did get to see Deborah.’ She said, her eyes fixed on the papers.
‘deborah, who is that?’ Cyril asked.

‘Mr. Rolland’s wife, she wasn’t much of a talker either but this.’ She hesitated. ‘this information does prove something about the money aspect, this could mean Mr. Richmond wants to cash in on his son.’ Dencia said.
‘yeah but I don’t know I don’t think its enough for a motive, this man has enough money and does a claim on life insurances mean the person must be dead so how does kidnapping and ransoming the little boy come in because we already had one person killed before the boy was abducted , if this was the case then I think the this should be an active double or triple murder case.’ Cyril said.

‘that’s true.’ Dencia said, quite disappointed at the thought of it. ‘we have to speak to Elaina, something tells me she might know something and I really don’t care how emotionally distraught you are, she and her husband should be able to find time to talk with us, I mean they could know something or someone’ Dencia added, quite frustrated about the lack of pace in their investigation so far.
‘you are right, we need to talk to them, they might know more than they think do.’ Cyril agreed.

‘let’s talk over lunch, I hope you still hungry because I am.’ Dencia said, perhaps this may have shown how excited she was about the planned lunch together which she never for once did forget once Cyril had made mentioned of it.
‘oh yeah, let’s do that, I will go grab my keys.’ Cyril said with some excitement.
They arrived at Mummy D’s eat spot, not your ultra modern eatery or fast food restaurant yet the numbers of car parked along all sides of the road did say something good about its patronage.

They made their way inside and were lucky to grab a clean spot thanks to mummy D herself who was always happy to welcome one of her best and loyal customers, even more exciting was seeing him for the first time with a lady.
‘Two wraps of fufu and my usual and for her.’

‘I will have what he is having.’ Dencia cut in with a big smile as mummy d made to go get their orders.
‘you have tasted this before?’ Cyril asked, he already figured this out though since mike had told him about her past relationship with a Nigerian but it was only right he asked.
‘No not really, there was someone who used to talk about it so its only fair I give it a try now I am here.’ Dencia said.
‘someone?, a co worker type of someone or a neighbor sort of someone or just some one.’ Cyril asked dully.

‘just a someone I suppose.’ Dencia said as mummy D arrived with their orders, four wraps of fufu and egusi soup laced with cat and stock fish.
The aroma had done the needful, setting the tone for a wonderful afternoon lunch, which was both enjoyable and satisfactory.
Meanwhile Richmond raced to the executive meeting once he got the information, the whole thing had bugged him off ever since bright had made his plans known to take over, in truth he had underestimated his vice who seemed more willingly to take instructions all this time than to dish them out.

However it would appear that bright had been plotting this all along just waiting for the perfect opportunity to take over and his few days back at the office had revealed why the fraudulent activity of Ds oils was the perfect opportunity.
In fact it was worse than he had anticipated with investors and stake holders money involved, it was indeed going to be a hard one to pull around, even now the company’s stock had detected a slight fall.

He made his way to the meeting which he hadn’t been invited to so of course they were welcome to stare in discontent when he walked in although bright seemed more relaxed and eager to see him.
‘you should read this.’ Mr. augustus said, one of his biggest investors said stretching a newspaper at him. ‘my auditors tell me that the company’s stocks would fall drastically give or take two days from now, what do you have to say to this?’ he added.

He quietly made his way and got hold of the newspapers, his frown at the Metropolis lantern was only heightened when he read the headlines detailing how he had sighed over investor’s money, the details were spot on.
‘the money cannot be recovered and if it can, it will only do the company more damage because nobody wants to do business with a company that can’t be trusted with investors or stake holders money.’ Bright said from where he sat, his eyes fixed on Richmond. ‘since you are here Richmond, why don’t you tell them how they are going to get their money back and stop this company from crashing.’ He added.

‘yes please, why don’t you tell us how you are going to turn this around because Mr. Bright here has indeed explained and offered us a lot of good suggestions which is still why we are here and very calm at the moment so why don’t you tell us.’ Mr. augustus pushed again.

‘I am working on it.’ Richmond paused to observe the reaction of the members, he hated that look because he had seen it a lot of times, they certainly had made their minds up but he wasn’t going to lose his company to some bunch of hungry power drunken men just because he messed up ‘what is this anyway.’ He continued in defiance with a big frown. ‘I have worked everything I can think of, for this company and all of sudden you think that I can be replaced, huh, is that it, do you think Mr. bright has the tenacity and audaciousness to do the things that has constantly flooded your accounts with billions of dollars, huh, this company belongs to me and if made a wrong decision and you think its worth pulling out then so be it, take your God damn money and get the hell out, I don’t need you telling me what to do and what not to do, I said I am going to work this out and I will, its not a promise, its what I have been delivering to you all seated here for years, now if you all would excuse me I have got an office to run.’ Mr. Richmond concluded walking out of the office once he had said his mind.

To hell with them all, he had saved his company once with absolutely nothing but guts and he can do it again, he thought to himself as he walked away.
The evening was a little bit cold but maybe for her, it was a lot colder but she made no attempt to get a sweat shirt or retreat into the warmth her room provided.
She was going to sit at the balcony and let her mind keep her company. It was from this spot she sighted Richmond’s car driving in which made her face crumple with a frown and in a few minutes Richmond had joined her where she sat with a bottle of whiskey and a glass, taking the other seat besides her.

They said nothing for the longest as Richmond poured himself a glass after another, irritating the hell out Elaina, who decided to take her leave.
‘So you don’t the decency to greet your husband anymore right?’ Richmond said dully, stopping elaina in her tracks. ‘not that I need it anyway, I mean I would rather be greeted by a beggar on the streets than a woman such as you which I am sure you know by now.’ He added hoping to spite her so she reacted but she hadn’t reacted but rather walk away and out of her sight.

He scoffed and poured another glass for himself, today had gone well, the executives had decided to delay their final decision on his position while he had started investigating the fraud in a bid to find a way out, Bright’s position was still secured thanks to a the executive board but not for long, he was going to deal with that back stabber one way or another.
‘who is there?’ he asked again, hearing the door behind opened.
‘its me brother, I have news sir.’ Rolland said.

‘what is it, this time.?’ He asked sipping from his glass.
‘the okiye family wants some sort of compensation for their

CONTINUED



loss.’ Rolland said which made Richmond to chuckle.
‘do you believe that, so they want me to compensate them for what exactly, for letting kidnappers kidnap my son or getting killed even when he is supposed to be one of the best trained security agent I have got, tell them to go to hell and burn, I will pay nothing.’ Richmond said sternly.
‘yes brother and also we were unable to get a call from the kidnappers today and the detectives working the case asked to meet with you.’ Rolland said.
‘meet me for what, I don’t have time to talk about my feelings or who hates me or hates my guts or other nonsense that won’t help me get my son back, the kidnappers want 5 billion and I am working hard to try and squeeze that money out besides what does she do in the house anyway, isn’t she around to answer the damn police men?’ Richmond replied.
Rolland made no move to answer his brother immediately.
‘let me have my peace, I want to be alone now.’ Richmond said waving his brother off.
He walked out and decided to go check up on Elaina, he would however not go into her room once he heard her crying inside.
Was it this bad all the time, he asked himself as he retreated down stairs, was his brother this monster he tried not to see him to be or was something deeply wrong somewhere which he couldn’t figure out yet.

He bit his lips out of despair as he returned back to his chambers.
‘what is it this time?’ Deborah said, all dressed up in her seductive transparent red night gown, he could see every inch of her body inside of it where she laid on the bed.

‘its nothing to worry about.’ He replied, he could see she wanted him and he didn’t want to ruin the night for the both of them, the warmth of her body was enough to relief him of the day’s stress, he made his way to the bed once he was done to his underwear, wrapping his hands behind her, so her body was against his.

‘I have missed you.’ She said, her voice consumed with strong desire for his touch.
He made to kiss her shoulder softly working his lips slowly to her neck before he turned her over, so he starred into her eyes passionately.
Their union was just three years old, he had met her at a club where he was to sign off a property deal on behalf of his brother with the club owner.
She had this sad look on her face where she sat by herself such that made him feel so uncomfortable he had to go talk to her, it would only take a few weeks for him to realize that her boyfriend had broken up with her that day at the club and she was thinking of ending her life thankfully he was there to cheer her up and make her laugh so hard they had decided to see each other once they went their separate ways that day, Richmond had rebuked him for wanting to get married to a nobody as he called her but he knew what he wanted and stuck with his choice.

Now he was deeply down in between her thighs, his tongue laid waste to her slippery wet walls sending sparks of ecstasy through her body which made her moan softly.
She parted his back letting him know she had had enough and wanted a part of the action, letting him lay back on his back while she found her way to his man.
He exhaled softly once he felt the warmth of her lips tightly round his man, stroking it gently while she worked her other hand around his balls such that felt heavenly to him.

He drew her up so she sat on him once he had had his fill of the sweet intense pleasure, now he wanted to be inside of her as did she.
She guarded him slowly inside of her and pulled herself in sweet pleasurable rhythm moaning deeper each time until he made her lie on her back once more, letting him put his weight upon her just a little bit while he let himself inside her tight walls, each time harder than the previous as his lips played with her nipples until she began to shake in pure orgasm letting him came inside of her.
He rolled over to her side soon afterwards and kissed her on her neck as did she.
She had a big smile on her face such that made him feel strange inside, for he knew she was nothing compared her, the one who made these sweet sensation of love making worth more than anything else.

CHAPTER FOUR



‘joshua.’ Maryann called out softly, tapping the little boy as gently as he can.
He was already running a high temperature and seemed feverish, Morris had complained about it yesterday once they couldn’t get the boy to talk what they wanted to put in for a record they needed for their call, even now the night rest hadn’t done much to ease the little boy’ suffering.
‘how is he now?’ the voice came from outside the barred room where they were kept.

It was Chris, the youngest of them probably around her age and the only one who seemed like the odd ball out of the trio.
By now she had not only known their names but also their characters and chris seemed more accommodating and less of a threat to her than the others.

‘he is getting worse.’ Maryann said frustratingly. ‘please, we will need medicines for him, talk to your boss.’ Maryann begged.
‘I can’t, he won’t listen plus its going to take almost a day’s walk out of here to get to the nearest road.’ Chris said.
‘the boy can’t go on like this if we don’t get him some medicines am afraid of what is going to happen and surely I know your boss doesn’t want neither me nor the boy dead yet so please talk to him, I can’t bear to see him like this.’ Maryann urged chris once more.
He did think about it for a while before he walked away choosing to stay silent.

He had other things to do, like burying festus who didn’t wake up that morning, it was what he wanted to tell maryan but now that had to wait.
He wasn’t comfortable with her stare , it made him feel guilty than he already was, however he knew why he was doing this, just a week and some days and he wouldn’t have to worry about anything, he wouldn’t have to be reminded about what happened to him or the others, he would finally have all he wanted but then again at what cost he wondered as he walked away.
‘are they awake?’ Morris asked as he walked past him.

‘No, not yet boss.’ He said, hopefully morris would take his words and not go check on them because of what he feared morris might do especially now festus was done for.
He had heard Morris talk with Okon about missing the feel of a woman’s body, no doubt he would have to try and protect Maryann from morris’s hands, it was all he could do now, she might not make it out alive after all was said and done but he would ensure no harm came to her.
Meanwhile Cyril had parked into the hotel’s park where he was waiting for Dencia, he had had a wonderful lunch and then dinner which he hadn’t planned for and lost a truth or dare game to her which is why he had to pick her up at her hotel but they had a rather interesting yesterday, discussing about everything they could talk about over a half filled pack of juice and two plastic cups and now he thought about it, she would have made a perfect girl friend and maybe more if only he had the time.

He opened a compartment in his car and produced a cigarette pack and decided to smoke a cigar, it was cold and still very early so it seemed alright but he soon noticed dencia had made her way out of the hotel’s lobby and into the car park, he sighed as he replaced the cigarette pack back into the compartment and blared the car horn so she knew where he had parked after which she came trailing.
‘Sam called me yesterday, he says there is something he wants to show me.’ Dencia said as she slid into the car.
‘Wait, he called you and not me?’ Cyril asked dully.

‘Relax detective Cyril, he asked me to tell you, but I am guessing he took more time complimenting me on how I looked but I thought it was cute of him.’ Dencia said with a beautiful smile hanging on her face which Cyril noticed.
‘what’s that for, you seem to be in a good moment, did your boyfriend call?’ Cyril asked.
‘oh no not that at all, its just I never work with anyone, its why I am the best but all this so far has been quite great if I should say.’ Dencia said as she wrapped her seat beat across.

Cyril gave a dull smile, indeed she was quite like him in very bit of the way, if only he had the time to spare for a relationship he wouldn’t mind asking her out now he thought about it.
‘where are we headed, we go check on the orji’s, it seems it’s the only place we can keep poking for now, then when we get back, then we can go see your crush at the cyber intelligence department.’ Cyril said turning on the ignition so he rode out of the car park.
They made their way into the mansion, this time lucky enough to have seen Richmond who was just about to leave, closely behind him stood Rolland who upon sighting the detective decided to introduce his brother to the detectives.

They walked up to where both men stood and were duly introduced by Rolland.
‘Oh so you two are the detectives that are going to help rescue my son.’ Richmond said in a way that made Cyril shiver inside. ‘anyway, I have a ransom to sort, you two go on in, my brother here and my wife will see to it that you all are welcomed and well taken care of.’ He said quickly dismissing the detectives as he walked away.

‘he is quite a busy man these days.’ Rolland said seeing how the detectives stared at him soon after he had walked away. ‘please, come in.’ he continued, leading them inside the mansion and up to the lodge where they sat.
‘unfortunately, we were unable to get a call from the kidnappers as they had promised which has made the lady of the house even more disturbed and unease, she has been feeling under the weather since yesterday night so I will have to refuse on her behalf any sort of questions for now until she is better.’ Rolland said once he had taken his seat.

‘its quite understood that attempts are been made to get the ransom money, may I ask what has been done so far?’ Dencia asked quite frankly.
‘Well I myself can’t give you an answer to that right now but I can assure you my brother is doing all that he can at the moment certainly he understands the need to get the ransom ready within the stipulated time.’ Rolland said like a true believer.
Cyril had wanted to ask another question before rolland’s phone had began to ring.

‘Excuse me for a moment.’ Rolland said excusing himself so he could answer the call , he reappeared shortly a bit unsettled which was easily noticed.
‘anything the matter?’ Cyril asked, eyes latched on to Rolland closely.
‘oh nothing, nothing really.’ Rolland said however the detective could easily tell this wasn’t the truth.
‘please, I have some where urgently to go to, so if you don’t mind, the servants are around they will see to it that you are well taken care of.’ Rolland said.

‘actually.’ Cyril said standing up as fast as he could. ‘actually, we only just came to check up on the family see if there is anything new about the case, we have other things to attend to as well.’ He said, quickly giving a discrete nod to dencia to stand up as well, luckily she seemed to have caught on pretty quick.
‘Oh is that so?’ Rolland asked in disbelief, he turned to stare at dencia.

‘yes sir, we will come around once we have got something worth clarifying or letting you all know.’ Dencia said.
‘okay then, I will see you two some other time, take care and good luck detectives.’ Rolland said paving the way for them to take their leave.
They found their way out quickly and drove out of the mansion only to stop just a good distance away from the mansion’s gate.
‘why are we stopping here?’ dencia asked.
‘did you see the look he gave us after he answered the call, I don’t like it so I think he wanting to leave is connected to the call, I don’t know but I think we should trail him I mean its not like we got something important to do for the morning right?’ Cyril asked, she seemed to have thought about her options and then gave a reassuring smile to her partner.

‘sure, let’s do it, let’s see what lies beneath glitters.’ She said.
‘what lies beneath the glitters, huh? It sounds like a book title or something.’ Cyril said.
‘sure it is, I have a copy its about some murder case in a rich wealthy suburban family which leads to a Pandora box of secrets unearthed by the sheriff, its quite interesting.’ Dencia said.

They wouldn’t wait for long before A black SUV rode out of the mansion and drove past them apparently, thankfully they hadn’t been noticed.
‘so we are just gonna trail him from a good distance, see where he is heading to, do a little bit of surveillance on the place if necessary till he is back home.’ Cyril said almost to himself as he put the car to gear and slowly drove out.

The duo trailed rolland’s suv over a good distance which seemed more like an hour’s drive through the city before it arrived at an estate’s building.
They got off the vehicle from a safe distance and where able to find a tree shade from where they could get a glimpse of Rolland entering the house through its gates, his visit lasted quite a long time before he reemerged with an unidentified woman carrying a baby on her back and another man by her side, this time he seemed angry and depressed as he walked back to the car and drove off again they made to trail him but this time he drove straight back to the mansion.

‘I wonder who they are, the woman and the man we just saw back there, who could they be?’ dencia said.
‘I don’t know but we will find out soon enough first I think we should held back to the office, find out what sam wanted you or us to see.’ Cyril said making a u-turn.

The duo arrived at the bureau just before the noon and decided to go see sam immediately.
They got to the office to find the operative working on his computer.
‘I have been expecting you both, detectives.’ Sam said once he set eyes on them.

‘over there at that work space is where I have the call transmission program running all by its own, I created a personalized A.I which will log each and every call and message from every cell phone without me lifting a finger, isn’t it cool?’ sam continued with an satisfactorily look on his face.
‘Sam, stick to the point am sure you didn’t call us to show us your newest invention.’ Cyril replied.
‘Oh yeah, so I honestly don’t know what to say, when I was asked