CONTINUED



if I could trace an active call I was like okay I can do this, its all down to programming and computer stuff which is my thing and I created this tracking program and gave a few touches.’ He paused to stare at the detective, hoping to catch a glimpse of some curiosity or eagerness to hear him say more however none seemed like it. ‘anyway, it appears I didn’t just create a tracking program but It was able to recover and read calls and message data from the phone.’ Sam said overly excited with his works.

‘okay I am sure that wasn’t what we asked for and I am also sure that is creepy and a violation to her privacy which the bureau can be sued for.’ Cyril said unimpressed at the moment.

‘yes, yes I know and I swear you have nothing to worry about, this job is my dream job detectives and I think this might piece of information I have with me which I did collect from the phone could help you.’ Sam paused and produced a bunch of documents which he handled over to Cyril. ‘those are call logs, messages from one particular person over the last eight years, the messages and calls stopped a year ago, same person, same number.’ Sam said.

On closer observation, the documents detailed call logs and text messages , whilst the call logs only showed consistent communication between Elaina and the mysterious caller who could be anyone it was the messages that accompanied the some of the call logs that showed this was no ordinary caller.

“ELVIS CORNEALIS 0222656565654, 20 MILLION BEFORE WEEKEND” Whilst many others carried a variety of dates attached, the sum or the bank accounts were same.

‘I think this is black mail of some sort, it sounds like it, I mean she is one of the richest women in the country am sure she has a secret or two that someone somewhere knows about and is using it against her.’ Sam explained.

‘yeah, I think so too but who is this person and what has Mrs. Elaina been hiding?’ Dencia asked.
‘the messages and the calls suddenly stopped last year did, what happened?’ Cyril asked thoughtfully.
‘Certainly this person has been living off on her all this years and couldn’t have just stopped for no reason, think something happened to him or somebody did something to him?’ sam asked.

‘we will have to find out who this person is one way or another, sam, I want you to find out what you can on that name, anything at all will be helpful, just check it out we will be back later, good job.’ Cyril said.
Before the duo walked out and returned to their office shortly.

‘so Mrs. Elaina has a secret to hide so what?’ dencia still unsure of what to make of it.
‘think about it this way, Mrs. Elaina refuses to give her blackmailers any more cash and then they decide to kidnap her son, maybe get a big pay off, I don’t know for now but its something we should look into while we can.’ Cyril said going through the documents again.
‘you think we should go ask her about it?’ dencia asked.

‘definitely no, we can’t afford to spoke her, right now the little we know can be our advantage, we will slowly figure things out on our own.’ Cyril replied.
Elsewhere in the city, Mr. Samir ahmed had just received some good news based on his paper’s publication.
He was scheduled for a live talk show on the city’s most scandalous moments some days from now even profit wise, his tabloid had seen an impressive raise in the industry over the week, all thanks to his articles on the orji’s.

Perhaps for a minute he could give himself a part on the back and relax but he cancelled the thought immediately when his phone began to ring on his desk, his eyes widened with apprehension as he realized it was X; a name he decided to call his mystery caller who had promised to help him take down Mr. Richmond.
‘hello.’
‘hello chief editor, are you ready for your next article?’
The chief editor thought about it for a second, he still wasn’t okay with his dealings with this unidentified caller perhaps it would be nice if he stops now and avoid been a pawn in someone’s game.

‘having cold feet?’ the caller asked having gotten no response to the question.
‘No not at all, what is it this time?’ he asked.
‘remember the SPID scandal?’ the caller asked letting the chief editor to gasp in sheer disbelief.

‘I was right, wasn’t I, please tell me I was right all along when I published an article about Oric’s oil, been the ones responsible for the transportation and dumping of SPID’s toxic materials illegally, four years ago?’ the chief editor asked consumed with anxiety and excitement.
‘you were right all along, Oric’s oil and gas ltd were responsible for that disaster that almost wiped that community but of course you lacked evidence and hence your company was sued for over a quarter of a billion naira but I have the evidence you needed four years ago, interviews, documents about SPID contract with Oric Oil and Gas, which will ensure that oric oil and gas is pinned to that disaster once and for all.’ The caller said.
‘this is huge, it will reap apart oric’s oil and gas status and the government will have no other option than to come for him, we are talking about bringing Oric’s oil and gas down to his kneels you know.’ The chief editor said excitedly.

‘I doubt this will be final blow to Mr. Richmond, he is quite resourceful as we both know already, he ensures that none of the blame ever comes near him but this is a good start.’ The caller replied.

‘a very damn good one, you will be sending them over immediately right?’ the chief editor asked anxiously yet again.
‘yes but this time, I don’t want an headline just yet, it has come to my notice you are scheduled for a live interview some days from now, I want this information out there on live TV.’ The caller said.
A bit uncomfortable with this arrangement it would seem knowing full well this could wreck his tabloid and his repetition

CONTINUED



for life, he did however believed this person was on his side and well aware of what was at risk.
‘you know they are going to ask how I got that information once I do this, right?’ he replied.

‘and that is why I choose you, you have the sources, you have the connection and certainly you have the guts to see this to the end, I have signed contract documents, employee’s statements, everything that was covered up and shed away from the light, Oric oil and gas can do little to nothing on this one that I can assure, so do we have a deal or not?’

Perhaps this was his fastest reply he had ever to any news any editor or publisher thought was headlines worthy but it was a resounding nod of approval from him, now this was personal.

For four years ago, the metropolis lantern was at the verge of collapse and bankruptcy when he published the article about SPID toxic waste which was dumped in a local community’s river source, poisoning the waters and killing majority of the people, SPID had been identified and they had pointed out their partners in crime as Oric oil however no evidence was ever found and admitted against Oric in the end.
This would mark his fall in the tabloid world after which he stopped publishing anything relating to Oric but this was his ace, his trump card to right the wrong that was done to him four years ago.

But for the trio of kidnappings lodged deep In the forest with their victims, things were starting to look worrisome, the kid’s condition had gotten a lot worse, which none could pretend over, even their food supply was running very low which spelled even more problem for them at the time.
‘what do we do now?’ George asked, the third member of the gang as the trio decided to strategize for a moment.
‘it’s obvious one of us has to go and get more items and get some drugs for the kid, the boss wants him alive until he says other wise.’ Morris said where he sat.

‘fine, that’s a good idea but who is going to go, obviously I can’t, I am supposed to handle the calls.’ Morris said thoughtfully.
‘why not chris take a break from watching over the kid and the girl and take a stroll out.’ George replied morris.
‘No, I can’t, I am not too well, I will only slow the journey down.’ Chris protested.

‘Then it is settled, George you go, I will write out a list of all we need, you must be back by the day’s end, follow the path we came through, do not deviate or try to find an easier or quicker way, this forest is dangerous, is that understood?’ morris said.
‘yes boss.’ A disappointed George said who apparently wasn’t happy about the decision. ‘I will need the rifle then.’ George added.
‘we have only the rifle and a pistol here, you can have the pistol, the rifle stays with me.’ Morris replied.
‘but boss, that gun jams like hell, I wouldn’t want to be in a life and death situation and all I have with me is that weapon, this forest scares the hell outta me already.’ George was fast to react.

‘fine, you hold on to the rifle and be back before sun down, you know how it is over here at night, is that understood?’ morris said, choosing not to push his claims any further than he had already done, besides George was right.
‘and take the other two phones along with the power bank with you, they are down for now.’ He added once George was ready to leave.
It wouldn’t be for long now before they wouldn’t have to risk their lives, morris assured himself once more as George took his leave.

CHAPTER FIVE



‘you should take it with you.’ Cyril said as dencia made a move to leave her firearm in the car once they pulled over at a corner right in front of the house, Rolland had visited earlier on.

She nodded and produced her fire arm which she then slid into her pulse before coming out.
Unsure of who they were heading out to see, they made the walk up to the gate.
‘what are we going to say?’ dencia asked a bit agitated now.
‘just releax, it should be easy.’ Cyril said letting his knuckles hit the gate repeatedly.
‘who is that?’ a male voice could be heard asking.

‘we are federal detectives, we will like to speak with you.’ Cyril said.
There was no immediate reply but thankfully the gate was swung open by a man, tall, black and probably in his early fifties, he seemed unsure or confused once their eyes meant.
‘did he send you because I want to assure you we were only joking you know.’ The man said.

‘who sent us?, no, nobody sent us, we need to talk to you about your friend who visited you this morning.’ Cyril replied.
He could see the confusion written all over his face at the moment.
‘my friend?’ the man asked thoughtfully. ‘Oh, you mean Mr. Rolland, is he in any trouble of some sort?’ the man asked.
‘well, he depends by the way can we come in and talk to you?’ Dencia chipped in.

‘sure, no problem but please, my sister may not be at her best if you are here to ask about her husband, its been a very sorrowful and painful experience for her you know.’ The man replied paving the way for them to come in.
It was only when they were led inside, they quickly realized that this was the home of Okiye, the deceased security chief that was killed, the wall frames and pictures which were used to decorate the living room affirmed his identity.

‘I know you might want to talk with my sister over the threats, she made, please she is sorry and means none of those things she said, Mr. Richmond refused to compensate and we need the money.’ He said before the wife of the late okoye walked in. with her baby.
‘good afternoon to you all.’ She said before she sat down.
‘good afternoon madam.’ Cyril and dencia replied still unsure how to go on after their recent findings.
‘they are detectives, it seems they got hold of your threat, I told you not to send that at least not at a time like this now they are here.’ His brother said panicky.

‘madam, eh about the threat, why did you send it and what did you say exactly, we have to get your view on what we found so as to be sure on what to do with it.’ Dencia said thoughtfully as Cyril heaved a sigh of relief.

‘please am sorry I sent that message.’ She said pleadingly. ‘ I only said I was going to tell people about how bad he, Mr. Richmond has been treating my husband and other officers at work, that man is very wicked you see, do you know my husband hadn’t been paid his three month’s salary before he eventually was killed, not a dime out of that money has been accounted for as we speak.’ The woman lamented bitterly.
‘and Mr. Rolland, why was he here?’ Cyril asked.

‘he came to beg us not to telling us to exercise a bit of patience that he will find a way around it, he was saddened when he heard about the maltreatment Mr. Richmond had been dishing out to my husband, I told him to leave this job alone, even elvis had advised him to leave the job, it wasn’t worth it anymore.’ She continued but for the detective, she had suddenly become interesting.
‘did you say elvis, who is this elvis?’ Cyril asked prdocuing his pen and jotter out.

‘Elvis?, elvis is a work colleague of my husband.’ She paused to think for a minute. ‘well I really don’t know, he tells me about him but I haven’t seen him once before but My husband said he is also a security guard at the mansion, a junior colleague and good friend of his.’ She replied.
The duo stared at each other, this was huge and did make a lot of sense if the alleged black mailer could be from within the house, could this same person be responsible for the kidnapping, possibly yes.

‘madam, is there any other thing you can tell us about elvis?’ dencia asked.
‘No, nothing at all, he told me elvis was a new employee at the mansion and they have been good friends, that’s all knew.’ She responded.
It was more than enough and if they were lucky they would find their man maybe not the kidnapper but definitely a black mailer who may know more than the others, they took their leave a few minutes later and returned back to the car.
They didn’t get a chance to discuss about what they had found out before cyril’s phone began to ring, the identity of the caller indicated it was Mr. Rolland.
‘hello Mr. Rolland?’

‘hello detective, please report to the mansion immediately, the kidnappers are attempting to reach out to us, they called but it wasn’t clear this time, I think it will be best you hurry along so if they do call again, you can be present.’ Rolland said.
‘yes, sure, that’s true, we are on our way right now, if they call before we get there just try and stall them as long as you can, is that clear?’ Cyril said.
‘yes, I can try.’ Rolland replied before the call ended.

‘Mr. Rolland, he says the kidnappers called and they are to call again, call sam, tell him to be at his station that we might be getting a call soon.’ Cyril said before he brought the car to life and drove out in high speed, certainly there was no time to lose.
They arrived at the mansion soon enough and joined Rolland and Elaina at the lodge, she was calmer than usual however she wouldn’t give notice to anyone or anything else apart from the phone which was placed on the table.

‘We think it’s a network problem over there, was your operative able to get anything on it?’ Rolland asked the detectives.
‘For now that will be no, he has the call log, he says it was up to a minute and may prove difficult to track due to the network problem which might bounce off the signal around various communication mast as the call comes in, in other words we might track but it may not be from the original mast.’ Dencia said dully.

‘Oh, I see.’ A disappointed Rolland said however the phone would soon begin to ring again, this time elaina had snatched it off the table to answer.
‘hello, I want to speak with my son, please let me hear my son.’ Elaina said pitifully.

CONTINUED




‘what, what are you blabbering about woman?, its Richmond, give the phone to Rolland, I can’t seem to reach his phone at the moment.’ The caller replied letting her realize that this wasn’t the kidnapper but her husband. ‘Eh, oh I am sorry.’ She said disappointedly, letting Roland have it phone before she returned back to her seat.
‘hello sir, its Rolland.’

‘I need you to go get the clearance documents for me in my private library for the portrait at the airport, they just arrived some minutes ago, I will send a driver to come pick them up soon, I will text them to you now.’ Richmond replied.
‘Alright sir, I will handle it.’ Rolland replied before he cut the call.

‘you all will have to excuse me for now, my brother’s paintings have arrived at the airport, he needs me to help sort out the documents on ground, if I am needed back here, I will be here.’ Rolland said before he disappeared leaving the three in the lodge.
There was a bit of silence in the lodge but however Cyril had decided to try his luck to speak with Elaina, there was little chance she would speak to them on any other time that of course is if he was given the opportunity, this was a rare opportunity.

‘madam, I can assure you we are doing everything possible to get a trace on your son.’ Cyril said.
‘and when you do find him what will you do, huh? Put my son under a cross fire, endanger his life because his father would rather not spend a dime to get the boy back? My son has been kidnapped for God sake, do you know how that feels?’ she asked painfully. ‘I want my boy back, I want him back, he is all I have got left don’t you understand that?’ elaina continued, this time a bit teary.
‘we understand how you feel and we will do all we can to bring him back.’ Cyril said.

But it wasn’t enough to keep Elaina waiting, she stood and proceeded to leave.
It wouldn’t take long before Rolland returned, hie eyes did searched for Elaina but had decided not to bother go checking up on her.
‘If you don’t mind we will like to ask you about one of your employees here at the mansion.’ Cyril said.
‘sure, anything, just go on.’

‘it’s about a certain Elvis, its my believe he is a friend of the deceased security detail, he is a recent employee I believe.’ Cyril continued.
‘I am afraid that will not be possible.’ Rolland replied blankly.
‘and why is that?’ Cyril insisted.

‘because we don’t have any employee with that name, detective but I can take you to see everyone, maybe you might want to talk with them if you may.’ Rolland replied.
He did seem to be telling the truth as did the widow of the deceased so who really was this Elvis? Cyril did ask himself.
However their luck on getting the kidnappers to call back would prove disappointing as they got no further calls.

By 6:35, George had decided to leave the comfort of his girl friend and head back to the den with the items, to be sincere he would have wished not to go back to that scary jungle once more but he knew the consequences of not returning back in time.
‘Damn it’ he said to himself once he got out of the taxi at the spot and realized how dark it had become suddenly perhaps he shouldn’t have given in to his girl friend’s advances to spend some time with her before he left for what he told her was a special camp gathering.
However he had the rifle parked in his bag and could use the charged phone’s torch to light up his path.

If only he knew what awaited him in the dense forest as he proceeded to go in, perhaps he would have given more thought to the strange growling he could hear each night in their den, however his fate had already been sealed.
‘that bastard might probably be at some girl’s house, I am gonna kill him when he gets back.’ Morris said angrily checking the phone’s time.
They only had two day’s worth of food if they were to ration it once daily, their water supply had already been depleted with just three cans of the fluid left.

His personal phone and the one through which he was able to establish contact had already shut down In fact it was why he couldn’t try to reestablish connection with the orji’s when he decided to call earlier that day on maybe this was happening due to the fact he was new to this sort of crime, though he had been charged with various crimes from ranging from burglary to other crimes but kidnapping was his big step into the big leagues of criminal acts and if he was lucky his last because of what he had hoped to gain, the same reason, he thought it was necessary he took okiye out once the boss asked him to do it.

Although the man didn’t deserve to meet his end this way but it only meant more money for him and the others, well that is if he gave them a chance to have a part of it.
‘George is not back yet, what could have happened?’ chris joined him in the dark where he sat.
‘I don’t know but I swear when he comes back I am going to deal with him.’ Morris swore bitterly.
‘clearly he overstayed in the town, I am sure he will be back by tomorrow morning.’ Chris said.
‘the boy, how is he?’

‘he is there, maryann says the boy needs urgent medical attention.’ Chris replied.
‘maryann?, hmmm so you now refer to the victim by her name, that’s interesting, is there any other thing you would like to tell me about?’ morris asked with a straight face which made chris uncomfortable for morris could be unpredictable and unhinged when things weren’t working for him, in fact it was how they all met back then in prison.
‘No, nothing boss, there is nothing.’ Chris swore.

‘then good, go inside and bring her out for me, it wouldn’t be fair if I let such a beauty die without enjoying what I have to offer.’ He said with a mischievous smile on his face. ‘and maybe if you want, you too can get on the action as well’ he added.
‘Eh, boss why don’t we wait till George is back I mean you know how George gets when he is left out on things like this plus I just checked on them a while ago, that child needs her to help keep him calm , she may not be the same ago if we touch her.’ Chris replied, hoping to quench the raging danger.

Morris didn’t seem convincing this time around but for some reason, he had decided to laugh it off, smacking chris on the back.
‘hahah, look at you talking about how or what to do with a woman anyway I will take your word for it , you been the repeated sex offender you were, I think its best we save her for tomorrow like you have said.’ Morris said before he readjusted into what he felt was much comfortable position to sleep. ‘go get some sleep, tomorrow we will have a piece of her to make up for the time we have to spend here.’ Morris added finally.

Chris took his leave and returned back to his post where he watched maryann and the kid asleep, he wasn’t going to let this happen, it was true he had been convicted as a sex offender, thankfully he did change while in prison, this was his real chance at true redemption, he would have to do all he can to stop morris and George from getting what they wanted.

CONTINUED



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

By the next morning came with shocking news which settled in a cloud of disbelief and confusion for Mr. bright, the vice president of Oric. Oil and gas.

In fact it was so confusing, he hadn’t know what yet to make out of it except to go confront Mr. Richmond in his office.
He made the walk down to the president’s office only to find Richmond clearing his office.
‘what is this, what are you really doing?’ Bright asked.

‘so you are not only a back stabber but you are also a blind back stabber, what does it look like I am doing, I packing up my stuff, I am done, isn’t it what you and those greedy bastards want?’ Richmond replied choosing not to bother looking at his vice president at the moment.
‘and you want me to believe that you of all people is just going to cut and run all of a sudden, the same man who usually would rather bleed than see himself to be taken down by anyone? , I mean come on how stupid do you think I am, I know you are up to something, it’s in you, its your nature.’ Bright said almost as if he relished the opportunity of having to go up against him.

‘oh thanks for knowing me that well but like you said you don’t feed a lion not to know how to avoid been eaten, you certainly have thought of everything I can think of, its only a matter of time before you get what you want, I have a son to worry about, clearly I messed up with the DS contract and the executive board members are gonna demand their pound of flesh no sooner than later so yeah I am taking your offer and stepping down.’ Richmond said.

Bright stood there in silence as Richmond continued clearing out his stuff unable to think past Richmond’s words, was he really been truthful, however he knew there was one way to be certain.

‘sell it to me.’ Bright said as Richmond paused to stare at him for the first time. ‘sell your stocks to me, I will buy at double the price, sell every bit of it to me, if you want out of the company and you want me to believe there is no grand scheme behind your exit then sell all your stocks to me now, I will have the papers and everything ready, this way I am certain you have nothing in here to haunt me nor the executive board.’ Bright said sternly.
Richmond seemed to give it a thought for a little while before he chuckled. ‘always the serious one, aren’t you? Okay its settled, I will sell my stocks to you this way you have over seventy percent of the company to yourself but I want it for triple the price not double, as you can see I need all the money I can get but I don’t want you to publicly announce my exit not just yet, I want to get my son back before you do that.’ Richmond said.
It was a hard bargain, tripling the price would amount to a huge financial strain on him and the company but however it was a good deal, this way he owned Oric oil and gas, this way he could finally claim what was now his without looking over his shoulders.

‘fine, triple the price of your stocks value, but I want it before the end of the day, no side plays, no tricks, no nothing, we are going to seat and sign those documents of stock acquisition and then you can get out and never come back again.’ Bright said before he made to leave.
‘Sure, and congratulations to your new position as the executive president, hope you make better choices than I did.’ Richmond said to which bright paid no listening ears to as he walked himself out.
As for the duo of detectives, they were still weighing their options on their next move however even now, there was one thing that seemed strange to Cyril.

‘I don’t get it, yesterday when I got back I went through the witnesses statements on Okiye, he was a former military and an ex police chief warden with good combat experience, he had his full security regalia on, armed with a steel plate bullet proof vest, army issued dagger, a smoke grenade and two extra magazines of armor piercing rounds which they say is his usual operating outfit and he dies with just a single shot to the head?, I mean I have been in the military before and I think I would want to fight and not go down so easy you know?’ Cyril said thoughtfully at his desk.
‘are you thinking there is something else at play here?’ dencia asked.

‘I mean, I don’t know but hey here are some photos I took on the car, just tell me what you think from your observations, kidnapping isn’t sort of my field to be exact but okiye was killed, now that’s a murder and something I am good at solving and his murder doesn’t make a perfect picture for me.’
He paused and moved over to dencia’s table handing over his phone to her as she observed the pictures.

‘look at the vehicle, I have solved fraudulent insurance claims by vehicles who usually want to feign accident or something terrible happening and this car seemed like nothing that got into a terrible situation, no scratch, just nothing, I think you might be on to something here.’ Dencia said.
‘and now I think about, he has a good motive, his boss treats him like trash , owes him money and all, I mean and he is about to retire and he seems to be the only one apart From Elaina who knows Elvis.’ Cyril added, letting dencia think for a moment.

‘then let’s call her, let’s tell her what we know, perhaps Elvis could be some other person or something but we need to first clarify the identity of elvis, who is elvis and what was his dealings with Elaina, I mean she has been paying huge sums of money to this guy over something, am sure she knows more about this person, if we know who elvis is, then we could connect him with okiye and possibly the kidnappers.’ Dencia said.
Sure, it was a great idea but it had its risks, privacy violation for instance where the NCIB could be sued for unlawful hacking and use of personal and private data with no due authorization but it seemed the most promising at the moment.

He got his phone out and took the nearest seat closest to dencia and decided to make the call, optioning to answer the call on loudspeaker so dencia could listen as well, it did ring a good number of times before Elaina picked.

‘I was hoping you would call my brother in-law rather because I don’t think I know anything that can help you get the kidnappers nor my son.’ She replied cautiously.
‘madam, I am sorry to disturb you at the moment but I need to ask you just one question, we believe that a previous associate of yours who we found out from your call log a certain Elvis cornealis was in talks with the deceased security operative okiye and may know about your son’s disappearance.’ Cyril said, his heart in his mouth as he wanted for a reply.

‘you know about the black mailings?’ she asked fearfully.
‘well uh, we do know that you were constantly sending a huge sum to this individual over a period of eight years, madam we don’t have a clue who this person is but we found that the late okiye might have been in constant communication with him perhaps he was killed for this reason, we just want to know if you have got any idea who this person was.’ Cyril said.

‘I really don’t know who he was but you must understand whatever he is black mailing me over was something that happened in my past, I didn’t really know what the person had on me but when you are young and you have got money, there are a lot of ugliness that goes with it so I thought it must have been really bad so I kept playing to his tune, paying him until a year ago he stopped calling or texting, I thought he may died or something bad might have happened to him but if you say he has been in talks with okiye then it means he has been around, oh my God, does it mean I am responsible for my son’s disappearance?’ she asked frightened by the thought of it.

‘No, not at all, you must relax your mind madam, you are not responsible for this, okay so can I ask about okiye then, I mean we may not know about elvis but okiye you and the family do know, how long has been around?’ Cyril asked.
‘I don’t really know I think he has been around for like four years now.’ Elaina replied.
‘so you have been in talks with this black mailer even before okiye was around, is that correct and there has been no previous engagement with okiye before he was employed back then?’ Cyril asked again.

‘yes detective, you think okiye might be elvis?’ she asked.
‘well its hard to say right now but thank you very much for the assistance, we will surely get back to you if there is any new information.’ Cyril said.
‘Eh, detective please can I ask you of a favor then, please this would mean the whole world to me right now.’ Elaina hesitated.
Cyril starred at dencia unsure of what to say but dencia did reply with a nod of approval urging him to approve her request.
‘okay what is it?’ Cyril asked finally.

‘please, can you not tell anyone about the black mailing part, please I beg of you, I have tried to put that behind me all this years, I would suffer more if anyone else knows of this, I could be ruined for life so please?’ she begged.

‘its hard to make such a promise madam, if this elvis is directly responsible for the kidnapping of your son, I mean I may not say it but it won’t be hard for anyone to connect where all this started or at least where I think it all started which is the black mail but I will tell you what, I won’t say anything

CONTINUED



about it if it absolutely doesn’t need me saying it.’ Cyril said.
‘okay, thank you detective.’ Elaina said before she hung up.

‘she is scarred, I could tell from her voice, I think she knows what exactly she is been black mailed over but I doubt it has anything to do directly with her son’s kidnapping for now.’ Dencia said immediately.

‘I am going to go ask around for okiye’s files, I want to know who he is, something tells me even now this guy knows something we don’t.’ Cyril said just before Sam ran in, obviously excited over something.
‘guys, we got something big, you have to come with me right now.’ Sam said swinging the office door open.
‘what is it, what did you find?’ Cyril asked.

‘I just locked signal on one of the three phone’s GPS signal, it’s the dead man’s phone someone has it on and didn’t turn the gps tracker off, you have got to come see it.’ Sam said in sheer excitement.
‘what, that’s incredible!’ dencia said as they hurriedly left the office with sam.

CHAPTER SIX



Mr. Richmond strolled out of his car to meet his brother waiting for him at the entrance, his facial expression only spelled disbelief as he walked up to him.
‘is it true?’ Rolland asked.

‘of course its true, I had to sell because it is the only way I could lay my hands on readily available cash for the ransom, which I have paid to the account already, hopefully that woman lets me be this time and bother me about been unserious about getting my son back.’ He said flipping his phone to his brother. ‘those are the transaction statements, 5 billion dollars, call the detectives to back off they were just a waste of time, we should be expecting them to call us soon so we know were to go pick up my son.’ Richmond said before he disappeared from his brother’s sight.
He may have thought about letting the detectives know but his brother was right, in reality, the boy’s freedom did rely on them getting the ransom, any minute they would call to make arrangements for the boy’s release or may have even done so already and just trying to bid their escape or something he thought to himself with a smile.

However at the METROPOLIS LANTERN, Mr. had to practice his speech before he left for his live talk show when X called, this could only mean more good news he said to himself.
‘I am getting ready for the talk show already, the whole world is going to hear it all.’ Mr. Samir said proudly.
‘I have changed my mind on our agreement chief editor, I think we have a good opportunity to sue here, I mean think about it.’ The caller replied but the chief editor was quick to reply on this.

‘I honestly think its better we leave it this way, surely the government will come for him and his company, no doubt about that.’ He said.
‘Think about it, you are talking to one of the most wealthiest men in Africa, do you really think the government won’t back down or ensure he gets away with this, this is our only way we get to bring him down for good, we sue and charge him and oric oil and gas for everything they have got, we have evidence that can’t be denied in the court of law, we have him where we always wanted don’t you see?

‘of course, I would like to sue his ass and ensure he rots in a jail for life but this is gonna cost a lot, I mean a lot because like you said he is rich, he has friends in high places as well, so we will be talking about one of the greatest court cases of the decade, money that I am sorry to say I don’t have and even if I do I am unwillingly to spend.’ The chief editor replied defiantly.

‘I will make all the necessary funds available to your personal account, I told you this was personal for me didn’t I, I will make the transfers once we are done talking, that should be enough for you to start our case against him.’ The caller said.
‘can I ask you one question before I give my answer on your request?’ the chief editor asked calmly.
‘go on chief editor’
‘what did he really do to you?’ he asked.

‘something, something you could even imagine, that’s what that monster does to people, he destroys people and now I will destroy him with your help.’ The caller replied.
No doubt this was personal, he wouldn’t only get his pound of flesh and even more justice for himself but he would be able to help someone get their revenge on Richmond.

‘okay, good enough, I will await the transfer and then proceed to work things out.’ The chief editor said.
‘thank you Mr. samir, you have been a big help to me, I knew I could count on you, good luck.’
The call had ended soon after before his phone rang, it was a bank alert, the numbers however made him gasps for air.
‘750 million naira?’ he asked himself as he settled into a chair, whoever his caller was meant business and now he would have to fulfill his promise.

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


‘do you think this is a trap or something?’ Cyril asked after sam had given to them in good details the active tracker on one of the phones.
‘well whatever it is, we will have to find out, we just have to see this through.’ Dencia said.
‘like I said its been on since yesterday’s night, it should be pretty evident that the tracker is on but if it is not, then there is good possibility for a rescue.’ Sam added.

‘okay, I will put a call through to the orji’s on the latest development and then to the Police anti kidnapping special task force team, to get ready, I will go going with them.’ He paused and turned to dencia. ‘are you coming?’
‘definitely, the boy is the reason why I am here, I have to see this to the end.’ Dencia said.
‘good lets go then, we will give the orji’s a call when we get to the police station, sam I want you on intelligence and communication for the team, can you do that?’
‘that’s my job, detective.’ Sam replied reassuringly.
The detectives quickly made their way out of the office, if everything went according to plans, they could get a team ready in fifteen minutes or even less.

Meanwhile deep in the forest, morris was getting more agitated by the minute, George was nowhere to be seen, had he decided not to return back or had he been captured or worse killed, his mind ran amuck.
‘chris, come here quickly.’ He called out, to which chris answered as he walked out to join his boss.
‘boss, you called me.’ Chris replied.
‘I need you to go to town, go check up on things and see how it is and then get back to me immediately, is that understood?’ morris said sternly.
‘yes sir but.’
‘no buts, I want you out there, George isn’t back yet , something is definitely wrong, i want you to go find out what is wrong and return back immediately.’ Morris responded producing his hand gun and reloading the clip, chris could sense a bit of paranoia in the way he was behaving, perhaps it wasn’t the right to leave to actually consider leaving maryann alone.
‘okay boss, I will go do as you say just lemme check up on the boy before I leave.’ Chris said before he walked back in however once he sensed he wasn’t within his boss’s sight range he scampered with the keys to the barred room, it was now or never, he wasn’t going to let morris lay a hand on her no matter what.

‘can you run?’ he asked maryann as he hurriedly tried to open the barred room.
‘run, what do you mean run?’ she asked fearfully.
‘you have to get out of here, you have to go away, my boss might do something really awful to you if I am away and I don’t want that, I am going to open the door and let you out, you run and don’t look back I will show you the way through the back, do you hear me.’ He said as quietly as he could.
‘but the boy, please I can’t leave him alone, he won’t last long without me.’ She said pitifully pointing to the sick child fast asleep on her lap.
‘he has to stay, he is the reason why we are all here, you have to go on your own, morris won’t harm the boy, I will protect him.’ Chris said as he opened the door.

‘please, I can’t leave without him, let us all go together then, let’s leave here together.’ She urged him.
In truth, she was sincere about chris leaving with them, both had become really closely throughout their uneventful capture, chris was different for her, he was more human with feelings than the rest, somewhere out there he seemed like someone she could be with for real.
‘okay fine, we will go together, all three of us.’ Chris said.

‘I always knew you didn’t have the heart for this.’ Morris voice came from behind as chris tried to assist maryann and the boy up. ‘I knew you were not up for this, you back stabber and

CONTINUED



now I am going to kill you and then kill the rest as well, to hell with all this anyway.’ Morris said with a vicious smile on his face pointing the gun at a frightened chris.

‘morris, we don’t have to do this, listen to me, I don’t think this plan is going to work, we can all leave like George did.’ Chris said frantically.
‘please don’t kill us.’ Pleaded maryann as morris’s eyes settled on her.

‘oh I see why you are doing this, so its all because of her, isn’t it, you would ruin my plans to get rich because of a girl who doesn’t give a damn about you, you could have had her all this time I put you charge and no one would have said anything but you want to ruin my plans.’ He scoffed, releasing the safety off the weapon and threateningly to pull the trigger any moment.

‘please you don’t have to do this morris, please put the gun down, let’s talk about this for a moment.’ Chris gasped as the morris pressed hard the trigger however the gun had jammed, it was a now or never moment to try and rescue the situation.

Chris made the jump on morris, physically morris did have the upper hand but he was more tactical besides he was only a good serial rapist back then because of how good he was at subduing his victims easily however those were memories he wished even now he could erase.
The scuffle was unnerving and seemed to last forever as both men went back and forth, each trying to overpower the other.

‘run, get out of here!’ chris managed to say to maryann as he struggled with morris. ‘run away now, take the boy.’ He screamed out loud again prompting the maid to take held to his advice, she managed to find enough space to run past them with the boy in her hand.
This made morris more furious as he managed to get a finger on the trigger again this time squeezing repeatedly until a gunshot echoed outside the building.

Morris had a grin on his face as chris went to the ground screeching in pain, the bullet had hit him in the abdomen.

‘now I am going to go out there and kill the boy, bring the girl back in here, rape her and then kill her.’ He swore bitterly as he tried to reload the clip but he had no idea about maryann who had returned back with a heavy block of cement and when he did realize someone had crept up on him it was rather too late as she flung the huge block so it hit him hard on his face, sending him to the ground.

He however did try to stand up but that was all he could muster before he heard the deafening sound of a gunshot, he gasped painfully and made one last attempt to look at his killer.

‘you.’ He said dully as he took one last good look at chris who had managed to get the gun off the ground where it laid, it was all over for him now.
All the plans, all the dreams had all come to nothing as he fell to the ground lifeless.

Maryann had rushed over to chris to check up on him but he too had given up the ghost shortly after he had shot morris.
Such pity she thought to herself as she stared at chris lifeless body however she had to go, it was all she could do now.
Meanwhile Cyril had managed to get Rolland on the line once he, Dencia and a tactical team had arrived at the entrance of the forest.
‘hello mr. Rolland, I want to let you know we are about to start a search on a supposed area we have been able to lock on to from one of the phones, we were able to track a signal from the deceased officer’s number.’ Cyril said.

‘whatever you do, please it will be best you don’t proceed forward.’ Rolland said leaving Cyril confused.
‘what, may I know why is this?’ Cyril asked.
‘because the ransom has been paid, detective, you would or might be putting the boy’s life in risk if you intend to proceed, don’t you think?’ Rolland said.

‘yes, I know but what is the assurance we have got that they aren’t going to harm the boy anyway, we have a tactical team right there, we just need you to give a go ahead.’ Cyril said.
‘I can’t do that, I am sorry, my brother wants you guys off the case, he doesn’t see your need anymore, I am sure they would hold on to their bargain besides who knows they must have left the forest and dumped the phones, I think it’s safe to say the boy would not be hurt.’ Rolland insisted.
Letting a frustrated Cyril end the call without trying any further to convince Rolland, he immediately decided to talk with Elaina.
‘Madam, its detective Cyril, we have a location which we believe the kidnappers may be using as an hide out, please we need to check on it immediately.’

‘but the ransom has been paid.’
‘enough of the ransom been paid, we can get the boy and those responsible for the kidnapping, don’t you want to know who took the kid and maybe find Who or how they are connected to elvis?’ he asked.

‘you promise me, you won’t let any harm come to my son?’ elaina asked thoughtfully.
‘yes, I promise you Mrs. Elaina, we will bring your son home and bring the kidnappers to justice.’ Cyril said.
‘fine, do it, go get my son then.’ Elaina said fearfully.

It was all the authorization he needed, he produced his 9mm and reloaded his clip.
‘we are good to go?’ dencia asked alongside the team of five fully armed officers.
‘yes, we are good to go.’ Cyril replied.

*********************************
Mrs. Elaina had dropped the call before she noticed Richmond walking into her room.
It was the first time in a very long time, Richmond had stepped his feet into her room.
‘what do you want?’ she asked fearfully.

‘No thank you, no you are amazing or something, you know I just paid a lot of my money to get the kid released right?’ Richmond said, grin seemed to have appeared on his face.

‘he is your son for God sake, do you want me to say thanks right?’ elaina said painfully as she struggled to keep her tears back, it was the moments she knew Richmond enjoyed, watching her in obvious despair and torment. ‘is that what you want, then fine, thank you, thank you for agreeing to pay your son’s ransom, thank you for been a father who cared.’ She said bitterly as she drew nearer to Richmond.
‘you watch your tongue, woman or you are gonna get it.’ Richmond said, threateningly.

‘you are going to hit me like you do or what else haven’t you done to me, do it, hit me, I dare you to.’ Elaina said tearfully as she drew nearer, what hadn’t she been subjected to for the last nine years of this cursed union.
‘I don’t have your time, I just wanted to see how the mother of my son is doing?’ Richmond said before he walked away as Elaina went to the ground weeping.

A few hours had passed before the detectives had arrived at the mansion, the mission was a successful, they didn’t have to go far deep into the bush after they discovered okiye’s phone close to the already decomposing corpse of what remained of George who had been attacked by a wild animal; apparently he had been using okiye’s phone as torch to find his way in the dense forest however they would find Maryann and Joshua.
Who led them back to their captor’s den where morris and chris’s body laid.

‘joshua!’ Elaina screamed as she ran down to welcome them, they had done their job.
‘Detectives, my brother would like to say a big thank you to you, please he is waiting for you in his art gallery.’ Rolland said happily.
He led them up to art gallery where Richmond was waiting for them.

‘I just wanted to say thank you to your act of bravery, although I did pay the ransom but its good to know the bureau is working, once again thank you, we will handle everything from here.’ Richmond said before Rolland led them back down stairs and out.
‘you brought him back for me, thank you detectives.’ Elaina said as the detectives took their leave.

CHAPTER SEVEN



I think you should let it go, I mean we got the kid back right, its all said and done , let the police handle the rest.’ Mr. Dede said calmly.
‘you know I don’t work that way, we still have no clue about this Elvis cornealis, we saw the conversations , the calls on the phone recovered, this person is still shrouded in mystery and God knows what else he or she has got going, I got to find that who he is.’ Demanded Cyril.
It may have been two days since they got the boy back but still nothing was adding up however the phones did explain the origin of the kidnappers who had been organized by Okiye under the instruction of Elvis cornealis and a further instruction to Morris to eliminate okiye which maryann was able to testify to.

However with all those involved dead, it was a bleak task towards revealing the mastermind; which Cyril wasn’t willingly to accept yet.
‘I can’t , boss. You know I can’t do that, that person is still out there, this Is my case, and not until I get that person its gonna be unsolved, I have to find the brain behind it.’ Cyril swore before he took his leave.

There was really nothing he could do about the detective now, no matter how much he hated his doggedness in issues like this, it was however something worth admiring, Mr. dede thought for a moment before he returned his attention back to the documents he was working on.
Elsewhere, Mr. bright had just returned to his office, grumpy and quiet startled about what he had just learnt, it was the DS oil and gas contract, he got his phone out and decided to call the one person who he could call for clarification.

‘hello Richmond, I am sorry to bother you but I need you to clarify some details for me, I just got hold of the DS oil and gas contract papers, they have my signatures on them authorizing their executions, how Is this possible and I just got hold of my sources back in dubai, they are claiming DS oil and gas is in fact a a ghost company but not a connected to the burst made in dubai, none of this is making any sense.’ He complained hysterically.
‘I don’t know what you are talking about, aren’t you supposed to be in charge?’ The reply came, sending chills to Mr. bright’s spine.
‘you did this.’ He stuttered. ‘this was your plan all along, you did this.’

‘maybe that’s not the only thing you should be worried about, you should have understood Oric oil and gas was mine and mine only and not until I am done with it,no one gets a piece of it, stocks were already declining, oil prices were already going down, Oric was at the verge of collapse and thanks to people like you signing on documents so eagerly you didn’t see you signing your doom, Ds oil and gas is all on you and I also kept a little surprise for you and your company as well, perhaps you should listen to the live talk show about to air any minute from now, it seems you have a lot of questions to answer, Mr. president.’

The call dropped almost in rhythm with bright’s heart beat, who collapsed immediately, too bad his problems had only just began.
Richmond dropped the call with a wicked smile on is face, any minutes from now Oric Oil and gas was going to be singled out by Mr. samir on live TV as the company behind SPID’s toxic waste dump; a mess he had been hiding for long which now had Bright’s name written all over it, but once the company began to fell under the bus, he had began to make his plans knowing ful well Oric would never be able to recover, DS oil and gas was his own scheme to divert billions of investors money to his private off shore accounts.
It was a perfect ending for him, he had been through to ensure nothing of sort would ever be associated to him when the destruction of Oric oil and gas came.

CONTINUED



He treated himself to a glass of whisky where he sat before he heard a soft knock on the door, however he knew who it was. ‘come in.’ he said, turning to see Elaina who seemed a bit happy and calm now.

‘you called for me.’ Elaina said taking a seat besides him, she was quick to notice an envelope on the table before them.
‘take the envelope and open it, its for you.’ He said without taking a look at her, though it seemed strange however she was curious to find out what it was.

It would be shock to her when she opened the envelope to find the DNA report of her son inside it.
Her eyes widened as Richmond finally stared at her with a wicked smile on his face.
‘it was you along?’ she asked, trembling with fear.

‘of course it was me, you think I didn’t know about the affair between you and Rolland before I took you off his hands, you think I didn’t know Joshua is his son and not mine?’ he asked.

‘you have been black mailing me over what you knew all this while, taking every penny I had on me, my own money.’ She asked but then she had connected the dot, something she had suspected once the detective had called her about okiye. ‘you wanted me gone, didn’t you, you didn’t want the media on you nor did you want a court case over child care so you decided to take treat me like garbage all this time and when you couldn’t get rid of me quietly you decided to take Joshua from me but why?’ she asked bitterly as tears rolled down her eyes.
He thought about something which gave him a frown.

‘it doesn’t matter, the cops got him back and now my problem is still what it has always been, how do I get you out of my house as quietly as I can, no court case, no scandal, no nothing, you just walk away and never return but I just realized something you see.’ He paused to take a sip from his glass. ‘in fact it has been mystery to me if I have to say an that is why on earth doesn’t he know, he is the boy’s father, you never told him, call me a monster but I think you are worst, you have been with him in this house this long and you never made mention about his own flesh and blood who you parade as my son, but I guess its all about my money isn’t it?’ He asked as she wept bitterly.

‘No, it wasn’t because of your money you bastard, he didn’t want to hurt you, yes he still loved me but he didn’t want to hurt you so he made me swear to bury my feelings for him and move on, if I told him all this time it would kill him because he respects and loves you, you bastard.’ She wept.
‘well isn’t that too late, I mean he did sleep with you didn’t he and fathered your son, you bloody LovePeddler.’ He spat at the ground. ‘take the bags and leave now or else I will personally deliver that letter to him, I will keep the boy, he may not be my son but he is family, you can still keep your promise, save his marriage and save him the scandal, save him his relationship with his big brother, I will take of your son, you will leave and you will never ever set foot or concern yourself with any matters that concerns my family again, that’s my offer, take it or leave it.’
He said sternly.

‘you would do this to me?’ she asked painfully as she stood up.
‘I would deal with anyone who ever crosses my path, you would think after ten years you might have figured that out, now get out before I bring in your lover here.’ He said without remorse, his hand pointing to the door.

She tried to utter some words but failed, with one good look at Richmond she took her leave.
‘cheers’ he said to himself raising his glass up into the air in great satisfaction about how everything had turned out.
He made to stand up only to hear the hammer of a gun been pulled, his eyes widened as he turned to stare at a teary Rolland with his own weapon.
‘what are you going to do with my gun?’ he asked frightened and helpless.

His reply would be a shot to his head, he slumped to the ground, wheezing violently only for a few seconds before he closed his eyes.
Four days later, the news had carried the apparent suicide of former president of Oric oil and gas and billionaire who had been tied to the kidnapping of his own son as stated by his wife and confirmed by his brother.

DETECTIVE CYRIL WILL RETURN IN VOLUME 4 THIS MARCH


SAINTS AND COPS VOLUME 4



THIS FORTH INSTALLMENT TAKES A NEW DIRECTION AND A NEW TWIST.

AFTER AN UNKNOWN GUN MAN GOES ON A KILLING SPREE OF POLICE OFFICERS, CYRIL MUST BOUNCE BACK INTO ACTION AFTER FAILING TO PROSECUTE A KNOWN DRUG LORD AND FIND THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE SLAIN OFFICERS, A CRIME HE NEVER SOLVED AND A GANG OF BANK ROBBERS AND A SQUAD OF CORRUPT POLICE OFFICIALS TO FIND THE KILLER WHOSE MOTIVES ISN'T REALLY CLEAR.

SAINTS AND COPS GOES DEEP INTO WHAT JUSTICE IS REALLY ALL ABOUT.


TO BE RELEASED MARCH.

hey guys i would like your comments on books 1,2 and 3 so far thanks, it helps

Great work you are doing here.

Full of suspense,and unpredictable.
Can't wait for the book 4 to be out.

crossfm:
Great work you are doing here.

Full of suspense,and unpredictable.
Can't wait for the book 4 to be out.

thank you very much

WriterX:


thank you very much

You are welcome.
To think you are still new in writing business, and you were able to dish out outstanding works like you did,points to the fact that you are good.

Just keep on keeping on.

crossfm:


You are welcome.
To think you are still new in writing business, and you were able to dish out outstanding works like you did,points to the fact that you are good.

Just keep on keeping on.

thnaks for the kind words, will keep the books coming

WRITERS UPDATE


VOLUME FOUR SAINTS AND COPS



HELLO MY DEAR READERS.

So half way through the writing, of my volume 4 titled FROM SOKOTO WITH LOVE i realized its story line carried the elements of my volume 8; which is a three volume pack including the finale (8,9 and 10.) ending season 1 and i had to stop writing it.

However COPS AND SAINTS now billed for volume 4, no doubt will deliver a top notch crime thriller story as expected and should be ready by march, thanks for reading and most importantly for waiting this long.


Thanks- writerX.

WRITER'S UPDATE

Okay good news, i think there is good chance , my forth installment might be ready by the first week of march, the story is coming up very well and i am firing all cylinders to get it fully done as fast as i can.

WriterX:
WRITER'S UPDATE

Okay good news, i think there is good chance , my forth installment might be ready by the first week of march, the story is coming up very well and i am firing all cylinders to get it fully done as fast as i can.

patiently waiting. Just take your time.

CHAPTER ONE



‘Shit.’ Cyril said, snapping at himself just as the cabinet of indexed files fell on ground.

He hadn’t paid attention to the weight of the cabinet when he pulled it with much force than was really needed as if his day hadn’t totally gone off a different path than he had planned when he arrived at the bureau that morning however it was inevitable that his boss asked for the closed file to sign off; the same case file he had paid no attention to where he kept it.

He was still battling to get the mess of files and documents that filled the tiled floor sorted out when he heard mike’s voice outside his office door.

‘Hey Dc, there is a woman here to see, I told her you were busy with another.’ He paused to laugh as hard as he could. ‘she didn’t seem so pleased after I said that but she says she will wait her turn, should I let her slide in?’ he asked.

He hadn’t been expecting anyone nor had he any appointment, probably a press personnel he thought.
‘thanks mikey but no, like you said I am busy with another one.’ He paused to hear mike laugh once more. ‘just tell her, some other time, maybe tomorrow 8 a.m, thanks.’ He concluded seeing how hectic it could be for him at the moment, definitely he was in no condition to see or talk with anyone.

‘sure no problem, I will tell her she has to wait her turn like every other woman.’ Mike replied In between laughter before he turned to leave.
However he had guessed right, the mess did manage to steal his entire day barely leaving his office the entire time, now he thought of it as he laid his hands on the one case file he really was searching for, it seemed only fair if he asked for a new filing cabinet once he got the file signed.
He made his way out of his office and headed for the boss’s office who unfortunately had already left the building an hour ago; for it was past 4 p.m, the closing hours at the bureau.

“what a waste of a day” he thought to himself as he frowned at his watch which confirmed his suspicions, he made his way to his office and got his portfolio and his keys out, if he was lucky he could still get a good plate of Egusi and pounded yam from Mama Dera’s place, at least that should settle the day’s woes.

He made his way to the main building hall where he could find his way out however his eyes did catch a woman at the visitor’s lounge, she laid on her side, perhaps she was tired from waiting that long and had fallen asleep.

Definitely she had to be the woman mike was talking about earlier and he had kept her waiting all day, he sighed bitterly at the thought of missing out on a good dinner at mama dera’s place.

He made his way to the visitor’s lounge and softly tapped her.

‘Excuse me madam, are you looking for someone?’ he asked as she stretched a bit upon waking up.
‘yeah, yes. I was told to wait for a detective, detective

CONTINUED



Cyril.’ She paused as if realizing she had been asleep all this time. ‘Oh my God, I slept off, I must have missed him.’ She said bitterly.
She was quite young, younger than he had predicted however her protruding stomach told him, she was an expecting mother possibly in her first trimester and now he thought about it, he did feel bad about making her wait.

‘No, he hasn’t left, he is talking to you right now.’ Cyril said calmly as she winced her eyes as if to observe him more closely.
‘oh you are detective Cyril?’ she asked somewhat uncertain

‘yes madam, and I am terribly sorry for keeping you waiting all this time, I had no idea who was.’

‘its okay, I didn’t think I would even see you at all, please sir.’ She paused to fight off her tears for a brief moment. ‘please sir, I need help sir.’ She said.

Cyril had no idea of what was happening at the moment, could she be in trouble and needed help or was it something else, anyways it didn’t really matter, the bureau wasn’t open to the public directly, all cases usually had to be reported to the police who then upon proper assessment in terms of the manner of severity then transfer the cases to the bureau.

This seemed like one of the many rising issues the bureau was now facing in recent times, unsolicited cases brought forward by the victims or those close to them which he would have to turn down due to the strict policies and regulations the bureau was working with however he had kept her waiting for hours, it only seemed fair he listened to her.

He led her back to his office where he intended to listen to her perhaps there was someone within the police he knew that could help her.
‘what is it that I can help you with madam?’

‘its my husband, detective.’ She replied wiping a tear off her face.

‘what is wrong with him, did he do something to you, is he alright or is he in some kind of trouble?’ Cyril replied hoping to get more details.
‘No detective, he is dead.’ She said bitterly as she began to cry as the detective tried to console her as best as he could.
‘madam, I am very sorry for what happened, please how did this happen, I am assuming there is a story and that’s why you are here.’ Cyril said stretching a clean handkerchief off to her so she could wipe her tears.

She did calm herself down, wiping her tears soon after. ‘he was killed detective, they killed him, he was a good man and they branded him a robber and killed him, detective.’ Again the tears stopped her from saying any more.

‘who are they, who did this and when and what did the police say?’ Cyril asked.
‘the police?, my husband was killed just a week after our marriage by the police who branded him a robber, it is the police, detective, they killed my husband’ she replied tearfully.

the odds of him ever taking up the case was almost impossible however he wanted to give her a listening ear.
‘what happened madam, how did this happen?’ Cyril asked calmly.

‘it was three week ago detective, we were just settling down to our honeymoon, my husband is a mechanic and so when one of his costumers called him to help pick up a car for him to drop at the shop, he didn’t think there was anything wrong but I told him not to go, I felt strange about it but he waved it off and said he was going to be back but he never came back, I got a call from someone that my husband had been caught by the police as he tried to evade the police in his stolen car, my husband was paraded alongside four others alleged to be members of a dreaded bank robbery gang, they said they had fingered him out but that was all a lie I swear to you detective, my husband was a good man to the core, a good Christian who saw the good in everyone, he would never ever take what doesn’t belong to him even if he had nothing, for him it was always about his integrity and character and yet he was tortured to death and never got a proper trial.’ She said.

CONTINUED


It was such a pathetic tale that made him angry inside, could the police ever be capable of such, definitely yes, there was always a few rotten eggs that ensured no one saw anything good in the hard work the good police officers put in on a daily base but this was just terrible, he thought to himself.

‘so your husband was framed up and never got to a trial, hmmm what about the others, I mean the supposed members of the group?’ Cyril asked.

‘I have no idea what happened to them, I tried to find out more information but none would say anything about them to me, they have denied every accusations we have made against them, the police would never investigate the police its why when I read the papers and saw a case you handled, I knew the NCIB could get me justice, please will you help me, I don’t have much but I will sell whatever I can or do whatever I can to make sure I get justice for my husband.’ She said with much hope in her eyes.

There was such pain inflicted in her heart by the sad tale she had told, the case seemed like a good one he wouldn’t pass up for another however this days he had no hands in the decision that brought the cases to his desk thanks to his boss and policies that ensured that unsolicited cases were never admissible by the bureau and unfortunately this was unsolicited, hence the dreaded thought of refusing her offer which would hurt her even more.

‘Madam, I will see what I can do, just write out your address, the police station that handled the case and everything you know, let’s see what I can do.’ Cyril said stretching a piece of paper to her.

He may not be solving the case but there was no need for him to discourage or disappoint her right now, eventually at some point she would let go off the pain and move on he thought.

She wrote just as much detail the little piece of paper could take before handling it back to her, some sense of hope had crept on her face.
‘I want the world to know why they decided to frame my husband, a good man, why he was tortured and killed like a common criminal.’ She said painfully as she stood to leave.

He watched the lady take her leave and seemed to pity her even more.

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

‘How is he doing?’ the commissioner asked, putting his glasses down on the desk as Mike entered his office.

‘chief, between bad or worse, I think its worse, the guy already broke two coffee mugs, one of them happened to be my favorite and since he returned he has been in his office, more times than he usually wants to be in there.’ Mike responded disappointedly just as the commissioner shook his head out of pity.

‘Damn it, I should have knew they would let chapo walk, I wouldn’t have signed off the case to him four months ago when I did, a non guilty verdict is completely unacceptable and frankly I didn’t see that coming.’ The commissioner said, almost feeling guilty about his response.

‘hah.’ Mike scoffed. ‘coming from you I think that is even more surprising, come on chief, Chapo isn’t just some average drug lord, he has both economic power and political power to command, it was impossible to tie him to the drug burst, even his own men would never been tempted to testify against him plus the burst was as a result of a call issued to the police for public disturbance, so the cowardly judge deemed the evidences, inadmissible so they let him walk in fact they say he might be

CONTINUED



willing to charge for character defamation.’ Mike hissed. ‘imagine the devil suing for been called the devil.’ He concluded.
‘he keeps getting bolder by every charge he walks freely away from and I still can’t believe none of the key witnesses showed up, that was terrible.’

‘chief what I see as terrible would be for the witnesses to put their lives in danger by testifying in a botched case, you probably know what happened to the last guy who decided to play messiah and testify, hit by a truck just a day after testifying so between saving their ass and serving the country as patriotic citizens it’s obvious they need their ass more and don’t try to raise the whole witness protection program, we both know our police men would gladly turn a blind eye for a deserving bank alert so the case was a doomed one even before Cyril took it.’ Mike replied stretching his whole body so that it covered the full length of the chair as the conversation went on.

‘that’s rather unfortunate.’ The commissioner paused to think for a bit before continuing. ‘you think you can go cheer him up or something.’
‘hahaha, chief I might be a comedian but I am definitely no magician neither am I a motivational speaker and you would need both because you would need some magical words to motivate that guy after that rubbish the cowardly judge spewed at the court house today but so that you don’t feel guilty about sending Cyril on a wild goose chase I will try my best, make you look like the good guy which you are of course.’ Mike sighed. ‘its my coffee mug I came to discuss with you about, I can’t take the secretary’s delicious tea with any other mug, she gave that to me to say thanks and its my favorite like I said already.’ Mike stressed.

‘she gave you a mug to say thanks?, thanks for what exactly?’

‘Ehm.’ Mike paused to clear his throat. ‘chief, that’s confidential, she just said thanks, there is nothing else to it in fact I think I should take my leave now, I just suddenly realized I have much to do now.’ Mike stressed as he got to leave, apparently unprepared to say anything else.

‘just try and talk to Cyril then, i feel bad for the guy, I know he thought chapo would be an easy picking.’

‘I may be an agnostic fella but everyone knows chapo is the devil incarnate, his cases never make it out of the court, Cyril did well, at least he got him up there, that’s an achievement I would be willing to celebrate, chief.’ Mike said with a shrug. ‘I got to go, chief.’

He said one more time before he walked away finally leaving the commissioner to his thoughts.

He was still thinking about his conversation with the detective when one of his work line rung; it was his wife’s brother, a newly promoted state house police officer.

‘Hello davies, how are you doing my boy?

‘hahaha, I am doing just fine sir and you, how is it at the bureau?’

‘everything alright, the usual squabble and all, its okay, so to what do I owe this phone call?’ the commissioner realizing his in-law hadn’t called his personal line.

‘well sir, it’s a case I need help with, I had filed for assistance from the bureau and you may probably receive it soon, as you are aware my promotion came with the inevitable choice of me leaving my comfort zone to somewhere else up here in delta state, sir.’

‘yes, that’s true, your sister is still not happy about your decision to honor that aspect of your promotion but this is the police force we are talking about, anyways go on.’

‘well sir, I took over my office last week and I just realized that there has been three unsolved murders of police men at the station, one happened to be the reason I am now the station’s SHO, its former was the third victim and the murders were never filed, I can’t seem to get any good details on them because the states commissioner isn’t letting me do much, he assured me that it was the pros and cons of the job but I think there is more and I have reason to fear for my safety as well knowing my predecessor might have been maybe assassinated or something.’ The SHO replied.

‘hmm, that’s true, there is definitely course to be worried over this, I will put out an APB out for your case and once the bureau gets hold of it, I will see what I can do as for now, be cautious and play calm. it’s a new post along with a new scenery so just wait until I can get something on the case, alright?’

‘yes commissioner, thank you very much, good bye sir.’ Davies replied before hanging up.

CONTINUED



It wasn’t until Cyril had decided to call it a day and exit the car park he got a knock on the passenger’s window of his car while he tried to engage the gears.

Mike seemed like he had done a marathon to reach him as they exchanged glances.

‘thank God, I got to you in time.’ Mike said as he slid inside cyril’s black sedan. ‘the old man is worried about you, he said if I could try and cheer you up.’ Mike said dully.

‘are you going to try?’ Cyril asked, his question begged for no reply however Mike was the optimistic one here.

‘yeah, sure why not. So I came up with a plan, I know we don’t get to hang out much, work and personal life and all that nonsense in between but here.’ He paused to shove a card itno the dashboard of the car where Cyril could see it. ‘it’s a gym center just around the corner, I am sure you can find your way around it, just be around by 6 this evening and don’t tell me you have a lot doing at home, it won’t work this time. Come around and ask for tracy, they will point you my spot.’ He said however he did see his colleague raise an eye brow after he mentioned that name. ‘we used to date turns out she wanted to do some gym and got me to subscribe at the gym center unfortunately so was her gym instructor working her details if you know what I mean so I pulled her out and broke up with her and now I have three months left on it subscription, its actually nice since I took over her subscription, come around and exercise those tensed and disappointed muscles a bit, you might even be lucky to find some pretty girl winking at you if you are willingly to mingle.’ He said.

‘I will try.’ Cyril said hoping he wouldn’t give his light hearted friend any more reason to stay and chat than he already had.

‘splendid, I will be waiting and if you don’t show up, I will have to spend the whole tomorrow in your office.’ Mike said but it was the tone in which he did say it that made Cyril give his invitation a bit more thought, some few hours beats a whole day with Mike, perhaps he really didn’t have an option here. ‘see you later buddy.’ Mike said before whisking away and out of the car.

Cyril starred at his watch a bit, it was a quarter to four already, he could still get home, take a shower, smoke a cigarette or two with some whiskey, get something light to eat and find his way to the gym center in record time, he nodded to himself reassuringly as he put the car into motion, he may have seen one of the biggest criminals in the country walk but perhaps there was no need to be a cry baby over it, it was all part of his job description, some you get and some you don’t.

He rode out of the car park and made his way into the main road quickly.

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

Along Saphi junction, Delta state, Sergeant Afolbe had just alighted a motorcycle and made his way to his favorite restaurant after a day at the station where he hoped to have dinner and wait out the best part of his evening before he returned back home to his family.

He made his order quickly, pressed by the strong grumblings from his stomach and waited restlessly for it before he caught sight of a hooded figure far off besides where he was seated however he would pay no attention to this figure once the sales girl had placed a tray of his order before him.
At about 8:15 p.m he was almost done with his fifth bottle of beer before he realized how time had flew by perhaps it was the calls he was now getting from his wife which he didn’t bother to answer that made him feel a certain urgency to go home and not the time but he did agree to leave soon after before he noticed the hooded figure earlier on approach him with something in his hands.

Blurry vision and an unsteady body made it impossible for him to see the hand gun that was now been pointed at him but once he managed to see the other costumers in sheer panic as they tried to run out of the restaurant, he did know something was wrong right there but the first three shots ensured he had no time left to react.

He slumped to the ground as he tried to wrap his hands around his bleeding neck which seemed like the more lethal of the three shots before he was overshadowed by the hooded figure once more, helpless and breathless as his killer circled him for a bit as if to observe him closely, he knew he wasn’t going to make it out alive when he made out the hand gun pointed at his face once more.

The trigger was squeezed more times than was needed just as empty shells bounced off whatever they could land on before the figure disappeared into the night, leaving the lifeless body of the sergeant in its pool of blood.

CHAPTER TWO


‘you look great Cyril.’ The boss commended the detective as he walked inside his office.

‘well it took only two rounds of boxing and an hour work out session with Mike to let bygones be bygones, thanks Boss.’ A much relaxed Cyril said as he took his seat.

‘well don’t thank me yet, I got something I want you to take a look at, if you like it you could check it out if you don’t I won’t force it on you until I am certain I can.’ His boss replied shoving a file at him.

‘It’s the police branch my wife’s younger brother has been promoted to some weeks back, he has reasons to believe men of the force at that branch are been targeted by some unknown gun men or gun man, yesterday the numbers of slain officers went from three to four over a space of two months.’ The commissioner added as Cyril took a look at the statement issued by the branch’s SHO.

‘but that is police business, shouldn’t they be going after this persons or person, I mean we all know they like to handle such cases on their way own, the numbers are alarming but aren’t they doing something about it?’ Cyril asked.

‘well I don’t know kid but I am a bit worried about the safety of my person over there but I know there are no family business in this line of work which is why i didn’t want anyone on it except some form of higher authority pushed the case through to the bureau but after yesterday’s murder, a call from the states commissioner of the police did officially ask for NCIB’s assistance, its definitely a case worth looking at.’ The commissioner responded hopefully.

‘yeah it seems unlikely you would let me pass out on this one anyway it’s a good case, its not everyday someone or some people have a vendetta against the police and be bold enough to go on a killing spree, I will take the case, boss.’ Cyril said.

‘excellent, just go through the file at your own convenience, the SHO is my person as I already said, he is a good man and will be of help to you, when you ready for your road trip just let me know what you need.’ The commissioner said happily, dismissing his detective soon after.

Cyril returned back to his office to find mike well seated and relaxed, waiting for him.

‘waoh, so you go and say thanks to the old man and he greets you with a case, hahaha.’ Laughed Mike as Cyril took his seat. ‘and that man has guts ,just remind me not to go see him after, I don’t want any more cases than I already have for now.’ Mike said.

‘well since you are here, what do you think.’ Cyril said sliding the case file over to Mike who seemed hesitant to take a look at it.

‘if it has no romance, scandal, botched love affair or anything that would get me entangled with the rich guys and all, just don’t bother because I have no affinity for action thrillers, no offense. They just don’t pay me enough to risk my ass for such stuff.’ Mike said observing the case file name closely. ‘well, it sounds like what I just said I hate to get involved with.’ Mike concluded sliding the file back.

‘someone or some persons are targeting police officers at some branch in delta state, they need NCIB assistance to track or uncover what is going on over there.’ Cyril said ignoring his friend’s disposition.

‘uhm, police business? And they want to involve the NCIB in it, that’s not something you here every day, they must be in real serious shit to ask NCIB for assistance, don’t you think?’ Mike said.

‘yeah it’s what I said earlier but I suppose it is serious business, four officers have been killed already but then again the police tend to act like the military when it comes to personal stuff, they just hate to share but I will find out what is going on over there one way or the other.’ Cyril replied.

‘well good luck DC and if you need any help from the media assuming the police would want to play tough with you on this, I have got someone at the delta branch of the National Television Broadcast, NTB, her name is Jennifer, she is a top professional journalist and she is single.’ Mike winked at Cyril before scribbling a number into a paper.

‘do you always try to match every single guy or girl you know while on the job?’ Cyril asked dully as Mike stood to take his leave.

CONTINUED



‘hahaha, just the good ones DC, just the good ones.’ Mike replied cheaply as he walked out.

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

Captain Bosaki Junior made his way out hurriedly and away from the mortuary, he arrived at the patrol van just enough to find Lieutenant judge aka Marshall and lieutenant Fredrick waiting for him.

‘you didn’t bother to come in and take a look at the sarge?’ Bosaki asked the men who seemed distant and unwilling to say anything at the moment.


‘where are the boys, what are they doing now?’ Bosaki said producing a pack of cigarette from the van and lighting one up for a quick smoke.

‘Andrew didn’t show up for work today, he says he is not fine and the other two went to greet the family.’ Marshall replied.

‘okay, everyone listen up and this should go to the other three. Whatever is happening obviously has something to do with what happened. Mark, Akpos, Segun and now Afobe are good indications that this persons or person knows.’ He paused to catch fredrick’s agitated stare but then decided to ignore it. ‘but more than that, we have to keep calm because I just got words that we are having a detective from NCIB soon who will be investigating the deaths, its important none of you act out of character or do something that would put any sort of suspicion on us whilst I figure out a way for us to get to this persons or person doing this.’ Bosaki said.

‘so we are just going to do nothing and let this person pick us up one by one, just like that?’ Fredrick asked out of fear.

‘yeah but if you would prefer been arrested and tried for the other thing which you damn well know this is really about then go for it or maybe you have some better idea you want to share with us?’ Bosaki replied, easily irritated by fredrick’s response.

‘actually I do sir, I think if this is about what happened then Piggy must know something about all this.’ He paused and turned to Marshall. ‘don’t tell me you are not thinking it too, that rat must have said something to someone, I bet it had to be him.’ Fredrick continued as all three exchanged glances at each other, uncertainty soon evaded their gathering as none said anything soon after.

‘Marshall what do you think about this, you have been silent.’ Bosaki asked but marshal merely shrugged, avoiding having to answer his superior.

‘Well then, I will personally go see him this evening and talk to him in the mean time , inform the others, I want them at the club by 9 p.m this evening, its mandatory.’ He sighed. ‘you are right, we can’t just wait and let this bastards pick us out that easily, we will talk later.’ He added before he walked away.

Marshall and Fredrick watch him return to his car at the opposite parking space and ride out of sight.

‘you know you could have said something while he was here.’ Fredrick said with frustration written all over his face.

‘what do you want me to say freddy, the captain is as worried as we all are, he is doing his best, just take your gun wherever you go and look at the faces that you come across twice, clearly this people aren’t targeting our families so you just got to watch out for yourself in the main time.’ Marshall said in such a cheeky manner that made Fredrick boil inside.

‘I can’t believe what you are saying right now but no problem, I just hope its not you that gets shot in the face next, don’t wait for me I am taking a taxi.’ Fredrick said before bolting out of sight as marshal watched on a bit startled by Fredrick’s reaction.

But it didn’t really matter anyway, Fredrick had no spine beneath his massive frame in fact he had wondered what luck had kept him alive all this time they have been the station’s improvised team of Crime patrol squad but then again such was fate.

CONTINUED



Mordecai’s Motel was one of the odd looking places to get a room to pass the night however it had stood the test of time; over a period of thirty years and across two generations perhaps it was more of a symbol of a relic passed down to Rebecca and her junior brother after the demise of their parents but she worked it hard day and night never the less and at 9: a.m in the morning Cyril walked in with his portable travelling bag; the hotel fit what his bank account had to offer at the moment.

He made his way to the courter where at a close distance he could see a rusted platform where a bunch of keys hug idle however he didn’t find anyone behind it.

The courter stood by the side of a long passage which held six doors within; three on each side denoting six rooms and a large window by the side of an exit door at the end which gave the passage a good amount of light, he hadn’t made up his mind on what next to do before he heard some voices behind him letting him turn to stare at the faces.

Three male teenagers who seem to freeze as their eyes met his, he could tell the boys seem scared but it didn’t matter to him.
‘Do you work here?’ Cyril asked calmly at the one who seemed the oldest of the three.

‘No.’ he hesitated. ‘well, my sister works here and I just assist her when she is not around.’ Dammy replied as he walked over to the courter while the other two found a bench to sit on with prying eyes still on the detectives.

‘Okay then. I need a room, can you help me with that?’ Cyril asked as the seemingly unsettled youngster watched on as though he was lost in a trance. ‘hello, I said I need a room.’ Cyril imposed having got no answer from his first reply.

‘Oh am sorr, Ehn. What type of room do you need, we have executive and standard.’ Dammy replied.

Cyril seemed startled for a bit for the rooms did seem the same or at least so it seemed.

‘you have standard and executive rooms here, whats the difference?’ Cyril asked.

‘well the standard have no fans and the beds are placed directly on the floor but the executive have fans, a good window where you can get a good view and cool breeze in the evening and the bed have good frames.’ Dammy explained smartly.

‘okay I will take the standard room then.’ Cyril said with steady eyes, the kid had slipped up through his body language and eye contacts when he spoke, this was definitely a scheme.

‘Ehn you want to take the standard room, oh well sir, That is 2000 per night if you go for the executive I could be willingly to let you stay for just 2500.’

‘I am okay with the standard.’ cyirl replied as he caught sight of a paper plastered close by where it read the same amount although as he had already guessed the amount was for all rooms which made Cyril believe he was indeed saying the truth about the price.

‘hold on.’ Cyril said dipping his pocket so he brought out some money to count. ‘this is fourteen thousand naira which should cover a week for now, handing the money over to the dammy who counted it before giving a reassuring nod to the detective.

‘okay sir but since you decided to pay like this and you are new here, I think its only fair that on behalf of the management that I let you stay in an executive room, you can’t reject the offer its management policy for first timers who pay on the spot.’ Dammy replied picking a key from the hung platform before

CONTINUED



walking out of the courter. ‘right this way Minster.’ He paused and signaled his two friends to help the detective with his bag which however the detective refused.

He made his way into the room with dammy closely behind.

‘if you need to take a bath, take the exit door, outside are two bathrooms and two toilets opposite each other, if you want my advice don’t use the left toilet and never ever use the right bathroom, they are no good.’ Dammy said before Cyril watched him walk away before deciding to do same.

He unpacked and merely changed his coat before bolting out to the station, It was a bright day still filled with life and a lot of energy.

He arrived at the Agbira Police Station a little late than he had expected, the directions he got hadn’t been straight forward as he had hoped but he made it still.

‘I am Detective Cyril Oderga from NCIB, can I see the officer in charge here?’ he asked one of the two constables behind the courter as he flashed his id card at them.

‘NCIB Detective?.’ One of them asked, almost to himself as the other stared inquisitively at Cyril.

‘that should be Mr. davies, I would like to see him.’ Cyril added sensing the hesitation in their expression to oblige to his request.

‘Right this way sir.’ One of them replied finally, , walking out of the courter and into the passage by the side, the detective followed closely, luckily the office was just the third door on the right with a wooden tagged inscribed SHO DAVIES.

The constable led him inside where he found a young officer probably around his forties and quite good looking.

‘You must be detective Cyril.’ Davies said stretching his hand out for an handshake as the constable took his leave.
‘Good day sir. Yes I am.’ Cyril replied as they both shook hands.

‘thank you for coming down, please have your seat detective.’ Davies responded pointing the detective, one of the two vacant chairs before his desk.

‘I guess you already read up our problem here at the station, I believe someone has been targeting members or if I should say officers of this police station, the accidents have been random.’ He said producing a file from one of the opened drawers and handing it out to the detective. ‘this is all the basic information of the slain officers and the statements based on their death my men could gather, I honestly don’t seem a pattern myself but it can’t be a coincidence that four police officers have been killed within a space of two months, I think its odd and calls for an investigation.’ Davies said with deep concerns.

‘yeah you are right sir. I will do what I can but in the mean time I think its reasonable to put all your officers on high alert of a possible threat to their lives, they should be on the steady watch out for now, if they see or hear anything they should be able to report that in.’ Cyril replied as Davies nodded.

‘yes, I did think of that and had issued an alert to all my officers once I learnt of what was happening.’ He paused for a moment, seemingly remembering something he hadn’t made mention of. ‘I must introduce you to my captain, Mr. Bosaki Nuhu, he will be assisting you with whatever you need but you will be reporting to me directly that is of course if you want to, I understand NCIB have strict rules and policy regarding their investigations.’ Davies concluded.

‘yes we do but I understand this is police business so I am going to do whatever I can to ensure both parties are satisfied with my work here In the main time.’ Cyril said as he watched davies ring someone at the station.

After which they heard a knock on the door.

‘come in, captain.’ Davies said as captain bosaki walked in, in full combat gear. ‘is there a problem, captain?’ davies as unsettled by his captain appearances.

‘yes sir, the Tactical Patrol and Crime Response Unit have just responded to a bank robbery currently on going within the town, I am assembling my team and about to head out when you called me in.’ he replied.

‘Oh I see, well then this introduction will have to wait.’ Davies said.

‘captain if you don’t mind, I could go with you, I have enough military training and experiences in this kind of things.’ Cyril said as Bosaki turned to look at him, a bit perplexed by the detective’s response but davies had seen him stare such that he knew he had to introduce the two officers.

‘Captain, this is Detective Cyril from NCIB, the one who will helping us with the investigation of the slain police men.’ Davies said however Bosaki gave no courtesy to davies reply.

‘Okay sir but I will have to be on my way now, the team is waiting for me.’ Bosaki said before he took one look at Cyril and walked out.

‘I am sorry for his sort of attitude, he is what you call a hard core professional police officer and one of the best here at the station.’ Davies said.
‘the constable will show you to an unused office, I had it prepared once I got the information you will be arriving, its not much but I am sure it will be okay.’ He added as Cyril gave a nod.

Once he got out of the office, he made his way to the courter where one of the constables seemed to be waiting for him.

‘Sir, here is the key to the office, it’s the last office by the left, if you need anything, you can just ring us.’ The constable said stretching a key out to him.

He returned back to the passage and made his way to his new office which actually did seem convenient for him, an air conditioner, some good space, one big widow, a small cabinet with a desk and two chairs.

He threw the file on the desk and slid into the chair, the clock on the wall read 11:38 am perhaps he could rest for some minutes or an hour before he got down to business.

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

By 8:15 pm, Cyril returned to his motel, the day had been slow whilst he had read up through the files it still wasn’t enough, the first two officers were killed at a road block whilst the former SHO was killed along side his supposed girl friend at some hotel and the late sergeant was murdered at a local eatery, there was no obvious connection between the officers apart from the fact they were all officers attached to the same station however with different rankings, it was going to be hard to find out how exactly they were connected.

‘Excuse me sir.’ A Cool voice called out as he walked past the courter; it was a little bit dark now as there was no light at the motel nor was there a generator set to supply light. Just a touch illuminated the place.

The detective turned to stared, he could see clearly Rebecca over the courter.

‘where you the one, dammy collected fourteen thousand naira from?’ she said politely as Cyril drew near.

‘Yes, I checked in this morning, is there any problem?’ he asked, unsure over what she was getting at.

‘Am so sorry about that sir.’ She said dolefully. ‘here is eight thousand, four hundred naira.’ She said producing the money out for the detective. ‘a night is eight hundred, please don’t be annoyed, I am guessing he showed you one of those fake prints he hangs over there.’ She said pointing to the direction where Cyril had found the print that confirmed the dammy’s words; apparently it was a fraud.

‘Am very sorry about that, I have dealt with him and before the day is over, I have told him to go apologize to you, he is not a thief just having a lot of problems at the moment.’ Rebecca said silently.

Cyril smiled dully, he had underestimated the kid’s ability to trick him.

‘thank you.’ Cyril said collecting the money back and stuffing it inside his pocket.

‘if you need anything at all, I or my brother run this place together, just be careful when you are dealing with him especially when it involves money and you can always confirm your transactions with me.’ Rebecca concluded before Cyril gave a nod and walked away, he had to set out a plan for his investigation and go through the files once more perhaps there was something he hadn’t yet picked up.

‘Am sorry, did you hear anything about a bank robbery today?’ Cyril asked.

‘Oh yes, one of the commercial banks was robbed today sir.’ Rebecca replied.

‘I see, where there any casualties and where the robbers caught?’ Cyril asked again.

‘oh I don’t think any were caught, they said they didn’t stay around for long, came in quickly and left before the police got a chance to engage them in, some people were killed though.’ Rebecca replied.

‘okay, I hope the police get the bastards responsible for this.’ Cyril said before he walked away.

CHAPTER FOUR



By 4:15 am in the early hours of the morning, Cyril had made his conclusions having slept at the office , his night was less memorable as he read through and wrote out whatever he felt were important from the files which wasn’t really much for the last three murders had little to nothing to go about perhaps best identified as random shootings with the killer been a complete mystery but the forth wasn’t for there were witnesses who saw the hooded killer perhaps even the sales girl who served both men was willingly to say more once he paid her a visit.

He did his press ups and pull ups and reloaded his firearms and made for the bathroom however he did take the advice of Dammy, using the facilities as he did tell him to,it was when he was returning he noticed a dammy standing at the front of his door knocking but dammy had caught sight of him and stopped knocking.

‘Good morning sir.’ Dammy said dully as such that gave his guilt away.

‘How are you?’ Cyril replied as he approached the youngster.

‘my sister wanted me to.’ He paused and gave a sigh. ‘I wanted to apologize sir for trying to trick you out of your money, am sorry sir.’ Dammy continued.


‘What was it for?’ Cyril asked.

‘what are you talking about?’ dammy asked.

‘the money, what was it for, do you owe someone or are you into something?’ Cyril asked but dammy didn’t seem interested in talking any further.
‘I needed some money to complete my school fees, I have exams this week and you are the only customer we have had in three weeks now, so we are not making a lot of money here.’ Dammy said.

‘what’s your name?’ Cyril asked realizing he didn’t know the kid’s name.

‘Damien but everyone calls me dammy.’ Dammy said.

‘do you want to make some money?’ Cyril asked with steady eyes.

‘yes I want to but there isn’t a lot of work and none pays a lot in these parts you see.’ Dammy replied.

‘I got some clothes inside that needs washing and my car could use some washing, if you can do the washing and the laundry then I can pay you for it, what do you think?’ Cyril said garnering a smile from dammy who nodded happily.

‘sure, anything sir. Thank you very much sir, I will go wash the car immediately.’ Dammy replied.

‘okay, wait here while I go get you the keys.’ Cyril said before he walked inside to get the keys which he handed to the boy once he reappeared.
He watched dammy hop out of sight happily before he went back in, the kid seemed okay at the moment.

At 8:35 am, he had arrived at the station where he found captain bosaki and his patrol squad of four other police men besides a patrol van, it seemed they were on their way out.

He hadn’t had enough time yesterday to talk with the captain or any other person within the station hence it was vital for him to see Bosaki.
Hurriedly he joined them once he got out of his car.

‘Detective, good morning.’ Bosaki said with a dull smile; he seemed a bit happier than yesterday Cyril thought to himself as he drew nearer.
‘am sorry we didn’t have enough time to properly introduce ourselves, I am captain bosaki, this is lieutenant Fred and judge but we call him marshall.’ Bosaki said pointing to the two other officers who merely waved at Cyril. ‘and those two are Andrew and Paul, we are sort of the tactical response squad here and we were about to held out for patrolling.’ Bosaki said.

‘And I am guessing the patrol is going to take a long time, I would have hoped I could get you all settled down to some questions about the dead officers and also I need to see one or two witnesses at the last crime scene.’ Cyril asked letting bosaki think for a minute.

‘Well I can’t say when we will be back, we have quite an extensive line of duty to carry out today but.’ He paused to think but this time he seemed to stare at the faces of his other four comrades. ‘Okay, let’s do it this way, why not Andrew go around with you today, he could help you with navigating around, I mean I would have hoped I could help you out here but our hands are occupied at the moment.’ Bosaki suggested.

It wasn’t the best choice or option for Cyril but at least he wasn’t leaving him empty handed.

‘okay, sure. That should be okay for now I think.’ Cyril said.

‘okay.’ Bosaki replied turning to Andrew who seemed a bit unease by the captain’s decision. ‘andrew, please take care of the detective, if there is anything you need just call us, is that okay?’ bosaki asked.

‘yes sir.’ Andrew said with a nod before bosaki and the rest of the crew took the patrol van and drove off whilst Cyril and Andrew watched the vehicle disappear out of sight.

‘Okay officer Andrew, I am going to go drop a few stuff inside and then we can begin.’ Cyril said as he took his leave hurriedly.
A few minutes later, he was out on the road with Andrew, thankfully Andrew had been able to direct him to the restaurant where he was supposed to meet his key eye witness.

‘Is it okay if I wait inside the car?’ Andrew asked.

‘is there anything wrong?’ Cyril asked, unsure of why Andrew had asked to stay inside the car.
‘No, its just that, we were here to remove the body of afobe from the scene, I still have a lot of pictures of the gory scene in my head.’ Andrew said dolefully.

‘okay, sure. You can stay in, I would be done very soon.’ Cyril reassured the young police officer before he walked out of the car.

He made his way into the restaurant and quickly noticed the spot where the crime seemed to have taken place due to the fact that the management had placed any chairs there even when there was no blood stained anywhere, he was soon introduced to the

CONTINUED



sales girl who had made a statement and wasted no time in getting her to talk more about what she had seen that evening.

‘yes, like I said it was just like any other day, there were like six customers already here before the sergeant walked in.’ she said as Cyril collaborated her words with what he had written down on his jotter.

‘so the killer was already here before the sergeant, is that right.’ Cyril asked which the sales girl gave a nod to. ‘you said he was wearing a hood and sun glasses , but what was he like, any thing you could remember would be of help.’ Cyril continued.

‘I know he was tall that’s all and I think he is also left handed as well.’ She said thoughtfully as she recounted her experience.

‘Left handed you say? But how could you tell that, you made no mention of this in your statement, did he take anything at the restaurant?’ Cyril asked.

‘no sir but I was called to clear up a customer’s table when I saw him standing up and pulling a gun out of his belt holder from behind, he held the weapon in his left hand, I instantly froze but he didn’t seem to be after anyone except the sergeant, thankfully I was able to regain my senses and flee for my life.’ She recounted.

This piece of information could prove to be integer to his investigations, a left hand shooter was not a common in fact this could be his big break to connect all four murders together.

‘is there anything else you remember?’ Cyril asked as he scribbled her last response into his jotter as the sale girl seemed to have given his question some hard thought however she shook her head suggesting she hadn’t nothing else to say.

‘well, thank you very much for agreeing to speak with me, if there is anything you remember, please call me.’ Cyril said writing his number out on a piece of paper which he handed over to the girl before he took his leave.


He returned to the car shortly where he had a conversation with Andrew about the medical statements of slain officers.

‘I doubt we have copies of those at the station but we can go back to the station and check out the names of the hospital and go see if they have the records with them.’ Andrew suggested.

It seemed like a wild goose chase but if he could get the medical reports he could determine the number of shots, which were fatal and other details that could help him connect the officers, perhaps he was dealing with a killer who had the same modus operandi of killing his targets, it was vital he made the connection.

‘okay no problem, lets go then.’ Cyril said, before he turned on the ignition of the car on and drove away.

By 11: 14 am, he arrived at the second hospital where segun had been rushed to, it was clearly a fifty-fifty situation, having been unable to get the medical reports of the other two officers killed at a road block.

He made contact with the doctor and was handed his second big lucky break, the medical report of the third slain officer however he was quick to note the differences in both murders.

Segun had been shot just three times, twice in the back, and one that blew his jaws away, perhaps the first two shots had made him turn as he went to the ground only to be shot at for the third time, there had been no witnesses as well, the shots had no alignment and with his failed attempt to get the other two, his hopes of getting some sort of link between all four as having the same murderer might have just faded away.

‘who were the first respondents at the scene where the other two police officers at the check point were killed?’ Cyril asked Andrew once he returned back to his car.

‘That would be the captain, lieutenant Fredrick and Marshal.’ Andrew replied.

He didn’t need afobe’still had the medical report of afobe to check up on but with the first respondents could also help him to provide the details he needed.

CHAPTER FIVE



‘We took nothing of it, it wouldn’t be the first time a police man was gunned down at the checkpoint, I mean it is why its called a check point, you are out there looking for the criminal elements on the roads.’

Bosaki said hours later when Cyril had finally gotten a chance to speak with him concerning the medical reports of the first two slain officers.
‘so no one asked for a medical report?’ Cyril said most certainly disappointed.

‘well, by the time we realized they were late and hadn’t reported in and of course people had already started calling in, it was already too late, we deposited their bodies at the morgue and contavcted the families immediately.’ Bosaki said.

‘what do you think captain, what did you think about their murders, some fallout with some persons or what? What was the rumor at the time?’ Cyril asked scribbling some notes into his jotter.

‘well there wasn’t much but here is what I can say, four days after the murders, one of the microfinance banks was robbed, we think perhaps the two officers might have actually been the first set of people who saw this guys, the bank robbers I mean.’ Bosaki replied.

Cyril did give it a thought for a minute as bosaki watched on closely.

‘of course its just rumors, we were unable to get any of the bank robbers because by the time were on the scene , they had already gone.’ Bosaki added.

‘I see, I was told you had a personal relationship with sergeant afobe, how well do you two know each other.’ Cyril asked.
‘well he is a good man, he was the one who introduced me to my wife just so you know, he is a disciplinary and by the book type of person, which is why I admire him, he was more like a brother to me than a senior officer.’ Bosaki said dully.

‘do you think he was in any sort of trouble or maybe threatened by someone or anything that could have put him at risks, you guys arrest a lot of bad guys every now and then, any person in particular that may have stood out?’ Cyril asked again, he didn’t know what his questions could bring out but he was determined to ask every question he could think of while he had the chance.

‘uhm its hard to say, we are police men, our job has us against every miscreant and scum of the earth, its hard for a police man to pick out an enemy than it is for a soldier but the sergeant was quite friendly, sure he has had his run-ins with some people over the time but none I believe that would pose a direct threat to his life.’ Bosaki replied.

As guessed already afobe was beginning to sound like a dead end for him.

‘if that Is all I would like to take my leave, my wife’s goods are stuck on the road, I already took permission as well.’ Bosaki said.
‘okay, thank you very much.’ Cyril said showing him the door as bosaki took his leave.

‘if you are not too busy detective, maybe you can come around spectre’s bar by 8 in the evening, me and the squad were supposed to celebrate fredrick’s promotion to lieutenant but it has been on hold for long so we decided to do that this night, you can get to ask the boys a few questions as well.’ Bosaki recommended.

The idea sounded good and there was still segun the deceased SHO who he still had nothing on.

‘sure, just text me the address some time and I will try to be around.’ Cyril replied, letting bosaki smile out of his office.