₦airaland Forum

Okay, nice update. Impressive writing style. And as usual, you've got a brilliant sense of description.

To extract from Dicken's classic:

"Please, sir, I want some more."

VanTee20: Waiting for an update you mean? I have just updated. You probably haven't seen it. Kindly use the go up button sir.

Or do you mean something else?

Okay, thanks bro. I didn't know. Off to read.

Guys are waiting.

ezeigbo194: larrysun Omoh u can flater eh....... Chai gals must to the fall for u wella

Bt mr larrysun aiint u gon update

LOL! You're very funny. I don't even know who makes me laugh harder between you and Flakeey.

Update coming up in a moment.

[quote author=Damex333][/quote] Me Ariel? Not in a long shot. I don't even drink.

Nice conjectures, Dammy. We shall know soon enough.

HisMajesty1: I think Tunde Johnson called everyone on phone... I think Hannah, Miss Simon and Ariel have a hand in Jamal's death.

Three people planned Jamal's death? Okay, we shall see.

Toeyean1507: I'm actually suspecting Miss simon and Ariel. Lemme c again. Well,after using CHI SQUARE test to analyze d situation, I rejected d null hypothesis that there's no relationship btw d knife and d receipt. Thus,leaving me to conclude that there is a strong association btw d two....................*winks

Lol! Chi Square? What's that? Nice analysis by the way.

Ladycarol: For the first question ,ariel.don't ask me why it just pop in my mind ,he has been so flawless i smell a rat ,2 the receipt for the knife n probably the gun 3 dat was Abel n who killed him well i don't know n Larry something eludes me you called the jamals children on phone

Okay, we shhall know how right you are.

For your question, the story will answer it.

Thank you, ma'am.

elpiroski: Ahh, the time to unravel the mysteries is nigh

Following like kilode

Thank you, sir.

Beretta92: Now the plot is at its thickest. Larry, I'm still here. Silently following. You're the best.

Thanks a lot, Beretta. I always feel glad seeing you around.

Queenxstar: Cross and uncross legs in anticipation.

Okay, Queen dear. Coming.

ezeigbo194: lol does dat even count Omoh no be only lips suppose sexy nw

update abeg no vex......its getting *bader* lol

Your words are sexy too.

[quote author=rapmike][/quote]Wow! The mechanisms of your oiled intellectual gears never fail to amaze me. Let's see how close you are.

Thanks, buddy.

Flakeey: Abeg sir, na u go answer ya kwesions by yasef o
because me i cannot come and go and kill mysef away

LOL!!! Okay.

Adinije: 1) Miss simon, still remains my number suspect.
2) The second corpse was Abel and I suspect David
As for the receipt, I have no idea.

Okay. We shall know how right you are. Thanks, ma'am.

Flakeey: wow wow wow

i'm awed

u ar really good, Larry...

any hope for more update today
can't wait for the showdown proper

The update shall come later in the day.

Thanks a bunch, Flake.

seunviju: I no even sabi ansa any of those questions o.Make I just keep my finger crossed.Thanks for the update

Okay, Seun viju. You're highly welcome.

whitemosquito: CHAPTER THREE

Mrs MaryAnne Eustacia Olaniyi was an Iron lady.

You gotta be kidding me!

Happy birthday, buddy. I wish you the very of the best things you wish yourself.

Have fun.

Cheers!

IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE READERS PAUSE IN THEIR PERUSAL OF THE STORY AT THIS POINT, MAKE THEIR OWN SOLUTIONS OF THE MYSTERY––AND THEN SEE HOW CLOSE THEY COME TO THAT OF THE AUTHOR.

IN THE MEAN TIME, THE READERS SHOULD TRY TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AND SEE HOW MANY THEY GOT CORRECTLY.

WHO KILLED JAMAL?

WHAT RECEIPT OF PURCHASE DID LOT AND DANIEL LEAVE TO SEARCH?

WAS THE SECOND CORPSE ABEL? WHO KILLED HIM?

AUTHOR.

Flakeey: nice update brother..

keep it coming

thanks boss

Thanks a lot, Flake.

Toeyean1507: . Lolz. Well,u gave an avenue for love.............*winks

I love seeing love bloom.

bigsholly: I can boldly say Remi and mr Johnson are not the real killer here though they may have their own little Secret they are hidding. Am suspecting two people here but I don't want to spill anything, let wait for my larrysun to do tha very soon we will change your name from larrysun to agent larrysun from FBI

FBI! LOL! The job is more suited for Lot.

rapmike: I never liked Remi. Her good self was a bit too little to like, considering the way she started behaving in the house.

As for Dan and Lot, I believe Daniel could deal with her better because he had known her before( spent a night in her place and had spoken to her when she was off pressure i.e before Jamal's death.) That convo at his room before the murder will prove crucial and with Lot exposing her and her father's deceitfulness, Daniel was bound to take it strongly with her.

Wow! What a deduction.

ezeigbo194: i dnt tink am as handsome as him

You've got sexy lips.

“She’s definitely hiding something.” Said Daniel.

Lot turned to him, “Are you sure it was Remi you saw run across your window that night?”

This question offended Daniel; he said, “You think I didn’t know what I saw? I’m telling you it was her who ran past my window.”

“The correct pronoun is ‘she’,” Lot corrected, “If she was really the person who ran past your window, then that explains it.”

“Explains what?” asked Daniel. “And thanks for the grammatical correction.”

“That explains how much she’s in love.”

“You’re not making sense once again.”

“You shall understand what I mean very soon.”

“Who should I call in now? The dog?”

‘The dog won’t tell us anything, it will only bark or bite. I don’t want to take that chance.”

“I thought you said you communicate with dogs. It’s only the dog that might have seen who killed Jamal. I’m hoping you might get the truth out of Trinity.”

Lot pretended not to have heard him. He said, “We’ve got eight suspects that might have committed the crimes. One of these suspects is the murderer. We’re on the cusp of something big here, Famous.”

“I expect you to have known the identity of the murderer by now. You’re a detective—a detective is expected to have known the guilty even before the end of the investigation. And the investigation has ended already.”

“That’s true, and yes, I know who the murderer is.”

“Who?”

“Who do you think it is, Famous? Who among the households do you think is capable of committing the crimes?”

Daniel squeezed his face in thought. He finally said, “This is a very complicated case, sir. In my opinion, I think I can only tell you who is incapable of committing the crimes.”

At that moment, Gladys came into the room carrying a tray bearing food. She carefully placed the tray on the table and removed two plates in which she served steaming rice. She left the stew for the duo to serve themselves.
“You both have been sitting here since early morning and it’s high time you had your lunch. And don’t worry, Detective Lot, the food is not poisoned, I made sure of it.”

Lot gave her a charming smile, “You’re such a darling, Miss Simon. Will you marry me?”

The maid blushed hotly and ran out of the room. Every flesh of her large body wobbled as she made the hasty retreat. Immediately, Daniel and Lot attacked the food with remarkable voracity. Apparently, each party had been as hungry as a prisoner prior the repast. But they had found it awkward to demand for food in a house they were investigating for criminal. Calling their mode of eating a ‘graze’ was not particularly unbefitting to how they dug into the meal. For some minutes, it was only the sounds of cutlery and the noise of their mastication that could be heard. They ate with so much gumption that would make anyone think food was going out of style.

Then between mouthfuls, Lot broke a cardinal table manner and asked, “Weren’t you telling me something before the arrival of the manna?”

“And whatever happened to your table manners?”

“Come off it, Famous, we have no time to waste in this investigation. You said you only knew of who was incapable of committing the crimes.” He replied, raising a spoonful of rice to make emphasis.

“Yes, you already said it. Babies are not capable of committing murders.”

“And the physically-challenged, and the murdered.”

“I believe therefore that the only innocent person is the baby—Christopher I think they call him,” he added, “And Hannah Malik.”

“Hannah might not be entirely innocent after all. Her actions, especially what she told her granddaughter, might have spurred the murder of her husband.”

“One of the remaining seven suspects killed Jamal Malik, but someone else might have killed Abel. It could have been the job of two people.” Daniel waved a pickle slice of fried chicken to make a point.

“And one person could easily have committed both crimes,” Lot countered, “If it were the work of two people, which I seriously doubt, then the identity of Abel’s murderer would automatically be revealed after Jamal’s killer is caught.”

“Evidence points to each and every one of them. I wonder how you were able to narrow it down and determine the murderer among them all.”

“In a murder investigation, there are three things which a detective must ascertain: motive, method and opportunity. Each suspect has a motive for killing those two people, and each of them has a method of committing the crimes. But only one of them, Famous—just one of them has a distinctive, and the most opportunity of committing the crimes.”

“On the contrary, I believe they each have the opportunity.”

“Of course, they do, but they don’t have equal opportunities. Their opportunities vary differently as much as their motives. The major motive behind the crimes is the will. And Jamal called unto himself an early demise when he made a bogus phone call and declared in everyone’s presence that he’d be changing his will the next day—and the murderer acted against that. But what if there is a minor motive? What if the motive behind his death goes deeper than the content of the will? What if the phone call Jamal made wasn’t bogus? What if he actually made that phone call?”

“Are you saying the lawyer lied?”

Lot shook his head vigorously, “For goodness sake, Famous, flick on your mental switch; or stop eating if the rice is going into your head instead of your stomach.”

“I’m sorry, but your last what-if doesn’t make much sense to me if it wasn’t the lawyer he called. I was there, I heard him talk to one Mr. Okafor. He confessed that he was speaking with his lawyer when Mrs. Brown asked a question about the call.”

“What I was trying to tell you is that Jamal pretended to be calling Mr. Okafor but he was really talking to someone else. His intention was to have that someone else present the next day and introduce him to his family members; he wanted to surprise them.”

“Who could that someone else be if not the lawyer?”

“What if he did not speak with Mr. Okafor but with Abel? What if his intention didn’t have anything to do with changing the content of the will because he had already changed what he needed to change in the will? He had already included Abel in the will long before he made that night’s statement. Therefore, two things are bound to have caused Jamal’s death. One: he was killed for the statement he made that night; the murderer didn’t want him to change the will, because he probably knew what the will contained and precisely what change was to be effected. Naturally, the modification of the will would affect him negatively. Two: Jamal was able to confess the identity of whom he called that night to his murderer. Either way, the murderer didn’t want Abel in the family—so Abel had to be eliminated too.

“Do you remember the case of the half-burnt note? The murderer made careful sure that Jamal and Abel did not meet. And after the success of the first murder, the second was quite easy. The murderer sought out where Abel was hiding and shot him in the head. This murderer we’re dealing with is very clever; he made sure the knife was devoid of fingerprints and the gun carefully concealed. Though clever the murderer is, but cleverness isn’t enough to deceive me. Initially, the very things that had always eluded me about this this particular case were pivoted to stopping another killing from happening. But the naughty problem with spree criminals is that their actions are most closely approximate to randomness, with such a wide range of variable that it’s usually only their mistakes that lead to their apprehension. This theory, however, is mildly conclusive, but it’s not some kinds of predictive analysis—it’s psychology.”

“Talking of psychology, I remember coming across a certain old receipt of purchase in the trash can when I first entered this compound with Remi’s father.”

“What receipt are you talking about?”

“I don’t know, but I noticed something strange about the receipt. In the space for the name of the buyer, there were only two letters instead of the full name.”

“Do you know what you’re talking about, Famous?"

“No, I don’t think so. I’m just wondering why the buyer did not put his own full name. Why the initials? But let’s forget about it.”

“What was purchased with the receipt?”

“I can’t remember. It’s only the initials that looked somehow strange to me.”

Lot looked at Daniel as if the young man was starting to drool at the mouth. “What was the initial?” he favoured Famous with a skeptical stare as he asked the question.

“It’s ZB, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t look at me like that. I’ve only been wondering what the initials might mean.”

“ZB,” Lot repeated, and he asked with a frown, “When will you ever make sense, dear Fa—” He stopped himself and asked, “What did you call the initial again, Famous?”

“ZB. Go ahead and gloat.”

Lot’s eyes lit up instantly, “Of course, ZB, the last piece of the puzzle! Daniel, you’ve just solved the case!”

It was the turn of the footballer to frown, “Whatever are you talking about, sir?”

“You’ve just solved the case, Daniel, you just gave me the last piece of the puzzle. You don’t even know what you have done. You’ve solved the case again, Daniel. Once again, you've proved that you're a freaking genius. You’ve solved the case!”

Daniel was confused, all he was able to say was, “I hope so.”

By this time, both men had finished their food and were drinking from the bottles of the Eva water provided. Gladys came in to clear the table. She avoided meeting the detective’s eyes as she packed the dishes onto the fancy tray. When she reached the threshold, Lot called.

“Kindly do me a favour, Miss Simon, call everyone into the living room, including the lawyer and the woman waiting in the next room. Tell them to await me there; I’ll join them in a few minute’s time. You should be there too, Miss Simon.”

“Okay,” Gladys replied and left the room.

Immediately after the maid’s departure, Lot brought out his phone and began making a call. When he was through, Daniel asked who he called.

“I called the police headquarters here in Lagos to send men from the nearest police station around here. Now go out and tell Moses and Ayo to stay on the alert. Nobody is to leave the house.”

Daniel frowned and asked, “Is this necessary?”

“Yes, it is, Famous. As soon as the police men arrives, we’re going into that house to catch a murderer. Let’s go a fishing before the police arrive.”

“A fishing? Where are we going?”

“The trash can.”

“The trash can?”

“Yes, wonderful Famous. We’re going to find that receipt! It’s the key to everything!”

“Oh, my God!”

Perfecter4real: Here comes another great writter.thanks bro i was entertained aswell as educated.

Thanks a lot, bro.

Adinije: Now this is getting interesting

And it's going to get more interesting.

Queenxstar: Thankfully I didn't had to smack Daniel before he snapped out of his reverie.
This Remi girl... mmmh.

Daniel impressed me with how he handled the interrogation. He's got brains after all.

pweeeetychi: so far i don't even know what conclusion to draw, i guess i'll just wait for the detective to give us the verdict

Though i think there're still mysteries yet to unfold and we need them open soon


Nice work Larry, keep it up.

The criminal(s) is/are staring at us in the face.

rapmike: Hmn, see questioning! Lot would not have dealt with this better. I imagine Remi shaking in her mind when he reminded her of her words that evening. I have to say this though.


REMI IS CUNNING!

If you asked me, I'd say Daniel is better at asking the questions than Lot.

LOL! I thought you liked Remi.