₦airaland Forum

TWENTY-FIVE

The lady that stepped into the room was one of the most beautiful women both men had ever come across. The detective, who rarely appreciated beauty, admitted inwardly to keeling over for this one. contrary to popular anecdote about beauty being found on the irises of the beholders, this particular beauty would always remain quite memorable in the mind of whomever the beholder might be.

Her wholesome beauty could inspire R&B singers to create popular romantic lyrics. The lady was dark and tall. Her dark complexion had a rich lustre; the skin was smooth against the fabrics of her attire. She was slim, exquisitely proportioned, lovely beyond the power of words to describe. This was a beauty exceeding mere eroticism, and the men didn’t look at her with morbid desire but with awe. Her hair was of a more than web-like softness. She stood at the entrance of the room for a moment; a wraith-like figure, slim and tall. Her long legs were as smooth as glass, and she was wearing a skirt that ended just above her knees. She was holding a baby boy of about two years old.

She walked with such delicate steps as though the room was not what it was but a mine field; and with each step, she portrayed a phantasmagoric impression. The perfume she wore wafted all around the room. Daniel knew the kind of perfume it was—Ecstasy. He had a good nose. In the art of blending perfumes, a good ‘nose’ must be able to identify as many as two thousand different scents. Even more importantly, a nose must remember the creative characteristics of scents and how they meld or clash with others. The woman sat down opposite Lot as delicately as her steps and hoisted the lad on her thighs. The lad was looking with blank expressions at the two men. Deciding that the men were uninteresting, the baby began to suck his left thumb.

“Wh-what is your name, ma’am?” Lot asked, and he cursed himself inwardly for stuttering. He should have asked Famous to take up the interview, but he was not sure the younger man would not make a complete donkey of himself.

“Mrs. Abel Malik.” Her voice was sensuously pleasant, with a trace of politesse.

With a forced tougher note, Lot asked, “First name, middle name and maiden name, please.”

The petite lady replied with total aplomb, “Tina Bello. Middle name is Amara.”

“How old are you, Mrs. Malik?”

“My twenty=third birthday comes in forty-two days’ time.”

“Mrs. Malik, that is Mr. Famous, he’s helping me in this investigation. He’s going to show you the image of a corpse we found in number 17, Sawmill Lane. I want you to look at the picture carefully and tell us if you recognize the man therein.”

“Okay,” came the pleasant voice again. She could have been a singer.
“You’re a beautiful woman, Mrs. Malik.” Daniel could not help complimenting.

She said, “Thank you.” The two words were spoken so softly that only the purest articulation made the words intelligible.

Daniel immediately made a few scrolls on his mobile, found the pictures and showed them to the lady.

Tina gasped with horror at each time Daniel scrolled the pictures to the next. By the time he was through, tears had flooded Tina’s eyes. She reached in her arm-bag for a handkerchief, mildly blew her nose and dabbed at her eyes before the tears would begin to run down her smooth cheeks. Famous found himself feeling sorry for her.

“Who did this?” she asked, her voice incredibly soft, barely louder than a whisper. Strange that those three monosyllables could cover such an effusion of grief from her.

“Did you recognize the man shown to you?”

She looked at Lot as if he’d just asked the most ridiculous question, then she said: “Of course I recognized him! That was my husband! I demand to know who committed this deed. Who killed him? Who killed my husband?” she began to weep anew. The child watched his crying mother, Daniel thought the baby was going to cry too, but the child just continued staring at its mother, the thumb not leaving his mouth for a second.

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Mrs. Malik,” Lot said, his voice showing genuine concern, “But in can’t tell you who killed your husband now, the investigation is still underway.”

Tina looked up at the detective, the beautiful eyes getting reddish now from crying. “It’s been over a week since his death, I thought you’d have concluded your investigation.”

Instead of giving reply to her statement, Lot asked, “Mrs. Malik, I am sorry, but can you give us something concrete to let us know that the deceased was really your husband?”

“You think I’m lying?”

“I just want to be sure, it’s normal routine; it has nothing to do about lies.”

Tina shrugged decidedly, reached into the arm-bag and came up with a brown envelope from where she extracted photographs. There were a dozen captions. She gave them to the detective.

Lot critically studied each photograph before passing it over to Daniel. On every of the photographs were the pictures of Tina and her husband. The pictures showed where they were being legally joined in a court, she and the bearded man kissing, both holding a Bible, and two pictures of her, the bearded man and the young boy. There was no doubt in Daniel’s mind that the deceased was really Tina’s husband.

But to convince the skeptical detective better, Tina removed the ring on her left finger and gave Lot. The inner circle of the ring bore the inscription ABEL MALIK & TINA BELLO: TOGETHER FOREVER.

“When your husband was found, there was no ring on any of his fingers.”

“That’s impossible!” Tina replied with aghastness, “Abel never removed the ring! Someone might have stolen it, the murderer perhaps. You have to find that ring, Detective Lot, it costs a bomb. It cannot get missing just like that."

“We’ll try our best,” replied Lot, “Do you know why anyone would want to have your husband murdered?”

It seemed to Daniel that this second murder had for a time eclipsed the first. It had produced a sense of added urgency and more immediate danger than the death of Jamal Malik. And if the same man was responsible for the two murders—he had little doubt that the murder of Abel had been the work of a man—then he was one of the dangerous breed who are prepared to kill and kill again.

“Yes, I do. It’s because of the damn will!” she said vehemently.

“What do you know about the will, Mrs. Malik?”

“I’m sure you know that my husband had been estranged from his parents for the past two decades. Last year, he contacted his father to explain what led to his disappearance. He had to contact his father by phone call, but the old man refused to believe that he was really his lost son. So, they both agreed that Abel should come for Christmas. And if he was convinced that my husband was really his son, he would introduce him to his family—I think that was actually why my father-in-law gathered his children together to celebrate the Christmas with him, so that they would be introduced to their brother—Abel.” She paused, and continued, “But unfortunately, my father-in-law was murdered before the Christmas Day. Someone was trying as much as possible to make sure that they never met each other.”

marioking: It was on Wednesday afternoon, freshly back from school and had just finished munching my morsel of Eba. (1. This is not a complete sentence; after '...morsel of Eba', the next punctuation should be a comma, not a full stop. What you wrote is not only grammatically faulty but also lacks complete statement; what really happened on Wednesday afternoon? We don't know; the statement leaves us hanging. Please rewrite: 'It was a Wednesday afternoon, freshly back from school and had just finished dining on a plate of eba, when... *take note of the comma and the adverb thereafter, then fill up the void. Also, notice the lower case and the italics in the word; 'eba' must be in italics because it's not an English word, and neither is the word a proper noun*)

“You need to be quick with the picking of those beans (apply a comma here) Tuyil(apply a full stop here)” fired in my Grandmother(apply a comma here)Racheal.

“Okay (apply a comma here)ma(apply a full stop here)” I retorted. Then my mind drifted back to my escapades in school today.

Today was unusually my happiest day in secondary school and I am (was) currently in Senior Secondary School one (SSS-1).

“Tuyil (apply a comma here)please can you explain this simple equation to me today(apply a question mark here)” asked Funmi(apply a comma here)my girlfriend, (There should be a full stop here instead of a comma)

I simply answered no because I was feeling playful and joyful today even though the cause was unknown to me.

To some of my classmates, I was the second teacher in nearly every subject(apply a comma here)except Mathematics(apply a comma here)to some of my classmates (Kindly delete bolded) due to my brilliancy, but today was an exception. I have (had) up to four of them already because I was too immersed in many pranks.

I have (had) been unusually punished three times today for making noise during lectures and this came as a surprise to my entire classmate but who care? (Please remove)

“When will you finish picking those beans(apply a question mark here) Abi u don’t know that it’s getting dark already (apply a question mark here)” asked my grandma with a spank on the head that woke me up from my dream on the head (delete).

“I am almost through” I replied with a grudge(apply a full stop here)

“You better be(apply a full stop here)” retorted her (she).

All of a sudden, I saw our church Reverend accompanied by some elders trotting into our house to break a news that would forever shaped (shape) my life.
******************************************************************************

Rough review.

rapmike: How come?

Lol! I'm surprised, too.

seunviju: Still keeping my finger crossed to know the muderer.well done sir

Thanks a lot, Seun.

pricelesslove: Larry i don reply ur p m ooo

I replied back the same day.

rapmike: Should I smile or Blush? I don't know sha.

Lol! Neither do I.

Iaz93: Larry's got everyone guessing. Darn!

The murderer will shock y'all. He/she will be the least expected person. Haven't y'all read The Brand of Cain?

I'll guess too; none of them present at the dinner that evening killed Jamal.

Lol! All random guesses. We shall see who is right.

...double posts.

Flakeey: The cook might even be one of Jamal's mistresses, who knows?
since he likes anything in skirt but 'm not sure she could be the murderer, she might be the one Jamal wrote that letter

LarrySun...nice job u're doing

I'm sure you'd be having double thoughts by now.

“And more light shines in the gloom.” Daniel beamed.

“I’m not seeing any flicker yet.” Contradicted Lot. “Something doesn’t seem to add up; the Miss said she met the cook at the door. Considering her weight, why was the cook the first person to reach the door? Not only that Esther’s report contrasts with the maid’s. the maid said she took a moment to recover from the shock of hearing the sudden scream; she couldn’t have possibly reached the door first. There’s something definitely improper there; either of the two women was lying.”

“Remember what Esther said about the maid carrying herself with ease. She could easily have run to the door.”

“That’s even weirder, Gladys is asthmatic and suffers increase in BP.” Argued Lot. He asked Daniel, “You heard what the lady said about hearing a short sound before the scream, right? What do you think about it? Was she telling the truth?”

“I don’t see why she’d have any cause to lie about that. It’s absolutely plausible. The murderer, on attacking his victim, placed his hand over the poor man’s mouth to prevent him from being heard.”

An irritated look crossed over Lot’s face, as if a dog had just foiled his carpet. It dawned on Daniel that he was the dog.

“Is that what you believed? That the murderer placed his hand over his victim’s mouth?”

“The lady confirmed it—she said the sound was like that of someone trying to scream with his mouth closed.”

“So, if the murderer placed his hand across the victim’s mouth, how come the scream eventually came?”

Daniel was enjoying the discussion for the moment, because the perfect replied to the questions were still occurring to him. He said, “Apparently, the victim struggled with the assailant who was having his hand over his mouth. After struggling free, the cream came out loud and jarring. You remember that Esther claimed there was a short silence between intervals of the sounds. That silence might have been the moment of the struggle.”

“When you say ‘struggle’, what exactly do you mean? Are you saying the victim struggled with his assailant before or after the stab?”

“After, of course.”

Lot shook his head, “When will your elevator ever go to the top floor? Weren’t you here when the doctor confirmed that death must have been instantaneous?”

Daniel gave an exhausted sigh, “But there should be an explanation for the two sounds.”

“Actually, there is. It’s just that you’ve been looking at the case from the wrong angle. If you take enough moment to think about everything, you’ll see it plainly.”

“Are you saying you already know who the murderer is?”

“I already have an idea about the identity of the murderer. But I won’t tell now because we’ve still got two more people to interview, and possibly, their accounts may thwart my hypotheses.”

“And you’re not going to tell me?”

Lot nodded, “Not yet.”

“I remember Esther mentioned something peculiar about Miss Simon; she said she met her at the door but she was not holding the key that would unlock it. Isn’t that strange? She was always with the keys. Why would she forget to take it along when she knew that she was going to the door? It was only when David and the writer struggled with the door that she declared having the key in her room. I was there, I noticed everything.”

“How long did she spend before returning with the key?”

“About two minutes, at least.”

“It took her two minutes to run down to her room and back, while it took someone of lesser weight five minutes to dash from room to door. That’s interesting.”

"The cook could be having the key right there with her and lying that they were in her room; she could just have turned the corridor, produced the key from her body and returned to us.”

Lot’s brow ascended, “Would she do that?”

“Yes, she would, if she was the murderer. Let’s look at it this way: she killed her boss, quickly returned into the house after committing the act (she returned into the house through the front door because she was holding the key) and locked the door after her. It was at the moment after she’d locked the door and had successfully hidden the key in her being that Esther joined her. So, she pretended battling with the door. If she had confessed having the key on her at the time, suspicion might lie on her, so she lied about it just to give herself respite away from the confused members. Very neat.”

“Not neat at all. What about the two screams: muffled and muffled alike?”

“If not for the fact that the doctor claimed that death must have been instantaneous I’d have believed that the victim made the screams. Therefore, the loud scream could only have been made by the attacker herself.”

“Why would she do that?”

“She could easily have killed her boss and returned quietly into the house. But she didn’t believe that everyone would have retired to bed, and she didn’t want to take that chance. Fearing that someone might meet her at the corridor when returning from the kill, she decided that screaming aloud might cause confusion among the household. By doing that, she believed suspicion wouldn’t rest on her.” Daniel smiled at his own brilliant hypothesis.

“Listen, Famous, if you are going to keep boring my posterior off with all your crap, why don’t you buy a shotgun and blow my brains out? That would be more merciful than the excruciatingly slow death you’re dealing out now; bludgeoning me with your tedious fatuity and moronic philosophies. I’ve had a bellyful of your ridiculous imaginative gift.” Said Lot, “What motive did she have in killing her boss? Her name is not even in the will.”

“It could be a crime of vendetta. Mr. Malik could have wronged her earlier. The man had an adventurous life; he was an incurable skirt-chaser—he might have chased her skirt and succeeded, albeit forcefully.”

“Very unlikely. What gonadal twinge would he have over such a mountain? And I’m not sure if he’d match her in strength.”

“R*pists always possess exceptional strengths when they’re determined.”

“The maid is the only member of the house who really spoke well of the deceased. Do you remember what she said? ‘I hope more of our men can learn to love as he did’. Murderers don’t always praise their victims like that. Or rather, the rap*d don’t praise their r*pists by using such statement.”

“She could be lying.” Persisted Daniel.

“Come off it, Famous; the explanations you gave are simply ridiculous. Call in our next guest.” Lot ordered, leaving Daniel with his own thoughts—which were utterly confused—as he went to summon the next member.

Daniel returned shortly after with a beaming smile. The detective was about to demand an explanation for the guest’s absence when Daniel burst out excitedly:

“She’s here! Abel’s wife is here!”

Adinije: That cook has being my prime suspect from day one.

We shall see.

DzTzl: why do i have ds funny feeling abt d lawyer??

Many suspects...that's one thing about detective fictions.

solidman59: Nice story Larry. After reading Ariel's testimony I can't help but ask this question: Pls Larry did u also get the inspiration to write this story from the toilet.....I mean loo?

I can't deny that some of the plots come from the johns. Lol!

rapmike: Some things are now clear. The four targets were Jamal, Abel, Ariel and David. This is because Jamal and Abel are already dead and only Ariel and David got funny messages to come over. What is not yet solved is the link Ariel and David, who were supposedly decent men, had with Jamal and Abel apart from blood and how this will relate to the killer. At this point even Remi and her father are good enough suspects and the maid is not left out.

Nice work, Larry!

I like how your mind works. We should work together sometimes.

Iaz93: Lol. Okay then, where did she go?

Hmm... I wonder why you didn't go for something interesting. Did you study Geography?

Great!

Partially.

Mr. Larry, may God keep you for us. More wisdom.

Amen. Thank you, sir.

pricelesslove: Larry oooooo. u dey confuse me oooi. Good morning how was ur night.

Good morning to you, too. How was your weekend?

TWENTY-FOUR

Esther—young, with all the curves in the best places—slowly stepped into the room, her gaits were unlike the counting steps of a nun. She reached the chair, sat in it and rested her hands on her thighs like a figurine mummified. She looked from one man in the room to the other.

“You look scared, Miss Malik,” said Lot, who had apparently been studying her right from the moment she entered the room.

“No, I’m not scared,” replied she, “I’m only worried.”

“Worried about what?”

“About everything. Father has been dead for over a week now and the murderer and still at large. I’m worried because the investigation is getting cold. And you might end up convicting someone innocent.”

“That is why we are questioning every member of the family,” replied Lot, “So that we’d be able to gather our facts and not accuse the innocent. You needn’t worry about that.”

“Okay,” she turned to Daniel, “I thought you told me you were a footballer. I didn’t know you were also a policeman.”

“Like I already said, I was once a policeman,” the ex-police officer replied, “But I resigned.”

“Everybody has been saying a lot of things which I didn’t approve of.”

“What are they saying?"

“They said you killed father.”

Daniel was shocked. “Why would anybody say such?”

“They said the detective is only wasting his time; the murderer is with him.”

Lot was quietly watching the two talk.

“What makes them believe I killed your father?”

“They said Vera’s father brought you here to kill father for him.”

Daniel’s eyebrows were raised. “That’s ridiculous!”

“I’m telling you.”

“But why would they think something like that in the first place? Why would Mr. Johnson want to kill your father?” He wanted to add that the man in question was strong enough to commit the crime himself without any help, but he stopped himself.

“Well, from the few words I overheard, the man had not been in good terms with father in twenty years.”

“And they—”

Lot interrupted Daniel sharply, “Miss Malik, how old are you?”

“I’ll be twenty-one next month.”

“You live here, right?”

“I live here.” She nodded assent.

“What can you tell us about the night of the unfortunate incident?”

“I don’t know what to tell you that’ll be different from the fact that father was stabbed to death by person unknown.”

“You’re the last child of the family?”

“That’s right.”

“Were you fond of him?”

“Who? My father?” she shrugged, “Not really, we were not that close. But I loved him nonetheless, a child is always bound to love and respect his parents, no matter what. I loved him as much as I love my mother.”

“Where were you that night?”

“I was in my room.”

“From the plan drawn on this paper about the house, it looks as if your room comes closest to the front of the house where the scream was reported to have erupted.”

“Actually, my room only overlooks the side of the building. I have only one side window in my room, the window is at the adjacent of the building. I’d probably have seen or heard something if my room had two windows. This shows the level of incompetence of the architect.”

“Your room and Famous’ juxtapose each other, I presume.”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Did you hear anything after the loud scream?”

She looked puzzled, “Anything like what?”

“Anything suspicious—heard or seen?”

She considered the question and then shook her head. “No, I don’t think I heard anything.”

“What about after the discovery of the body?”

She spoke slowly, “I think I heard some footsteps run past my window, but I’m not sure; everything is quite vague now. It has been a week. Pardon me if I’m not an encyclopaedia of night acts.”

“It’s all right, Miss Malik,” Lot assured, “You’re doing exceedingly great.”

“But wait, there was something strange that night, I think. There was a short sound shortly before the loud scream.”

“A short sound? More lights, please.”

“It was like a muffled scream. Much like someone trying to scream with his mouth closed. It came very short, then a few seconds later, the horrible scream came, as though the mouth had been finally forced open.”

Lot leaned forward and looked squarely at Esther. “I want you to think back very carefully, Miss Malik. You said the first scream was muffled, right?”

She nodded. “And the loud one came moments later.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, I’m not sure. The events of that night are blur now.”

“Can you recall if the muffled scream abide till the louder one or if it stopped before it came louder? It’s very important that you remember this, Miss Malik.”

“I think I remember that one; the muffled scream came very short. There was a moment of silence before the shriek erupted.”

“So, what happened after the loud scream?”

“I rushed to the door but it was locked.”

“Who did you meet there at the door?”

“I met only the cook, Miss Simon. She appeared to have heard the scream too. What appeared rather strange to me was the fact that she wasn’t holding the key when she was at the door. Wasn’t that incompetent of her? Considering that the keys to all the exit and entrance doors are kept with her.”

“Does she have the keys to all the rooms?”

“Hell no,” she replied rather calmly, “My room is forbidden to her.”

“From what you’ve said so far, it seems Miss Malik isn’t one of your favourite people.”

“She’s no one’s favourite; she’s too full of herself. Even if you tried to make friends with her she’d make you feel worthless. That’s her mentality, she does think way ahead of her worth. To me, the only thing she’s good at doing is cooking.”

Daniel said, “I don’t blame her much; obese people must have their own defense mechanisms.”

“Well, she looks obese but she doesn’t carry herself such. Gladys is oblivious of her own weight. She carries herself with the agility of a cat.”

“Are you still talking about that big woman who cooks for the family?"

“I know you won’t believe me; but that woman possesses more agility than could have been anticipated in a lady of her apparent colossal avoirdupois.”

Lot said, “Who later joined you at the door?”

“I think it was Vera, then David and his wife. I don’t know who came next between Sister Ruth and Ariel.”

“What can you tell us about your brother, Ariel?”

“Not much. Ariel is a mercurial creature, hard to know and harder to understand. He drinks heavily in company, and just as much when he is alone. His intelligence is relentless and wild, a fire even he cannot control. He swallows entire books at a sitting, finding flaws in arguments, gaps in evidence, errors in interpretations in subjects far from his own. And he’s always quoting Shakespeare! David said it isn’t a destructive personality Ariel has but a destructive mind. Still, no matter what, he will always remain my most favourite person.”

“Do you recognize the weapon used to kill your father?”

“I only know it was a knife.”

“Did you recognize the second corpse that was discovered?”

“Maybe I might if he was clean-shaven. The man was more bearded than the biblical Adam.”

“What’s your middle name, Miss Malik?” Lot asked the question sharply, not unlike an accusation.

“Jen.”

“Jen?”

“Jennifer. They said Sister Ruth christened me that when I was born. I wonder why; most people name babies without caring about derivations.”

“I was told you have a copy of Animal Farm, is that true?”

Esther smiled, “Yes, I do. How did you know?”

“I saw the book the first time I came here. Were you the person reading it that day?”

“Yes. I was reading it out to mother two days before Christmas. She used to read a lot before she lost her sight. I even read Ariel’s books to her; I could see how proud she was of him as she listened to me. Don’t tell anyone, but I think Ariel is her favourite child.”

Lot looked at the girl skeptically, “And that does not bother you? That she loves your brother than you?”

“Why would that bother me? It is natural for a parent to love one child than the other; they shouldn’t be blamed for it. It is only wrong for the parent to favour one over another. Mother never did that; she treats us all with nearly equal compassion.”

“Thanks for your time, Miss Malik; you may leave now.”

lopeoba: Larrysun your expert editing skills is also needed starting from 21st September....get prepared

Okay. Happy birthday in advance.

I'm game.

This is the shortest post I've ever encountered by a fellow writer. C'mon Whitey!

Essyydiamond: I dnt want 2 start imagining d amount of ur time u put in 2 come up with this great work,I'll only ask that u keep it up.

Thanks Essy. It's daunting but interesting.

Iaz93: LOL

Larry, pls.

I'm not the murderer I'm only a narrator.

Nelly21: Yes I have and I totally enjoyed it,that's what motivated me to read the sequel

Oh, thanks a bunch!

pricelesslove: so when will i see him between Larry which planet did u come from? because u write like a god. nor let me cum go fall in love with u ooo.

Lol! You want Ariel to beat me up?

pweeeetychi: Hmmmm, i'll tell them u said so.

Tell who?

Adinije: Abeg follow me beg Larry make nothing happen to him o!

Lol! Let's beg the murderer.

Flakeey: LWKMD
no be small sontin
pls answer, i would like to know too

Answered.

sanandreas: Never a dull moment reading Larry's update

Thank you. San. I'm so very pleased.

Iaz93: Seems you're totally in love with Ariel already.

You'll make Larry jealous and he'll kill Ariel. *kidding*

I'm getting jealous already. But whatever happens to Ariel is not caused from my envy anyway.

Iaz93: Larry, I need answers to the following questions, pls.

Your signature reads; I'll be waiting for you. Who are you waiting for?

Larry, why don't you want to divulge your field of study?

LarrySun, you write as though you're a god. Dammit! Where do you draw powers from? I need to tap that source.

Question1: You know na

2: It's not very interesting.

3. I have a passion for words. I write much but I don't speak much.

I hope I've been able to answer your questions. Lol!