₦airaland Forum

CONTINUED



out and go make those phone calls , she was seeing someone definitely, am a girl so I could tell.’ Maria said, impressed with herself.

A relationship shrouded in secret with a mysterious partner sounded all the alarming bells in his head but it was going to be a dead end unless he had more details, at least a name could help kick start things.

‘so you know nothing about this guy, nothing at all, a picture, name or something?’ Cyril asked.

‘No, nothing like I said Antonia was a very private person, she says little and expects you to ask little so yeah I have no idea who she was seeing at the time of her demise but I know for sure she was seeing someone.’ An adamant maria replied.

It was getting late now and apart from her supposed confirmation of maria’s mysterious boyfriend which could still be contemplated, she hadn’t offered anything important.

‘Okay, thank you very much, I will take my leave now.’ Cyril replied.

‘will you by any chance be seeing her mom?’ maria asked.

‘yeah maybe tomorrow, I was...’

‘kindly, help me give this to her then...’ she stood and walked up to a cabinet and brought out a book and a pen. ‘...its her music book, she left it here the day before her murder, she used to do that sometimes.’ She stretched the book to him.

‘sure, I can give it to her.’ Cyril said even though he hadn’t actually planned a visit to the victim’s mother’s house the next day.

CONTINUED



serious.

‘you have no idea what I have been through to be here, I have given my sweat and blood to be here and if you think you can take me out of here then you have another thing to worry about because I am going nowhere.’ Antony peeved about her attitude.

She wanted to say something else but merely gave a scornful expression before she returned back to her desk.

He stood there for a minute or two before he turned around and walked out of her sight.

At this same time Cyril had arrived at the Ballers Record Studio where he had been told to look for Maria.
And quickly found out who the studio owner was.

‘you are maria?’ Cyril asked upon seeing her return to her office where he had been led to , to wait for her.

‘yes I am maria, I was told a detective was here to talk to me about Anna?’ She replied.
‘Anna?’

‘yeah, that was her stage name, we sort of made it up after I told her she needed one...’ She seemed a bit dreamy for a moment before she gave a mild smile.

‘...poor girl, she had been really putting a lot of hours into her music all this time and had great plans for her music career you see.’ She claimed.

‘it seems you knew her a lot.’ Cyril said bringing out his jotter out.

‘nah I mean I wanted to, she was a fun person to be around but she is sort of private and we all respected that over here.’ Maria said.

‘so you were the one who made the call right, how did you know about this?’ Cyril asked.

‘Oh someone called me who was down at the street, she recognized the body and felt it was the same person who she had seen at my studio some time so she called me, I went down to the street and I saw her.’ She revealed, a bit horrified about the experience.

There was not a lot he was going to get from her as their conversation went on but the record studio was where she spent majority of her time, they may have heard or seen something over these times he thought.

‘Has there really been anytime she felt troubled or disturbed, maybe she felt...’ He observed how grim she looked which made him feel disappointed about asking any further questions, clearly she had less to offer however she did stop for a minute to think about something. ‘...is there anything you want to share?’ he concluded.

‘it was two weeks ago, she missed her record session twice within that week, she has never missed a record session before, she said she was sick and had to go see the doctor, but I felt something was up, she was sort of invasive when I wanted to know more but I think she was with her boyfriend you know.’

Maria revealed which made the detective excited a bit more, martins had mentioned some mysterious boyfriend which up till now had been something he hadn’t thought much about due to lack of evidence.

‘Boyfriend you say?’ Cyril asked curiously.

‘I don’t know for real but she can’t always excuse herself to go

CONTINUED



‘that’s it, I have had it with you and everyone right now, please get out of my car and when next you want to talk to me, you will have to see my lawyer, I am done with this nonsense, you think I killed my sister or something then go ahead and do whatever you want while you let the real killer roam freely.’ Antony flared up.

This was the side of Antony he had seen in the video, sort of vicious and unemotional attitude that made him quite unpredictable, there were no clues or anything to suggest he had something to do with it as of yet but he had decided to add Antony to his list of suspects, once he had gone though everything by the end of the day, the most compelling suspects would then be his subject of further investigations but for now, this talk was over.

‘thank you for your time.’ Cyril said, giving Antony a nod as he leaped down the car and walked out, outside he found two young males, dressed in t-shirts and jeans seated on the bonnet of his car.

they seemed strangely familiar but there was no way he could tell how or where he had seen them and they had quickly hoped down and walked away .

He however did stylishly check his car for anything for one could never be too sure when it came to security but nothing was found and they hadn’t looked suspicious as well hence he drove away.



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

‘Who did you go to see at the gates?’ Zoey asked authoritatively at the edge of her desk just opposite the entrance door of her office as Pastor Antony worked in.

He was startled by her question however this was Zoey and no matter the sort of reply he gives to her , she was going to frown at it, he decided to ignore her.

‘you know I am unto you right and that very soon I am going to find out what you are doing.’ Zoey hesitated seeing he didn’t pay any attention to her the first time.

Antony turned around swiftly, his expression was hostile, he had hoped she would just let him be.

It was no news that she never liked him ever since he was made the junior pastor and while all this time he had been accommodating of her insolence, she was over stepping her boundary at this point.

‘What do you mean by that?’ He asked walking up to her as slowly and threatening he could be but Zoey showed neither fear nor her calm.

‘I mean I know you are up to know and I am bet on finding out and telling the father.’ She replied taking a bold step forward.

‘I don’t know what your problem is but whatever it is, I am clearly not the source neither am I the solution.’

‘I want you out of here, you don’t belong here, you know whatever this is, is just because of your personal relationship with him right, you lack everything that it takes to...’

‘I will not take any more of this from you, you hear me?’ warned Antony, a finger directed at Zoey so she knew he was

CHAPTER FOUR



‘what is the meaning of this detective?’

Antony demanded as he leaped out of his car at the entrance of the church’s main gate where Cyril had been told to wait for him.
The detective could tell he wasn’t happy with his visitation.

‘I need to talk to talk.’ Cyril revealed unmoved.

‘what is there to talk about detective, we already had a conversation this morning and that could have gotten me into a lot of problems and now you are back for what?’ Antony asked.

‘About your attack on martins, I need to know why you did that?’ Cyril said.

Antony became a little a bit careful now, he hadn’t thought about that day neither did he think martins would be such a coward to say anything about it, there were a lot of people around and this wasn’t something he wanted anyone to know about.

‘come to my car let’s talk.’ Antony ordered as he made his way back to his car whilst the detective followed.

‘what has that got to do with her murder anyway?’ He snapped once more.
‘I don’t know you tell me.’ Cyril shrugged.

‘he said some things which he shouldn’t have and so I snapped, I had had enough of the guy’s insolence so I decided to go have a talk with him but it soon turned vicious.’ Antony lied as observed by Cyril.

‘what exactly did he say to you?’ Cyril continued.

‘He talked about my sister in a way I didn’t like, I mean she is dead why continue to torment her, you know?’ Antony said.

It was what Cyril had thought as well even before he made the drive back for martins seemed like one of those people begging to be punched in the face on a daily base.

‘do you have any idea if Antonia had any other boyfriend whatsoever so some guy she might have mentioned at one point in time to you after or even before she broke up with martins?’ Cyril asked.

‘No certainly no one and if martins is responsible for that information I can tell you that, that guy is a hardcore lair, I mean I am a pastor and he is a lawyer this is clearly about what is a fact and what is the truth, don’t you trust what I am telling you?’ he stressed.

‘I am not yeah to talk about the truth or the facts, I am here to find out what happened to your sister and not till I know for a certain this thing is true I can’t put my cent on it anyway i would like to have the autopsy reports now if don’t mind.’ Cyril said.

This seemed to have made Antony furious for no reason the detective could think of.

‘I don’t know where it is , you will have to go on without it.’ Antony insisted.

“damn it” would be the right response from the detective, a crazy ex and a crazy brother.

He had no other question to ask except one, which maybe wasn’t as relevant to anyone or anything.
‘do you gamble?’ Cyril asked.

CONTINUED



let him know how serious he was at the moment.

‘what, you need their numbers too?’ martins asked quite surprise at the detective’s response but Cyril gave him no reaction merely a deadpan expression that got him even unsettled.

‘well, I don’t have my phone here you see.’ He lied but what he would describe as clearly as bad luck would make his phone begin to ring repeatedly, Cyril had had enough, this would go on record as his fastest case in the history as an NCIB detective.

‘You are under arrest Mr. martins for the murder of...’

Martins jumped out of the bed in panic, hands in pleading position as his eyes became soaked, threatening to cry any minute.

‘you are right detective, I am a prick and I am a bad liar okay and I totally look like the killer but I swear to you that I didn’t kill Antonia, I couldn’t have, all those things I have been doing, is just the way I get my frustrations out and I know how crazy it sounds because she deserved a lot better than I could give to her but I swear I am not the killer.’ Martins begged.

‘then who is it, who killed Antonia other than her obsessive violent ex who could not accept the fact that she had moved on.’ Cyril asked just as the nurse opened the door on them.

Now this was a bit awkward for the nurse seeing a grown ass man on the ground kneeling for another.

‘I think I will come back some other time.’ She declared with a smile that betrayed her she really felt inside.

‘I don’t know okay, there was one time after the break up I managed to hack into her social media account...’
He saw the stare Cyril gave but he was in a panic mood and didn’t care much about that.

‘...i hacked into her account and found a chat she was having with some guy, the chats were off the chains, I figured out that could have been the guy that she was dating you know.’

‘You are wasting my time mr. martins.’

Martins panicked even more, all his attempts were failing and may have even succeeded in making things worse but he still had an ace in his sleeves, he was a lawyer after all, arguments and bargaining was his job.

‘yes listen, do you want to know why am I here, I mean the ruffians who attacked me, do you want to know who did this?’ he asked excitedly.
It was something that actually made the detective curious when he heard about it initially.

‘tell me who it is?’ Cyril replied.

‘no, I can show you who it is, that guy is not who everyone thinks he is, he is just as bad as me.’ Martins declared shoving his phone into the detective’s hand. ‘watch it and tell me what you think about that guy.’ He concluded as martins watched the clip.

‘of course I have both the original phone from which the clip was shot and a witness to testify what happened, Antony is nothing but a cold hearted ruffian, his sister back then did tell me what a loser he was, of course she wouldn’t say he was a loser but I could make out between the two of them who was the odd ball and weirdo, who knows he might have snapped over something and killed her and try to blame me for it.’

He suggested.

The clips only answered a question he himself had been meaning to ask,

“why on earth hasn’t someone punch this guy in the face?” but however the ruthlessness at which the so called pastor had carried out the attacks along with the armed men showed a side of him which he needed to be certain was a result of an emotional trauma and not a calculated cold blooded killer.

‘none of this proves anything you know but...’

‘but you are going to check it out right because I swear I think its worth checking out and the mystery boyfriend as well, right?’ martins asked hopefully.

‘yes I am going to check them out but you in the main time we be monitored and observed by the Nigeria police, your every movement will be watched, you are not to travel anywhere until the end of this investigations and will be subject to further questionings from time to time, make no mistakes that even a simple act by you to go against my instructions in any way will have dire consequences, is that understood?’

Cyril asked.

He could tell martins was happy and relieved for the first time he noticed something he didn’t think was there, fear, not the type that a guilty person feels but the type that made him second guess his decision to make martins his top suspect at the moment however there was still much to do and learn.

‘the worst kind of killer usually hide in plain sights, they are friends and sometimes lovers.’ One of the foreign detectives during the seminar had said so he was going to keep an open mind and track every leads as they come.

CONTINUED




convict him of first degree murder than any other criminal he had put behind bars, now he was squirmy and shaking before him, surely this could his guy.

‘Am sorry about that as well, I was caught a bit off guard by that as you can tell.’ Martins explained.

He wasn’t expecting this, could this be Antony’s plan, frame him for murder? He wondered for a moment.

‘I was told you were attacked by some ruffians and needed to be admitted, I need to ask you some questions about your relationship with the victim.’ Cyril said focusing on martins, he was going to get every body language, eye contacts and his reactions based on every question he was going to ask martins.

‘Did you kill Antonia Okeke?’

Again it was easy to notice martins acting up, his eyes had become widened and his breath stiff.

‘I did no such thing...’ Martins stammered. ‘...why would anyone think that I would kill Antonia, I would never lay a hand on Antonia.’ Martins explained but his demeanor gave an impression of a wicked and chronic liar.

‘that’s not what your online adventures say Mr. martins, you have publicly showed how much and what you can do to the victims, even your death threats are all over the place, perhaps you might be wondering why I haven’t arrested you yet for murder yet.’ Cyril said seriously.

Martins readjusted himself, this was serious and the evidence were damning for what he had enjoyed doing all this while now posed a threat to his freedom for life.

‘listen, you have to listen to me detective, I have nothing and absolutely nothing to do with this murder...’ he could tell the detective didn’t give a cent about what he was saying at the moment.

‘...you have to believe me, fine I hated her, yes I hated her a lot but it was only because she left me for another guy.’ Martins explained and for the first time got a reaction from Cyril, not what the one he wanted but at least one that showed he had picked up interest in what he was saying.
‘a boyfriend you say, can you prove it, what other boyfriend?’ Cyril asked.

‘yes, I mean no but surely she was cheating, you know how girls are , right, one minute they would do anything for you and the next they are hitting on another guy, so I know she was cheating, I mean what else would make her want to leave me?’ Antony asked in disbelief.

“maybe because you are sour loser and an annoying abusive prick?” would have been cyril’s response but he decided to ignore this response.
‘Mr. martins I need to know what and where you were on the day of the murder.’ Cyril asked again.

He could see martins give the question a hard thought before he gave a reply, but it doesn’t matter whatever he said, he was going to ensure he checked it out , this guy was giving the right signals for a cold blooded murderer.

‘well you see that day, I was hanging out with my friends...’

‘their names and phone numbers.’ Cyril asked immediately just to

CONTINUED



There was a better way to seek revenge on Antony and black mail the bastard for lots of cash.

He ended the call and decided to call a friend of his quickly who he was certain had the number of Pastor Sullivan.

You see his plans had now changed just for a little bit, Antony might acted on his own personal feelings but been a representative of one of the biggest churches in the state meant, his actions could be rubbed off the church and what better way to ruin a man’s career and possibly get some good money out of it than reporting to his boss.

‘This is General Overseer and Senior Pastor of The winning youth ministry on the line, who is this?’ Sullivan asked on the line.

But he would have no time to reply before someone knocked on the door which made him cut the call immediately.

He did manage to get into a good position to feign he was still sleeping before a nurse and the detective walked in.
He wasn’t certain who the strange man was that walked in with the nurse but he didn’t seem like a doctor.

‘Don’t worry, he will be ready to talk with you after I administer his drugs to him.’ The nurse reassured the detective who was in no rush, he had decided to make Martins office his first stop but didn’t get him there, thankfully his secretary had assisted him with the hospital’s address where martins had been admitted.

He moved his body faintly so as to give the impression he was awake before the nurse got to him.

‘oh you are awake and just in time sir.’ The nurse said sweetly as she brought his tray of drugs closer to him.
‘who are you?’ martins asked faintly as the nurse pulled him softly.

‘I am detective Cyril, Mr. martins, I am investigating the murder of your ex, Miss. Antonia okeke.’

And had it not been the nurse had decided to give him the drugs before his injections, his reaction to the response would have probably left him in more pain than he was already as he spewed both the drugs and the water he had in his mouth out into the nurses face in an almost awkward and uncontrollable manner leaving the nurse a bit sour and displeased as Cyril watched on, unmoved.

‘am so sorry about this.’ Martins stammered as he tried to apologies to the nurse.

‘you will have to excuse me for a moment.’ She managed to say with a frown as she walked away leaving both men in the room.

‘you have to be careful next time, you could choke or even die from such incidents.’ Cyril said with a smirk on his face.

His forty minutes drive to see martins wasn’t as boring as he thought it would be, he did make sure he had some sort of information or idea about the kind of person martins was via social media and having considered pastor Sullivan a megalomania, he felt martins deserved to be called worse.

Martins was a self centered, obsessive, violent and arrogant prick, who had made life for Antonia quite unpleasant, in fact his online activities contained more evidence to support and

CONTINUED



‘Oh no she hasn’t been seeing anyone since then if she did, she would have told me at some point, she has been giving her music a lot of attention ever since then but trust me when I tell you that martins might be responsible, this guy has publicly threatened her with violence but...’

he stopped midway and gave a satisfying smile with an expression on his face that made the detective think he might have thought of something. ‘...anyway he is someone you just have to check out detective.’ Antony concluded.

He made sure the detective knew he was done with his interview by rolling down the window and signaling his driver to return back to the car.

For now, Antony seemed like the guy who didn’t give much care about what had happened but nothing typically out of the ordinary at the moment, he seemed straight forward and so far had given him no concerns.

‘I will get the medical autopsy ready and call you to come collect it, am sorry I won’t be able to help you with it right now.’ Antony added.
‘Okay that’s fine, I will just drop my number, I will need to know where I can find this maria and martins to talk with.’ Cyril replied stretching a piece of paper and his pen over to the junior pastor.

‘I can’t take that, it is forbidden to touch things that the father haven’t cleansed yet.’ Antony said bluntly before he searched out a piece of paper and a pen from the car to write on.

‘ I don’t know where maria stays or leaves at but she should be at the studio, so I have the address there and as for martins, his chambers address is also there.’ He said stretching the piece of paper to Cyril.

‘her ex is a lawyer?’ Cyril asked having heard the mention of a chamber.

‘you don’t believe a man who stands who fights for justice could be so cruel and capable of murder do you? Anyway martins will prove you wrong, he has something to do with this detective, if not him at least his friends do.’ Pastor Antony said one final time before he let the detective alight down his car.

He drove off soon after as the detective returned back to his car.

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

Martins billowed where he laid on the hospital bed not because he was still in severe pains from the beating he got the other day but he was still unable to get through on the phone.

His frustrations as usual were now getting the best of him but he was going to be patient with this one.

‘finally’ he thought to himself as the phone began to ring repeatedly, anytime soon Antony was going to pick and he was going to let him know the consequences of what he had done to him.

It was indeed a smart choice to buy the phone along with what he felt was undeniable proof of what happened at the bar the other from the sales boy but as the phone rang continuously, he had a change of heart.

CONTINUED



‘I need to ask you a few questions about your sister, if you don’t mind.’ Cyril replied as the sun began to make its presence felt now.

‘okay then, please let’s do this inside my car, I would hate to start sweating in this.’ He pointed to his suit as Cyril followed him back to the land cruiser.

They got into what Cyril felt was one of the most impressive interior build for a car just as the driver walked out.

‘we can talk here but you have to be fast about it, I have to be at the auditorium for morning processions.’ He divulged to Cyril.

‘I need to know who called you, when was the last time you saw your sister and just a run through of your day before you got that call.’ Cyril replied bringing out his jotter and a pen.

‘Eh, Maria called me to let me know what had happened that day.’ He explained.

‘who is this maria, your sister’s friend or someone you know.’ Cyril responded.

‘oh definitely not someone like me associates with, she works at the studios Antonia does her music recordings at.’ Antony was quick to reply.
‘Did you find out how she got to know?’ Cyril asked.

‘Between hearing my sister was lying lifeless by the roadside and asking how she got to know, I believe that never came to my mind.’ He said sarcastically.

‘What were you doing that day, I mean before the call?’ Cyril said ignoring Antony’s sarcastic remark.

‘I was in the church all through, we had a big program coming up by 6 that day, so whilst my father wasn’t around, I was in charge, so I was here all through, after the program had ended by 7:00 o’clock, I went to see my father and some minutes later when I was out, she called me to tell me what had happened.’ Antony said.

Cyril observed how awfully calm and composed he was when he talked, between him and his mother, clearly the detective could make out who was really mourning the loss.

It wasn’t a lot to conceive any theories to why or how this fit into the murder but he did note it down.

‘your mother, she talked about me asking you about Antonia’s personal life when I enquired from her, any boyfriend, close personal friend, or someone else I can talk to, did she discuss anything to you about been threatened or someone she had some issues with previously that might want to harm her.’ Cyril asked.

‘well if you are asking me who I suspect then that has to be martins, her ex-boyfriend, she has been accosted, bullied online, stalked and physically abused by this guy since their break up, I wanted to arrest him at one point but she refused, I think surely this guy may know something about my sister’s murder.’ Antony declared.

This was something at best, the murder could have been a crime of passion committed by this person but there was a need to learn more.
‘what about her current boyfriend?’ Cyril asked again, putting martins name down under his list of persons of interest.

CONTINUED



aide declared.

This made the detective frown for this was simply unbelievable and crazy.

He got down from the car and flashed his NCIB Identification card in their faces.

‘I am detective Cyril with the NCIB investigating the death of one Pastor Antony Okeke...’ He paused and for a second felt he could make out someone or some persons starring at him from the bentley.
‘...is that him in there, I need to speak with him?’ Cyril continued.

The two security aide seemed to have mulled on what next to do for a second or two before they walked up to the Bentley whose passenger’s window was rolled down.

He noticed a head popped out who stared at him for a brief minute before it vanished behind the windows which were rolled up once more.
He couldn’t make out any details on the face because of the sunglasses the person had worn but he got his chance soon enough as two men walked out of the Bentley.

He made out who Antony was from his uncanny resemblance to the victim but the other who had sun glasses on, was much more bigger and taller and a bit intimidating such that he moved with some sort of charisma and power that made the detective watch on.

Both men were expensively dressed in pale blue suit and peach long sleeves, they had on a long chain suspected to be pure gold as well as a few rings around their fingers but the other man was more decorated in terms of jewelry than Antony which made Cyril guess, he was the boss here.

Antony followed closely behind Pastor Sullivan, as did the two security aides with their heads slightly down so that it seemed like they were bowing their heads down for the unidentified man who approached Cyril.

‘what is your business here?’ Pastor Sullivan asked straight faced.

‘I am detective Cyril from the NCIB and I am investigating the death of Pastor Antony okeke’s sister.’ Cyril said flashing his badge right in his face as he caught Antony raise his head just a bit once he mentioned his purpose.

‘Pastor Antony...’ Sullivan turned his head to stare at Antony. ‘...please make sure this is the last time, unwanted persons come here to the holy city looking for you, take care of this immediately.’ Sullivan commanded and then took his leave while Antony remained.

The convoy drove on leaving behind Antony’s land cruiser.

‘it is rude not to bow your head down in the presence of our father, God forbids it.’ Antony pointed out earnestly. ‘anyway, it won’t happen again if not we all would be in trouble, now what can I do for you, detective?’

Antony concluded.

Detective’s had become loury but nothing compared to how displeased he was about Pastor’s Sullivan’s attitude.

The senior pastor had managed to tick off every major characteristics of megalomania.

But it was crucial he kept his calm and maintained his professionalism.

CHAPTER THREE



Cyril arrived at the winning youth ministry and immediately faulted his previous night’s decision not to check it out online, maybe more impressed than shocked about the various structures ranging from houses of various sizes to a private clinic and a dedicated sports center among many others that laid within the three and a half meter tall fence.

It felt massive and spread across many acres of land enough to fit in three football fields.

‘Sir, I may have to ask you to switch off your phone and put this on, once you are out.’ One of the two armed security men at the gate pointed out, holding a card and a tag.

‘sure.’ Cyril replied pretending to have switched his phone off while his car went through what he felt was an extensive security search, the kind that made him feel he was back at the lagos airport once more.

He collected the tag which inscribed VISITOR and had to put it on before they would like him go forward.

How on earth was he going to find his man, he wondered as he strode along the tarred main road, he attempted calling but the numbers had been switched off and now he thought about it perhaps the security men could have given him some guidance.

He shook his head in distaste as he drove back to the gate and decided to ask one of them but he wouldn’t get the chance to as they completely ignored him once they heard a car’s siren outside the gate, one did signal him to move out of the way angrily as the other opened the gates so that it revealed a convoy of cars and perhaps some of the most expensive cars he had ever seen in one convoy drive in and had it not been for the odd numbers of cars which formed this convoy, he may not have easily guessed which was the main focus, A Bentley continental.

He decided to park and watch the convoy out of curiosity while he tried to call Antony but the convoy stopped right before his car as two hefty men suspected to be security aides came out from the car directly in front of the Bentley.

He deepened his left hand into the sides of his coat, reaching out for his pistol and turning the safety off just in case something went wrong.
‘Excuse me sir, please come down from the vehicle immediately.’

One of them commanded as they got closer to his vehicle.

It was a tricky and unnerving situation, he made sure to do his mathematics and make out a possible escape scenario if this turned violent.
‘Is there any problem?’

Cyril asked, his hands still firmly around his weapon as his hindsight caught the other one going around the back of his car.

‘our father asked us to confiscate that phone, we saw you attempting to call someone some seconds ago.’ The rude security

CONTINUED



tell me and by 8:16 pm he came home and broke the news to me.’ She concluded painfully.

‘did he say how he got to know about it?’ Cyril asked producing his jotter and pen.

‘no but I think it was her friend, someone found the body by the roadside and called someone and I think that is how he got to know.’ Maureen replied.

‘Was there or anyone in particular who you think might have been a threat to your daughter over the last couple of months, any incidents of violence, physical confrontation with someone you know about that?’ Cyril enquired.

‘My daughter was a very private person, I bet even if the whole world was up against she wouldn’t tell no one but her brother, Antony might know, he is the only person she did talk with a lot, been twins and all, they did and still do share a lot of information together.’

Maureen replied.
Antony had already been mentioned a few times but the detective was certain he hadn’t seen him yet since he walked in.

‘is her brother here with us?’ Cyril asked to confirm his suspicion.

‘Oh no he isn’t here.’ She replied, her eyebrows went up once he asked.

‘Okay madam, its okay I can arrange another meeting for tomorrow with him or he can reach me and help reschedule a meeting...’

‘No you don’t understand detective, Antony doesn’t live with us, he resides within his church you see and right now he is very preoccupied.’ She said taking her glances off the detective, he could tell she was happy about her response.

‘Okay so he lives there in the church, hmmm that is no problem I will take down the name of the church and go see him perhaps I can have his number as well and speak to him too.’ Cyril explained.

‘Okay, he will be around by Saturday though, it’s the program that they are having at the moment, its taking his time you know.’ She pointed out to the detective.

‘Okay, that’s just about it for now, I will like to have the autopsy report if its here with you.’ Cyril said.
‘Yes, its with me, I will go get it then.’ She replied.

She took her leave and took her time to return back, a bit frustrated and uncertain.

‘I can’t find it yet, I thought I had it with me.’ She mumbled where she stood.

It was crucial he had the autopsy report but given the state she was, it would make a lot of sense he rescheduled that part of the investigation.
‘Maybe I come around the week when you have it.’ Cyril suggested but she waved it off quickly.

‘Oh no you don’t have to worry about that, Antony surely has a copy, I may have been a bit careless about where I put mine but I am sure he can help you with it.’ She claimed.

He did get the address of the church and the victim’s brother’s number.

Once he was out of the house, it was late, the investigations would have to continue tomorrow for now he only had enough time to get somewhere to get something to eat before he returned to his hotel.

CONTINUED



********************
The flight from Abuja to lagos had eased the detective’s worry over the long and treacherous drive down but his boss had pulled some strings and ensured he had that flight.

His car would arrive soon by land through a driver some hours later the boss had secured for the task.

Since there was no more case filled in at the police station in the mean time, it would mean he had fewer business with the police, which sometimes was a big advantage and other times a disadvantage for him however it was now a week and a half after the murder and he needed to pick up the pace.

Mike had come through for him with his pick on where to lodge in the main time, money friendly and comfortable mike did say, now he was inside what they called a standard room for the hotel, he admitted his colleague was spot on.

At exactly 4 0’clock his car arrived and having worked a lot of cases in the city, he managed to track down the victim’s mother at her apartment, it was a bit chaotic as family members and well wishers were present but He had been led to somewhere within the building to wait for her so they could talk and some fifteen minutes later, she had arrived.

‘Detective, its good to see you.’ She said softly as she took her seat opposite him.

For a fifty two year, she was quite beautiful and seemed younger at first glance, dark, short and carried herself around smartly.
‘Madam I am sorry for your loss, I won’t be asking a lot, I just want to get some details straight then let you attend to your people.’ The detective remarked as Maureen gave a nod of approval.

‘Can you just tell me what happened that day, how did you get to know, your previous encounter with her, she lived here with you right?’ Cyril made sure to ask.

‘yes she did.’ She thought about something for a little while which made her a bit sullen. ‘she had been working overtime throughout the week prior to release her first music album and that day was just like any other, she went to the market and then to the mall after then to get some dress for herself in the early hours and was with me until about 3:55 pm, usually by 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm she is supposed to be at the musical studio where she does her records so I didn’t bother to ask where she was going to, I assumed she was on her way there.’

She halted as the words became a bit heavier for her, her eyes were already red and sour from crying already but it was inevitable to prevent her from crying.

However she did compose herself so that she merely cleaned her eyes off a tear or two.

‘I got a call from her brother, her twin. That he was going to be with me soon and that there was something that he needed to

CONTINUED


‘yes, my son ensured an autopsy report was carried out, it was how we knew what had been done to her, it is so painful to lose your child like that, you have to find who did this, detective.’ She charged the detective once more.

‘you don’t need to worry madam, I will get to the bottom of the case and I will find those responsible for the murder, that I can promise you.’ Cyril assured her.

It was time he let her mourn her loss, this sort of conversations were never easy for anyone, prying painful memories just to ensure all details checked out on a case was never pleasant just necessary.

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

Anayo Martins didn’t hesitate to gulp down half the contents of the beer bottle alongside with two of his friends, the lawyer and ex lover of Antonia was in no doubt in high spirit at one of the popular bar that evening.

Of course he had his personal reasons to be happy at a time like this when the opposite was expected.

The narcissist, proud, arrogant thirty years old who alleged Antonia had cheated on him felt the need to add more insult to injuries as he had done whenever he could, following the pair’s break up some five months ago.

‘drink up guys, I am going to ensure your legs can’t carry you tonight.’ He boasted signaling a sales boy to come over.

‘you know you still haven’t told us why or what we are celebrating, at least we could have had some girls come along you know?’ one of his friends asked for it was no secret that Martins did things like this to spite his former lover when he could and unceremoniously usually got them involved in it somehow, in fat they may have even considered themselves as victims of martin’s obsession and anger at Antonia.

‘Guys, just relax and enjoy yourself, I just want to have a good time tonight with my buddies you know, work and all has been the order of the day but today, I want to drink and just celebrate life.’ He lied for this in fact was what he considered his final send off to Antonia.

He took a few pictures and posted online, the perfect bait had been set now, anytime soon a hot headed somebody would come online and begin a war of words with him over his posts.

But this didn’t happen and even when he made more reveling posts about Antonia, the reactions and remarks hadn’t been from his target and it was starting to look like a wasted day before a Toyota land cruiser rolled up at the front of the club.

It was quick to notice the expensive car by everyone but Martins was more excited by what the prospects of this meant.

Pastor Antony rushed out with two heavily armed soldier men who popped up from the back seats almost in a rehearsed manner, making their entrance into the bar, for some customers it was the end of a cool evening outing as they took their leave immediately sensing danger but Martins and his friends stayed as the soldiers who seemed to have been displaced at the war front produced their whips as they came closer to the trio.

The turning moment for the two friends who wanted no part in this took their leave as well as every other customer.

‘So even after all this, you piece of rotten wretched garbage still hasn’t backed off right?’ An infuriated Pastor Antony said as one of the soldiers handed him the whip once they got closer to martins who seemly oddly composed.

‘so what do you think you are going to do about it?’ Martins asked taking his stand but one of the soldiers had read his movement and landed a powerful slap on his face which made him to slip back into the chair awkwardly so that it collapsed to ground and then came the rounds of mercilessly flogging from Pastor Antony and the other soldier while the third threw powerful kicks to his underbelly as martins ineffectively tried to shield himself.

The attacks would go on to a point the pastor had feared martins might have given up the ghost before they finally retraced their steps back to the car and left the bar.

Martins spat reddish mucus after he managed to regain consciousness from the beating.

His body felt like hell and he became certain he had broken a few ribs when he tried to sit upright however the sales boy did come to his rescue.
‘you had everything recorded, didn’t you?’ Martins managed to say.

He had caught a glimpse of the teenager with his phone pointed at him and his attackers when he went to the ground earlier from a well hidden place perhaps out of excitement or whatever the reasons were, he certainly had his own reasons.

This may not have been part of his plans but even whilst under intense pains, he was smart to know this could be the start of something big for him.

CHAPTER TWO



A dilemma of what to do next struck the detective, it wasn’t quite obvious why the case had been withdrawn but many a times, those closest to the victims would prefer to get closure from their losses by other means other than seeking justice, he could however report in the change of events and go on with his other cases but there was still one last card to play for the detective, he rang the sergeant and prayed he got at least some contact information of the victim’s family, this time he was lucky.

He dialed the number given to him and waited patiently for it to ring.

‘Hello Good day madam, Am I speaking with Mrs. Maureen Okeke?’ Cyril asked just to be sure.
‘yes, who am I speaking with?’ her voice was brittle and low.

‘This is detective Cyril from NCIB, I just got information regarding your withdrawal of your earlier request for a murder investigation to the death of your daughter...’

‘The NCIB, was the case picked up?’ She asked anxiously, this time her voice had gone up considerably.

‘yes madam and I am supposed to be in lagos before the week end to commence investigations, I needed to access your initial statement and they said you had withdrawn, may I ask why?’ Cyril demanded.

‘well, am sorry detective, you see my son told me how cases at the police station are always treated, sometimes they are abandoned and never get to anywhere, its been a rough week for us all and as we prepare for the burial, its just too much for us all you know, he said he was going to figure out how best to go about it once we had done the burial so I decided to withdraw the case for now, I had no idea my baby’s case had gotten to the NCIB, thank Goodness.’ She declared.

It was nothing suspicious as the detective had thought, just two people trying to minimize the effects of the emotional trauma.

‘is there something you need me to do or do I have to go back and make another request?’ she asked added.

She did need to file in the case but that wasn’t important at the moment, it was only important for him to confirm she wanted the case to go on.
‘well you are going to have to write that statement you withdrew and submit it but since NCIB works as an autonomous bureau, I can go on with the investigations in the mean time if that is okay with you.’

Cyril continued.

‘yes detective, please go on, whatever you need, I will be happy to assist you, my girl deserved better than what was done to her you know, raped, murdered and dumped like a piece of trash.’

Her voice cracked as she began to sob but for the detective, she had given him an idea of what had happened to the victim, he needed just to ask one more question which would make solidify what he had just learnt.

‘madam, may I ask if a medical autopsy was carried out on the body, I heard what you said but I have to ask if that was confirmed.’ He asked.

CONTINUED



anything to do with it and her parents threatened to disown her so we had to divorce, my dad was afraid I was going to marry some other chick or do something crazy so he sent me abroad to live with my uncle who was a commander in the U.S military and from there I found my purpose was to be in the military as well and the rest you guys know.’

He concluded before flipping what Cyril had suspected was a picture, which in fact was.

‘Her name is Antonia Okereke, she is a twin at that, turned twenty eight and sings very well like her mother.’

He paused and let the music on his phone play again. ‘yeah, that’s one of her songs...’ he paused to stop the music. ‘...she is Maureen’s daughter and she is dead, murdered and dumped by the roadside, her mother filed the case in,

I happened to be sorting a new batch of cases our servers received and found the name, I have no guts to talk to her but I can try to help her get justice if you would assist this old man, I know you got a lot of cases piled up on your desk but I need you to work this out for her, it’s the least I can do for her or you can do for me right now.’ Cyril’s boss concluded.

His boss was never known for mushy sad tales or long talks on relationship and families, in fact he rarely ever talked about anything if it wasn’t about a case so indeed the old man must have been hit by the news howbeit this was going to cost him a lot of his time, having already taken three cases up within the week which were already going cold due to lack of evidences,

a forth would totally throw him off course on those three but he wouldn’t consider it any further, the boss could have shoved the case at him like he did when he had to but this was different.

‘I will take the boss but you are taking two off my current cases.’ Cyril said, he didn’t need to bargain but something in his mind made him feel too easy to grind by the old man which didn’t go well with him.

‘fine, let’s settle for one case off your current cases, then we have a deal.’ The old man countered.

‘one case off my pile this week and one off the next batch then, I think this is a much better deal, boss.’ Cyril said again, not willingly to give in that easily.

‘fine, it’s a hard bargain but it’s a deal.’ The old man replied with a nod.

‘I am guessing, the files haven’t arrived yet?’ Cyril said observing he hadn’t been handed a case file yet.

‘No, not yet detective, I will put it across so you can have it before you decide your next move.’ The commissioner acknowledged.

‘okay boss, in the main time, I will go online and see what I can find about the victim.’ Cyril stood up to take his leave, he got to the door and shook his head in disbelief before turning around to stare at the chief.

‘I still can’t believe you did that at such age.’ Cyril said.

CONTINUED


“finally” Cyril thought to himself hoping it was a call that would make his friend take his leave sooner.

‘it’s the boss, I have to take this.’ Mike said seriously.

The call didn’t take up to a minute unfortunately before he ended it.
‘what did he want?’ Cyril asked anxiously.

‘Oh no, nothing at all, he wants to see you, says he can’t reach your phone but I don’t think it is serious.’ Mike said.

‘Oh definitely it is something serious and I have to go see the boss now, I forgot I was supposed to go see him earlier.’ Cyril lied, having no earlier plans to do such but this was an opportunity he couldn’t miss.

‘Oh so you are leaving right now?’ Mike asked somewhat uncertain of his friend’s or rather a bit sad about his apparent departure.

‘Mike, I got to go now, I will be back as soon as I can.’ Cyril said leaping out of the office in hopes he didn’t come back to find Mike waiting, which of course wouldn’t be a big surprise to him but rather would leave him sour a bit.

It wasn’t a hard choice for him to convince himself to go see his boss once he got out, perhaps he could postpone the said meeting and just get somewhere else to go but it was a fair deal in the detective’s mind since the boss got him out of mike’s conversation.

Two more levels of office building by the stairs which he always preferred to the elevator; not because they do break down from time to time.
He arrived shortly at the office and immediately noticed the soft tunes of a music coming from within the boss’s office.

‘what is up with that?’ Cyril wondered as he knocked and got in almost immediately.

The commissioner had a gloomy face on as his fingers tapped continuously on what the detective suspected was a picture even though it had its back turned.

‘cyril, please take your seat.’ He said dully, his attitude was quite different even for times when they had to argue over a choice of case, this was a genuine feeling of sadness threatening to break loose off the boss usually calm and well composed demeanor.

He gently pulled his glasses down and finally stopped his phone from playing the music but he would not say a word even after then, the detective could tell he was struggling with something at the moment.

‘boss, is everything okay?’ Cyril asked with an appealing voice.

‘would you believe an old man like me once had a divorce?’ He said in a brittle manner.

‘I was twenty one years of age, her name was Maureen...’ He paused and gave an appealing smile. ‘...she was then eighteen , we were deeply in love and got married without the knowledge of our parents.’

He chuckled for a moment as he relived his past to the detective. ‘we had plans for the future, we even had names ready for our kids, I wanted our girl to be called Antonia and if it’s a boy, we would call him Antony but our families got to know, my parents didn’t want

CONTINUED


around the senior pastor that made him so eloquent and precise in how he spoke and acted for one minute he was the devil incarnate and an angel the next.

‘Mother is fine, she asked about you the other day. She has been aching to see you, father.’ Pastor Antony said.

Sullivan didn’t give a reply but merely nodded in deep satisfaction as he waved Antony off and perhaps it was for the better as his phone began to ring, for if it had been ringing out while talking he could have been in big trouble, violating a known law of the church which ensured phones were always switched off.

He took his leave and hurriedly galloped down the stairs passing a Zoey who didn’t bother to take notice of him, perhaps she had heard everything but that couldn’t be,

it was forbidden to carry rumors, eavesdrop or say something of such nature, she wouldn’t dare to have done that but anyway it wasn’t his business, the senior pastor’s Personal Assistant and Church’s Administrative head wouldn’t be pleased he got nothing other than a stern warning, he thought to himself as he got to a safe place where he normally picked his calls.

‘Hello, this is Pastor Antony speaking, who is this?

‘it’s Antonia, tony. Please you have to come quickly, we found Antonia by a roadside, she is dead, tony.’

Antony stiffened blurring out the weeping and tormented gibberish, Antonia’s friend, Mary was now saying.

It would take him another three days to recover from the shock as the mourning procession began.

************************
Back at the county’s capital, the National Crimes Investigation Bureau had just concluded its four days seminar workshop with leading expertise in forensic investigations from around the global speaking on more advanced ways to resolve and fasten crime detection.

‘what do this guys know about solving a hardcore murder case in Nigeria’ Mike fumed announcing his presence in cyril’s office who wished he had locked the office door a bit earlier.

Cyril took a brief stare at him, a big frown across his broad face all messed up with beads of sweat rolling down on all sides of it, yep that was an angry mike, a once in a blue moon occurrence which would no doubt result in a long conversation he was never ever prepared for.

Cyril replaced a piece of document he had been working on back to its folder and sat back to welcome his detective friend’s aggravation.
‘you should have seen that white old fool go about how he thought I could have made my case easier with all those rambling about careful observations and all, who does he think he is?’ Mike continued, a sense of flared temper perhaps was sensed by Cyril.

Reality check was in order for mike who had brought the throbbing eyes of a few team of white detectives from the FBI when he walked up to them to share his experiences about his case, something Cyril might have tried to war him about.

‘But you did decide to leave your seat and go share your personal diary with them so...’ Cyril held on for a brief second hoping to sense that emotional change from angry to self realization.

Mike sighed horribly, exhaling sharply like a balloon which had suddenly been deflated.

‘...so maybe you shouldn’t take it out on them besides it wasn’t so bad, they genuinely said a lot to help us with our jobs.’ Cyril continued.

‘Yeah, yeah but still I am just happy it is over, I can’t believe I took three months to solve a case and I got thrashed with the so called words of wisdom from guys who know nothing about the damned state of the country.’ Mike replied a bit despondent at best.

‘Cheer up man, it happens by the way how is your new case looking up?’ Cyril asked, it was time he changed the topic having calmed mike down, a topic about himself or his cases seemed like the vitamins you give to a kid after taking the bitter pills already.

‘Oh man...’ Mike came alive. ‘...it has everything and I think the woman has a thing for me already, you should see how many times she calls me just to check up on me.’ Mike declared as Cyril watched him.

‘Its complicated as hell you know but I got everything under my fingers, i bet those nosy detectives can’t even work the hours I have put in on my case already.’ Mike continued but he wouldn’t have a chance to say more before his phone rang.

CONTINUED


around for him like it had done in the past.

He was not the sweet talking and charismatic motivational turned senior pastor and general overseer of one of Nigeria’s biggest and ever growing congregation, he was that guy’s class mate no one remembered after they all left and now his entire good fortune was been threatened.

‘Nonsense, I am not God you see but may I remind you that I own you and everything that you are, are within my fingers, I made you who you are and I can unravel it with just a snap of my finger, are you aware of that?’ Pastor Sullivan asked with some tenacity to his voice.

‘Yes sir, sir I am very sorry, I swear...’

‘You will speak when I ask you to speak not before and not after, do you think you can do my job for me, remember all these luxuries you enjoy comes from me, I feed and I cloth you and your family, your friends and all and this is how you repay me, with disloyalty?’ Pastor Sullivan continued, this time his anger filled the air.

‘So just because you couldn’t reach me, you decided to go on and assume my duties for me, that crowd is my crowd, my people and my worshippers, even if I took five hours to get here they would wait just to see me climb that pulpit, I told you I was on my way, I needed to make a stop to get myself purified and you decided to defile my orders just like that.’

Pastor Sullivan stopped for a brief moment and tried his best to remain composed, thankfully he did take off a bit out of the intensity that followed his voice.

‘Now listen and listen very well, I like you, you and Zoey as I have always said are the only family I have, you both have been there for me and that is why you all dine at my table of success and I don’t want anything to ruin that for us, we are united as one big family, its why everyone calls me father, I will chastise you when I need to and draw you close to me as well.’ He stopped again and exhaled deeply as a smile gradually appeared on his face.

‘I don’t want this to ever repeat itself, ever again, is that understood?’ The senior pastor asked as a more relieved junior pastor gladly nodded his head like a dog would do when he saw his master approach.

‘Yes sir, yes sir, I swear it will never happen again sir, I swear sir, please you have to forgive me father, I am so sorry, father.’ Pastor Antony said with teary voice as he leaped from the chair to kneel and beg.

‘It is alright, I have heard you, just like a father forgives his son , I as your father has forgiven you, now go and wash in the waters of repentance and ask God to forgive you of your sins.’ Pastor Sullivan said beckoning on the junior pastor to stand, who does reluctantly.

‘thank you father, I will do that right away sir.’ Pastor Antony said before he made to leave the office.
‘How is your family by the way, how is mother doing?’ Pastor Sullivan asked as Pastor Antony turned around to answer, this time he had a big smile on his face.

He always seemed to think it was some sort of mystical aura

CHAPTER 1


He hadn’t mind barging into a few people as he hastily passed the stairs and ran the whole length of the hallway up to the stairs and now facing the office door, he gulped down a hard ball of saliva and became conscious of his breathing, too scared to twist the door knob perhaps.

‘He is waiting for you, you know.’

The voice sent a new and fresh batch of cold shiver down is spine, he didn’t had to turn to know Zoey was giving him the look she gives to him when someone didn’t take her suggestions, in this case he was the unfortunate one.

‘He is pissed, isn’t he?’ Antony managed to say a silently as he could.

‘Oh no, he just wants to hug you for doing your job properly, now if you would excuse me I have a job which I follow base on orders that i give a damn about.’ She said grim, implacable manner before he heard her footsteps fade away.

She was always going to gloat over this but that wasn’t his problem.
‘Is anyone out there?’

The voice came from within the office and was gravely so that it left the junior Pastor of the The Winning Youth Ministry shaken, optioning to take the foot forward, into the senior pastor and general overseer of the church.

‘Good afternoon, father.’ He greeted as he opened the door cautiously, avoiding eye contact as much as he could.

‘Pastor Antony, please take your seat, I was wondering when you were going to come around.’ Pastor Sullivan Edebhor, a forty three year old hunky, dark, tall, handsome and stylish pastor, one of the rising key figures and a modern day role model for all the youngsters and youths across the states and country at large, sat behind the desk, impassive at best as his junior officer took his seat.

They remained silent for a while, a steady eyed senior pastor who seem to be communicating something invincible that was making his junior feel horribly out of place did nothing to calm the atmosphere.

Pastor Sullivan produced his phone and read through some texts on his social media account and nodded in a way that confused his junior greatly.

‘They say you did very well today, Antony. I am impressed.’ Pastor Sullivan said in a deadpan manner, eyes unmoved from its target with no facial expression that did suggest he was happy about the news.

‘what do you think about what they are saying, Antony?’ He continued as he replaced his phone.

‘well sir.’ Antony said swallowing a huge ball of saliva that had started threatening to find another exit if he held on to it in his mouth. ‘well sir, it was okay but it could only have been the real success if you were present, it is like God was missing in our presence.’ Pastor Antony said, in his head his exaggeration of his boss’s absence could in fact turn things

WRITER'S UPDATE ON VOLUME 5 JUDAS CARES NOT


So far, its going very well and is on track to be released before the end of next week.

The story contains alot of twists and turns and so many secrets, JCN will be very interesting , that i am certain of.