HIGH CRIMES

This piece is actual actually my first attempt at writing crime drama, so you the reader will notice how crude it feels compared to C.S.I: 9JA. 🙂
I wrote this piece some 3 years ago when the kidnapping “business” had just bean to bloom in the country. I’m glad things have reduced a little bit now, but we all have to pitch in to change this country for the better, one corp member at a time. 😀
Enjoy the piece and feel free to drop your comments after the read. Thank you for your support, and don’t worry, C.S.I. 9JA will be back real soon. ~ Chrome.

 

The Kidnapping

Rachel ran towards her uncle who was waiting for her at the visitors’ lounge that was situated near the front gate of her school. She was seven years old and the only daughter to a lawyer father (who doubled as a politician) and a businesswoman mother. Being the only child meant she received the highest attention a child could have from her parents. She attended the best school in the area and all the basic amenities she needed to grow up healthy where never lacking around her. It is also for this reason that only her uncle (younger brother to her mother) was allowed to pick her up from school (as her mother dropped her off personally on her way to work). He was always on time to pick her up and he never made any unnecessary stops on their way home. She admired Uncle Buzor so much. He was always nice to her and showed her around the area to the point she had memorized the route with which they took home. It was for this reason that when he took a different route, she began to feel uneasy. She enquired of him why they weren’t taking the normal route which she was used to and, in response, he smiled at her and told her that he had discovered a new route which was faster than their normal route home. She smiled back at him and relaxed in her seat. She told herself she had nothing to be afraid off; Uncle Buzor was there to protect her. She trusted Uncle Buzor with her life.

Buzor straightened up on the driver’s seat and kept his eyes on the road. He knew that the reassuring smile he gave his little niece was a weak one, but he hoped it would be enough to convince her that there was no foul play in progress. He thought back on how the plan was meant to be executed and hoped his cohorts would be there to play out their own parts well. Buzor was the last born of his family and fabled black sheep. He never wanted to get an education and always felt he was being held back in getting the life he so much wanted by going to school. This ultimately led to his dropping out of the university after just three semesters. He wanted things easy and sought out get-rich-quick schemes that never seemed to pan out. About a year ago, he left his parents’ Umuahia residence and moved in with his elder sister and her husband in their cozy abode in Lagos, and felt this was his opportunity to live out the good life absolutely scot-free. Things turned sour for him when recently, his in-law, together with his own sister, began hammering on the need for him to get up and get a job…and get a life of his own. He felt they were hateful, ungrateful people who didn’t want him to enjoy the fruits of their labor with them. He didn’t have that many friends since he came to Lagos, but he did have friends nonetheless, albeit not the kind of friends he could bring home for a social call. And so, he hatched a plan with his ‘friends’, one which he guaranteed them was going to make them instant millionaires.

He looked at little Rachel again and smiled, but this time it was a smile of mischief. She was the center of the plan and the biggest payday he and his friends were going to encounter. He looked back at the road and the smile turned into a nasty grin. They were almost at the extraction point. Things were going according to his brilliant plan.

The car came to an abrupt halt when a gang of heavily armed men jumped out of a nearby parked car and blocked the way. They shot into the air and bystanders fled. Rachel screamed and motioned to Uncle Buzor with her open arms, because she felt she would be safe in his arms. She knew Uncle Buzor would protect her no matter what. This was what he always told her whenever they were on their way back home. She reached for him, but he wouldn’t reach for her. She looked up at his face but she could barely recognize it. He was no longer the sweet uncle with lots of smiles that she knew; he was smiling, but there was something evil about the way he smiled now.

 

The Ransom

The time was 5:30pm when Barrister Chibueze pulled into the parking lot of his home. It was a cozy duplex situated in the government reserved areas of Ijake in Lagos State. He was a well-to-do lawyer with interests in business and politics, and had worked really hard over the years to acquire a small fortune which he was ready to spend on the comfort of his family. A family which consisted of his wife of ten years and seven-year-old daughter, whose coming had been nothing short of a miracle. He had been diagnosed with sterility, even though the doctors hadn’t ruled out the possibility of him bearing a child; they had predicted it would be a 1 in 1,000,000 of a chance. Rachel was that 1 in a million and he was hell-bent on spending millions to ensure she lived a comfortable life.

This was to be the case when he entered into the living room of his home and saw his wife crying and his brother-in-law kneeling on the floor. He noticed that Buzor’s face was bruised and his shirt was bloodied. There was a note on the table in front of his wife. Barrister Chibueze needed nobody to direct him towards the note, and on reading it, he slumped on one of the sofas and stared into space with a dejected gaze.

Buzor permitted himself a small, malicious smile, while he forced the tears that rolled down his cheeks. It was all going according to plan. The injuries he obtained from the beatings he received in the hands of his friends to make the kidnap seem realistic had done a good job of convincing his sister, and now, his brother-in-law. When he returned that evening to meet his sister in the living room, he was limping. He knelt on the ground and gave his best performance in acting remorseful. He then handed the ransom note to her after explaining what had happened. He knew that his brother-in-law would do anything to get his daughter back safely. In fact, he felt the twenty five million naira he and his gang were asking for was pocket change compared to what his sister’s husband could cough up. He was going to get five million naira while his cohorts each got two million. They had given the family thirty-six hours to respond or find their daughter dead in the nearest dumpsite. They were sure to pay, and he and his friends were sure to get paid!

 

The Rescue

Edidiong wasn’t the happiest of persons on the planet at the moment. The feeling didn’t stem from the fact that he came from a low-class family nor was it because he was the first son of his home, which automatically meant that the burden of bringing the family out of the ashes of poverty rested on him. He was not happy at this very moment because of the ‘wrong place at the wrong time’ scenario he had just found himself in. Edidiong’s childhood had been spent in his village which was found in a remote region of Akwa-Ibom state. The only time he left the region was when he got admission into a university situated in Owerri, Imo state. Now a graduate undergoing his one-year compulsory youth service, he was posted to Ogun State, much to his disappointment. He felt that, as a graduate of Petroleum Engineering, he would be posted to oil rich regions of the country like Rivers or Bayelsa States. To make matters worse for him, after the 3-week paramilitary training, he was posted to a remote village to become a teacher in the community primary school as his primary assignment. It took him two full days to find the village and, even after three months, he still wasn’t accustomed to the terrain. On the fateful day, he decided to explore his surrounding but before long he had lost his way back to his lodge. Things would have been a lot easier for him if the region wasn’t so bushy. Thick vegetation confused his bearings and he decided to look for the nearest footpaths. Growing up in the village had taught him a lot of things, one of which was that as long as there was a footpath, it was bound to lead to where people were. He checked his wristwatch and saw the time was 6:30pm. The sky was still bright and he thanked his stars for that. He moved through the thicket until he came across an uncompleted building which must have been abandoned, judging by its dilapidated state, for quite a few years. He was about to turn around and find a new path when he noticed movements in the building. He immediately ducked behind some bushes when a red jeep, closely followed by a very unattractive car, pulled into front side of the building. He watched as six men, carrying guns, stepped out of the cars with a little girl in their company. This was the reason why Edidiong was not a happy person. He knew exactly what was happening. It was a kidnapping and he was a prime witness to the crime. The men outside were joined by their counterparts who were inside the building and Edidiong counted them to a total of ten mean-looking men. He brought out his cell phone but discovered that there was no network coverage. He cursed under his breath. Just then, eight of the men entered into the cars and drove away through the bush tracks towards where Edidiong realized would be the main road. He watched as the remaining two hoodlums led the little girl into the uncompleted building, and he came out from his hiding place. He knew what he was about to do was stupid and suicidal, but his instincts as a firstborn had already kicked in long before reason took control. He stealthily ran up to the rear of the building and peeped in from one of the windows. He noticed that only one of the hoodlums guarded the girl. A quick look around and he saw the second making his way through the bushes at the other end of the plot, which meant he was going to either take a leak or a dump. Edidiong wasted no time. He found a large stick and after jumping through the window, rushed towards the sentry and knocked him out with it.

Rachel screamed as a man wearing dark green trousers and a cap of the same color jumped through one of the windows and hit the man who was told to watch her with a huge stick. The new arrival helped her untie the ropes that were used to tie her hands and her feet. She knew he was a good man. He wore the same clothes some of the uncles and aunties in her school wore on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so she knew she could trust him. Unlike Uncle Buzor who allowed the bad men to carry her away in her daddy’s car. She knew that Uncle Buzor knew the bad men and when she saw them beating him, he was laughing with them. This man in uniform told her to trust him and he was going to take her back home. She believed him and held on to him when he carried her in his arms. His arms felt safe. Not like Uncle Buzor who did not try to save her with his arms; this man was a good man.

Edidiong ran with all his might as he carried Rachel out of the building. At that same time, the second sentry was making his way back to the hideout when Edidiong made a break for the bushes in the same direction the cars went. The hoodlum ran after him. He had a locally-made pump-action shotgun with him and he fired off two shots which sprayed pellets all over the bushes. Edidiong ran as fast as he could, he was beginning to lose his pursuer. The pain in his left shoulder and right butt-cheek didn’t slow him down. Apparently two of the pellets had hit him in those regions but Edidiong was a stoutly built young man. The pellets barely dug into his flesh, thanks to years of farming and pounding yams. But Edidiong was losing blood, which ultimately meant he was gradually losing consciousness. All he thought about was getting the little girl to safety even if it cost him his life. When he eventually saw the expressway, his body was already growing numb. He saw a convoy of cars coming down the expressway and using his last ounce of strength he waved at them…just before he passed out.

 

The Conclusion

Six hours after the abduction of Rachel, Buzor was behind bars with six of his cohorts. Apparently the convoy that Edidiong had flagged down belonged to that of the governor of Ogun State who was returning from an official duty. His security team immediately swooped in and apprehended the hoodlum that was chasing the youth corps member. Interrogations lead to the discovery of the diabolical plan to hold Rachel for ransom. The remaining gang members were accosted en route to the hideout and a shootout ensued. Three members of the gang were killed while one escaped and was still at large. A nationwide manhunt had been placed on him.

Rachel was back in the loving arms of her parents, and Barrister Chibueze was once again a very happy man. While he contemplated rallying around to get the ransom money, he got a call from one of the governor’s security personnel. As it turned out, Rachel was fond of numbers and had memorized her daddy’s phone number just for fun. It proved to be a very helpful hobby as it became easy to locate her parents with the phone number.

Edidiong was recovering in the state university teaching hospital. Because of his bravery, the state governor had announced an increase in the monthly allowance of corps members serving in the state. He also gave Edidiong a scholarship to any university of his choice to pursue his Masters degree. Barrister Chibueze, in a show of appreciation, used his connections to get Edidiong a job in one of the country’s prestigious multinational oil companies. He also decided to sponsor one of Edidiong’s siblings up to the university level.

The End.

C.S.I: 9JA (The Jack And Jill Story: Final Episode!)

 

“Will you be alright?” Edeeth said to Monica.

It had been twenty minutes since the policemen took Anthony Scott away. They were all in the conference room now and Monica had recomposed herself to a degree. Her face however still looked ravaged by her tears; the eyes were still red-rimmed and the features appeared gaunt. As Edeeth looked at her, she couldn’t help but wonder how much she had changed from the vibrant beauty she had seen yesterday morning at the gate of her house. So much had changed since then, Edeeth pondered further. A murderer had been apprehended. A truth had been uncovered. A victim had received justice.

The smile Monica gave was wan. “I’ll be fine,” she said with a nod. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see it was Walter’s. He was smiling and for a fleeting moment, she had a sense of déjà vu sweep through her. There was something about Walter’s unimposing good looks that reminded her of Jackson.

“You sure about that?” he was asking.

She nodded again. “Really, I’ll be alright.”

“When you are ready to leave, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

“Okay, I’ll be a few more minutes.” Then she walked off to meet Chrome. The heavily-built officer was seated at the head of the conference table.

“Hello, sir…” she began meekly.

“Ms. Scott,” Chrome replied with slow nod and a smile.

“I want to thank you again, for everything.”

“I’d like to say it’s my pleasure, but one doesn’t pray to have pleasure from this kind of affair.” He shrugged. “Then again, it’s my job.”

“I just want you to know that I have decided to remain here and finish my schooling and raise my child.”

“Good for you. I know you’ll be okay.”

Nodding in agreement with his words, Monica turned and left his presence.

“Are you ready to go?” Walter asked her when she approached him in the hallway.

“Yes, please.”

“Just one second.” He walked away from her, and hurried down the hall to where Edeeth stood. She had just finished taking a phone call when he came to stand next to her. “Hey, beautiful,” he cooed.

Edeeth rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, but said with a smile, “What favor do you need, Wally?”

“Well, um…it’s not really a favor.”

“What is it then?”

“Well…you see…now that the case is over. Maybe…you know…we could get a drink or something tonight?”

“Walter Udeme! You never learn, do you?”

Walter shrugged and gave an abashed smile. “Learn what, pray tell?”

Edeeth shook her head. “Never mind. Thanks for the offer, but I can’t go. Sorry.”

His smile tightened, and he nodded mutely.

“Besides, I already have a date,” Edeeth added.

He lifted his brows in theatrical wonder. “You don’t say.”

Edeeth frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Edeeth Ajuala, the iron maiden, going on a date? You can’t even bring yourself to have lunch with a guy, or drinks with me. Yet, here you are, using the big D-word.”

She laughed lightly and said, “Of course, I go on dates if I like. I just don’t tell you every time I have to doll myself up.” She turned around and started sauntering away. Over her shoulder, she added, “And whoever told you it was with a guy?”

Walter’s jaw dropped.

***

Walter and Monica arrived at the Jos University Teaching hospital an hour later. The time was already well past the hour of 2:00pm. They had finished making enquiries at the reception and the nurse who Walter met in Anderson Gyang’s room the previous night – Nurse Yvonne, he remembered – led them to the recovery room where the elderly man was. He was more alert and looked stronger than he did the night before. Walter ushered Monica into the room and followed in behind her. Anderson smiled when he saw Walter and his eyes stared enquiringly at Monica.

Walter was the one who started. “Good afternoon, sir. You’re looking better than yesterday.”

Anderson readjusted himself on his bed and laughed lightly. “A lot of things turned me into the frail, sniveling old man you sat with yesternight. I’m a lot stronger than that.”

And he seemed to be getting some of that strength back, Walter noticed.

Anderson glanced at Monica again. “You are Ms. Scott, right?”

Monica nodded.

Walter went on to tell Anderson all that had happened and how they caught Jackson’s killers. As he talked, a smile, gentle and wispy, curved Anderson’s mouth and remained anchored there. By the time Walter finished his narrative, his eyes were eclipsed by a glassy sheen of tears held back.

“Thank you…thank you so much,” he rasped.

Walter then turned to Monica and said, “Monica, I brought you here so you can get to meet Sir Anderson Gyang. He is…Jackson’s father.”

Monica’s hand flew to her mouth as it dropped open and her surprised gaze flew to Anderson. There were questions in her eyes too. “How can – I don’t understand…”

“In due time, my dear,” Anderson replied.

“I’m not done yet,” Walter interjected. He was facing Anderson now. “Sir, Monica was not just Jackson’s fiancée. She is also the mother of his child.”

It was Anderson’s turn to look surprised. His surprise however quickly made way for a wide, pleasant grin that split his face. “There was a time in the not-so distant past, when I thought the fates were mocking me by taking away my son from me. But with this” – he lifted his eyes heavenward – “thank you, God.”

Walter pulled up a chair close to the bed for Monica to sit on and said, “I believe the both of you have a lot of catching up and explaining to do.” He gestured to Monica to sit and he continued, “Take as much time as you want, I’ll be at the reception if you need me.” With that he walked out of the room. Just before he shut the door, he peered into the room, watching as Monica sat, as Anderson took her hand tenderly in his, as they both began to talk at once before bursting out into laughter. He watched the new family that had been created. It made him smile before he wandered off towards the reception.

***

Later in the evening, Edeeth’s car pulled up in front of a duplex in a suburban area of Jos metropolis called Barkinladi. She rang the door bell and was let in by a maid. She sat on one of the plush leather couches in the sitting room and waited for her host. In a few minutes, a good-looking woman of roughly the same age as Edeeth came in and both ladies hugged each other affectionately.

“Oh my good Lord!” the woman exclaimed, her lips peeled back to reveal her gap-toothed smile. “Edeeth – so nice of you to drop by!”

“You know I’m never too busy for my only sister,” Edeeth replied with a wink.

The woman chuckled. Eketi was her name, and she was Edeeth’s stepsister, about the only member of Edeeth’s family who she still maintained close contact with, mainly because they’d grown up very close to each other. Eketi lived in Jos and Edeeth’s visit would be the second time they were seeing each other since she flew into Jos with the CSI team for the investigation that had brought them here.

“So, Eky, how’s the family?”

“Fine, my dear. The kids are already in bed. Onuoha should be back from work any moment from now.” She paused and then said, “I’m glad you dropped by. After the last time you came, I feared you would not be able to come again, seeing as you’re so busy fighting crime.” She softened the sting in her remark with a smile.

“To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t have made it here. We had wrapped up the case that brought us here and would have already flown back to Abuja, if not for a second murder case that literally dropped on us yesterday.”

“Well, if it weren’t in such poor taste, I’d have said a big thanks to the murder for happening and hence bringing you here.”

They shared a laugh.

“So how goes it?” Eketi asked.

“It’s over now. I’m not sure about our itinerary but I had to see you quick before our departure, whenever it will be.”

“Well, then,” Eketi said, adjusting her bulk on the couch beside her sister, “let us make the most of the time we have together then.”

And for several moments, they chatted and giggled and bounced from topic to topic, painting the picture of two teenagers playing catch-up.

“So, Edie, any special guy in your life now,” Eketi suddenly asked at some point in their conversation, “or do you still believe all men are God’s mistake to this world?”

Edeeth laughed uproariously at her sister’s words. When she sobered, she thought for a moment and then said, “Well, I still fly air-Edeeth solo.”

Eketi looked searchingly at her and said, “But there is someone, right?”

“Not really.”

“That just leaves the minutest probability that there’s someone.”

“Well, that probability will remain unexplored, you this woman. Ah-ah, leave me alone oh.” They both laughed again before segueing into other items of gossip.

***

Chrome looked at his watch. The time was 8:15pm. He was seated in a restaurant situated at the heart of Jos metropolis, sharing a light dinner with Manny, Jerome and Stacey. They were cracking jokes and recanting the high points of the case they had just closed. Chrome’s mind drifted for a moment and it took him a while to realize that Manny had directed a comment at him.

“I’m sorry?” he suddenly said as he refocused on their conversation.

“I said, I heard you actually rephrased a popular children’s nursery rhyme,” Manny repeated.

“Oh that? Well…yes, I guess I did.”

“Wow,” Stacey said in admiration while Jerome, as usual, stifled a laugh.

The table fell silent for a moment and then Manny said, “Man, you know that’s gay!”

There was an outburst of laughter; Chrome himself was caught up with his mirth. The merriment continued for about an hour before they all decided to call it a night. Outside the restaurant, Chrome walked Manny and Stacey over to the car they came in, while Jerome walked off to where he had parked the car he and Chrome had ridden. Chrome watched as Manny’s car pulled out from where it was parked and he waved at them as they drove off into the main road. For a moment he felt silly for doing that because they were all headed for the same hotel. Jerome pulled up the car very close to where he was standing. He was opening the passenger door to get in when his phone rang. He brought it out of his suit pocket and, without a glance at the caller ID, he answered.

“Hello?”

There was silence for a few seconds and then the all-too familiar synthesized voice came through the speaker, “Good evening, Officer Chrome.”

Feeling a slight unease, Chrome removed the phone from his ear and peered at the screen. The ID was unknown. It was the prankster again. He placed the phone back against his ear and said in a stern voice, “Who are you?”

“All will be revealed in due time,” said the synthesized voice. “I enjoyed our time spent together.”

“Our time spent together? Who is this and what are you talking about?” Chrome snapped.

The voice laughed through the phone speaker, the kind of laugh whose balefulness seemed to be enhanced by the mechanical camouflage its owner was speaking through, and then said, “Like I said, all in due time. By the way, I like the shirt you’re wearing today. Blue really suits you. It’s also my favorite color.”

And the line went dead.

Chrome’s eyes widened; he was wearing a blue shirt underneath the black suit he had on. He instantly gave an involuntary startled look around the well-lit car park of the restaurant. For some reason, he’d had an instinctual feeling that his caller was lurking around close by. He saw no one or nothing that didn’t seem to fit in with the environment. a few cars were pulling into parking spots, and a couple more were driving away. Couples were traversing the car park to and from the restaurant. Then again, it was nighttime and the darkness could cloak whoever or whatever wasn’t supposed to be here.

Giving up his visual search, he got into the car beside Jerome.

“Is everything alright?” Jerome asked as he ignited the car.

For a moment, Chrome didn’t say anything. He seemed lost in his thoughts.

“Sir?” Jerome ventured again.

He drew in a rousing inhalation and said, “Oh, it’s nothing serious. Let’s be on our way.”

Seconds later, they were out of the car park and onto the main road which led back to their hotel.

***

The next morning saw much activity in the CSI conference room as the team cleared out their desks and put away all necessary documents into the appropriate files. There was a faint stir in the atmosphere, a restrained impatience as they silently anticipated their departure from Jos.

Edeeth had just zipped up her laptop bag when Walter called out to her: “Hey E!” She smiled at him as he came closer. “Hey you, done with your end of the packing?”

“Yes, indeedio,” Walter replied in a cheery tone.

“My, someone seems to have woken up on the right side of the bed today.” With her eyes narrowing in mock-suspicion, she added, “Did we really drop Monica off at the hospital like we promised?”

Walter laughed out loud at her insinuation and was about to reply when his phone rang. He held up a finger at Edeeth and answered the call.

In another corner of the room, Chrome had just ended a call he had put through to Ruth. He gave her the good news about the case being wrapped up and how they were going to have a fantastic time at the Kuru Hills. A trip to the hills was a vacation time he was planning to embark on with his girlfriend after returning to Abuja.

“Hey Chief,” Walter called out to him. He had his phone in his hand. “I just got a call from Inspector Adepoju.” Tony Adepoju was the Police Inspector in Charge of the Lagos State police command and a very close friend of Chrome’s.

“Hey – what did Adepoxy want…and why didn’t he call my line?”

“He said he had tried, but your line was busy,” Walter replied, and added, “He said the Lagos State governor requests our assistance in a new case over in Lagos. Something to do with the bar beach.”

Edeeth and Jerome groaned loudly at this, and Chrome sighed in reluctance. So much for the break they’d all been looking forward to. Chrome knew that Adepoju was more than capable of dealing with normal cases, but since they were being called upon, it meant the case was a little different from ‘normal’. Besides, there was no way they could turn down a request made by a governor. Chrome sighed again and then turned to Jerome. “Jay, how’s the bird?” He was referring to the private jet that they made use of in their travels from city to city.

“The bird’s ready to fly, sir. Air crew is awaiting our arrival,” Jerome responded.

Chrome nodded and said in a voice that included the others, “We have to report to base first and hand in our report for the last two cases closed. We will take a few hours to rest and then make our way to Lagos.” He looked at his watch. The time was 8:30am. He turned to Walter and said, “Wally, call Adepoxy and tell him we’ll be there by 5pm.”

“Yes, sir,” Walter replied and proceeded to make the call.

5pm? Oh well, I suppose I can squeeze in a quick bubble bath before then, Edeeth thought. She looked up when Chrome asked her about Manny and Stacey. “They are already at the reception waiting for us,” she replied.

“Okay.” Chrome took a deep breath and said, “Alright, people, you’ve all done a good job here. It’s time to say goodbye to Jos.”

They filed out of the conference room until Chrome was left standing alone. He looked through the window and saw the Kuru Hills in the horizon, a grayish solid mass which stood immersed in cloudy mists that seemed to add to its mystery and menace. “I guess it’s until next time then,” he said in a low tone, and walked out of the room after his colleagues.

 

 

*And so, one chapter closes and another one opens. The adventures of our elite C.S.I: 9JA unit continues in another thrilling season coming soon. I would like to use this opportunity to thank all who supported me in the creation of this series, especially my close friend Walter Uchenna Ude ( www.mymindsnaps.wordpress.com ) and my followers on twitter and facebook. I pray that God blesses you all as you have blessed me with your time. I would also like to use this opportunity to inform all who have immensely contributed to the success of this series, which is you the readers, that I would be taking a break of about 2 months. I need this time off to work on a certain project which I would reveal when the time is right. I would still be dropping some thrilling stories from time to time within this period. I thank you all once again for your support and understanding. Feel free to drop comments on how you feel the series can be improved. See you in 8 weeks. Adios.

 

C.S.I: 9JA (The Jack And Jill Story: Episode 21)

“What?!” Chief Anthony exclaimed in startle, “What did you just say?” His surprise was slowly turning to anger as he directed his gaze at Chrome. “My friend, am I not talking to you?!” he asked the silent officer, his voice beginning to gain volume, “I asked – what did you just say?”

Chrome took a step back from him and motioned to the table. “Take your seat, sir.”

Anthony cast a fretful look around, from one officer to the next. “What the devil is going on here?!” he half screamed at them. His gaze finally fell on Monica. She had been standing a foot away from him the whole time and the befuddled look on her face was enough to tell that she had no idea what was unveiling before her.

Noticing his eyes on hers, she said in a tremulous voice, “Daddy, what’s going on?”

“How am I supposed to know?” Anthony said snappishly. “I don’t understand why these charlatans are implying by saying –”

Chrome began, “We are not implying –”

“My friend, don’t speak to me until what is coming out of your mouth is an explanation,” the commissioner spat viciously at him. “What is the meaning of this embarrassment of seismic proportions!? Such a preposterous accusation!” he fumed.

Chrome replied, unfazed by the other man’s indignation, “Have a seat, sir.” His voice was soft and respectful, but there was something steely in the words that finally communicated itself to the commissioner.

Anthony snapped up straight, and his brows came down in affront. But he quickly swallowed his outrage, turned and stomped to one of the seats, dropping onto the chair with a huff. Monica moved to sit down, her movements more sedate.

“Alright, officer, let’s hear it,” Anthony said, then he leaned forward on the table and added, “But mark my words. If you have nothing to back any accusations you throw at me, I will bury you! You, and your posse!” With this, he divided a pointedly menacing look amongst the other officers.

They had already arranged themselves inside the room. Edeeth and Jerome stood at opposite ends of the room, and Walter was setting up the projector he had been carrying on the table. Chrome brought out a small object from his pocket and placed it on the table. It was the digital voice recorder. He pressed a button on it and it began to playback a conversation. Everyone fell silent as the voice from the recorder filled the room. It was a conversation between Jerome and Dapo.

“Alright, I’ll tell you everything.” It was Dapo’s voice. “As you already know, I work for Chief Scott. He employed me after I was released from prison here in Nigeria. I worked for him as his driver and personal bodyguard. He treated me well and over the years, he gained my trust and I looked up to him as a mentor.” There was a pause in the recording, as though Dapo had stopped to catch his breath before continuing, “I would do anything to see him happy, and he knew this. One day, a few weeks after the last gubernatorial elections in Akwa-Ibom State, he called me to his study and told me he needed my help. I asked him what he needed and he told me that he knew about my military background. He also told me that he knew about my juvenile record and he promised that he would make sure my record is never found out by anyone, that is, if I did something for him.” There was another pause which lasted for a few seconds.

Then Jerome’s voice intoned, “What something did he want you to do for him?”

Dapo answered, “I told him I would do whatever he needed me to do. He then told me about his political rival in the race for Commissioner of Education in the state who was after his life. He wanted me to take care of his rival before the man did him in.”

“What is the name of his rival?” Jerome asked.

“His name, I understand, was Mr. Josiah Essien. He was the C.E.O. of a major corporation there in Uyo. The chief wanted me to get to him and his family, and it was meant to look like an accident. I tailed Mr. Essien from his workplace on a Saturday and waited until it was night, and then I snuck into his garage and tampered with the brakes of his car. I also tampered with the accelerator and then I left. The next day, on their way to back from church, the brakes finally gave out and since the accelerator was tampered with, the car kept throttling until they crashed. When I heard the news report that it was the whole family involved in the crash, I was satisfied. Chief was satisfied with my work and rewarded me handsomely. A few days later, he was chosen to be the Commissioner of Education in the state.”

At this juncture, Monica shot her father an incredulous look. Anthony felt her gaze on him but he refused to meet it, as he stared resolutely at the recorder, listening as the recording continued playing.  

“A year after, he sent me here, in Jos, to be his daughter’s personal bodyguard…much to her displeasure. He asked me to watch over her and report anything suspicious. It didn’t take long before she started seeing the young man, Jackson.” There was another pause and shuffling could be heard through the recorder, as though Dapo was trying to adjust himself on his seat. He continued after the shuffling stopped, “I reported this to Chief and he instructed me to find out more about her boyfriend. Chief came to Jos a few times after that, and his daughter introduced them. I think he took a liking to the boy. However, I had a feeling deep within me of Jackson’s familiarity to me. After a while, Chief contacted me and told me that I had to make a plan to take him out” – Monica gave a teary gasp – “and make it look like an accident. I didn’t understand why and he refused to tell me. He just insisted that I kill him, and do it soon. My chance to eliminate Jackson came when I overheard Monica with him on the phone in the morning of the night in question. They had set a date to meet at his house that night. I called the chief and told him about it. I also told him about my plan. He asked me about the time and I told him. He then gave me the green light. As night fell, I followed Monica to his place and found out that they were going to the hill top to hang out. I had followed them there once so I knew a quick way to get there without being spotted. I had planned to knock him out and immobilize Monica with a hankie soaked with chloroform. But as I rushed out from my hiding place and hit him, Monica suddenly attacked me. I had to go rough on her, something I would never think of doing. I decided to kill him there. As I tried to strangle him, Monica dug her nails into my face. It hurt so much and I had to let go. I needed to immobilize her before I could go ahead with my mission, but Jackson yelled out to her to run. And she did. I tried going after her, but he grabbed hold of me. In the bid to free myself, I shoved him off and he missed a step and fell over the edge of the hill top.”

Dapo’s voice came through the tiny speakers of the recorder cold and matter-of-fact, belying the horror of his narrative. “For a moment, I was confused. I didn’t know whether to run after Monica or go down the hill to check on Jackson. I decided to get back to the house as fast I could before Monica got there.”

He stopped, and then a heavy silence ensued in the interrogation room. The silence was however broken by Monica’s sniffles. Moments later, Jerome’s voice sounded from the recorder, “So, Dapo, are you saying that Chief Anthony Scott instructed you to sabotage the car of the Josiah Essien in order to kill him and his family two years ago?”

“Yes,” came the reply.

“And are you also saying that it was Chief Anthony Scott who instructed you to murder Jackson Essien?”

“Yes.”

“Will you be willing to stand by these claims and testify if ever called upon?”

The pause was brief, fleeting. “Yes.”

“Thank you.”

The conversation ceased and the recorder stopped playing. Chrome picked it up and placed it back into his pocket. The room was still quiet.

Anthony looked up at him, a remorseless expression on his face, and hissed, “Is this what you have against me –the confessions of a pathological liar?” He suddenly burst into a light, humorless laughter and shook his head.

A visibly shaken and teary-faced Monica lifted a hand to his shoulder. Her eyes were enquiring so many things at the same time. “Daddy, was all that true?”

“Of course not, my dear,” her father replied forcefully. “These nickel-and-dime nincompoops are buying into the lies of an ex-convict. Someone who would readily say anything just to get away from jail time.” He gave another short bark of laughter.

At that moment, Walter walked over to Chrome and whispered something into his ear. It almost seemed as if Chrome smiled for a second as he listened.

Anthony stood abruptly, saying, “If this” – he pointed an irate finger at the recorder – “is all you have on me, then I believe you don’t have a case.”

Chrome said quietly, “Sit down, sir. I haven’t even begun.”

The commissioner slowly sat back, fleeting perplexity passing over his features.

Chrome continued, “I know that with respect to the case of the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Essien, it’s your word against Dapo’s. So, there’s no case there, and I have no interest in it. But I said earlier that we have reason to believe that you murdered Jackson Essien.”

“And I suppose you think any prosecutor will agree to try this case simply on the word of an ex-con against me?” Anthony sneered.

“No,” Chrome answered, almost genially, putting his hand into his pocket, “no, I don’t believe so. And that is why I’m going to ask you a few questions. I believe you will answer truthfully.”

There was no response from the chief.

Chrome went on, “Where were you, sir, on the night in question?”

“I was at home,” Anthony answered promptly.

“Which of your homes?”

“The one in Uyo – where else?” The words were marinated with irritation.

“I see. So that means that you were nowhere near Jos when the murder happened. Is that correct?”

“Of course – Yes! Listen, you can ask my daughter if you think I’m lying.”

“Don’t worry, sir, your story checks out with hers.” Chrome paused for a moment and stepped out of the way of the projector. He nodded at Walter who switched it on. An image instantly appeared on the wall beside Chrome. It was a still image from the airport surveillance camera. It was one of the things Walter had procured from the airport that morning with Chude’s help. Chrome looked at the image, aware that the Scotts were doing the same, and then he turned back to Anthony and said, “If you say you were in Uyo, then how come you are seen here, albeit under a poor disguise, in the arrivals lounge of the Jos airport?” Chrome nodded again at Walter and he pushed a button on the projector. The image changed on the wall. “Here, we can see a copy of the printed manifest belonging to the airline you boarded from Uyo to Jos on the day in question.” The projector clicked off after Chrome had spoken. He looked intently at Anthony and said, “Care to explain how you could be in two places at the same time, sir?”

The chief was silent. Chrome could see the slight movements of his eyes and he knew that the man was trying to mentally concoct a story.

Finally, he smiled and said, “Okay, you’ve got me. I was in Jos that night. But I came into Jos for an entirely different reason. It was pure coincidence that such a thing would happen to the poor boy on the same night.”

Monica, who had been quiet all the while, whirled on him. “Dad…what are you – you were here, in Jos, last night? Why didn’t you tell me you were in town?!”

Her father smiled to her and sighed before saying, “My dear girl, you were going to find out eventually. I didn’t think it would be this way.” He waited a beat before continuing, “I’m having an affair with one of the ladies at the country club.”

Monica recoiled from him instantly, betrayal suffusing her features. From the corner where she stood, Edeeth arched a brow. Jerome stifled a sudden laugh, while Chrome and Walter remained emotionless.

Ignoring the stir, Anthony said, “There, I’ve said it. Officers, I thank you. For destroying my marriage and my relationship with my daughter, I thank you. If you think I’m lying, you are free to call my lover. She will vouch for my whereabouts on the night in question.”

“Oh I don’t doubt that,” Chrome said. “In fact, we know that you visited a certain Ms. Caroline Gyok, who lives on Bauchi road. We also know about the rented car.”

The chief was visibly startled by that, but quickly regained his aplomb and pounced, “You see? So how am I the murderer?”

“When I said that we knew about the rented car,” Chrome interjected, “didn’t that surprise you?” The commissioner was silent and Chrome continued, “Well, I guess this should also come as a shock to you. The car rental service you patronized fit their vehicles with GPS tracking devices.” He nodded at Walter and the projector came on again. This time the image on the wall was that of the satellite image for the GPS tracker that was in the car Chief Scott rented. “As you can see, this is a satellite image of all the places you visited on the night in question.” He walked over and touched a particular spot on the image. “This spot here, this is where the car you were driving stopped closest to the hills.” The projector was switched off again and Chrome walked back to the table.

Anthony was silent. Monica was beginning to quiver.

Chrome continued, “We found some tire tracks and footprints on the ground at a spot behind the hills, and we took some shots of the tracks. And they matched those of the tires of the jeep you rented.” Chrome looked pointedly at Anthony and asked, “Sir, what size of shoes do you wear?”

Anthony was silent. He slowly sat up on his chair and muttered, “All these evidence are inconsequential. They won’t hold any water in court.”

“We both know they will.” Chrome nodded at Walter and the image on the screen changed again. This time it was the image of what Walter had seen in the hotel room where Anthony had stayed that night. It was a blood stain on the wall near the door. The stain had a peculiar pattern. “Do you know what that is, sir?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know!” he spat in anger.

“That is a blood stain found at the hotel room which we believe that you stayed in before venturing off to Bauchi road. One of my colleagues took the liberty of carrying out a blood test on it. There was enough blood material and the test was successful. It turns out that the blood was a match with that of our victim, Jackson Essien.”

Monica had started sobbing again. Softly. Dejectedly. The cries of a woman beaten down by so many truths she didn’t want to have to accept.

Walter switched off the projector, moved to a corner of the room and lifted up – to the sight of everyone in the room – a golf bag. When he saw the bag, Anthony stiffened.

Chrome continued, “You see, our autopsy report shows that the injury that killed Jackson was blunt force trauma to the head. Our skilled doctors were able to reconstruct the murder weapon.” He walked over to the golf bag and brought out a nine iron club. “This is what was used to kill Jackson. We found pieces of the coating on the head inside the wound inflicted on Jackson’s head.” He put the club back and faced the chief again, his voice rising a little, “So, let me piece it all together for you. You sent Dapo to kill Jackson, but you flew into Jos just to make sure he does. Dapo had kept you apprised of his plans, so you knew to go the hill to wait and watch. You waited until he threw Jackson down the hill and you revealed yourself and finished the job. You went back to your hotel room, dropped the golf club behind the door, and then washed it up in the bathroom before driving off to Bauchi Road to see your supposed mistress. Do I have it right so far?”

Anthony stared back at Chrome, a gamut of emotions running across his face, dominant among them being impotent rage. Beside him, Monica’s cries had crescendoed a bit. She kept muttering, “Daddy, please tell me it’s not true…”

But her father sat in stony silence.

His mulish uncooperativeness began to irk Chrome, and the officer leaned forward, placing his hands on the table. “The only thing bugging me right now, is – Why? Why did you want Jackson Essien killed?”

There was no response from Anthony.

Chrome’s voice began to rise as he said, dropping his cordiality, “Why did you kill him, Anthony?! Why?”

Still, the other man said nothing. His mouth however had begun to tremble slightly, and the muscles on his face were working.

Chrome pressed on, “You killed his parents. What possible harm could a mere aspiring young man like that cause him? What aggravation did he cause you that was big enough for you to want him dead? Why did you kill him?!”

Anthony suddenly burst out, flying up from his seat, a snarling expression on his face, “You want to know why?! Do you really want to know why?! Ok then – I’ll tell you why!” Spittle flew from his mouth as he raged on. “Are you familiar with curses, my friend? Well, if you are, then you will know the gravity of a friendly relationship between me and the son of my enemy! There was no way I was going to allow the seed of that wretched family I swore to destroy plant itself in my own.”

At his outburst, Monica’s mouth fell open. Disbelief suffused her face. Her throat worked as the word started its climb. When it burst forth through her lips, it was piercing and strident. “NO!” And she leaped to her feet, lunging toward her father, her eyes mad, her fingers hooked into claws. But her intent was cut short when Edeeth moved quickly forward and tackled her into her arms. Monica struggled fiercely for a while, but her strength, no matter how grief-driven, was no match for the officer’s implacable hold. She beat at Edeeth’s arms, all the while screaming at her startled father, “How could you! Daddy – why! How could you!”

Anthony turned his face from his distraught daughter back to Chrome and said, “I guess this is the part where you try to arrest me, right?” He straightened up and smiled sinisterly. “Don’t think that will be easy. I am of course a commissioner and I am under some immunity.”

“No, you’re not,” Chrome said stonily and motioned to the uniformed officers who had come into the room. One of them moved swiftly to the commissioner’s back and pulled his resistant arms behind him.

“What is the meaning of this?” Anthony fumed as he felt the cold touch of steel on his wrists as the policeman whipped the handcuffs over them. “Do you know who I am? I will bury you and all the evidence you have!”

Chrome brought his hand out from his pocket. He was holding on to the digital recorder. It had been recording their conversation from the moment he put his hands into his pocket. He looked at the Chief, whose eyes widened with shocked realization, and said, “You see, sir, you are a commissioner for Education in Akwa-Ibom State and you committed a crime in Plateau state. I’m sorry, but your immunity doesn’t cover you in a jurisdiction this far. Besides” – Chrome walked up to him and said – “I am a federal police officer. I answer directly to the Chief of Defense Staff. I can arrest you anywhere.”

For a tense moment, both men stared at each other, Chrome with cold despisal and Anthony with naked dislike. He finally hissed at the officer, “This isn’t over, I can promise you that. I will get out of this and come for you and your measly band of morons! Mark my words!”

Chrome smiled and said to him, “Stop me if you know this nursery rhyme.

‘Jack and Jill went up a hill

To share some bottles of Larger

Jack fell down and we know his crown

Was broken by Jill’s own father.’”

“You bastard,” Anthony spat.

“Takes one to know one,” Chrome riposted. “You fought so hard to extinguish a family that did nothing to you. And you did this without any regard for how much roots it already has in yours.”

When the meaning behind his words sunk into Anthony’s mind, he turned his head slowly round to look at his daughter. Monica now leaned heavily into Edeeth’s arms, crying so much it seemed as though her grief would dehydrate her.

“Monica…” he rasped in an inaudible voice.

“I pray this sight of your daughter all broken up stays with you for a long, long time,” Chrome said. And he signaled to the uniforms who marched him out of the room.

C.S.I: 9JA (The Jack And Jill Story: Episode 20)

In a little over forty-five minutes, all the C.S.I. officers were assembled in the interrogation room 2, where Dapo Ajayi was being held. Walter, who had gone back to his hotel room to get a change of clothing after he was checked at the emergency first aid room, was the last officer to arrive, and he entered the room just in time to see Jerome begin questioning the suspect.

“You do know the reason why you are seated here, don’t you?” Jerome was saying, his eyes fixed stonily on the man.

Dapo didn’t say anything in response. He just sat there, his face set carefully in a cold expressionless stare.

Jerome continued, “That is beside the fact that you just tore up a police station and put quite a number of officers in the hospital.” He looked back at Walter, who was whispering something into Chrome’s ear, and then back at Dapo. Jerome noticed there was a slight smile on Dapo’s lips; it was so faint it was almost not there.

“I see you find that last part amusing,” Jerome said tersely.

Dapo responded to that, “Not entirely.” His tone was cool; it betrayed no emotion as he continued, “Just the part where I whupped your boy’s ass.” He looked at Walter as he spoke.

Walter arched a brow coldly back at him.

Dapo reclined on his chair and tried putting his cuffed hands behind his head in a bid to feign comfort; but that wasn’t possible to pull off, so he placed them back on top of the table in front of him. He began looking at the officers before him, one after the other, his gaze taunting, daring, scornful. “Well…” he drawled, “What is this? Amateur hour? Where’s the good cop–bad cop routine? Surely they must have taught you that when you were in the police college!” He chuckled softly, mockingly. It was obvious he was trying to elicit some obvious antagonism from the officers.

Much to his displeasure, none of them flinched or showed any sign of vexation towards his remarks. Jerome leaned forward on the table and said, “I can see this isn’t your first rodeo when it comes to police interrogations, eh?” Dapo shrugged and Jerome continued, “As you are, no doubt, already aware, we aren’t your everyday police department. You see, we know things. Things other people may never get the privilege of knowing. Things people would never believe even if you tattooed it to their faces.” As he talked, he opened a file that was on the table and took out a sheet of paper which he placed in front of Dapo.

Dapo looked at it and his eyes widened.

Jerome said, “For instance, we know that your name isn’t really Dapo Ajayi, but actually Daphour Highjay. We also know for a fact that you’re not Nigerian, but you’re actually a Cameroonian immigrant who sought asylum in this country twenty years ago after you committed manslaughter in Douala as a juvenile.”

Dapo pushed the paper away from him. It was a copy of his records which were meant to be sealed and confidential. He shot his interrogator a snarling look, aware that the others were watching him, carefully observing his reaction. Hot anger brewed in his eyes.

Jerome continued, “I know, I know. Nobody was meant to see these records, right?” It was his turn to taunt Dapo. He walked around the table and stood behind the chair Dapo sat on and said, “But as you can see, we know. So I would advise you not to underestimate us.”

Dapo muttered something in French which sounded suspiciously like a cussword.

“Now back to what I was saying,” said Jerome, “you are not in this room because you shot up a police station – well, not originally. The main reason why you are seated here, wearing those handcuffs, is because we have overwhelming evidence which puts you as a suspect in the murder of Jackson Essien.” Jerome opened the file before him again. He brought out another sheet of paper and placed it in front of Dapo. He picked up the other paper which had Dapo’s records and put it back. “In front of you is a copy of the DNA analysis carried out on a sample retrieved from the crime scene.” Dapo looked down at the paper. “As you can see from the data, your DNA and that of Miss Monica Smith were found on the sample. Now, we have gotten Monica’s testimony which puts you as the killer.” Jerome looked at Edeeth and she nodded before he continued, “But you should know, it’s her word against yours, and going by your records, I’d say the odds are totally not in your favor.”

Dapo leaned forward on his seat and said, “So, what do you want me to do, hmmm?” Slowly, he divided a mocking look between the people in the room. “You want me to own up to the crime, confess that I’m the killer? Is that it?” He shook his head and slammed his cuffed fists on the table. “Not gonna happen!”

Jerome’s face wore no emotion as he said, “Well, I see you’re still indecisive as to owning up.” He opened the file again but this time, he brought out some photos with another sheet of paper. “Maybe these will help you decide.” He placed the pictures in front of Dapo. “Like I said before, we know things,” he concluded with an enigmatic smile.

Before Dapo were the pictures of the car parts and the wreckage from the accident which involved Jackson’s parents. The same pictures that had been sent by the police inspector at the Akwa-Ibom State police command.

“Take a good look at these pictures, Dapo, or should I call you Daphour? I don’t know, I guess either of the two would do, right?” Pointing at the pictures, he said, “I’m sure you are familiar with wreckage and car parts you see before you.”

Dapo didn’t look at them. He just cocked his brow at Jerome.

The officer said, “What I’m getting at is this” – he dropped the sheet of paper he was holding beside the DNA result from the fingernail sample. The new sheet of paper was another DNA test result. It was the DNA test result gotten from the hair follicle found within the wreckage of the Essien’s car. “You see this is the DNA result from a hair sample gotten from the wreckage you see before you. From the two DNA results before you, it is obvious what I’m getting at, isn’t it?”

Dapo looked then. The information on the one from the hair follicle was identical to that from the fingernail. He shrugged, leaned back in his chair and said, “So what does this prove?”

Walter’s and Chrome’s whispered conversation ended then, and Walter left the room, leaving Chrome to return his attention to the interrogation.

Jerome was saying, “It does seem that your DNA appeared at both crime scenes, and both deaths were meant to look like accidents, only that they weren’t. This proves that you must really hate the Essiens. Or” – he leaned forward – “you must be carrying out the biddings of someone who does.” He suddenly noticed a flicker in Dapo’s eyes and Jerome instinctively knew that he had just struck a nerve. He pressed on, “I want to believe that you bear no grudge against the Essien family. After all, there are no connections between you and them. So tell us who sent you and instructed you to carry out these crimes, or do you wish to take the fall for this person?”

Dapo looked away from Jerome. He was walking the tight rope now. He knew he had to regain some leverage somehow. He looked at Chrome, his gaze calculating, and then he glanced to his left where Edeeth stood, still gazing intently at him. He hated being stared at like that, especially by women. He looked back at Chrome, measuring the distance between them both and back at Edeeth. He knew he had to make his move now or never. He suddenly pushed away from his seat and sprang forward, in Edeeth’s direction. He covered the distance between them in seconds, his cuffed hands stretched to grab her neck. Edeeth’s face registered neither alarm nor mild surprise at his sudden attack before she swiftly weaved out of the way, letting fly a fist at his midsection, a punch that landed heavily and knocked the wind out of him. He exhaled sharply and staggered towards the wall. He had just fallen against it before a sudden sharp pain exploded in his lower back, causing him to bend backward. He felt his hands go limp and couldn’t lift them to strike his assailant as a long arm whipped round his neck and pulled him further backward until he landed in a heap on the chair he’d just vacated moments earlier.

The arm around his neck wasn’t thick with muscles, but it was strong, and he noticed that two slim fingers had found his right jugular vein and were ready to clamp down on it. If that happened, he knew he would be dead within seconds. With bated breath, he sat docilely, not fighting back.

The person who had him in a choke-hold was Jerome, and the officer leaned into his ear and said silkily, “I warned you not to underestimate us, Dapo. Just because we were short of one man doesn’t guarantee you the leverage of a hostage you were aiming for. I have newsflash for you, buddy. Everyone present in this room is capable of handling scum like you.” And then, he snatched his hand away.

Dapo coughed and wheezed as he tried to catch his breath. Jerome had walked away from behind him and went to stand at the end of the table beside Edeeth. Her eyes were trained on him, and for a second, Dapo thought she might be smiling mockingly at him. It enraged him. The little slut! Just because she’d bested him… Reacting to his fountaining rage, he reached out his hands and aggressively pushed the papers in front of him to the floor. “You can all go to hell!” he yelled. “I’m not saying another word.” His eyes snapped angrily from one face to the other. “And just so you know, I’ll be out of here in no time.”

Jerome looked at Chrome and the latter nodded. Then, he sighed heavily, theatrically, to Dapo’s hearing. He sat down, opened the file yet again and brought out another sheet of paper. He held it in his hand and said, “I didn’t want to have to do this.” And he tossed the paper in front of Dapo. On it was written the flight details for a one-way trip to Uyo from Jos. There were two ticket numbers and they belonged to the penned names – Monica Scott and Anthony Scott.

Dapo squinted as he looked at the paper. His name wasn’t there. He slowly looked up at Jerome. There was pain in his eyes. He knew what the flight details meant, but Jerome took pleasure in spelling it out for him. “As you can see, your benefactor isn’t going to come to your rescue this time.”

“That’s impossible!” Dapo blurted out.

“You can read, can’t you?” Jerome taunted. “It’s all there in the fine print. Once we let him leave the station, he’s all set travel back to Uyo with his daughter, and believe me when I say that he is never coming back here.”

Dapo was distraught. The muscles of his face worked as he battled a riot of emotions inside him. He blinked hard, and his turmoil was evident to the officers watching him. He finally looked at Chrome and said hoarsely, “What do you people want from me?”

“For starters,” Jerome said, forcing Dapo to refocus his attention on him, “we want you to tell us where you were two nights ago.” Jerome grabbed a small digital voice recorder, which had been on the table all the while, and turned it on.

Dapo gritted his teeth, expelled his breath hard and said, “Alright, I’ll tell you everything.”

***

It had been about two hours since the gunshot incident within the police station had been brought under control. Anthony Scott sat in the interrogation room 1 with Monica. They were flanked by the two uniformed officers who had been instructed to watch them. Anthony glanced at both officers with growing impatience. Just when he was considering forcefully leaving the room, his daughter in tow, Chrome walked in. He was followed by Edeeth and Jerome. The commissioner got to his feet, his ire and impatience etched in every line of his form.

“My friend, what do you mean by keeping us here all this time?” he barked. “Don’t you know I have places to be and things to do?”

Chrome gave him a slight smile and said, “My apologies, sir. The delay couldn’t be helped.” He motioned to Anthony to return to his seat and the latter grudgingly did. Chrome continued, “I’m sure you are aware that it was your driver that was behind the shootings that took place a few hours ago.”

“Yes, I know,” the other man said in a harsh tone. “But that’s his problem. Whatever made him commit such a despicable act is well beyond me.”

“Well, it turns out that he went on the offensive when he noticed that our men were about to arrest him.”

“Arrest him? For what?” He sounded genuinely surprised.

“Our investigations did reveal that there were three individuals present at the scene of the crime the night Jackson died. One of them being Jackson himself, the other your daughter and a third person was revealed to us, through DNA evidence, to be your driver. Your daughter’s statement also confirms this.”

“My daughter’s what?!”

“Oh? Aren’t you aware that your daughter has given her account of what happened that night?” Chrome asked as though he was surprised.

“No, I am not!” Anthony spat, whirling around to stab angry eyes at Monica.

She stared coolly back at him. “I told them everything I knew about that night, dad. I didn’t see why I should hold anything back. I loved Jackson, and I want to see his killer apprehended.”

Anthony’s countenance changed as he said in a pleading voice, “I told you not to say anything.” When Monica turned her face resolutely away from him, he turned to Chrome and asked in a slightly tremulous tone, “So what happens to my daughter now?”

“Oh, nothing, sir. She is free to go. We got a confession from Dapo which exonerates her from the crime.”

Anthony beamed a relieved smile, and he turned to Monica, “Did you hear that, honey? You are free to go!” Monica was staring from Chrome to Edeeth as he put an arm around her shoulders. He said to the officers in a cheery tone, “Thank you, officers. You have done a splendid job.” He stood, and Monica got up to.

“Not so fast, sir,” Chrome interjected.

The Scotts froze. An uncertain look gusted over Anthony’s face before he said blandly, “I and my daughter have a plane to catch, officer. We have already missed the charity event we were scheduled to attend, thanks to you. If you have any documents that need to be signed, you can send them down to my office in Uyo and I’ll be more than glad to attend to them.”

Chrome shook his head. “You have nothing to sign, sir. You just can’t go anywhere right now.”

Just then, Walter walked into the room bearing a portable projector and his knapsack slung over his shoulder.

Anthony shot Chrome an incredulous look as he snapped, “What do you mean I can’t go anywhere? Why the hell won’t I be going anywhere?”

Chrome walked up to the chief and stood just a foot away from him before replying, “Because we have reason to believe that you, Chief Anthony Ememesi Scott,” – he dropped a heavy stress on the second name – “murdered Jackson Essien.”

C.S.I: 9JA (The Jack And Jill Story: Episode 19)

After the third gunshot, Edeeth took Monica to the last stall in the lavatory and told her to get in and stay low. With her weapon drawn, she cautiously made her way towards the door of the restroom. She slowly pushed the door open and was immediately greeted by the sight of pandemonium. Officers, both uniformed and plain-clothed, were running back and forth the corridors in panic. Edeeth tried to follow the events unfolding in front of her, but the confusion was too much for her senses. She saw a few policemen been carried off towards the emergency first aid room; one had been shot on the leg while another sustained two gunshot wounds to the arm and shoulder. She saw a uniformed policewoman careening in her direction, snatched her am before she go run past and asked what was going on.

“Shots fired within the premises, ma’am,” the policewoman said, trying to catch her breath.

“Who fired the shots – one of our own?”

“No – an unknown gunman, driving a black Benz jeep” – she stopped for air – “started shooting away at our guys. He broke through the gates before the spike traps could be deployed.”

“He got away?!”

“I don’t know – two senior officers were in close pursuit and two units have been dispatched as backup just before I came in now.”

Another bleeding officer was hurriedly carried past the dialoguing duo towards the emergency room. The two women watched as the man on the stretcher moaned in agony. He had been shot on the buttocks. The policewoman refocused on Edeeth and continued, “The senior officers in pursuit are Sergeant-Major Lanre and a member of your team.”

“Walter!” Edeeth heard herself say out loud as she looked towards the exit of the building. She quickly turned back towards the lavatory and kicked open the door. She yelled for Monica to come out, and when she did, Edeeth spoke to the policewoman, “Take her to the interrogation room and stay with her.” The policewoman nodded and Edeeth looked at Monica, held her hand and said, “You stay put in there, I’ll be right back…ok?” Monica nodded and the policewoman, holding Monica by the arm, led her towards the interrogation room. Edeeth started running towards the exit. All that was on her mind was Walter’s safety.

***

When Chrome heard the first gunshot, his instincts led him to do the first thing that came to his mind as a police officer – protect all the civilians. He pulled his gun out of its holster and ran back into the interrogation room. The commissioner, though alarmed by what had just occurred, was calm and composed as Chrome instructed him to stay put until he found out what was happening. More gunshots resounded.

“What the hell is going?!” the commissioner burst out.

“I don’t know. You wait here while I go find out.” Chrome started for the door.

“What about my daughter – where’s she?!” Anthony barked at him.

“Your daughter should be safe where she is,” Chrome replied as he thought of how efficient Edeeth was in situations like this.

Chrome had started out the door when Anthony hesitantly asked, “Are…are you going to leave me here alone?”

Chrome fought the irritation building up inside; he grimaced and then slowly turned towards commissioner. “I’ll get an officer to watch the door. You just stay put!” And he eventually left the room and ran in the direction where the gunshots came from.

The car Walter and Lanre were in had just darted past the gates when Chrome ran out through the exit. He was surprised at the pandemonium that greeted him outside. There were people, men and women, some in police uniforms and some in plain clothes, crying out in pain from gunshot wounds. He took a quick glance around and found a uniform he knew. Grabbing the man by the hand, Chrome pulled him to the side and asked what had happened. After the man was done recapping the event for him, Chrome had to stifle the urge to go after them; his priorities lay here.

He suddenly yelled out to the confused crowd of policemen. “Alright, listen up, everybody!” The attention on him was slow in coming but it was absolute when it did. He continued, “Let’s get the injured to the emergency room for immediate treatment of their wounds!” Immediately his orders were carried out by the officers as they all helped each of their wounded comrades unto stretchers and other means to transport them to the emergency room. Chrome was grateful in his heart that the revamping of the police force saw the establishment of emergency first aid units which could handle anything from minor bruises to gunshot wounds, before the cases were referred to the bigger hospitals. If it wasn’t for such reforms, he wondered what would have become of these injured officers. He then turned his attention to the policeman in front of him and said, “Get to the control room, tell them to track all mobile C.S.I. vehicles and deploy two units after the one nearest to this place…ok?”

“Ok, sir.”

“One more thing, after you deliver my directive to the control room, I want you to go by the interrogation room and stand guard there. Got it?”

“Yes sir!” The policeman hastened in the direction of the control room.

Chrome turned his gaze towards the gates. It had been more than a minute since Walter and Lanre went after Dapo Ajayi. “Be sure to get this guy, Wally,” Chrome said to himself as he stood and watched the gate, waiting for the backups to be deployed. He took a deep breath and murmured, “I’m counting on you.”

***

Jerome was on his way back from the township of Jos when he noticed a gathering of police officers around an uncompleted building which was a few yards away from the H.Q. He wasn’t ready to eat the food being served at the cafeteria inside the police building so in his search for a decent fast-food joint, he’d ended up in the main town. He slowed down his car when he got close to the uncompleted building and was quick to recognize the man being pushed into a waiting police van to be the driver of Anthony Scott. He also spotted Walter and Lanre walking out of the building. Walter’s clothes looked rumpled and dirty, and the arm of his shirt was stained red. Jerome knew better than to stop to ask questions. He drove off to the police building and as soon as he drove into the compound, he spied Chrome and Edeeth waiting at the entrance to the building. That was when it dawned on Jerome that something big had just happened. And he had missed it.

He pulled up into the car park and got out, his eyes taking in the aftermath of the chaos. There were broken glass from shattered windscreens and blood stains which hadn’t been cleaned up yet. As he approached the station’s entrance, he overheard Edeeth talking to Chrome.

“…guy is pretty dangerous.”

“Yes, but I’m sure Walter can handle himself,” Chrome said.

Jerome saw Edeeth hunch her shoulders in that way she had when she was trying to physically stifle her embarrassment. “Yea, of course, he can,” she said with forced offhandedness.

“Besides, he has Lanre with him, and backup heading out there.”

“He’s fine, guys,” Jerome called out as he walked up beside them. Both of them turned questioning looks to him. He continued, “I saw our guys bundling the commissioner’s driver into one of the police vans. He seemed knocked out.”

“And Walter – what about him?” Edeeth asked, her voice a little strained.

“Fine. I saw him looking a little roughed up but fine, together with Lanre.”

There was an audible exhalation – of relief, Jerome supposed – from Edeeth. Chrome was going to say something when a police van swept into the compound through the gate. It was closely followed by the squad cars that went as backup, and finally Walter’s car. When the vehicles pulled up to the entrance, the policemen alighted and a couple opened the van and pulled out the handcuffed Dapo; he had regained consciousness and stared at his captors with a snarling expression on his face. As they led him past Chrome, the CSI chief locked eyes with the driver. The slight sinister smile on the man’s face wasn’t enough to faze the officer.

“Take him to the second interrogation room. I’ll be right behind,” Chrome said to the officers escorting Dapo, and he was led into the building.

Meanwhile, Edeeth had hurried forward to meet Walter as he alighted from his car. She suddenly stopped in her tracks when she realized that her intention had been to hug him, so intense was the relief she felt at seeing him. Feeling a flush of discomfiture at the unfamiliar emotion, she continued towards the car, her steps less hurried, watching as Lanre patted Walter on the back and walked away.

“I thought you hated that guy,” she said jocularly when she faced Walter.

“I still do,” Walter replied, smiling. “But for now, we’ve decided to hate our perp first and foremost. After this case is over, then the world can go back to the way it used to be.”

Edeeth chuckled. “You look terrible,” she said as her eyes took in the blood stains on his disheveled form.

“Did you see the other guy?”

“I did. He looked pretty banged up too.”

“All part of a day’s job, babe.”

“My superhero,” Edeeth said with a theatrical gush and an exaggerated batting of her eyelids.

They both shared a laugh and moved together to the entrance where the other two members of their team still stood. “Hello, chief,” Walter greeted. “’Sup, Jay.”

“Exciting stuff you’ve just been through, huh?” Jerome said with a smirk.

“You bet. Plus I’ve got results from my little trip to the airport.”

“Yea, me too,” Jerome interjected, suddenly remembering. He turned his face to Chrome. “The email, I printed it out. It makes for very interesting reading. Let me go get it.” He was about to take a step into the building when his phone rang. He brought it out of his pocket and Debora’s phone ID displayed on the screen. He received the call as he walked into the building.

The others followed, approaching the interrogation rooms in time to see Anthony tongue-lashing Dapo as he was led past the doorway of the interrogation room where he stood. “How could you?” the commissioner was yelling, his face tightened with the fury he felt. “You irresponsible son-of-a-bitch! How could you –!”

The expression on Dapo’s face was a mixture of surprise and mutinous anger. Chrome turned to face his two subordinates. “Walter, get yourself checked out and change out of these clothes. Edeeth, make sure that he does, okay?” The duo nodded and started to walk away before Chrome added, “Let’s meet back in the interrogation room-2 in 30 minutes.”

C.S.I: 9JA (the Jack And Jill Story: Episode 18)

Monica threw up some more into the toilet bowl. She half-sat hunched over the bowl, the retching motions of her body gradually receding. Her face was still wet from the tears she’d been shedding, and her mind was suffused with the persistent images of Jackson’s dead body in the photo she’d looked at earlier in the interrogation room. She hit the flush button on the W.C and stood up. All the while, Edeeth stood just outside the toilet stall. She watched as Monica came out and washed her face on the wash-bowl at one end of the room. Edeeth walked over to where Monica was and handed her a handkerchief. Monica hesitated, then feeling warmed by the smile on Edeeth’s face, she collected the piece of cloth and wiped her face with it.

“I’m sorry for being so hard on you back there,” Edeeth said.

Monica stood straight and looked at the officer. She took a deep breath before answering, “It’s alright, officer. I can understand why you did that. With all the evidence pointing towards me, who wouldn’t think I did it?” She took a step back from the wash bowl, before continuing, “I didn’t kill Jackson.” Her eyes were fixed resolutely on Edeeth. “I couldn’t have…I would never hurt…the father of my unborn.” She placed a hand on her middle as she said this.

Edeeth arched a brow. The news didn’t come as a total surprise to her. While she watched Monica throw up into the toilet, the thought had crossed her mind that the woman was going through morning sickness. “You’re pregnant.”

It wasn’t a question, but Monica answered nonetheless, looking down at her flat stomach, “Yes. Yes, I am. I’m pregnant with Jackson’s child.” The tears that had stopped momentarily saw their opportunity to recommence flowing down her cheeks.

Edeeth remained silent. She sensed the woman needed to say some things, empty herself of some issues.

Monica sniffed as she tried to regain her composure. She sighed and said, “I was at the hill top last night with Jackson. You see, we always went there for romantic walks and sometimes we’d just sit there and share a few drinks. He was a wonderful man, so loving and caring. I loved him – and still love him – deeply.”

“Tell me what happened last night,” Edeeth probed.

“Last night, he called me over and said we were going to the hills for a stroll and a few drinks – our usual.”

“What kind of drinks?”

“Lager. But we never drink more than we can handle. Just a bottle or two. Last night, the stroll was beautiful as usual. We were alone and felt like we owned the world from up there. The sky was clear and the stars shone brightly.” She swallowed hard. “After our first drink, we held each other and danced to music only the both of us could hear. It was so romantic.” She wrapped her arms around her body in recollection. “We kissed, and then he got on his knees” – a nostalgic smile fleeted over her lips at this juncture – “I was so surprised. I never expected what he was about to do. He brought out a little box from his pocket and asked me to marry him…I said yes.” Her eyes welled up again, but the tears remained suspended, turning her eyes into glassy orbs. “We hugged and kissed again, and I was about to tell him about my pregnancy when out of nowhere…” She stopped.

Edeeth stiffened, knowing she had reached the part of the story she was interested in. She moved toward Monica and said in a softly-urging voice, “What happened out of nowhere, Monica?”

The other woman remained silent. Fear was naked on her face.

“Talk to me, Monica. Have no fear. Talk to me, and I can guarantee you’ll be safe from whatever you’re afraid of.” She tried to catch Monica’s gaze, to assure her with a calming look.

But Monica would not meet her eyes. She looked away, her lower lip trembling.

“What happened out of nowhere, Monica?”

She inhaled deeply, lowered her head and said, “Out of nowhere…a masked man came and punched Jackson on the face very hard.” She winced as if it she’d just been punched at that moment. “They began to struggle and I screamed for help. There was no one else in sight and before I knew what was going on, the masked man had subdued Jackson. I was so scared – so scared…and I was angry too. I was just” – her brow contracted and her lips tightened – “angry. I pounced on the man and scratched and kicked at him. But he was huge and knocked me away very easily.” Monica wrapped her arms tighter around herself. “He…he was trying to strangle Jackson. I went back to fight him off again – this time I scratched at his face. I must have hurt him because he cursed angrily as I pulled on his mask. That was when my nail broke. The man got off Jackson and faced me. There was something sinisterly familiar with his eyes but I was too scared to think about it. Jackson told me to run…” Her voice broke. “And I did.” She put her head down and began to sob softly again. “My man told me run and I abandoned him. I ran all the way back to my car and drove home. I called my dad when I got home and told him all that happened.”

“You called your dad,” Edeeth echoed, “who lives hundreds of miles away?”

“Yes, I called him. I didn’t know what else to do.” Monica lifted her tear-soaked face to Edeeth.

“You could have called the police.”

“I don’t know – I was scared…” She looked helplessly lost as she tearfully protested, but Edeeth couldn’t help the cool detachment she felt.

She asked, “So what did your father say when you called him?”

“He didn’t answer when I called. But he called me back some minutes later.”

“How many minutes later would you say?”

“I don’t know – about ten?”

“A full ten minutes after he missed your call that late in the night?”

“Yes. It may even be longer…I can’t really remember. What does it matter?”

Edeeth shrugged. “Go on, what then happened?”

“When daddy called me back, he sounded worried and asked me if I had called the police and I told him no. He then instructed me not to do anything, that he was going to be in the state by morning.”

“Morning.” Edeeth arched a brow. “Not the same night?”

“No,” Monica replied, perplexed by the officer’s questioning. “He told me he would be coming in the morning after, that he had a prior engagement – the charity golf game.”

“You mean you are not aware of your father’s entrance into the state two nights ago?”

“Two nights ago?”

“Yes, the same night Jackson was killed.”

“No….no, I’m not aware of it. He told me he was in Uyo.”

“I see. Well, thank you for telling me this, Monica. You have really helped in this case, more than you know.”

The other woman tried to smile, but the smile refused to remain anchored on her face. “You have to find who killed Jackson. You have to…”

Edeeth was about to say something reassuring when the gunshot shattered the quietude in the restroom.

***

The bullet grazed Walter’s right arm as he skillfully rolled with its trajectory and fell to the ground, taking Lanre with him. Dapo followed their fall with his hand and took aim again. Before he fired, the glass on the window beside him suddenly shattered into pieces. He whirled about in time to catch sight of the other uniformed policeman firing at him. He slammed the door shut and ignited the car with a loud vroom. The two police officers who had fallen before him were now getting up. He swerved towards them in a bid to crush them under the tires of the car. They jumped out of the way as the car screeched towards them, and Lanre expertly drew out his sidearm and opened fire on the tires of the jeep. Sparks flew, but the car did not stop.

“What the hell?” Walter looked at Lanre as they stood. “Good aim,” he said mockingly.

Lanre replied, “I wasn’t aiming at the rubber.”

They watched for a moment as the Jeep zoomed erratically towards the gates. Dapo kept on shooting wildly at policemen who tried to get in his way.

“Come on,” Lanre said to Walter suddenly. “We can still catch him!”

They both ran to Walter’s car and got in. Walter turned on the ignition and immediately put his entire weight on the accelerator as soon as he put the auto-gear on drive. Pulling out of the parking lot, the officers saw that the jeep had made it past the gates, even under heavy gunfire – thanks to the bullet-proof shielding on the car – and just before the security manning the gates could engage the spike traps. Walter swore under his breath as he stepped on the pedal. He looked at his arm for a second. The bullet had just grazed it, and the injury didn’t need any immediate medical attention.

“Thanks for saving my life back there,” Lanre suddenly broke the silence.

Walter looked at him briefly and then turned back at the road. “You owe me one.”

They went through the gates and got onto the freeway, just in time to see the jeep suddenly skid off the road just a few meters ahead of them. It came to a halt just outside an uncompleted building and its occupant jumped out and made for the building. “What the hell just happened?” Walter asked.

Lanre smiled and said, “I told you I wasn’t aiming for the rubber.” His aim had been to damage the car with the three shots he’d fired. Two bullets bust up the brake pads and the third damaged the rear axle.

The officers parked just a foot away from the jeep. They got out, guns drawn, and walked slowly towards the building. Walter looked back at the station. Backup would arrive in a matter of minutes, but this perp was no ordinary bad guy. From the way he drew out his gun earlier, Walter knew he was well trained and very dangerous. He signaled to Lanre, and the latter circled to the other side of the building. They were going to try to flush him out from both sides. The building was meant to be a four storey shopping complex, which meant that there were plenty of places for him to hide. Walter climbed up the first storey as quietly as he could. Lanre had disappeared behind the building some seconds ago, so Walter knew he had to be careful since it could be Lanre behind any wall. He looked around the first floor and found nothing. He made his way through one of the uncompleted stairways, up to the second floor. He looked at the ground and saw footprints. The only problem was, he didn’t know who it belonged to and where they led to. He followed them, cautiously. At that moment, he wondered where the backup was and, for a split second, he felt his focus on his search slip with the distracting thought.

In that instant, Dapo sprung to action out of nowhere. He lunged at Walter with a plank he had picked up from a pile in one of the rooms he’d been hiding in and knocked the officer’s gun out of his hand. Walter’s hand stung from the strike and he jumped back. He wondered for a fleeting second where Dapo’s gun was, but the man didn’t give him time to dwell on the thought much as he lashed out at him again with the plank. Walter weaved and skillfully stepped into Dapo’s circle of defense, his elbow lashing out at the big man’s jaw. This disorientated Dapo for a second and Walter capitalized on this by throwing a combination of jabs into Dapo’s face and sides. But Dapo was thickset and quickly regained himself; he caught one of Walter’s punches as it flew towards his face, drawing the police officer towards him and ending Walter’s forward movement with an elbow to the side of his head. Pain exploded inside Walter’s head and he fell to the ground. They tussled for a while until they landed simultaneous blows to their jaws, throwing them backwards to the ground on opposite sides of the room. Both men were getting weakened by their little skirmish, their chests heaving with the strength of their respiration.

Dapo spied Walter’s gun at a corner where it had fallen to and staggered towards it. Walter saw what he was up to and tried to get up quickly to stop him, but he was late. Dapo got the gun first, snatched it up and swung his arm around to point the barrel at the police officer. He was about to say something smart before pulling the trigger, but never got the chance to say it. At that moment, Lanre lunged at him from a blind spot, tackling him and ramming him into a nearby wall. Dapo’s head cracked against the wall, and he lost consciousness at once, sliding to the floor in a heap, Lanre on top of him. Lanre got to his feet and promptly cuffed the unconscious criminal. He walked over to where Walter was. He sat on the floor and had his back to a wall, his breathing heavy.

Lanre stretched out a hand to Walter and said, “Now we’re even.”

Walter smiled and shook his head. He took Lanre’s outstretched hand and the man swung him to his feet. He glanced at the supine Dapo and said, “He sure was tough.”

Lanre nodded as he bent down and picked up Walter’s gun. He wondered idly why it hadn’t gone off when he tackled Dapo; after all, the man had been about to pull the trigger. “Holy cow!” he exclaimed in surprise. “You still had the safety on?” With the safety on, it wouldn’t have mattered if Dapo squeezed the trigger. The gun would never have fired. That would have given Walter enough time to either counterattack or get out of Dapo’s firing trajectory. Lanre realized this as he handed Walter his gun. “Man, whatever would make you leave the safety on?”

Walter replaced the gun inside the holster on his hip. He looked Lanre with a sardonic smile on his face. “I didn’t want to shoot you mistakenly.”

Lanre laughed and both men began dragging Dapo to his feet. Just then, a few uniformed police officers rushed into the run and pointed their weapons at the men. Now they arrive, Walter thought to himself.  The junior officers, realizing their irrelevance, promptly put down their weapons and took custody of Dapo. He was led to a waiting squad car, while Walter and Lanre entered Walter’s car and they took the very short drive back to the Station house.

C.S.I: 9JA (The Jack And Jill Story: Episode 17)

The room Kelechi showed Walter and Chude into wasn’t large but it was spacious. There were two monitors on a large desk which served as the viewing screens for the CCTV cameras situated in the reception hall and just outside near the parking-lot. There was a third monitor which connects to the only computer in the room and only one member of his staff was given the task of monitoring the events that the screens displayed. Kelechi explained that he needed the cameras to keep track of customers as they entered the building and as they left with a rented car. There had been cases in which customers didn’t return the cars and denied ever having any involvements with the rental service. The security footages came in handy to counter their claims. Kelechi gestured to the other man present in the room and the man excused his boss and his guests.

“So, let’s get down to it, shall we?” Kelechi said after his lengthy explanation and bent over the keyboard of the computer and punched in some keys. The image on the CCTV screen flickered and changed from its display of the reception at the moment to the reception in another time. Two nights ago. As the footage played, Walter watched a man clad in a jacket and face-cap walk up to the receptionist and make some enquires. The images weren’t colored and had no sound. It was like watching a Charlie Chaplin movie, but with better resolution.

“Yes, that’s the man we saw,” Chude interjected, his words directed at Walter. “Your colleagues identified him as a person of interest to your case.”

“Is that so?” Walter said and looked closely at the image on the screen. “Hmm, it really is him.”

The image of Anthony Scott gestured to the receptionist and the latter typed something on the computer in front of her. She then moved out of view from the camera and later returned with a key which she handed to the man waiting. Walter looked a question at Kelechi and the man promptly answered, “He rented a Jeep and paid in full. The car is right outside. It was returned to us by some man yesterday afternoon…not the same person on the screen.”

Walter asked, “Can you show me who returned it?”

“The man never came inside. He just drove the car into the parking lot and dropped the keys on the hood. My security staff didn’t even notice when the man left, but our cameras located outside did get an image of him as he walked away from the parking lot.” Kelechi tapped some keys again on the keyboard and this time the second monitor changed the image displayed. He froze it as it got to the part he had been talking about.

Walter leaned forward to get a better look and then, without warning, he burst out into laughter. The other men were evidently startled by his mirth. Noticing that, he said, “I’m sorry about that.”

“Do you know him?” Chude asked.

“You could say that.” Walter looked at the screen again and smiled. The frozen image of the man who had dropped off the car Chief Scott rented was the same trigger-happy soldier whose acquaintance Walter had made the day before at the Scott’s residence. He was remembering their brief altercation yesterday and the thought had brought about his unexpected amusement. He turned away from the screen. It was clear to him that the man in question was truly the commissioner. Now all he needed to do was find out where he went after renting the car. “Kelechi, how do you get to find cars that clients refuse to return?” he asked.

“All our vehicles are fitted with GPS tracking systems.”

“GPS? That’s great!”

Kelechi opened a folder on the computer screen and selected a particular file. He clicked on it and it opened up on the screen to reveal a log for all the cars rented, by whom they were rented and what time the vehicle was given out. He pulled the record for the name ‘Ememesi Scott’ and got the tracking code for the vehicle. He closed the log window and opened that of the GPS tracking program on the computer. By entering the tracking code, the screen turned up the satellite display of all the places the vehicle went to from the moment it was rented till it was returned. Walter brought out a small note pad from his back pocket and picked a pen from the table. He traced the first three places the car went to and wrote down the names of the places.

“Interesting,” he muttered as he looked at the screen again. He – and every member of the C.S.I team – was versed in the art of map-reading, and he could easily make a mental 3D image of the topography. He took some more notes and then straightened up. He looked at Kelechi as he said, “Thanks for this info, but I’ll need one more favor.”

“Whatever you need.”

“I need to take a picture of the tires of the jeep.”

“That won’t be a problem. If you’ll just follow me outside…” And moments later, all three men were on their way to the parking lot.

***

The sound of her phone ringing reached Stacey’s ears from inside her bag. She looked up from the computer screen and leaned across the table for the bag. When she picked out her phone and saw that it was Manny calling, she swore under her breath. She suddenly realized that she hadn’t shown up at the autopsy lab all morning to punch in. Taking a deep breath, as though fortifying herself for whatever berating she was going to get from her boss, she picked the call.

“Stacey!” Manny’s voice wasn’t harsh, but the tone was cold.

“Yes, sir?” she answered tentatively.

“It’s nearly 7. 30 and you still haven’t shown up today. Is there any problem?” Mild concern coloured the sternness of his voice.

“I’m fine, sir. I’m already in the building. But I’ve been in the forensics lab.”

“Forensics? Doing what there?”

“I’m helping out…er…Chief Chrome to do some research on a potential suspect.” She stuttered through her reply, feeling flushed with contrition, as though she had been nabbed doing something wrong.

“Oh – Chrome.” Manny’s tone was different now. Stacey could have sworn she heard him laugh. He continued, “Ok then, be sure to report back here as soon as you are done. We also have our own jobs to do, you know.”

“Ok, sir.” When the call was disconnected, she dropped her phone on the table, not knowing whether to be amused or upset at whatever Manny had just insinuated with his sudden change in attitude on the phone. Did he think she was having an affair with the Chief Inspector? If so, why would he even think that? Chrome had a girlfriend for heavenssakes! And she was definitely not interested in him, a man who was already taken, she told herself firmly. Most definitely not. She was lost in thought until the buzz from the computer screen in front of her brought her back to reality. She checked and saw that the search she was running had made a hit. She pushed a key and the documents began printing.

***

Jerome had finished printing the pictures and other documents from the email and was waiting for Chrome to return so he could present them to him. He suddenly felt a growl in his stomach.

“Oh boy, not now,” he said to himself. He had forgotten about his hunger pangs of last night after he had his much needed rest. “I might as well satisfy you too.”

He dropped the documents on Chrome’s desk, grabbed his jacket from the back of his seat and shrugged into it. He looked at the time. It was 7:30am. I wonder if any fast-food joint would be open at this time, he wondered as he made his way towards the exit. He needed to eat, and he needed to do it fast.

***

Walter had dropped off Chude at the airport terminal before recomposing himself on his next course of action. He took a quick look at his writing pad and said softly the name of the place he wanted to go to next, “Hillside Hotel.”

Soon, he was out of the airport premises and speeding down the highway. The hotel was situated along the stretch of road which led from the airport towards the town. There were so many hotels located in this region, their business targeted at attracting the patronage of travelers coming from the airport. It didn’t take long before Walter found the one he was looking for. After parking his car outside the gate of the hotel and shouldering his knapsack inside which was his digital camera and some other on-the-go forensic kits, he walked in and went straight to the reception. The hotel wasn’t grand. In Walter’s opinion, it ranked more as a motel. He showed the receptionist his badge and asked for the manager who promptly came to attend to the officer after his attention was called upon.

“Officer, you are welcome to the Hillside Hotels,” he said grandly to Walter, as though he was welcoming the officer to the Sheraton. “How may I be of service?”

 “Sir, I’m conducting an investigation and would like you full cooperation.” Walter added some steel to his voice, just in case the manager was thinking otherwise.

“No problem, officer,” the manager said, his voice losing some of its flourish. “Whatever assistance you need, I’ll be happy to help.”

“You had a guest who came in here in a Pajero jeep two nights ago,” Walter said, his gaze shifting from the manager to the receptionist and back to the manager. “I want to see the room he was in.”

“Em…sir…we get a lot of guests here at the Hillside Hotel,” the manager began.

I’m sure you do, Walter thought snidely.

“And on this particular night, you would have to be more specific for us to know who you’re talking about,” the manager finished a tad patronizingly.

The tone of his voice galled Walter. “Listen,” he snapped, “I noticed there are other hotels around, finer hotels than this dump, many of which have a few cars parked within their premises. And I’m willing to bet they have a lot more patrons than you have. It’s most likely that you haven’t had any more than eight or nine people patronize you in the past two days. The man I seek most likely didn’t register with his real name so I’m just going to ask you to do the mathematics yourselves.”

Properly cowed by the officer’s sudden antagonism, the manager hurried over to the lobby desk, slightly pushing the receptionist aside in his haste to retrieve the register. He flicked the tattered thick-covered notebook. “Yes officer – er – you said two nights ago?”

Walter nodded in affirmation.

The man flipped through the register and came to rest at a certain page. “Yes, this is the last person to check in.” He pointed at a name on the page. Walter leaned forward and looked at it. It read ‘John Doe’. Walter choked on the laugher that suddenly worked its way up his throat.

When he was sure he could talk, he said, “Someone registered with the name ‘John Doe’ and you didn’t think it was a false name?”

The manager, obviously embarrassed by the realization, looked accusingly at the receptionist.

“Em…” the receptionist started, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. “He was an elderly man. He said he was from Liberia.”

Walter worked hard at straightening his features against the assault of his amusement. He looked at the manager and said, “Please take me to the room he occupied.”

The manager grabbed a key which was marked ‘15’ from inside a shelf behind the receptionist and walked up a flight of stairs ahead of the officer. Once at the door, he opened it and said, “I doubt you’ll find anything. The cleaning lady has already been here today.”

Walter stepped in with one thought in mind. “Let’s just hope she’s not efficient.” He scanned the room slowly from left to right, trying his best not to miss a thing. After a few moments of poking around with nothing but the heavy breathing of the manager breaking the silence, he was about to give up on discovering anything. Then, his gaze fell on the wall behind the door. “Bingo!” he said out loud, startling the manager. “Seems the cleaning lady wasn’t so thorough after all,” he crowed at the other man as he put down his knapsack and got to work on what he saw.

***

Edeeth led the father and daughter duo to the interrogation room. The drive back to the station had been uneventful and quiet. The Scotts had followed the officers in their own car and at that moment, their driver was making his way to where he would park the car. Chrome watched as the jeep drove down towards the car park and had turned to enter inside the building when his phone rang. He checked the caller ID. It was the mystery caller again. He decided to ignore it this time. He had other more important things to take care of at the moment. He could feel it in his guts. They were on the verge of cracking this case. He confirmed from the station receptionist that Walter hadn’t returned from his assignment yet. He moved on, his mind filled with the hope that Stacey and Jerome would have something good for him.

When Edeeth opened the door to the interrogation room they had occupied yesterday, making way for the Scotts to pass into it, she noted the look of displeasure that was on Monica’s face. She must not be thrilled to be back here, Edeeth thought as she followed them to the seats surrounding the table. The three of them sat as Chrome entered the room. He leaned by the wall, tacitly giving Edeeth the floor. She didn’t waste time. “We have DNA evidence which puts you” – she pointed at Monica – “at the crime scene last night.” She paused to take out the documents from inside the file that was on the table and placed them in front of Monica. “Look at these.”

The papers were printed pictures of Jackson’s body at the crime scene and on the autopsy table. The moment Monica saw and recognized the photo on top, she gasped and shrank back into her seat.

“How dare you show these to her?!” Anthony snarled, his voice marinated with outrage. He rose huffily from his seat as Monica looked away from the photos.

Ignoring the man, Edeeth snapped in a louder voice, “Look at them! You claim you loved him, yet you turn away now.”

Anthony turned his fulminating look on Chrome and seethed, “What is the meaning of this – this rubbish tactic of psychologically harassing my daughter!?” When Chrome said nothing in response, the commissioner continued, “If you don’t put a stop to this nonsense at once, I will do everything in my power to make this department pay for this harassment!”

Chrome still appeared unmoved. Monica had started sobbing quietly. There was a few tense seconds of awkwardness, broken when Edeeth finally stood and walked over to Monica’s side. She took the woman’s hand and looked at her face, all the while aware of her father’s anger-stiffened presence close by. “Please, Monica,” she said almost imploringly, “please, come clean. Did you kill Jackson?”

“This is preposterous!” fumed Anthony. “I think we need a lawyer now.”

“Chief Scott –” Chrome began.

“Don’t you dare call my name, officer –”

“Did you kill him?” Edeeth was still focused on the woman before him.

“Do not answer that question, sweetheart!” Anthony roared.

Monica kept on crying.

“Did you!” Edeeth said, tugging at her hand lightly.

“Let go of my daughter this instant!” Anthony said as he took Monica’s other hand and pulled, as though to get her up the chair.

“Dad, wait…” Monica’s broken voice seemed to freeze the tenseness crescendoing in the room. She turned to Edeeth, blinked her eyes over the tears that were still trickling down and began forming an articulate answer. Suddenly, her face twitched, her throat worked and she clapped a hand over her mouth. “Where’s the bathroom please…” she mumbled behind her hand.

“I’ll take you there,” the other woman replied and stood from her seat, hurrying out of the interrogation room beside Monica who seemed very frantic in her mission to get to the bathroom. In their haste, the two women almost bumped into Stacey, who was coming down the hallway to meet Chrome.

“What was that about?” she said as she walked up to Chrome, who was standing in the doorway of the interrogation room. She spotted and recognized the figure of Anthony Scott pacing agitatedly about behind Chrome, in the room. She had some papers in her hand which she handed to him and said, “Here’s the info you wanted on the owner of the other DNA you found at the scene.” She had a glint in her eye as she spoke. Chrome looked down at the papers. Stacey continued talking as he read through it. “It turns out that the man called Dapo Ajayi used to be in the military. He was an army major who retired of his own volition about six years ago to work as a private security operative for some topnotch politician in Rivers State. He didn’t last long in the job and was arrested for molesting the politician’s daughter and sentenced to ten years in prison, but was mysteriously let out two years into his sentence.” She paused here because she saw that Chrome had gotten to the important part. She saw the man’s eyes widen, and she said a tad theatrically, “He now works for none other than the man fretting behind you – Chief Anthony Ememesi Scott.”

Chrome’s brows furrowed as he hissed, “He is the commissioner’s driver.” He looked up as if remembering something vital. “Of course – the scar on his face. I knew there was something about it that made my senses tingle.” He turned his head a bit around to glance at the commissioner. Anthony had stopped pacing and was now sitting on the chair he’d stood from earlier. As Chrome watched him, he wondered if he knew what his driver was capable of. To really know what was going on, he had to bring the driver in. But he knew the man was not going to come in so easily. Chrome needed muscle to handle this. The man was ex-military for Pete’s sake. He brought out his cell phone and dialed Walter’s number.

***

Walter was in a very good mood as he headed back to the station. His most recent discovery was undoubtedly going to help a lot in turning this case around. He was just driving in through the gates of the police premises when his phone rang. He saw it was Chrome calling and he immediately answered the call. “Hello, chief,” he said cheerfully.

“Hello, Wally, where are you?”

“Elvis has just entered the building, sir. You won’t believe what I’ve got for you.”

“That can wait,” Chrome interjected. “I need you to do something now.”

Walter was immediately alert to the tenseness in his superior’s voice. “What, sir?”

“Get some uniforms and apprehend the commissioner, Anthony Scott’s driver. His name is Dapo Ajayi, and the other DNA at the scene of the crime belongs to him.”

“He was there?”

“Yes. You need to arrest him and bring him in now. But you must be careful, he is a former army major and he would be a very dangerous man to deal with.”

“Where’s he now?”

“He drove the Scotts to the station. So he should be in the car park. You remember the vehicle he brought the commissioner to the station with yesterday, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. Don’t worry, sir, I’ll get him.” Walter clicked off and drove towards the car park, slowing down when he got to where the Jeep belonging to the Scotts was parked. He passed the car and parked two parking rows behind. He then brought out his phone and called Sgt. Lanre.

“Hello, Lanre.”

“Hey Walter, do you miss me already?” The man’s tone was jeering.

“Guy, relax,” Walter intoned. “I need your help. It’s about to go down.”

“Where and when?” Lanre was instantly in professional mode.

“Car park, now. Black Benz jeep. Bring two of yours. Perp is considered dangerous.”

“Ok, on the way.”

Walter sat back in the car and watched the driver as he leaned casually back on the driver seat of the jeep, his door thrown open. He had taken note of the man’s hulking appearance the previous day, when he brought Anthony Scott to the station, and now, his eyes flickered over the man, realizing how disadvantaged he would be if he tried to take on the man by himself. Walter also noticed the faint outline of the scar that ran down one side of his face, highlighted by the morning sun.

Then he turned his face towards the entrance of the building. Lanre had just walked out, his stride firm and purposeful, flanked by two uniforms. He was waving his hand in a gesture that Walter understood to mean the plan was to circle the car park, the immediate area around where the jeep was parked. Walter got out of the car and proceeded towards the jeep. Dapo didn’t notice Walter coming, but it was obvious he had spotted Lanre, because as the sergeant got closer to the vehicle, the driver slowly leaned towards the glove compartment and opened it. Walter suddenly felt a stirring of unease as he watched the man’s unhurried movements. He spotted the black object that Dapo brought out of the glove compartment. He began to fumble with his holster as he turned and sped towards Lanre. Through the side of his eye, he saw the driver straighten and begin to lift his hand.

“Get down!” Walter yelled. “He’s got a gun!”

Dapo was briefly startled by the shout – he spared a few moments to notice Walter running towards his target – then he drew up the gun out and took aim. Walter lunged himself at Lanre at the same time Dapo fired.

C.S.I: 9JA (The Jack And Jill Story: Episode 16)

Five minutes after the meeting was adjourned, Jerome was sitting behind Chrome’s desk and browsing through his email. He had found and opened the mail sent to him by the Inspector-in-charge of the Akwa-Ibom state police command – Inspector Nsikak was his name –, and his eyes skimmed over the digital print as he read: ‘To the C.S.I. Chief Inspector. Please find attached to this mail the items you required concerning the motor accident involving the Essien family. I have attached the preliminary reports made by the officers at the scene and also the pictures of the crashed vehicle. I have also gone out of my way to secure what I believe to be the picture of the original reason the car crashed. Also you will find attached the DNA test results made on a hair sample found on the scene which did not belong to either of the two victims. I hope these will help you in your current investigations.’

Jerome finished reading through and proceeded to scroll to the bottom of his mailbox to retrieve the attachments, when he stumbled across an additional message which read: ‘P.S. please exercise caution in your investigation. I have come to the realization that someone above my pay grade has gone out of his/her way to see to it that the investigation into the crash was buried. Whoever it is must be brought to justice and I believe you will have the capability to see to this. Thank you.’

Jerome leaned back on his seat. That last part of the message was ominous. He decided to print the attachments so he could show them to Chrome when he returned. 

***

Chrome pulled up the Toyota Corolla into the street where the Scotts resided. He expertly parked the car on the culvert in front of the gate guarding the Scott residence, effectively blocking the entrance to the premises. The officers where just stepping out of the car when the gates were suddenly flung open by the army personnel stationed there. Chrome led the way as the officers walked towards a parked jeep which seemed to be ready to leave the compound.

“This is private property,” one of the uniformed men said belligerently, his eyes snapping in Edeeth’s direction. He recognized her from the previous day, and from the scowl on his face, he wasn’t too happy to see her – and another partner – again today.

“I know, and I’m here on official police duty,” Chrome said coolly. His manner was unperturbed as he flicked out his badge for the men to see.

The army personnel wavered in their aggressive stance when they recognized the superior position clearly stamped on the identity card. Just then, one of the back doors of the jeep was flung open and Anthony lumbered out of the car. His brow had deepened in the beginnings of a glare. “Excuse me, officers, but what the hell do you both think you are doing here?”

Chrome waited until the man had come close to where they stood, his face planted on the commissioner with that glacial expression that Edeeth admired so much. Except when he focused the look on her – then she didn’t find it so admirable. “There’s no need to get hostile, sir –” he began.

“I’ll act in any manner I want, thank you very much,” Anthony spat. “Now, will you please state your business already? The sooner you do that, the sooner you can get off my property.” He divided his glare between the two officers.

Unruffled by the man’s antagonism, Chrome jerked his head at the car and said, almost conversationally, “I see you are all set to go out already.”

“Yes, we have a charity event to attend.”

“We? You and your daughter?”

“Yes,” Anthony bit out.

“I’m afraid Monica can’t go anywhere with you –”

“And why is that?” Anthony jutted his jaw at the other man.

“We are here to take her into custody.”

“What?!” the commissioner exclaimed. “On what grounds?!”

“We have overwhelming evidence which puts her at the scene of the crime making her a prime suspect.”

At that moment, the other back door opened and Monica got down from the car. She started walking over to the small gathering.

“Get back into the car, Monica!” her father snarled, when he heard her approaching footsteps. He whirled about to face her.

Ignoring him, she walked forward still. Her brows were furrowed in incomprehension. “What’s going on, daddy?” She came to stand before them. Her question was directed at her father, but her eyes flickered between Chrome and Edeeth.

Chrome noted how huge and doe-dark and beautiful the eyes were. She really is a good-looking woman, a part of his mind registered belatedly.

Anthony immediately held her close to him in a side embrace and said, “Don’t worry, my dear.” He turned his scowl back to the officers and said, “I would like to have a look at this so called evidence you have.”

“By all means, sir,” Chrome said.

Moments later, both cars moved out of the street and started for the station. As they drove down the road, Anthony glanced at Monica, who was visibly trembling, and said, “Don’t worry, honey. I won’t let them harm you.”

But the expression etched on his daughter’s face told him clearly how much she didn’t believe his words this time.

***

By the time Walter got to the airport terminal, Chude was waiting at the designated spot that they were meant to meet. He waved a hand at the official car which he recognized as Walter, not identifying him, almost drove past him. Walter slowed down and parked on the curb and Chude jogged up to meet with him. Walter wound the passenger glass down and Chude stuck his head in and greeted him.

“You must be Chude.”

“Indeed I am.”

“How sure are you I’m the one you are waiting for?” Walter asked with a cocked brow.

“Don’t worry, Officer Walter,” Chude said, stressing the name. “Officer Jerome gave me a good description of what you would be driving, what you would be wearing and how you looked. And I never forget the details that matter.” He was smiling at the end of his comment.

Why don’t you hand me your resume while you’re at it, Walter thought with wry amusement. After what Edeeth had said about the airport worker, he had a better appreciation of the man’s exuberance. “Alright then, hop in,” he said to Chude, who was already lifting the door handle. As he sat down, Walter asked, “Ok, what did you find out?”

“I was able meet with the owner of the Executive car rental service, and he confirmed renting out a Jeep to a man bearing the name Mr. Ememesi Scott.”

“Is that all?” When he nodded, Walter said, “I thought you said you had something to show us, hence our presence required at the airport.”

An abashed look suffused the other man’s face and weighted down his voice as he said, “My apologies, sir. I knew your team would want to question the man yourselves, and I wanted to be part of the team as that happened.”

Walter shook his head at the man’s cunning, and chuckled. “My, Chrome should hire you. Lord knows we need someone with your tendency for underhanded tactics.” The good-natured tone of his voice made Chude beam. He continued, “Anyway, don’t you have work to do today?”

“My shift doesn’t start until much later.”

“Ok then, let’s go over there to the car-rental place,” Walter said as he started the ignition. “Where is the place?”

“It’s down the road, make a left before the intersection that leads to the car park,” Chude replied and Walter shifted the gear. In a few minutes they were entering the parking-lot of the Executive Car-Rentals Services. Walter killed the engine when he found a good spot to park and they both alighted from the vehicle. The building housing the office of the business was a bungalow with only three rooms – the reception, which was quite large, and two adjacent rooms, one of which was the office of the owner of the business. Chude made enquiries from the receptionist and a moment later the owner of the rental service came out to meet them. Introductions were made – the owner’s name was Kelechisom Ajoku – and the men got right down to business.

“Thank you for helping us, Mr. Ajoku –” Walter began.

“Please, call me Kelechi,” the man, wispy in stature with gold-rimmed glasses settled over his beady eyes, said. “And it will be my pleasure to be of help to the Federal Police. So, from what my friend here” – he nodded at Chude – “tells me, you are looking for a man who rented one of my cars two nights ago.”

“We are not sure it’s the man we are looking for,” Walter interjected, “but it would go a long way in helping our investigation if he happens to be the one.”

Kelechi smiled and pointed to the ceiling just above the desk of the receptionist. “You see that?” Walter and Chude looked up in the direction he pointed as he continued, “That there is a CCTV camera. Customers don’t notice it and I use it to make sure I get the identities of people who rent my vehicles.”

Walter nodded and said, “That is very insightful of you. May I see the security footage from the night in question?”

As if waiting for the question to be asked, Kelechi motioned his guests towards the second door beside the door to his office and said, “Right this way please.” And they promptly disappeared behind the door, leaving only the receptionist to continue flicking through the pages of the magazine she was reading.

 

MY MIND SNAPS

Good morning, Sunshine; how I wonder who you are

I’d like to say how truly bright you are

As you flutter open your gaze beyond the clouds

Your arms stretching out upon the crow of the cockerel

Your feet gaining ground as all creatures without begin to rise

The fauna shaking off their slumber and the flora springing forth their greens

All a testimony to your rousing powers

Then in a splash of gold, I watch you dominate the skies

Dusting off the greys and mists of the Night’s cloak

The sun-dappled heavens heralding the start of a new day

A knock on my door, my mother’s head pops in

Thence, fresh from my lips and buoyed by a fervour for this day never before seen

I beamed at her and said, “Good morning, ma.”

“Good morning, dad… Good morning, bro… Good morning, sis…”

A mantra that follows me all…

View original post 17 more words

C.S.I: 9JA (The jack And Jill Story: Episode 15)

The sound of the message tone on Edeeth’s phone was enough to wake her up from her sleep. She stirred and stretched, blinking her way into wakefulness, before sitting up in her bed. The bed was comfortable, as comfortable as a hotel bed could get, and she rolled across the crisp sheets, in the early morning gloom pervading the room, to pick up her phone from the nightstand. The text was from Chrome.

She read: War Room. 2 hours. Urgent.

Chrome was fond of sending such cryptic messages to the members of his team. Edeeth nodded to herself in understanding and took a deep breath. She let it out with a yawn. She still felt a little sleepy, and her hand knocked some knickknacks on the nightstand about as she searched for her wristwatch. She squinted blearily at its luminous screen. The time was 4:30am.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” she muttered out loud. She grumbled about the time being so early, but she knew she had to start getting ready to head back to the FPF HQ. Then it occurred to her that she didn’t even know if Walter was still at the hospital or not. She got off the bed and went straight to the bathroom. Answering the call of nature came first before anyone else, she thought as she closed the bathroom door behind her.

***

Jerome was already awake when he received the text message from Chrome. He had been reading another text message which he had gotten while he slept. It was a text message from the Inspector-in-charge of the Akwa-Ibom State police command. It informed him that the information he requested from the command concerning the accident involving the Essiens had been sent to his email address. He deleted the message immediately after reading it, something he did when it came to security issues and went on to read Chrome’s. Then, he got out of bed and went to the wardrobe in his hotel room. He was always keen on his attire and loved looking smart for work at anytime of the day. It was his routine to pick out his clothes before even brushing his teeth. When he made up his mind on what to wear, he took off the clothes he’d slept in, made his way to the bathroom and switched on the shower. He was about to close the door behind him when the message tone of his phone sounded again. He peered outside the bathroom door, as if there would be anyone around to see him walk out of the bathroom naked. He tiptoed over to his phone and checked the new message. It was from Chrome. He was asking that Jerome get some clean clothes from his room. Jerome smiled. He knew he was the only one Chrome would trust with such a domestic duty.

***

The sound of his own ringtone greatly annoyed Walter as it pulled him up from sleep. It wasn’t that he didn’t like it – after all he chose the song as his ringtone –, it was the fact that he hated having his sleep interrupted, especially when he was luxuriating in it. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, muttered a swearword, and lazily picked up the phone and checked the caller ID. It was Edeeth. He quickly sat up on the bed and answered, “Hey E.” he said. There was an underlying enthusiasm in his voice that was still groggy with sleep.

“Already up, bright and excited for the day, are we?”

He imagined her brow arching with mocking disbelief at her words and chuckled. “Oh no. As a matter of fact, I’m still in bed.”

“At the hotel?”

“Yes, at the hotel. Where else would you imagine me sleeping?” He deliberately made his words weighty with a double entendre.

Edeeth’s laughing voice came across the receiver. “Anything is possible with you men. I asked because I wanted to know if you decided to play nanny to the old man all night long.”

Walter gave a laugh of his own. “Nah. I came back late last night. But about my hospital duty, Sir Anderson told me a lot of interesting things that you need to hear–”

“Well, tell it all at the meeting,” Edeeth interrupted.

“Meeting? What meeting?”

“Check you messages, bob. Chrome sent one to all of us. You know his style.”

“Oh…ok, thanks. I’ll do so now.”

“See you out front in a few.”

“Ok.” She clicked off and Walter, without doing as he said he would, returned his phone to the nightstand. He needed some more sleep, he thought with a grumble. Subconsciously, he picked up his wristwatch on the table and looked at the time. “Good Lord!” he half screamed. “Is that the time?” He tossed the watch back on the table and dunked his head into his pillow a few times. Then he lifted the pillow and covered his head with it, and said in a muffled tone, “Thirty more minutes!”

***

Anthony knocked on the door of his daughter’s room before opening it. He expected to see her either balled up in one corner, her grief still evident in the light of the morning or sleeping soundly in her bed, since the time was still in the early hours. He never expected to see her moving about her room, stuffing her things into the valises that were open on her bed. However, he wasn’t as surprised as she was when she noticed him standing at the door. He wanted to ask a question, but it seemed he had thought about the scenario a little more before eventually speaking, “It seems you are aware of our departure already my dear.”

“Departure?”

“Yes, we are leaving Jos for good after the charity tournament.” He walked into the room. “Isn’t that why you are packing?”

Monica hesitated before answering in the affirmative. Her father came to stand beside her and took her hand in his. “Honey, by this time tomorrow, you will have a clean start. Don’t you worry about a thing, okay?” He kissed her hand and patted her head. Then he turned and started for the door; he turned around when he got there. “You weren’t planning on doing anything stupid, were you?” His eyes had narrowed on her face, and suspicion was suddenly sharp in his voice.

“No, daddy.” Monica’s eyes slid away from her father’s.

Apparently satisfied with her answer, he said, “Good girl.” Then he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

***

Chrome looked less like the composed, always well-put-together man he usually was by the time he was done compiling all the information he had gathered from the DNA analysis. He stretched himself in a bid to relieve his body of the ache he felt from sleeping on the laboratory stool. His eyes felt gritty, and he knew they’d be reddened from the strain. His neck ached and the muscles snapped as he rotated his head to ease the kinks. He yawned and was instantly repulsed by the breath he perceived from his own mouth.

“Ugh!” he said out loud, flapping a hand over his nose. “That stinks!” He laughed with some self deprecation and stood up.

Just then there was a knock on the door. He walked over to it and unlocked it. At the doorway stood Stacey, looking perky and energized for the day. Her smile was bright and her composure had some bounce to it. She was wearing a tan-coloured turtle-neck blouse tucked into a black wraparound skirt. “Good morning, sir,” she chirped.

“Good morning,” Chrome grunted. “You are just the person I wanted to see.” At her arched brows that revealed her surprise, he added, “I need your help.”

He walked back into the room and she followed, dropping her large handbag on one of the stools. “Well, sir, I’m here now. Whatever you need, I’ll do my best.”

“I need your help with two things.” He had reached the table and brought out a file. “First of all, I need you to run this name by the Federal mainframe. It’s a name that popped up as the owner of the second DNA that was found on the sample I picked up at the hill top.”

“There were two DNA?”

“Yes, there were. I already have the identity of the first one, but this one is from a name I’m not aware of. So I want you to get as much info as you can concerning this individual and report it to me as soon as you get anything. Ok?”

“Ok, sir.”

“And secondly, I need to use the bathroom in the autopsy lab.” He laughed lightly after saying this.

The autopsy lab had a bathroom which was used by the personnel that carried out the autopsies to scrub down after each analysis, so as not to get any contaminants from the dead bodies onto their persons. Even though Chrome was a senior officer, he didn’t have access to the autopsy lab unless a member of staff was available. That was the real reason he was glad to see Stacey when she showed up.

The woman promptly reached into her bag and handed Chrome her access card. “Here you go, sir.”’

“Thanks a bunch.” He started out of the room. “In case Jerome comes in, tell him to bring my clothes over to the lab, ok?”

“Ok, sir,” she replied, then as though the thought had suddenly occurred to her, she added, “Just a minute, sir.” She began rummaging in her bag, lifting out a small tube of toothpaste, a mini bar of soap and a small tube of lotion. “I always keep these in case of emergencies like this,” she said with a smile as she handed the items to Chrome.

He thanked her and left the forensics lab for Stacey to begin the task he’d given her to do.

***

The time was 6:35am when Chrome walked into the C.S.I. conference room. He had taken a quick shower and thanks to Jerome, had on a fresh set of clothing. He was adjusting his tie when he sat on his especially reserved seat. He noticed that it was only Jerome who was present, and was about to ask the whereabouts of Walter and Edeeth when they both walked into the room. From the amused looks on their faces, they’d just been enjoying a joke right before entering the room. Chrome scowled at them and Jerome snickered. Edeeth instantly shot him a scathing look, one which made him stifle his amusement.

“Sorry for coming in late, sir,” Edeeth said, “but someone had to take an extra thirty minutes to get ready.” She threw Walter a sidelong look, one which he returned with a smile.

Chrome, however, did not share in their amusement. He half-snapped, “I don’t care what you lovebirds were up to, but we are all here now – so we can begin.”

Edeeth and Walter exchanged awkward looks at their boss’s terseness, and when Jerome snickered again – apparently he found their discomfort humorous – they both shot him scowls that again quenched his mirth.

When they were seated, Chrome began in a brisk tone, “I’m going to be brief so that we can get all our facts and findings on the table.” He brought out a flat file from his briefcase and set it on the table. He opened it and began distributing some documents inside it around the table. “As you already know, I carried out the DNA analysis on the artificial nail we found on the crime scene myself. The analysis ran through the night and was concluded in the early hours of today. From the documents you hold now, you can see that two distinct DNA were discovered within the sample given. I had to run two simultaneous searches using the National DNA Library, with Monica Scott as a reference for one search and a random search for the other.” He paused here and looked at his subordinates. Satisfied with their attention, he continued, “Sure enough, a match was gotten with that of Monica Smith. This puts her on the crime scene and makes her our prime suspect.”

Walter put up a finger, and Chrome’s nod of permission, he said, “If Monica’s DNA was one of the two that was on the nail, then whose was the second one?” He looked down at the paper he held in his hand. “I don’t see it here.”

“I haven’t made copies of that yet. The name of the individual who owns the second DNA is Dapo Ajayi. Right now, Stacey is helping out with a search to determine who this person is and where he can be found.”

“Stacey?” Edeeth asked, her voice faintly quizzical.

“Yes, Stacey,” Chrome replied, almost sarcastically. “She came in earlier and I asked her to help with the search while I got ready for this meeting.”

“Ok, sir, whatever you say,” Edeeth returned with a slightly mocking smile on her face.

This made Jerome snigger again, and this time Walter joined in. Chrome shook his head and laughed lightly, “All right, let me hear about your findings.”

Edeeth’s hand shot up and she said, “Walter will like to go first.” And she looked at Walter whose surprise at being put on the spot like that was evident. A smattering of laughter rolled around the table. It was good to see that the night’s rest had lifted their spirits. Equanimously, Walter went ahead to narrate to them all that transpired between him and Anderson Gyang, summarizing the details of the man’s story. Jerome and Edeeth also gave accounts of what they found out at the airport. At the end of their presentations, Chrome nodded his head and said, “Well it’s clear now that Sir Anderson is off our list and Monica’s involvement is looking more visible than ever.” He paused as if to ponder on something, then said, “The only thing now is…why would Chief Scott sneak into the state donning a disguise?”

Silence fell into the conference room which seemed to go on for several moments until the ringing of Jerome’s phone broke the silence. Startled by the sound and aware that his colleagues’ eyes were on him, he brought out the phone and checked the ID. “It’s Chude Miguel,” he said, and looking at Chrome, added, “The guy from the airport.”

“We’ll like to hear what he has to say,” Chrome replied.

Jerome nodded, picked the call and instantly put it on speaker. “Hello Chude,” he answered.

“Hello, Officer Jerome, good morning.” The man’s excitement was immediately obvious.

Edeeth rolled her eyes where she was seated.

“Do you have any information for me?” Jerome asked.

The other man’s voice came through the speaker, brisk as though he were a military personnel. “Yes I do, sir. I was able to get some information from the car hire service but it would be better if you came to see it for yourself – Over.”

It took a second for the last word to register, and after that second, everyone on the table began chuckling. Edeeth put her face in her hands, feigning embarrassment. They were all thinking the same thing: Chude Miguel truly did regard himself to be part of the investigation. Chrome signaled to Jerome to take the phone off speaker. When he did, Chrome said in a low tone, “Tell him another one of your colleagues will be coming in your stead.” At Jerome’s questioning look, he added, “You have an email to check out, remember?”

Jerome nodded in realization and resumed talking to Chude, giving him Walter’s description and details of how they would meet at the airport. When Jerome ended the call, Chrome stood and said, “So, Walter, you’ll check on this Miguel character and find out what he’s selling. Jay, you see to your email, and also check on Stacey to know if she’s through with her task. And Edeeth, you’ll be coming with me.”

“Where to, sir?”

“We’ll be going to pay the Scotts a surprise visit.”