3pm, Same day
Mr Sylvester finally returned to the office several hours after he left with no explanation. Those who had seen him leave said that he left with Henry E.G who had been handcuffed by a Special police agent and led out of the building. Rumours began to fly around immediately. Few minutes after the Agent had led Mr Henry away, a Lady who was one of the occupants of the office where Kimberly was had gone out for a short break and heard the rumour. After spending more than the duration of her break period, she returned to tell the other occupants of the office what she had heard. How the special agent took away Henry in chains with Mr Sylvester pleading to get an explanation from the Agent. They said the Agent insisted that Mr Sylvester had to come to the police office if he wanted to know anything about the matter.
Different versions of stories were cooked up immediately, especially as the event occurred few minutes to most of the worker’s official break time. Some people said that Henry E.G had used his wide range of knowledge to defraud the Central Bank, some said he had hacked into the country’s Treasury system and redirected some of the monies to his account while some said that he had stolen money from the NSCC. All these stories were unconfirmed yet, but still spread around rapidly because the gossipers needed something to feast on. Only Mr Sylvester who went to the police office and Kimberly that Mr Sylvester had mentioned the matter to had an idea of the real cause of his arrest.
‘Welcome sir,’ Kimberly could hear her colleagues in the office greet in unison. She raised up her head to see who they were greeting, it was Mr Sylvester walking towards her without responding to the greetings from the other staffs.
‘Sir,’ she said softly as he got to the front of her table.
He sat on the empty seat and let out a deep breath. ‘ Kimberly, how are you?’ He asked in a fatigued tone. His countenance clearly showed that something was wrong.
‘I’m fine sir, I’ve checked your office and I found out that you were not around.’ She replied.
‘Yes, I went to the police office with Henry E.G. He was accused of being an accomplice of Samantha Osman,’ Sylvester said to her in a low voice, he placed his elbow on the table and buried his face in his palms.
‘Samantha Osman? What’s the basis for their allegation?’ Kimberly asked.
Sylvester raised up his head. ‘He accompanied a lady to late Chief Jubril Lawal’s party recently, I never saw that lady but I’m aware that they were friends and most likely lovers, they both stayed in the corporation’s house for a couple of days.’
Kimberly took in a deep breath and stared into the air, she knew the police was closing in on Tarasha already. She was sure that Henry would confess to knowing her once he faced the Nigerian police torture. She had learnt about their method of forcing out truth from their suspects and she was sure that Henry would not have the skin for it. She even wondered why Henry had not told them everything about her already, why did he have to be arrested by the police. What she thought before was that he had already told all he knew about her to the police.
But she was the one who made the fatal error. Henry was supposed to have been ki||ed already but she left him alive for some reasons which was inconsistent with her mode of operation. It would take much more effort now to clear Henry and the mess he had created and was going to create.
‘So the police alleged that the lady is Samantha Osman?’ Kimberly questioned.
‘Yes.’
‘Hmm…’ She heaved a sigh and then folded her arms. After some seconds of silence, she turned the laptop to Mr Sylvester. ‘Here’s the report for the job you requested.’
Sylvester looked at the screen immediately and continued scanning through the report for few seconds, reading the words under his breath. ‘So, it’s a Canadian number truly?’ He commented after reading it.
‘Yes.’ She replied and turned back the laptop to herself.
‘That’s means Mr Henry was right about it,’ he said. ‘Please print out the report, it would be of advantage to us and Mr Henry.’
‘Alright sir,’ Tarasha said and bent to pick up the cord for the printer. She plugged it in and tapped the shortcut for print on the keyboard. ‘Sir?’ She called after sending the document to the printer.
‘Yes,’ he answered, the tone of fatigue still sounding in his voice.
‘Do you really think that Mr Henry did help the assassin to murder Chief Jubril?’ She asked in a concerned tone.
‘I don’t even know what to think,’ he sighed and rested back. ‘I don’t know what to think. I’ve always felt Mr Henry’s passion to put an end to the assassinations by our input as the NSCC, so I don’t believe he would help the assassin but with this strong claim by the police that one of the assassins was seen with him, I don’t know what to think anymore?’
‘Hmm…’ Kimberly inhaled deeply as she collected the printed document from the lady who brought it to them. She stared into the paper for some seconds before handing it over to Sylvester. ‘Would he be granted bail?’
‘I’ve contacted a lawyer on his behalf, I’m sure he cannot sleep over in the police cell tonight. He’ll be granted bail but the Agent said he’ll be placed under close watch. He told me to advise him not to play any tricks.’
‘Is it that serious?’ Kimberly widened her gaze and folded her arms as she rested her back.
‘Yes, something that involves the assassin group Samantha Osman leads is serious. Another thing the Agent made mention of is that Henry may be a member of the assassin team.’
‘Hmm… What a pity!’ She exclaimed in a really pitiful tone. ‘That means that he would not be free to move around anymore.’
‘Yes, his movement would be restricted and he’ll be followed everywhere. Even in his house, he’ll be monitored.’ Sylvester replied.
‘Yes, so he’s staying in his home tonight?’
‘Yes,’ Sylvester answered with a slight groan as struggled to stand up from the seat.
‘His house…’ Kimberly repeated severally under her breath. That was all the information she needed to have, she just wished that Henry wouldn’t have spilled out too much information before the police grants him bail.
‘I’ll be leaving in fifteen minutes time sir.’ She announced to Sylvester who was about to turn and take his leave.
‘Oh!’ He turned back slowly and sat back. He stared at her face and put on a smile. ‘Thank you for your help Miss Kimberly.’ He said.
She smiled like a child without saying anything. The man took out his wallet and phone from his pocket. He dropped the phone on the table and opened the wallet, he then counted ten thousand naira and took it out. ‘I learnt that you have a car,’ he said as he returned the wallet into his pocket.
‘Yes, I do,’ she answered, a little hesitant.
‘Okay, you can get fuel with this,’ he said as he handed her the money.
‘Oh!’ Her eyes lit up with gratefulness. ‘Thank you sir, ‘ she said as she took the money.
‘You’re welcome.’ He replied with a smile of satisfaction, glad that she was happy to receive his gift. ‘I have to do some work now,’ he said as he got up.
‘Alright, till tomorrow sir.’
‘Bye.’
‘Bye sir.’ She said she watched him leave, he had forgotten his phone on the table. The eyes of the other people in the office turned to her as Sylvester walked out of the place. She ignored them and turned back to the laptop. The smile on her face totally disappeared immediately.
She closed the laptop after shutting down and disconnected the power cord. She then picked the phone which Mr Sylvester had forgotten, it was his most used phone where he received both business and personal calls. She swiped it open and opened his call settings hurriedly. After scrolling through for some minutes, she minimized the program and opened Xender, an app for transferring files. She took her own phone and opened his Xender on it too, she connected the phones and then transferred into his phone another app. It entered within few seconds and she installed it immediately and made the settings to track his phone calls, she then hid the app and refreshed the phone memory. She straightened her cloth and got up from her seat, wanting to go to Mr Sylvester’s office to return his phone but the man walked back into the office just in time.
~
Fifteen minutes later like she told Mr Sylvester, she was out of the main building and was proceeding to where her car was parked. The first thing she spotted when she got there was Henry’s car, parked at the opposite direction. He must have seen her car, she was sure. That was the goal for bringing the car anyway, to make him suspicious about her presence there and begin to try to find her, then she would lure him into her a trap. But with the new turn of events, that strategy would not work anymore, she needed him to be unaware of her presence now, she wished she had never brought her car. But she still had nothing to worry about, there was always a plan B.
The device in her bag began to beep loudly as she moved closed to the boot of her car. She gave an evil smile, she knew that Henry wasn’t going to leave without doing anything when he sees the car. She brought out her device and checked the notification, she silenced the alarm after dismissing the notification. She returned her device back into her bag before searching around the car for the tracker that had been placed there.
After five minutes of futile search, she took out her device again and clicked open the app which notified her of the tracker’s presence.
‘Basta*d!’ She cursed under her breath as she began to scan the body of the car with her camera. Scanning the outer body didn’t yield the result, so she began to scan under the car. That was when she located the tracker, installed somewhere close to the tyre. She pulled out the tiny device and dropped it on the floor. She cursed Henry in her mind again before proceeding into the car.
As she drove out of the compound, she spotted a police vehicle entering into the compound. She drove away hurriedly, something had to be done about Henry that night. It had to be that night.
~~~~
Sylvester had barely settled in his office when his phone rang, he checked the screen and the caller ID displayed was the police office.
‘Hello,’ he answered the call.
‘Mr Sylvester, I’ve sent some boys to your office now and they are already in the compound. They have a search warrant with them, I’ll like you to cooperate with them and lead them to Henry E.G’s office.’ Agent Dakolo’s voice came through.
‘It’s okay sir.’ Sylvester ended the call with a sigh of frustration, he buried his face in his palms and let out a deep breath.
He suddenly remembered something and picked up the phone again. He dialed the police office.
‘Any problem Mr Sylvester?’ Dakolo answered the call.
‘No problem sir,’ Sylvester replied. ‘Like I told you before, the result for the reinvestigation of the number was supposed to be out today. It’s out already, I’ll send to you the document through your boys.’
‘Okay, but what was the result?’ Dakolo asked.
‘The number is Canadian.’
Dakolo gave a very short but thr_@tening chuckle. ‘Mr Sylvester,’ he called in a low voice but rigid tone. ‘Don’t get yourself into trouble trying to help out a suspect,’ he warned.
‘No,’ Sylvester said with fear in his voice. ‘I’m not trying to help him out. I wasn’t the one who did the job, I’ve never done that kind of job. I gave it to a capable person who doesn’t even know Mr Henry personally.’
‘I hope so, because if I find out that you’re trying to help him, I’ll make sure you get into trouble with him and I assure you it won’t be easy to come out of it.’ Dakolo said, still in a thr_@tening tone.
‘No, nothing of such sir.’
‘If that’s the case, send me the document then.’
‘Okay sir.’ Dakolo said as he ended the call, his doorbell sounded immediately. He checked his computer screen, his expected visitors and his secretary were at his office entrance. He picked up a bunch of keys and a card from his drawer, he also took the result document and folded it into an envelope before getting up to join them.
4.20pm
Henry had been left to sit alone in the dark room for more than an hour without seeing anyone or hearing anyone talk. He rested his head on the table and began to think about the woes he had brought upon himself by becoming friends with Omotara. He remembered that she tried to resist their friendship but his accursed self was the one who continued to push even with the embarrassment and soldiers harassment she had caused him on their first encounter. He didn’t stop until she gave him her number and agreed to have lunch with him. Remembering all that now, he wondered why he still had so much feelings for someone who had caused him so much pain and who he had not even spent up to three weeks being friends with. An annoying thing was that he felt a strange kind of satisfaction that the police arrested him instead of her, he didn’t think he would love to see her go through the rigorous prosecution by the police especially as she was already involved in the fraud crime.
He thought of how he was going to escape from the trouble he was in. He could only see two ways out, either to spill out all he knew about her or to pretend not to know her beyond their few days friendship. The former would be the best option, the latter could even get him into deeper trouble.
A flash of light came in as the door opened, three people walked in and the last one closed the door. On came a fairly bright light hung on the ceiling directly above where Henry was seated. Henry could now see the faces of the officers proceeding towards him. Dakolo sat directly opposite him behind the table while Ken sat beside Dakolo and the third officer took a standing position.
‘I’m not saying anything until I see my lawyer,’ Henry protested without waiting to hear any word from the officers first.
‘Your lawyer is not here yet but don’t worry, you’ll have enough time to discuss with him. We’ll grant you bail after these few questions we’ve got for you. ‘ Dakolo replied in a calm voice.
‘I’m still not answering any question,’ Henry said stubbornly.
Dakolo smiled. ‘You want to make things hard for yourself then, we will have to force you to speak.’
‘I’ve spoken enough to you already, I want to see my lawyer first,’ Henry insisted, trying to feign confidence even though he was scared of facing their torture sessions.
‘You’ve not spoken enough yet, you’ve not told us all you know about that girl Evelyn Alexander.’ Dakolo said.
‘I told you all I know already. She’s a business woman who came from Canada, we met and became friends. She invited me to accompany her to Chief Jubril Lawal’s party and I did, what else am I supposed to tell you?’ Henry began to answer the questions again unconsciously.
‘You said you never left the table at that party but she left you for several hours and even left the venue without you, how could a good friend who took you to to a party do that?’ Dakolo played along. ‘Who was the man who you said came to pick her.’
‘I don’t know him nor do I remember his face. All I know is that they were discussing business and they went to the exhibition centre.’ Henry answered, consciously omitting the first question.
Dakolo paused for a moment and stared at Henry’s face. ‘Who stopped the cameras at the event centre from working?’
‘How am I supposed to know that? My job description in the NSCC does not involve securing cameras for event centres.’
‘But you were in the event centre at that time.’
‘Yes, I was there. Seated and enjoying the show like other guests.’ Henry replied in a stern, determined voice. ‘Don’t you guys understand, for someone to have obstructed their system that day, the person must have gotten into their control room.’
Dakolo’s phone rang. He stood up and walked away from the table before answering the call, he spoke in low tones for few seconds before he returned.
‘We’ve reinvestigated the Canadian number and we’ve gotten the report,’ Dakolo continued the session, planning a trick in his mind.
Luckily for Henry, he was absentminded and didn’t hear the last statement immediately, it took him sometime to process what Dakolo said, so the response he gave was not the “shocked response” Dakolo was expecting. ‘Who reinvestigated it?’ Henry asked, acting indifferent.
‘You don’t need to know that,’ Dakolo said in a thr_@tening voice and got up to sit on the table. ‘The important thing is that we’ve discovered who you are, we discovered that you’re a liar and a criminal.’
Henry chuckled, he didn’t fall for the trap. ‘Agent Dakolo,’ he called calmly. ‘Was that the result of the reinvestigation? Who I am? I thought it was an investigation of number you did not an investigation about me.’ Henry didn’t believe in his heart that any reinvestigation had even occurred.
Dakolo bit his lips and got up from the table angrily. It was obvious the trick didn’t work for Henry but instead of Henry’s confidence to show innocence to Dakolo, it further proved how hardened Henry was. ‘Release him to the lawyer after telling him the terms of the bail.’ Dakolo said to Ken before storming out of the room.
~~
5pm
‘Thanks,’ Tarasha said as she paid the filling station attendant and closed the fuel tank. ‘Hey! Please’ she called back the attendant who was about going to attend to someone else.
‘Yes,’ the lady replied her impatiently.
‘How do I get to Ordoz Palace road from here?’ She asked.
‘You’re almost there, just drive straight down and ask again.’
‘Oh thanks,’ Tarasha said and turned to enter into the van. She put on her seatbelt and drove out of the filling station. She had been trying to follow the map to locate Henry’s house for over thirty minutes now and she was almost getting confused, thinking that she wasn’t on the right track. She got to the road and drove straight down as directed. Soon enough, she needed not to ask any question again as she recognized the street. She also located his house without stress. She kept driving several metres away until she got to a suitable place to park the van. She halted the vehicle and stepped out. She straightened her black shredded Jean trousers and her black shirt. She began to walk back the several metres to Henry’s apartment.
Henry’s apartment was a duplex that was rented for him by the NSCC when he joined them. The house had a high fence surrounding it like most of the houses in the area.
As an observant person that she was, she noticed a guy taking a stroll down the road like her too. From the way he was dressed and how he comported himself, Tarasha was able to decipher that he had been asked to keep an eye on Henry’s house. She saw him staring at the gate as she passed, she played along too and strolled by without stopping in front of the house to raise suspicion. As she passed the gate, she noticed two more persons. That was when she began to think about tryng to attack Henry in his house, it may not be the best strategy to use, she would need to make another plan ready in case this one doesn’t work out.
She took a fifteen minutes walk to no destination and then returned to her van. Another idea came into her mind, it was still possible that her first strategy works fine.
~~~
Henry finally returned to the NSCC office with his lawyer at exactly fifteen minutes past five. His lawyer drove them in his car.
‘I would have preferred that you go home straight to rest,’ the dark skinned, big eyeballed lawyer said for the umpteenth time.
‘I have a job I need to round up,’ Henry insisted.
‘It’s okay,’ the lawyer finally gave up.
The car was brought to an halt in the same park where Henry and Tarasha’s car were parked, under the same shed as Tarasha’s but had two cars separating them from Tarasha’s car previous position.
Henry quickly stepped out of the car without waiting for the lawyer to turn off the engine. He proceeded to where his car was and still met it there but the blue car he had placed a tracker on had been driven away and the space was empty. He felt a bit of joy in his heart as hopes of finding Omotara again began to rise in his heart but all his hopes were dashed in few seconds, after his eyes met with the tracking device on the floor. He walked towards the parking space to confirm and it was really it. He wondered how it got detached from the car, no one could have noticed it where he hid it except he was seen while doing it. Or maybe he didn’t fix it properly. He bent down to pick it up and check, it was obvious that the tracker did not fall off itself but someone had detached it.
‘What’s that?’ His lawyer asked as he appeared at his back.
‘Nothing,’ he replied and hid the tracker in his palms. He turned and proceeded to his car. ‘I’m going home.’
‘I thought you wanted to work in the office.’
‘I changed my mind.’ Henry said, searching his pockets frantically for his car keys. He then remembered that he left it on his table in the office.
~~~
6.30pm
Tarasha had driven round the street to check the position of Henry’s house and how possible it was for her to get in through the back. Luckily, there was. The building on another street whose compound backed Henry’s house was a paper company that already closed their activities for the day by five pm. Although the company had provision for two security men to man the gate overnight, she was sure that it would be easier to pass through them than facing the spies that the police had placed in front of Henry’s house. All she needed now was for the day to get a little bit darker.
She stepped out of her car and sat on the bonnet to take fresh air. Several people were returning from work to their houses in their cars and commercial tricycles while younger people sometimes could be seen in pairs and larger groups walking leisurely.
Tarasha ran her hand through her hair as the soft breeze landed on her face. She glanced around the area where her car was parked, the drivers of other cars were either in their cars or had left the cars there but none was seen hanging outside like she did. She decided it would be better to take a walk than to remain on the bonnet. Her phone rang as she opened the car to take it out.
‘Hey Cole,’ she said after answering the call.
‘Boss,’ Cole was half panting. ‘It all went well today.’
‘Where are you?’ Tarasha asked, ignoring his last statement on hearing the sounds of him panting.
‘At the football pitch,’ Cole answered.
‘This evening? I thought you should be resting.’ Tarasha replied, surprised at his boldness to tell her that he was on the football field.
‘No boss, it’s been a long while and I wasn’t sure if I’ll get the chance to do this soon again.’
‘Okay, so what’s up?’
‘She agreed,’ Cole said with a note of excitement. ‘We’ll be returning to Abuja for a meeting scheduled with the Vice President on Friday. I just got the email inviting us seconds ago and I thought I should tell you first.’
‘Bravo!’ Tarasha applauded as she closed the vehicle’s front door. ‘Excellent job so far, but hope there was no complication in anyway.’
‘No, there wasn’t.’
‘Good.’
‘Boss, would you like to read the email? Should I Forward it to you?’
‘No, don’t bother. I’ll read it directly from the mailbox.’
‘Okay, boss. That’s all for now.’
~~
6.30pm
Jefa was attending to his customers in the shop when his phone vibrated in his pocket, there was an incoming call. After serving a particular set of customers drinks, he took out the phone and checked the missed calls log. The number that called him was unsaved in his phone but he recognized it, it was Henry’s. Thoughts of Omotara raced back into his heart immediately and he felt a sharp pain in the chest at the thought of never seeing her again. He considered calling Henry back but remembered his decision earlier that day to stay away from Henry and anything else that could unite him back with Omotara so as to avoid the disaster that may follow. Henry began to call again as he wanted to put it in his pocket. He silenced it and went ahead to pocket the phone. Barely one minute later, it began to ring again. He silenced it again by tapping the volume button without removing it from his pocket. It rang for the fourth time and he took it out of his pocket, he couldn’t resist the urge to answer it anymore.
‘Hello,’ he spoke into the phone.
‘Hello sir, have you heard any word from Omotara?’ Henry’s voice sounded impatient, the car horn and hoots heard was an evidence that he was on the road.
‘No, why do you ask? She doesn’t know me.”
‘It’s possible she might have tried to contact you already. I told her about you, so don’t say that she doesn’t know you.’
‘Erm…. Anyway I want us to stop searchin…’
‘Sir…’ Henry cut in. ‘ If she ever tries to contact you, tell her to stay out of town and remain in hiding for now ‘
‘What do you mean?’ Jefa asked in a serious tone. From the way Henry sounded, it was obvious that Omotara was in a sort of danger.
The call ended without Henry answering. All attempts Jefa made to reach him after proved futile as Henry did not answer his calls until later, Henry sent a text message that he was driving and would call later.
~~
7.30pm
With the black bag strapped to her back and her hand gloves on, Tarasha raced towards the high fence separating the company from Henry’s compound and climbed it. She rolled into Henry’s compound and made sure she landed with the lowest possible noise.
She detached the rope hanging around her belt and dropped it on the floor. It was the remains of what she had used to tie up the security guards in the paper company.
She had injected into their bodies Benryl which will make them sleep off for several hours and even forget totally what happened before the sleep but she still had to tie them up and cover their mouths with tapes in case she spent more than the time she planned to.
She threw in a gum into her mouth and began to chew softly, she placed her hands on her waist as she stared at the building. It was time to execute the other part of the plan. She took out her phone and dialed Henry’s number.
Henry’s case must be solved that night.
~~
‘Can you zoom it a little?’ Dakolo said to the officer seated in front of the computer. He and Ken were behind and viewing the screen. ‘It’s okay,’ he said and bent to have a good look. ‘Alright, next.’
‘Looking at Henry in the picture, I don’t think he was involved in the crime. He doesn’t look like someone who had just murdered the Chief.’ Ken commented.
‘He looks somehow distraught in the video, his eyes were wandering around like someone who was in search of something there.’
‘Maybe he was really there to search for the car that brought him like he told us.’
‘But the range Rover was nowhere to be found. How could his friend that had brought him along to the party leave without him?’
‘Hmm… That’s only explainable by him.’
‘There’s nothing to explain there,’ Dakolo said, biting his lips. ‘That girl is Samantha Osman and she only used him to fulfill her aim.’
‘True but…’ Ken paused for a while to think. ‘There’s still something fishy about his response to our questions, I feel like he’s hiding something.’
‘He’s definitely hiding something,’ Dakolo agreed. ‘You know he may be feeling guilty of the part he played in the crime and may not want us to find out.’
‘But why should he still hide it? If he was used, he should open up to us so that we can all nail the assassins together.’
‘Hmm…’ Dakolo pondered deeply on Ken’s words. ‘What is he hiding and why is he still hiding it?’ He muttered to himself. ‘You know he may be scared of the consequences that may follow.’
The junior officer seated on the chair turned to listen to the conversation without making his own contribution, he had been following the details of the crime from the first day.
‘Only God knows what he could be hiding,’ Ken said to himself, but still loud enough for the others to hear.
‘Sir…’ The junior officer finally joined in, facing Ken. ‘Is it not the lady that came in with Henry E.G on the kidnap case for interrogation that’s the suspect here?’
‘Yes,’ Ken answered, staring at the officer in surprise of the excitement in his voice.
‘I can’t really recall her face, but I remember that the camera in the interrogation room was on then, we might have captured her face.’
‘My goodness!’ Ken exclaimed with a gasp. ‘Do you have the videos here?’
‘Yes, I’ll search the video out in two minutes.’ The officer said and turned to the computer. Dakolo and Ken positioned themselves at his back to look at the screen. After a minute, Dakolo dragged a chair from the front of another computer and sat on it. ‘Here’s it,’ the officer opened a folder of several videos. ‘These were all the videos recorded that day.’
‘Let’s see the exact one,’ Ken urged the officer.
After three minutes of playing and stopping videos in search for the exact one, they finally found one. Henry could be seen walking into the room behind a uniformed officer who was ushering then, then he was followed by Evelyn Alexander. She had an unkempt hair on, some part of her attachment were covering her face.
‘d@mn!’ Dakolo cursed under his breath. ‘Why the hell is she looking down?’ He threw a question impatiently, to no one in particular.
As they proceeded to the seats prepared for them, Evelyn Alexander raised her head up but at the same time began to rub her palm on her face, like someone who was just getting up from a deep slumber and couldn’t remember where she was.
‘Wait!’ Dakolo shouted. ‘Rewind,’ he said, pointing at the screen. ‘Pause!’
Her face was lifted towards the camera now, her left eye was seen partially but the right eye was covered with her palms and a part of her face, she continued to scrub her face with her palm as if her eyes were itching her until they got to the seat where the officer ushered them to. Henry sat first, but she carried her chair and turned it to the other side of the table where she could sit and back the camera. The video showed the officer trying to ask her why she changed the seat positioning but she answered by pointing to her eyes and the bulb in the room. The officers watching could decode that she was complaining that her eyes couldn’t accommodate the light.
Evelyn Alexander sat backing the camera all through the interrogation.
‘Take it back again,’ Dakolo ordered. The video was rewound again to the point where her face was lifted towards the camera. ‘Pause,’ Dakolo said. ‘Can you see where she’s looking to?’ He asked Ken.
‘Yes, she’s facing the camera directly.’ Ken answered.
‘Look at her pocket,’ Dakolo continued, pointing to the screen. There was a blinking red light seen on her pocket. ‘I’ve heard of camera detectors, I’ve never seen one but I believe that that must be one in her pocket.’
‘It is,’ Ken affirmed, keeping a serious look on his face. ‘That’s how it works.’
‘Take it back a little,’ Dakolo ordered the junior officer again. ‘Pause… Play.’
Dakolo stared at Ken’s face and gave him a “I told you look”. She started rubbing her face immediately the blinking started, she then took a glance at her pocket and traced where the light was pointing to.’
Ken shook his head in agreement. They were now more certain that the lady was Samantha Osman or another lady who was part of the assassin group.
‘Did you see her face that day?’ Dakolo turned away from the video to Ken who was still trying to watch the video.
‘Yes sir…I can’t picture how she looks like but I’m sure I can identify her when I see her.’
‘Are you sure? With the way she was unkempt?’
‘Ermm… Not too sure sir,’ Ken scratched his head. ‘But she wasn’t really unkempt except for her hair, the excuse she gave that day was that she had to hurry out of the house and couldn’t comb it properly.’
Dakolo took in a deep breath and rested his forehead on his palm tiredly. He glanced at his wristwatch, it was 7.35pm. They were supposed to have left for their various homes by that time. He got up and started pacing around.
‘That girl used Henry, she’s one of the assassins.’ He said in a thoughtful manner, though loudly.
‘It’s very obvious that he was used sir,’ Ken added.
‘That means we may have to change our way of investigating and interrogating Henry. He’s very important to us, now that we know he had a close relationship with one of the assassins.’
‘Yes sir, I agree.’ Ken said. He placed a finger on his lips as he thought deeply, silence took over the atmosphere for some minutes.
Dakolo and Ken suddenly glanced at each other as the same thought struck their minds.
“d@mn! I hope we’ve not made a costly mistake already,’ Dakolo spoke first, half shouting.
‘Are you thinking the same thing with me sir?’ Ken eyes, his eyes widened in anxiety.
‘We’ve made a huge mistake by letting Henry go. We might have put him in danger that way.’ Dakolo said before sinking into his seat again.
‘Yes, now that he has been invited for interrogation in our office, the assassins may be after his life so that he doesn’t spill out any information that would implicate them.’
‘d@mn! I have to warn him now.’ Dakolo hurriedly took out his phone, he was about to dial a number when a call came in, from the Vice President.
‘Good evening your Excellency,’ he answered the call after a little hesitation.
‘Good evening Agent Dakolo,’ Elvis Richard’s voice came through. ‘Where are you?’
‘I’m still at the office sir,’ Dakolo replied impatiently, hoping that the man would rush all he had to say.
‘I want you and Inspector Ken to come and see me now.’ Elvis Richards said in an ordering tone.
‘Sir, we have…’
‘Shhh… I’m supposed to work along with you guys but you made an arrest today without telling me until I found out by myself.’
‘Sir, it’s not…’
‘Just come over with Ken and explain yourself, I’ll be expecting you in ten minutes. It takes less than eight minutes to drive from your office to my residence. I’ll be waiting for you.’ With that the call ended and Dakolo stared at Ken, frustration clearly written on his face.
~~
After speaking with Jefa over an hour ago, Henry had still not gone home. He was seated in a restaurant where he had just taken his dinner. He refused to get up from his seat after he finished the meal but was staring at the television set absent-mindedly. The temptation at first was to go into a beer parlour and try some alcohol. He had heard about how alcohol could help people get rid of their worries temporarily, he was also willing to get his worries off his mind. But he was able to resist the temptation after coming to the conclusion that what he needed was a permanent solution and not a temporary one.
It was until one of the attendants came to his table that he realized he was the only customer left in the place, the restaurant was already being locked up by the workers.
‘Sir, you have to leave now.’ The lady said, rapping her knuckles on the table.
‘Oh Thanks!’ Henry said and took his car keys from the table. He searched his pocket for his phone, it wasn’t there, be remembered he had left it in the car. He immediately proceeded out of the building and got into his car, he drove off few seconds later.
~~
“Why the hell isn’t he answering his calls?” Dakolo murmured on their way to the Vice President house in a car, Ken was driving.
Dakolo ended the call and dialed another number. It didn’t take so much time before the officer answered.
‘Hello sir.’
‘Officer, where is he now?’ Dakolo asked.
‘He just left a restaurant and I believe that’s he’s on his way home now.’
‘Where are you?’
‘Following him behind, but not too close so that he doesn’t notice.’
‘Make sure you don’t take your eyes off him, he may be in serious danger.’
‘Okay sir.’
‘I’ll call you very soon again, you may need to reveal yourself to him and stop him from going home.’ Dakolo added few other things before ending the call.
‘It won’t be easy for the officer to stop him from going home.’ Ken spoke, few seconds after Dakolo ended the call.
‘Yes, that’s why I want to reach Henry first.’ Dakolo replied, dialing Henry’s number again. ‘He’s still not answering.’
‘Maybe you should try someone else who can reach him,’ Ken suggested. Their movement was slowed as there was a little obstruction on the road by a faulty tanker.
Dakolo quickly took the suggestion and dialed Sylvester’s number.
‘Agent,’ Sylvester voice came up tiredly.
‘Mr. Sylvester, you have to reach Henry for me immediately. Try to convince him not to go to his house, he can go to the NSCC staff house or somewhere else where there is better security.’
‘Okay, I’ll try and get back to you sir.’ The call ended and Dakolo let out a deep breath hopefully.
‘Sir…’ Ken called, ‘what if Henry is close to his house already?’
The road became clear at the moment, Ken took a glance at his wristwatch before speeding off.
‘That’s true, I should have asked their location from the officer.’ Dakolo said thoughtfully. ‘Maybe I should just tell the officer to stop him right away,’ Dakolo took out his phone. He sighed as a call came in.
‘It’s past fifteen minutes now, where are you?’ Elvis Richards barked.
~~~
Tarasha covered her nose as sparks of dust were emitted as she drilled in the screwdriver-like metal into the keyhole of Henry’s backdoor. The door gave way and she returned her instrument into the bag. Her phone beeped as she was about to enter into the house. She took it out and put it on loud speaker.
‘Agent,’ she heard Sylvester’s voice.
‘Mr. Sylvester, you have to reach Henry for me immediately. Try to convince him not to go to his house, he can go to the NSCC staff house or somewhere else where there is better security.’ Another voice which Tarasha guessed to be the agent’s voice sounded.
‘Okay, I’ll try and get back to you sir.’ With that the call ended.
Tarasha kept her phone back into her pocket. The information didn’t stop her from proceeding inside. She took a small torchlight from the side of her bag and used it to brighten her path as she walked into the darkness in the house.
After walking for some minutes, she was able to locate a living room, she sat on a stool and took out an Android device from her bag. She unlocked the screen and opened an app. A map displayed, she smiled. Henry was still coming in the direction of the house. But even if he changed direction, it wouldn’t stop her from going after him anywhere he changed direction to, he had to be taken care of that day, no postponement.
She got up and began to walk deeper into the house, searching the walls with her torchlight.
~~
Henry’s was just few metres to his gate when his phone began to ring again. He glanced at the screen, Mr Sylvester’s ID was displayed. He took his left hand off the steering and picked the phone, he switched it off and threw it to the backseat.
Elvis Richards was seated under a neatly fashioned bamboo shed, he had a bottle and a glass of wine in front of him. The excellent lightening in the compound made it so beautiful and bright as it always looked in the day.
Elvis glanced towards the gate as it opened and Ken drove in with Dakolo. He walked out of the shed and began to proceed towards the car park where Ken was driving to. He got there before Ken and Dakolo.
Ken hurriedly parked the car and ki||ed the engine. Dakolo was the first to step out, he turned at once to meet with the Vice President who was standing by the side.
‘Good evening sir,’ Dakolo greeted with a bow. Ken also joined him and greeted in the same manner. There was no response to the greeting from the Vice President, he just stared at them while he tossed his phone from one hand to the other.
‘Why are you guys keeping me in darkness?’ He finally spoke after several seconds of making them feel uncomfortable with his gaze. ‘Why was E.G Henry arrested without my knowledge?’ He faced Dakolo and directed the question to him.
‘Sir…’ Dakolo began hesitatingly, he paused to clear his throat and put on more boldness. ‘We were actually going to tell you when we see, the plan we had was that we report to you at the end of every week not everyday sir.’
Elvis smiled at Dakolo’s boldness, he took his face off the officer’s face and began to look to the ground, using his sandal to rub the grasses.
‘But arresting someone like Henry is different, he’s supposed to be a part of us, he’s supposed to be part of those trying to find the assassin and not a suspect.’ Elvis looked up with a bitter frown, ‘I was surprised today to find the news of his arrest on the internet, I called you to confirm and you didn’t deny.’
‘We took him in for questioning sir, because we found out that he’s been hiding a lot of details from us.’ Dakolo said.
‘Of course you had to do it, I only have a problem with you not informing me immediately. What has he been hiding?’
‘He has a close association with someone who’s suspected to be part of Samantha Osman’s group, there’s about ninety percent probability that the person is even Samantha Osman herself.’
‘How did you find out about that?’
‘We discovered that he attended Chief Jubril’s party with the lady,’ Dakolo answered shortly, willing to stop at that but the man’s eyes demanded for more explanation. ‘The lady he went with to the party is a suspect. Henry also testified that she was nowhere to be found during the time of the assassination. He has not seen or spoken to her since that day.’
‘Interesting,’ Elvis bit his lips, enjoying the release of information. ‘So, when did Henry leave your custody?’
‘Before evening time,’Dakolo’s response was sharp. His phone interrupted with its ringtone, he took it out and checked the caller’s ID, Mr Sylvester. Out of respect for the Vice President, he silenced the call.
‘And what’s the next step now?’
‘We hope to keep Henry in safety, he can provide us with useful information if he lives.’ Dakolo stated, hoping the man’s question would end at that.
‘If he lives?’ Elvis stared at him for more explanation. He began to trek away from the park slowly, Dakolo and Ken followed. Dakolo’s phone rang again. He checked the caller’s ID and silenced it again.
‘Why are you sounding as if he’s in danger?’ Elvis concluded his question.
‘The assassin group may come for his life, now that he’s involved with the police.’
‘And haven’t you made plans against that already?’
‘I have, I have four officers watching him, three officers at his house and one officer following him around, all without his knowledge.’
‘Isn’t that enough? Four officers should be able to ensure he’s safety.’
‘Yes sir, on a normal day when dealing with a different group, four may be enough but with Samantha Osman’s group, I’m afraid four may not do the job.’
‘So what are you planning to do now?’ Elvis stopped and asked.
‘I’ve asked Mr Sylvester to convince him not to stay in his residence for sometime.’
‘Where would he stay?’Elvis raised a brow.
‘In NSCC house, it’s more safer there. No one can easily break in.’
‘And has Sylvester been able to convince him?’
‘I don’t know, he’s the one that called me some seconds ago.’ Dakolo brought out his phone, hoping that the man would allow him return Mr Sylvester’s call.
‘No problem, you’ll call him later.’ Elvis replied, disappointing Dakolo.
Dakolo returned his phone back into his pocket, waiting for what else the man has to say but Elvis didn’t speak immediately. He began to take slow steps again.
‘I want you to keep me updated always, I won’t like to be surprised again like I was today.’
‘There’s no problem sir.’ Dakolo voiced impatiently, itching to leave the man’s presence.
‘Wait!’ The man suddenly turned to them calmly, with a crooked smile. ‘Why are you so much in a hurry?’
‘We don’t want to leave any chance for the assassin group at all, we don’t want to make any mistakes. We want to ensure that Henry is somewhere safe as soon as possible.’
‘But aren’t you taking it a little bit far? You just arrested him today, even the media hasn’t verified his arrest. How do you think they’ll find out? Or are you suspecting there’s a mole working with you?’ Elvis suggested. Ken shrugged in partial agreement.
‘Mole?’ Dakolo and Ken took quick glances at each other. ‘We don’t think there’s a mole sir,’ Dakolo answered. ‘But we think if the information can get to the press which we didn’t give by ourselves, it can also get it to these expert assassins. Henry may have even let out the information himself unknowingly.’
‘It’s okay, you can leave.’ Elvis said and walked away immediately.
Even before the man finished talking, Dakolo and Ken had turned and began to proceed to their car.
`
Elvis entered into the living room to meet the eagerly waiting Don and the Inspector General. Both of them rose up from the sofa immediately they sighted the Vice President.
‘Henry E.G has a close association with a suspect’ Elvis said to Don as he continued walking. ‘I don’t know if that’ll be of help to you.’ He concluded and proceeded up the stairs, leaving Don and the IG.
Don picked his car key from the sofa where he was previously seated and walked out of the place after bowing to say goodbye to the IG.
+++
8.05pm
The gate opened as Henry tapped a button on the remote control in his car, he drove in with speed and stopped in the middle of the compound. He took off his seatbelt before turning off the car engine, he wasn’t ready to park the car in the right place today. He opened the door to the driver’s side but remained inside and relaxed back for about two minutes. He finally got out after taking his phone from the backseat and proceeded to the left side of the fence drunkenly, the reflection of light from the two neighboring compound brightened his way enough. He tapped two buttons on the wall and the compound security light came on. He returned to the car and locked the doors properly before proceeding to the house.
The house was dark as he entered, he closed the door and began to search the wall with his hands for the bulb switch. He tapped the switch but there was no light, he left the particular switch and moved to the wall at the other side, he tapped the button and there was no light also.
Unsuspicious of anything, he believed that something must have gone wrong with the connections in the house or at the main control point. He took out his phone and pressed the power button, he began to find his way with the little light shown as the phone booted. He was able to get to the first sofa on the left and he sank into it tiredly. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, a slight headache began to disturb him.
He opened his eyes suddenly as he heard sounds of some movement. He turned on the flashlight of his phone and pointed it to his front but saw nothing. He wondered what it could be, Rats? Ç0çƙroaches? He wondered but none of them could be accommodated in his house due to proper cleaning and fumigation that takes place frequently, at least he had seen the documents of the previous cleanup that had been done before he moved in. The movement must have been heard in his imagination, he concluded.
~~~
8.10pm
It was over two hours now and Jefa had not heard anything else from Henry, his heart was greatly troubled as he couldn’t imagine what kind of trouble Omotara was in. He wasn’t stable enough to go to his business place that day, all efforts made to reach Henry back proved abortive.
His earlier decision was to stay away from Henry and Omotara but with the panic at hand, he couldn’t go by that decision. After several minutes of contemplating, he picked up his phone and dialed Henry’s number again. It was still switched off. He couldn’t take it any longer, he got up from his seat and put on his shirt. He proceeded towards the door and wore his palm sandal placed beside the doormat before hurrying out.
~~~
‘Hello Mr Sylvester, sorry I couldn’t answer your calls. I was with the Vice President.’ Dakolo said hurriedly into the phone. ‘Have you been able to reach Henry?’
‘No, he wasn’t answering his calls. His phone is even switched off now.’Sylvester replied.
‘d@mn!’ Dakolo muttered. ‘Please keep trying,’ Dakolo said to Sylvester before ending the call.
‘Sir…’ Ken called in a calm voice, wondering why Dakolo was in so much panic, it wasn’t that they were sure that the assassins were coming for Henry that day, so he wondered why Dakolo was acting like he had gotten information that someone was going to ki|| Henry that night.
‘Yes,’ Dakolo took a brief glance at Ken.
‘I think we should take it more calmly, I believe we have capable people watching him already, they’ll alert us if there’s any problem.’
Dakolo was about to dial another number but he paused to ponder on Ken’s word. Ken had spoken the truth but Dakolo still had the strange feeling to act urgently, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if anything happens to Henry.
He went on to dial the number and his call was answered in few seconds.
‘Sir,’ a gruff voice sounded.
‘Officer, where are you now?’ Dakolo asked.
‘In front of Henry’s house, he’s gone inside already. I’m watching with the other officers.’
‘He just drove in?’
‘Yes, few minutes ago.’
‘Can you get into his house for me? I want you to talk to him and try make him believe that he is in danger and shouldn’t sleep in that house tonight, it’s not safe for him.’
‘Where should I tell him to go to?’
‘The NSCC house is safer for him or you can tell him to follow you to my place. I’ll just meet you on the way.’
‘Okay sir, I’ll try go inside the house now.’ The call ended.
Dakolo heaved a sigh, he glanced at Ken who was looking less worried. He unlocked his phone’s screen again and opened the dial pad, he scrolled down to Henry’s number and dialed it, not really too optimistic about it. He relaxed back and put it on loud speaker.
His eyes widened in excitement as the call went through and Henry’s ring back tone began to play. But his excitement was suppressed few seconds later when the call was not answered by Henry. He tried two more times before giving up. As he closed his eyes to relax a bit, his phone rang again.
‘Sir, he’s not responding to the bell.’
Several thoughts ran through Dakolo’s mind at that moment. Maybe Henry was not just answering the bell the same way he wasn’t answering his calls or maybe he wasn’t answering because an enemy was already fighting with him in the house. It was also possible that Henry was planning to do something.
‘Try more, I’ll call you back now.’ Dakolo cut the call as another idea flashed through his mind on how to reach Henry. He clicked on the message icon and began to type in a message.
~~~
Henry felt angry as Dakolo’s call came in the third time, the gate bell was also sounding at the same time. He guessed that the person at the gate was Dakolo so he ignored the both.
The bulbs in the living room suddenly came on as he began to unbutton his shirt. He paused in shock, wondering how it could have happened. He concluded that a wire was not properly connected somewhere and continued with what he was doing.
Few minutes later, he felt so much fear like he had never felt as he lifted up his head and saw the back view of a lady seated on the top of the three seater sofa backrest. The lady got up and turned to face him, Omotara it was.
He felt the greatest shock on his life as he saw the way she was dressed and what she had in her hands. She wore black top and shredded Jean trousers with black hand gloves on her hands. She was holding on her left hand an intravenous fluid bag filled with a liquid he was sure was poisonous, while she had on her right hand a black schoolbag. Her nose was covered with a nose mask.
His eyes were full of shock and utter disappointment. Tears filled his eyes, not in fear of the death that was coming, but in realization of the fact that Omotara was really the deadly assassin, Samantha Osman.
She took out a bottle from the bag and sprayed the contents, Henry slowly passed out as he inhaled the gas. His phone began to ring again and fell off his hand to the floor, it fell with its screen on his toe and stopped ringing.
‘Henry, what are you doing? You need to answer the gate now, you may be in serious danger.’ Dakolo said into the phone. He got no reply or response. ‘Hello… Hello.’
He took the phone off his ear and placed the call on loud speaker. ‘Hello Henry,’ he called again. Still there was no response. After some seconds, sounds of movements were heard and the call ended.
Ken and Dakolo glanced at each other. Could it be that Henry had decided not to speak with the Agent but just to waste his airtime? Dakolo stared at the phone’s screen for a while, contemplating if he should call back immediately, give it sometime or just give up on calling until they got to his residence.
Maybe Henry wasn’t even worth the struggle, Dakolo thought. They were trying to save him from possible danger and he was ignoring their calls. But Dakolo still felt a strange kind of fear in his heart for Henry.
‘We still have twenty minutes more to get there,’ Ken said to him, as if reading the thoughts of his heart.
‘I know,’ Dakolo replied. ‘I don’t really know why Henry is acting like a kid,’ He added bitterly.
‘He’s a young man,’ Ken chuckled. ‘He can act like a kid sometimes.’
‘I think I should call the officer at the gate again,’ Dakolo stated.
‘Sir, there’s really no need to get worked up on this issue. Let’s just leave it since we’re almost there already.’ Ken discouraged.
Dakolo stared at the phone’s screen for a while before reluctantly dropping it.
~~
Tarasha cut the call and flung the phone away. She squatted and placed the intravenous fluid bag carefully beside the school bag. She then dragged Henry by his belt and carried him to the three seater sofa. She made him lay flat properly. She walked to the dining table and picked a chair from the place. She returned to the school bag and picked it up with the IV bag. She got back to Henry’s side and placed a knee on the ground. She took out a syringe and a small bottle from the black school bag and drew out the contents of the bottle into the syringe. She turned to Henry and straightened his right hand, trying to select a vein.
She released the contents of the syringe into his blood cells through the vein. In two minutes, he’ll be awake but very weak, the victim had to be awake for the contents of the drip bag to work properly.
She had carefully weighed several options and selected this as the best way of sorting out Henry’s mess. She thought of taking him out with a gun or another weapon, that wouldn’t waste so much time but she thought Henry didn’t deserve to die yet, somethings from him like his fingerprints, thumb signature might still be needed by her in the future, especially now that she was working with the NSCC. Getting into his house early was what strengthened her choice, she saw machineries and apps in one of his rooms that could only be opened by his voice, she also found out that the upper floor was not also accessible until he placed his fingers on the lock. She then thought of his work in the NSCC, it was possible that he had also configured some programs that same way, ki||ing him would may make those programs inaccessible for life and that may cause some obstruction in her job also.
She looked up and a sudden fear gripped her as her eyes met his eyes. The injection had worked and he was now conscious again but temporarily paralyzed. He had that innocent look that her first love used to have until the day of his death. She wasn’t ki||ing him, but what she was about to do wasn’t too different from ki||ing him. It would render him totally useless to himself, only his body would be alive but his brain and mind would be dead. The liquid she was about to pass into his body from the intravenous fluid bag would do the damage to his brain and make his paralysis complete.
After arranging the drip bag and making the contents flow into his body, she would go back through the back door and repair it before leaving, so as to give no one a clue that someone entered through the door.
She coughed as she remembered something, that sofa where he laid. It was the same place they had both sat some weeks back when she told her story to Henry and he listened with great care and attention. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had to do what she had to do.
She got up and proceeded to the dining area, she drew out a dining chair and took it with her. She placed it beside Henry and hung the drip bag on the chair backrest. She took out a bottle of mentholated spirit, nylon of cotton wool and a roll of plaster from her bag. She straightened the drip line and inserted the needle into the same vein she had just used before, she held the needle firmly to his hand with the aid of the plaster.
His eyes was still opened when she got up and began to pack back her things into the bag. After a minute of packing all other things except the small bottle of liquid from which she drew out the first mixture she injected into Henry’s body, she bent down to pick the small bottle but couldn’t as her eyes met his again.
He couldn’t lift a finger, move his lips or even make an expression with his face but she could see utter disappointment written on his face, she got up slowly to her feet like someone who had been caught stealing without picking the bottle. For the first time in several years, she felt afraid and tears began to form in her eyes. She closed her eyes, tightened her fists and let out a deep breath. She released the valve in the drip bag and the liquid began to run down in drops.
Henry wasn’t aware of what was going on, he couldn’t feel the needle in his vein nor could he see Omotara’s face anymore. He could only see her legs moving. He also saw the dining chair placed closed to him but couldn’t lift up his head to see the drip bag placed on it. He could see the drip line but still couldn’t see that it was leading to a vein in his hand.
Tarasha closed the bag and placed it behind her. She stood, unable to move for a moment, she stared at him in pity, but there was nothing she could do.
A sudden noise brought her back to her senses, someone was hitting the gate violently, that was when she realized that the person ringing the bell at the gate must have resorted to applying force now since there had been no response. It was time to go. She touched the valve control on the drip bag once again and the liquid began to flow more rapidly.
~~
‘Don’t you think it’ll be dangerous to walk into this place like that?’ An officer asked another one beside him as they watched from a car the other two officers trying to force the gate open.
‘Dangerous? Why?’ The other replied.
‘We don’t know what to expect inside?’
‘C’mon, haven’t we stayed here all day monitoring the house, the only person that entered into the place since has been the owner.’
‘Yes, I know but we don’t know what he has in store for us.’
‘No matter what he has in store for us, only him can’t defeat the four of us.’
‘Hmm… I wouldn’t have bothered if it was an ordinary person o,’ the officer said in a warning tone. ‘We’re talking about someone who is related to the notorious assassin gang here. How are we sure that we are not even being watched at the moment.’
The other officer quickly glanced around in fear, his colleague had been able to transfer his fear into him. ‘Hmm… You have a point but someone has just got to find out, we can’t have a squad here. That’ll be too noticeable to all.’
‘But I don’t think we’re going by it the right way,’ the officer said and opened his door to step out. ‘We were told to monitor Henry and report any suspicious activity not to break into his house.’ He stepped out and began to match towards the road. He paused for a black car to pass before proceeding. The driver of the took a glance at him and continued driving.
~~~
From afar, Don could see the two non uniformed officers at Henry’s gate. He slowed down the speed of his car and gradually began to think of a way to get inside the house without passing through the officers. His plan was to thr_@ten Henry and force out some information from him which could lead him to Tarasha. He continued towards the house slowly, he saw another man trying to cross the road to the other side. He guessed it was another officer. He drove past the house carefully without raising any suspicion and made a U-turn, planning to check the street behind and examine the feasibility of getting in through the back.
He wasn’t expecting that Tarasha would be in Henry’s house, his thought was that Tarasha and her crew weren’t even in Abuja again. Since Lagos was their base, he was expecting them to have returned like they always did, to plan the attack on the next victim.
There was a little bit of confusion on the street as he wanted to turn into the next street. The traffic warder at that point must have gone to sleep as all motorists were moving at their own discretion.
It took sometime for him to get a clear view to cross. A motorcycle ran into his car.
++++
‘The Agent’s instruction was that we get into this place,’ the officer in blue stated adamantly. He stepped back and hit the gate lock once again. It gave way and two of the officers stepped inside. The third officer made a signal to the one in the car and glanced around before following them hesitatingly. He hadn’t been able to stop them, instead they had talked him into following them inside.
The two officers ahead took out their guns and proceeded into the house after checking the compound to see if there was anything strange. The leader signaled to the third officer to wait in the compound.
The doors were opened so they had no problems entering the house, they passed through a couple of extensions before getting into the living room where Henry was.
‘d@mn!’ An officer cursed as he saw Henry. The fluid bag was halfway already. He rushed to Henry and started disconnecting the drip line. The other officer checked around the place.
Henry’s eyes was still open wide but he was cold and still.
‘Is he alive?’ The blue shirted officer asked.
‘I don’t know,’ the colleague replied. He then placed his ear on Henry’s chest to listen to the heartbeat. ‘He’s alive!’ He announced.
‘Call an ambulance, then call Agent Dakolo.’ He ordered and began to proceed further into the house. He returned a minute later, the other officer had left Henry’s side. He was proceeding upstairs.
‘This place is locked?’ The officer on the stairs said. ‘It’s locked from outside.’
‘Okay, have you called for an ambulance?’
‘Yes,’ the officer replied, returning down slowly.
‘What of Agent Dakolo?’
‘He’s not answering his calls.’
The blue shirted officer bent down beside Henry and picked up the small bottle that contained the remnant of liquid which Tarasha injected into his veins to make him conscious. ‘Is it possible he’s a drug addict?’ He asked raising up the bottle for his colleague to see.
‘Very possible, there’s no one around so he might just be placing himself on a dose.’
‘Yeah… At the same time he doesn’t look hurt, no one could have forcefully placed him on a drip.’ He said and wrapped the bottle in his palm. ‘Please call the office again and tell the ambulance to hurry down.’
~~
‘Where the hell is the traffic warder here?’ Dakolo bounced out in anger as he proceeded towards the accident scene. The driver of the car stepped out to help the victim, some pedestrians had also come by to help him.
‘The motorcyclist was impatient,’ some people began to murmur.
‘Let’s carry him into my car,’ Don said. He was furious about what had happened because it had disturbed his journey. He would have escaped if it was a less busy road but he couldn’t try that here, he could get mobbed.
‘Wait!’ Dakolo said to the men as they tried to lift him up. He recognized the face of the victim, it was the same man who joined him in the cab on his first day of arrival into Abuja.
‘Your phone is ringing sir.’ Ken said, approaching from behind.
Dakolo turned and took his phone. ‘Ken, you have to go with this man to the hospital, make sure the victim is well treated and the man who hit him comes to the office to take down his statement.
‘Okay sir,’ Ken agreed reluctantly and handed over the car keys to Dakolo.
Dakolo took the keys and rushed back to the car, he dialed the number before starting the engine. ‘Officer, have you gotten in?’
‘Yes sir,’ the reply came promptly. ‘He put himself on drugs, I think he took an overdose.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Sir, we met him placed on drip and there was no one else with him.’
‘Have you taken him already?’
‘No, he’s unconscious and we’ve called for an ambulance.’
‘Okay, I’ll get there in the next three minutes.’ Dakolo said and ended the call. He zoomed off immediately.
+++
Tarasha watched from afar as they lifted the accident victim, she got out of the van to have a closer view. some of the people who had stopped to help were already rolling the remnant of the bike away. Tarasha confirmed the victim’s face just before he was dropped into the car, he was still alive but unconscious. She was sure it was that same man she had an encounter with in the Catholic Church premises and during the police investigation.
Tarasha’s eyes had met with Jefa’s as the road got clear. That was the reason for the accident. Jefa could not concentrate on the bike he was riding again and had crashed into Don’s car.
She wanted to move closer but stopped as she saw Ken discussing with someone else. She turned and began to walk back to the vehicle. She saw a phone, scattered into parts just beside the tyre at the driver’s side, it was most likely for the accident victim. She stylishly picked up the pieces and entered into the car.
Ken handed over a car key to the man he was discussing with and turned to join the car. The man Ken was discussing with turned also and Tarasha saw his face, she recognized him to be Inspector Dakolo, she had seen his face once on TV after the execution of the Rivers State Governor.
She watched as he entered into his car and started the engine, he then engaged himself in a phone conversation. After using a minute altogether, he zoomed off. Tarasha felt like following after him to his destination and probably take him out also. She turned on her car but turned it off again at another glance towards the accident scene. It was more important for now to follow the man who Henry said claimed to be her brother.
The car carrying the victim finally started and drove off in the opposite direction. Tarasha followed after.
~~~
9am
Dakolo and Ken sat quietly, their moods were not quite far from sober as they watched Henry lay lifeless on the hospital bed. His eyes was still wide opened but he wasn’t seeing anything nor was he making any movement. The doctor said he was still unconscious and wasn’t sure of it he’ll bounce back to consciousness or pass on from there. It’s been two days now and there seemed to be no improvement in the situation.
It was obvious from investigation that Henry was not a drug addict but it was still under question if Henry had placed himself on the drip, nothing around reflected that he was forced to. He was the only one in the house at that time and there were no broken doors or windows to prove that someone broke in. The best conclusion was that Henry had decided to take his life slowly, maybe to avoid further embarrassment from the police.
One confusing thing that still bothered Agent Dakolo’s mind and stopped him from making a conclusion was their inability to locate where Henry had gotten the poisonous drip from. They had visited everywhere that the trailer saw him stop and none of them could be the place the drip was sold at. Another assumption could be that Henry had it in his car before that day. But that’ll mean Henry was already preparing to ki|| himself, Dakolo didn’t think that was possible.
‘Agent,’ Mr Sylvester called as he walked into the room with a Doctor, the one in charge of treating the two patients that was brought in by the police.
‘Mr Sylvester,’ Dakolo replied, he couldn’t stand the look in Sylvester’s eyes as it made him feel guilty of Henry’s plight.
‘So your investigation has finally landed Mr Henry here,’ Sylvester accused.
‘Excuse me sir,’ Ken tried to come in but Dakolo stopped him by raising up a hand.
‘Mr Sylvester, our job has to be done, regardless of who it involves. Let’s just hope and pray that Henry recovers quickly’ Dakolo said.
‘And I pray he recovers,’ Ken quickly chipped in stubbornly. ‘He’ll have a lot of explanation to make about his relationship with the assassins.’
‘Gentlemen please,’ the sixty year old Doctor pleaded. ‘Here’s not the place for that, he needs no disturbance.’ The Doctor said and turned to examine Henry, he turned back after some few minutes and announced, ‘he’ll regain consciousness very soon, I believe.’
‘Wow! That’s good news!’ Dakolo exclaimed.
‘Yeah, but there might be some complications.’ The Doctor said in a sad tone, adjusting his thick lenses as he spoke.
‘What complications?’ Dakolo and Sylvester asked in unison.
‘I don’t know for now, we’ve extracted samples of the poison from his body and we’re still performing some tests on them, we hope to come out with some useful results soon.’ The Doctor replied without too much of hope in his voice.
~~~
‘Hello, who’s here?’ Tarasha shouted around the store. A woman who was dressed as a cleaner came out from the shop behind.
‘Good afternoon,’ the Lady greeted, giving Tarasha a searching look. ‘How may I help you?’
‘I’m Miss Kimberly, an officer of the Nigerian Health organization.’ Tarasha displayed an ID card for proof, she returned it into her pocket when she was sure that the woman had seen it well. ‘I’m here to check this man’s outlet, we are aware that he sells food and drinks here.’
‘Ermm… Madam,’ the cleaner scratched her hair. ‘Mallam Jefa has not opened the store for some days now.’
‘Mallam Jefa, is that his name? And he’s not opening today also?’ Tarasha enquired.
‘Yes, they always call him Jefa. I don’t really know if he’s opening today, I seriously doubt it.’
‘Okay, does anyone know where he lives?’
‘Yes, there’s someone here that chats well with him.’ She pointed to a big hairdressing salon nearby, ‘let me get him for you.’
‘Thanks,’ Tarasha said with a grin.
Her phone rang as she quietly waited for the Lady to return. Cole. She bit her lips slightly before answering.
‘Hello Boss, we’re about to go in’ Cole’s voice came anxiously from the other end.
‘Relax your nerves Cole,’ Tarasha replied calmly. ‘Tell the others too. Relax, discuss your suggestions and plans with conviction and confidence. Make him see that you’re capable of organizing the program. Also make him see reasons why you need to have more meetings, why you need a more suitable environment to discuss and let him agree to your own terms.’
‘Okay, thank you boss.’ Cole said and the call ended.
~~
‘Come in Gentlemen,’ Nasiru Attahiru, the Senate President welcome his guests warmly.
‘Thank you sir,’ Mr Alfred said as he took the hands of the man in his his.
‘You’re welcome,’ Nasiru smiled cheerfully as he took the hands of the younger man and then the lady. ‘Have your seats please,’ he said before settling into his own chair.
‘Thank you sir, it’s nice to meet with you sir.’ Mr Alfred began with a smile. ‘We’ve actually been looking forward to this moment.’
‘It’s my pleasure. My mother have spoken a lot about you and told me how passionate you are to help the less privileged in this country but…’ Nasiru paused and stared. ‘I thought it was supposed to be four of you?’
‘Yes, we are four but the fourth person has gone on a special errand to the business capital of the country, Lagos. She was sent to visit the slums and ghettos and get some pictures and interviews which she can send to the headquarters in Canada. She didn’t go with us to Katsina also.’
‘Oh! I see,’ Nasiru’s face brightened up.
‘Yes, she’ll be joining us once she’s through.’
‘That’s okay, so let’s get to the main points of the meeting.’
‘Yes, thank you sir.’ Mr Alfred adjusted himself and cleared his throat. ‘Our first purpose of coming here has already been achieved, I’m sure you saw the pictures of the program and report of what we did.’ He paused to see Nasiru’s response, Nasiru nodded in affirmation.
Mr Alfred touched his lips with his handkerchief before he continued. ‘That was our main purpose for coming but on further study of the country, we noticed that we have people with enough capabilities to keep these programs running extensively and we thought of a way to foster better participation of these people. Now, we’ve discovered that when calls like these are made, what most of them do is to send donations without making their presence well felt.’ He paused again to see if he was making the desired impact on the man, he was. ‘We’ve decided to make this happen by organizing conferences which we’ll disguise to the public as a meeting for the elites, we’ll use this meeting to inspire the attendees and give them reasons why they should be passionately involved.’
‘Hmm… I get your point but our people here are stubborn. I’m still thinking of someone who can really get them to listen quite attentively in a conference. And it might not also be easy to assemble them together.’
‘Sir, what if we invite someone like Mcklin Daves and Ray Gates?’ Mr Alfred asked.
‘What?’ Nasiru’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘You can invite such people?’
‘Yes sir,’ Alfred said with a chuckle. ‘They are all partners with our organization and they’ll be glad to inspire others to join them in such a good course.’
‘Ermm…’ Nasiru’s excitement reduced suddenly. He frowned slightly.
‘Any question sir?’ Mr Alfred asked, noticing the frown.
‘No but I’m just thinking of how possible it’ll be for us to convince them that they are really coming. And how am I supposed to be sure that you’re not just saying this to get me involved?’
‘Sir… We actually need your help to bring them down here, we are not just saying this to get you involved. In fact, you must be involved to make it work. We need the government’s support to bring those men down here. They have to be sure that there is a proper mobilization of the citizens and only the government of a country can assure them that, not the body that is in charge of organizing the conference. Once you’ve approved for us to go ahead with the planning, we’ll report to our Head office and they’ll make contact with the proposed guests. If they agree on coming, then a video showing their agreement would be sent to us. And they’ll also be involved in the video promos for the conference.’
Nasiru remained quiet for a while, pondering on all he heard. To him, the proposal sounded good and it’ll be welcomed by the government of the country as far as their organization making the proposal can keep to their own terms.
After almost two minutes silence, Nasiru took in a deep breath and began to talk. ‘Your proposal sounds good and excellent, I’m not surprised though. My mum already told me about your passion for the less privileged in Africa and I trust her judgement to be accurate always.’ He took a brief pause. ‘But I still need to know more about your organization. You know this proposal does not involve only the Ata’s Foundation but the Country as a whole.’
‘That’s no problem sir, we’ll give you any information you need about us, as much as you enquire.’ Alfred said with a smile.
‘Thank you,’ Nasiru smiled back. He rested his back on the swivel and rolled back a little. ‘So where are you lodging in this town.’
‘Elymax Hotels sir.’
‘Elymax?’
‘Yes’
‘It’s nice but I’ll prefer you guys leave there and come over to my mansion.’
‘Oh!’ Mr Alfred and his colleagues expressed their surprise at his offer.
‘Yes, I’ll like you to come today.’
‘Thank you sir, we’ll…’ Mr Alfred was saying when the younger man cut in.
‘Thank you sir, we are so honoured by your invitation to your place but we won’t be able to do that on our own.’ He said in a polite way. ‘It’s possible to come pay you visits but if we want to stay there, we have to let the office decide for us, since we are on their assignment.’
‘Ok, I understand. No problem, I hope you relay my message to them and I’ll be expecting you by tomorrow.’
~~~
3pm
Dakolo and Ken hurried up the stairs, proceeding to the Doctor’s office. They had been called to come urgently as there was a new development.
Dakolo’s phone rang as the got to the first landing. He slid it open and answered the call. ‘Mr Sylvester.’
‘Where are you sir? I’m at the hospital and we’re waiting for you.’
‘We’re on our way to the Doctor’s office,’ Dakolo answered.
‘Please hurry up.’ The call ended and the journey up the stairs continued.
In three minutes time, they got to the Doctor’s office. Dakolo took the empty seat available beside Sylvester while Ken had to remain standing.
‘Welcome officers,’ the Doctor greeted, he cleared his throat and adjusted his eyeglasses. ‘The patient is conscious now.’ He announced.
‘Wow!’ The faces of the three men brightened up at the news. They all felt relieved, all for different reasons. Dakolo for the fact that Henry who he had taken like a brother was still alive, Sylvester because Henry was still alive and the guilt he felt as a result of him being the one who invited him to join the NSCC which resulted in his troubles could now leave. Ken on his own was happy that a major suspect and eyewitness in Samantha Osman’s case was alive.
‘But…’ The Doctor said in a flattened tone that caught their attention. ‘His brain no more functions properly and he’s partially paralyzed.’
The door suddenly flung open and a nurse barged in looking troubled.
‘Sir, the accident victim on ward 12B is nowhere to be found.’
…to be continued