"Good morning sir" she replied him, standing up to receive an handshake from him as he settled into the visitor's seat.
"Sir, I'm sorry about what happened yesterday"
"Oh! Forget that, what we really need you to do for us is tell us her whereabout. That's why I'm here, we need her to complete a job urgently"
"Honestly sir, I don't have an idea of where she left to. Right now, even the police is after her"
"Police? What crime did she commit?"
"I'm not sure she committed any crime, but a knife suspected to be used for murder was found in her room yesterday"
"Murder? That's strange", the man seemed confused for a while. "Do you think that Lady could murder somebody?"
"No... Ermm, well. I don't know, sometimes we don't really know our friends"
"Hmmm... Well, may God see her through" he said and stood up. "That means we need someone to take up her job urgently"
The man walked out of the office leaving Ini to continue with her job.
Ini laid her head on the office table, she had made a promise to herself and to Sandra that she wouldn't allow what Ama and Kelvin did to her disturb her and turn her into another person but she couldn't keep her promise.
Everything and everybody around her reminded her about the incident. Just yesterday, the police had come with a strange report about the murder of Frank. She would have passed her last night in the custody of the police if not for the influence of her father.
She called him quickly before she was led out of the house and in less than five minutes, the officers received a phone call from their superior instructing them to stop the arrest and even drive her back home.
Her Father was furious with her when she called him on getting back home. He would have ordered her to come to the family house if he wasn't out of the country. He had to make her promise him that she'll forever stay away from Amarachi and Kelvin and also everything that would tarnish his image in the country.
Although she was determined to keep the promise of having nothing to do with Kelvin and Ama again, she still prayed within herself that God should help prove them innocent and set them free from the murder charges.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
"Good morning Uche"
"Good morning ma" Uche replied Helen who was already waiting for him, as sat in the driver's side of the car. "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting"
"No problem" she smiled. "Hope you know the place very well?"
"Yes ma, I do"
"Alright, don't you think we need backup for this arrest?"
"No, we don't need any. She cannot overpower both of us"
"Okay, we need to get there as soon as possible. I want us to nab the girl quickly, I believe she will confess even if the guy doesn't" She paused a little as she remembered something, tears welled up in her eyes. She brought out her handkerchief and wiped her face
"I was touched yesterday when I saw the deceased parents mourning" she continued solemnly. "It's wickedness to kill the only child and hope of the family after the parents had struggled to bring him up to this level"
"Don't worry, justice will prevail. The murderers would never go unpunished." He said and started the car engine. "That's why we need to get the girl fast, even if she does not confess, we already have enough evidence to use against them in the court"
"That's true"
"Yes"
He sped down the way as the road was free at that time. He occasionally glanced at Helen and was surprised by her countenance, she looked like someone in deep sorrow, as if the deceased was her family member.
"I've never seen you so emotional about any case like this" he made a comment as they got to a U-turn.
"Hmm" she smiled slightly. "I'm taking Frank's mother like mine. I know what it took my mother to raise me as a single parent. She suffered a lot"
She paused and looked at his face, "Frank's mother must have gone through the same. Now that she's old, someone decided to take her joy"
"Hmmm" He only sighed, he couldn't find words to reply or console. Deep inside him, he also felt a bit of pity for Frank's mother.
No one talked again for the rest of the journey, except for Uche who occasionally cursed other road users and complained about the several potholes on the village route.
He halted the car as he got to a small bungalow house, "This is the house"
"Are you sure? The front door is locked"
"This is the house according to the description"
"Okay, let's check it out" she said and opened the door.
Just as she stepped out of the car, a young girl in her teens came to the entrance and started to unlock the padlock.
"Hey" Helen signaled to the girl as she walked towards the door. "Good afternoon, please is this the residence of Mr and Mrs Kolawole?"
"Yes" Sophia answered with a look of uncertainty. "It is"
"Okay, do you by chance know any Kolawole Amarachi Tosin?"
"Yes, she's my sister"
"Oh! Where's she? We need to see her"
"She's not here, she's in the city with her friend?"
"What about your parents?"
"They're not around, they traveled to Ere village for a relation's wedding" , she placed her hands on her waist.
"Please who are you people?
"My name is Inspector Helen and he's Inspector Uche. From the Saro division in Etyle City" she displayed her identity card for Sophia to see. "Your sister is not in the city, where can we find her?"
"No o, my sister is in the city" she replied, obviously frightened. "She works in the city"
"Look here, young Lady" Uche said sternly and moved forward. "Stop acting innocent and tell us where your sister is"
"I'm not lying o, she has not come home for sometime"
"I don't believe you" Uche surged forward, ignoring Helen who tried to stop him. "I'm sure she's inside the house or somewhere around.
He pushed the door open and entered into the house, followed closely by Helen and Sophia who walked in jittery after them.
Bola peeped through the door hole to check who knocked. She hissed as she caught a glimpse of him, she wondered what he was doing at her place again after warning him several times to stay away from her, especially at this time she wasn't in the mood to see anyone.
"Ken, what are you doing here?" She blasted as she opened the door.
"Come on Bola, aren't you glad to see me?"
"I told you before that I don't want to have anything to do with you again"
"Please calm down", he said softly. "Will you at least allow me come in?"
"Oh God! Ken please just leave now" she groaned and made an attempt to close the door but Ken stopped it with his hand.
"Please" he pleaded
Bola stared at him for a moment before leaving the entrance for him to come in. She watched him walk into the living room and sat down. She folded her arms and stood at some distance away from him.
"So, what do you want?"
"Bola" he began, kneeling down and looking at her, his face showed remorse. "Please I beg you, give me a second chance to prove myself. I've been feeling empty without you and I'm very sure I'll die soon if you refuse to accept me. Please, I promise I'll never lay my hands on you again"
"It's too late Ken, I can't just be with you anymore"
"You can please" he continued. "If it's about the pregnancy, I'll take it as mine. I know you don't want to marry that person, you only did it to punish me"
"Huh", tears formed on her eyes. " who told you I didn't want to marry him? Nobody could have stopped me from doing that. Even now that he's dead, I rather die with him than marry anyone else"
"Oh! He's dead?" He asked, acting touched. "Sorry, but that shows that God wants us to be together, that's why he took him away"
" I rather stay single forever than live with someone like you" she replied and stormed out of the living room.
The cold breeze blew gently on Kelvin and Bode as they sat facing each other. Kelvin looked horrible in his blue prison uniform, his face had already turned darker than it used to be. His hair was unkempt and he had an injury close to left eyes.
"Believe me Bode, that was all that happened. Frank was still very alive when I left him. I even tried my best not to hit him back during the struggle"
"The issue here is not about believing you but it's about who killed him" Bode replied, he narrowed his gaze at him."Who could have killed him?"
"I don't know but Sandra was here to see me yesterday. She said the police was investigating Chief Olatunbosun"
"Oh!" He exclaimed, "That's true, it means I have to tell the police all I know about Chief Olatunbosun's threats to Frank"
"Yes, please"
Bode paused for a while looking at his friend's face pitifully, "you just have to leave this place bro, I'm sure you've not been taking good food"
"Good food?" He smiled slightly, "Well, Sandra has been caring, she brings food along anytime she visits but the most important thing is not even food now. It is getting out of here that's important"
"Don't worry you'll surely get out of here, you will" Bode assured his Friend. "What about Ini? Have you seen her"
"No" he rubbed his hand against his eyes as he smiled. "Let's forget about Ini, I don't believe I have a chance with her anymore"
"Time up! Time up!" Inspector Uche announced as he walked in with a junior officer.
"Take him back to his ward" he commanded the junior officer and turned to Bode as soon as the officer and Kelvin were out of sight. "Did he own up to you?"
"He doesn't have anything to own up to, he didn't kill Frank" Bode slammed, "you need to arrest Chief Olatunbosun, he was the one who threatened to kill Frank"
"Hehe" Uche chuckled, "Do you know what you're saying?"
"Yes, I do. Chief Olatunbosun threatened to kill Frank when Frank told him that he could not marry his daughter"
"Are you crazy?" Uche looked around suspiciously to check if anyone else was listening to the conversation.
He continued when he was sure that no one else was around "Chief Olatunbosun will nor descend so low to threaten someone like Frank"
"What do you mean by that? You've not even tried investigating him before making your conclusion. Are you on his payroll?"
This infuriated Uche, he thought of grabbing Bode by the neck and teaching him a lesson but he decided not to, to avoid complicating issues.
"I'm paid by the government and I'm satisfied with that" he slammed back. "I enjoy serving my nation"
"Then do the right thing, probe Chief Olatunbosun"
"We can't just go and harass the Chief like that just because of the baseless accusations you make based on sentiments"
"You call it baseless accusations?"
"Yes, how else do you explain it? Bola says he killed Frank because he didn't want them to get married and you say he killed Frank because Frank refused to marry his daughter"
"Look, Bola never knew that Frank was opting out of the marriage" Bode tried to convince him.
"Never mind man, we already have enough evidence against your friend. We've found the knife used to murder Frank already and soon we'll get the other culprit" he continued with excitement in his eyes. "Your friend will appear in court very soon"
"You can't punish my friend for what he knows nothing about" Bode raised his voice.
"Oh! Calm down man" Uche said in a calm voice, filled with mockery. "I'm beginning to suspect you too. You must be a party to the crime also or how else will you be defending someone who already has enough evidence against him"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TBC.....
