"I don't understand everything that is happening" Helen commented as they drove to the hospital.
"The murderer must be a dangerous one, cos he keeps eliminating any lead we've got"
"One thing I know is, there's an informant working close with us"
"You think so?"
"No, I don't just think so. I strongly believe so or how else did the murderer find out about this Old man?"
"I think we're leaking the information to someone who we shouldn't, I suspect Dennis. He was the one who was with Bode when it happened and he also heard about the old man from us, I think he has a hand in all of this"
"But Dennis was in his car that day, he wasn't on a bike"
"He might not be the one carrying out the murder, he night just be an informant to the murderers"
"Hmm, then we have to be watchful of him from now on, we'll arrest him any moment he makes a suspicious move"
They got to the hospital in few minutes and went straight to the office of the Doctor who had earlier demanded to see them.
"Good morning Doc" Helen greeted as they entered the office.
"Welcome Inspectors, please take your seat"
"Thank you sir" the inspectors responded simultaneously as they sat.
"You said there is a new observation you wanted to tell us about"
"Yes, just a minute" The doctor said, tidying up his table.
"Okay doc, take your time" Helen replied.
"Yeah" the Doctor rested on his chair and faced them directly, ready to speak to them now. "Bode can talk, his speech is in order"
"Huh?" The officers were surprised.
"I thought the other Doctor said there was something wrong with his vocal chords"
"Yes there is, but we heard him talk clearly in his sleep"
"Wow! So he can speak to us now?"
"No, he may not" The Doctor said quickly. "I think he's greatly scared of something"
"What could that be?"
"No one knows, only you guys can provide us that information, but we believe he would speak up anytime from now. We've administered drugs to him to overcome the trauma"
"Can we see him now?" Uche asked anxiously.
"Yes you can, but I can't guarantee that he would speak with you now" the Doctor said and rose up to his feet, he led the inspectors to the ward.
Bode eyes was awake and he saw them coming, his eyes met with Uche's. He could see something burning intensely in Uche's eyes but he couldn't figure out what it was. He took his gaze to Helen's face, he noticed she was trying to conceal a smile, but her face shone brightly as she was happy to see him.
"Hello, can you hear me?" Helen smiled as she asked, he only smiled back but didn't say anything.
"Respond if you can hear" Uche added, trying to make Bode talk.
"Look Bode" Helen continued. "We will get the person responsible for this act very soon, but we need you to talk to us"
"Yes, please tell us every necessary information? Did you see the person who tried to kill you?" Uche joined.
Bode only stared at them without speaking up, but he tried to make body movements to respond to the questions.
"What is it you're scared of? Just talk to us, we have everything under control" Helen tried again to make him speak up.
This time Bode moved his lips, but no audible sound was made, Helen placed her ear close to his mouth but couldn't still hear anything though his lips kept moving like he was communicating something serious.
"You see?" the Doctor joined, "his lips are moving, I believe he'll be strong enough to communicate by tomorrow"
After some few minutes, they gave up and decided to return the next day. The junior officer that was responsible for guarding Bode signaled to his superiors as they were about to leave.
"Ma" the officer called out to Helen. "Someone came here this morning to check him"
"Who?"
"The other guy that came with you yesterday" He tried to describe Dennis, "the one who came to the station to request for the police report"
"Oh! Dennis?"
"Yes"
"Okay, did you allow him in?"
"No, you ordered me not to let anybody come close to the patient ma"
"Good, did you observe if he came to do anything sinister?"
"I don't really know, he wasn't with any weapon but it was hard to stop him from entering and he didn't leave quickly"
"Did you search him?"
"Yes, I did briefly" the officer replied, nodding his head. "His appearance was not evil but his persistence arouses suspicion"
"I know that guy is dangerous" Uche said as he walked out of the ward, Helen followed.
"Ok inspectors, I have to check some other wards now" the Doctor said, turning to the opposite direction.
"Okay, thank you Doc" Helen replied extending her hand to him, which made the Doctor turn again.
"It's my pleasure" the doctor said and walked away.
Helen and Uche watched the man until he entered another ward before they continued their journey, they discussed as they walked towards the stairs.
"Dennis is one of the culprits" Uche stated.
"How are we sure of that? I'm trying to link up everything" Helen replied him, looking thoughtful.
"We should arrest him, he'll lead us to the rest of the gang" Uche continued. "He might even be the major culprit or what was he doing here without informing us first? And he was the only one aware about the Old man"
"I..." A Doctor who seemed to be rushing to attend to a patient almost collided into Helen as she was almost to start climbing down the stairs. He didn't wait to apologise but only waved his hand without looking back.
"That Doctor walks like someone I've seen before " Helen commented as they watched him hurry away.
"Hehe" Uche smiled slightly. "I believe he's rushing to attend to a patient, I didn't even see his face"
"I didn't see it too" Helen smiled as she started her journey down the stairs and continued with their discussion.
"I'm still trying to link up every thing" she continued, "Dennis arrived from the states after the murder of Frank"
"Yea? He probably planned that so that no one would suspect him, and that's why I said he may be one of the culprits, I believe he's the one who has been supplying his gang mates with information from us, that explains the reason this case has lingered for so long"
"Hmmm" Helen was speechless.
"Think of it, Frank was his competitor. They were both struggling to get Amarachi's love, Dennis could have murdered him to get Amarachi"
"The facts we have do not correlate" Helen said, thinking deeply. "Dennis brought Bode to the hospital, he could have killed him before they got here and other eye witnesses of the incident stated confirmed that the bullet didn't come from him"
"It us possible that Dennis gave the information to one of his gang mates to carry out the shooting and he couldn't have tried to kill him because he didn't bring Bode alone to the hospital, two other men helped him"
"We'll take and question him" Helen concluded.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Please excuse us, I want to administer some drugs to him" Dennis said as he walked into the ward where Bode was.
The officer stood up from where he was seated slowly and folded the newspaper he was reading.
"I thought Doctor Ken came to administer some drugs to him about one hour ago" the officer said to the new Doctor.
"Yes, Doctor Ken called me to come here, I'm from another section" the new Doctor said facing the wall, hiding his face from the officer. He picked the syringe out of the box and started drawing in the mixture.
"Okay, I'll be in the veranda" the officer said and finally walked out of the ward.
Dennis dropped the syringe back into the box after making sure that the officer was out, he walked close to Bode who already had a scared look on his face.
Bode's face softened as he recognised the Doctor, he smiled and muttered. "Dennis, how far?"
"How you doing Bode?" Dennis started eagerly. "Hope nobody has found out that you can talk yet?"
"The Doctor has found out and he also told the police" Bode explained. "They said they heard me talking in my sleep"
"Wow, so what did you say to Inspector Helen and Uche?"
"I didn't say anything, I tried to pretend that I don't have the strength to talk"
"Well, how strong are you now?"
"I don't know, the Doctors said I lost a lot of blood, I believe I'm strong enough to be discharged and continue my rest at home but I have to stay here because its safer and I can pretend here" Bode explained. "Why do you ask?"
"I have to get you out immediately"
"What?" Bode asked, surprised.
"Because here is no longer safe for you"
"Huh?"
"Yes, now that Uche knows that you can talk, he'll surely come back to take your life"
"What do you mean? Uche?" Bode queried.
"Based on my findings, Uche is the major suspect, he killed Frank and tried to kill you."
"Are you sure?" Bode asked, struggling to sit up.
"I'll verify soon but you have to get out of here now"
"How do I get out?"
"Are you strong enough to walk?"
"I'll try"
"Good, we have to take that Police guy down" Dennis said, referring to the officer at the veranda.
"Huh?" Bode gave him a look which communicated the question in his heart.
"No, we won't kill him" Dennis smiled. "I brought some chloroform with me"
"Oh! Okay" Bode replied, relieved. "But how will I get out in this patient's uniform I'm on?"
"Hmmm, that's true" Dennis thought deeply for some seconds. "That's no problem, we'll take the officer's uniform"
"Oh! Good"
"Now lay back and act as if you're asleep" Dennis ordered, and stepped back. He opened the door and called the officer in.
He turned his back to the officer to hide his face. "Please come forward officer, let me explain some... "
The officer was about to pull out his gun immediately he recognised Dennis but he was overpowered quickly by Dennis. He was forced to inhale the gas from the handkerchief amidst his struggle. He laid like a lifeless body in few seconds.
Dennis locked the door carefully with the key and started taking off the officer's uniform. Bode also took off his clothes slowly, but as fast as his strength allowed him.
In no time, Bode was dressed in the police uniform, Dennis took off the lab coat he was putting on and hid it behind a drawer. He carried the unconscious policeman and laid him on the bed immediately Bode stood up. Dennis took the gun which fell from the officer's pocket and kept it in his.
"Alright, let's go" Dennis said .
Bode struggled to move his leg, the first step he took almost sent him sprawling on the floor if not for Dennis who held him firmly.
"You have to do this Bode, we need to get out of this place" He encouraged as he placed Bode back on his feet. "Think about Frank's death, his killers should not go unpunished and you should not die the same way, we have to do this together"
Dennis words drove some power into him and he struggled to take three steps forward although his legs shook as he did. Dennis followed closey and supported him down the stairs. They were lucky not to meet anyone on the way.
Bode steps increased as they progressed and they were able to pass the reception acting like friends that were gisting as they passed.
Bode waited at the entrance of the hospital building while Dennis went to drive the car closer to the building from the parking lot.
Bode breathed heavily as he sat down in the right hand side, his body felt weaker and his eyes began to close. He struggled to stay awake and they successfully passed by the security officials at the gate.
"Wow! That was awesome Bode, I must commend you" Dennis said happily as they hit the road.
"Now we'll..." Dennis paused and took a look at Bode.
Bode's eyes was widely opened but he was motionless, he had already fallen unconscious.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Helen sat down in her office, thinking and trying to strategize and come up with a plan to nail the murderer of both Frank and the Old man, she had been restless since Uche left her office twenty minutes ago.
She stood up and made her way to Inspector Uche's office for the first time that year. She wasn't used to visiting her subordinates offices except she had a commendation or something alike to do. She knocked on the door severally but got no response. It seemed as if he wasn't in, she brought out her phone and dialed his number, he didn't pick up the call.
She returned to her office, hoping that he would call back immediately he sees her missed call but she waited for more than twenty minutes without him calling back. She called his number again and this time, it was switched off.
She stood up and walked again to his office but met his doors locked like it was before. She asked some other officers about his whereabouts and one of them said she had seen him leave through the back about thirty minutes ago. He told her he wanted to get something outside.
Helen brought out her phone again and dialed again, it was still switched off. She walked back to her office and dialed Dennis' phone number on her way back.
"Good afternoon Dennis" she greeted.
"Good evening Inspector, how has it been?"
"Good, thank you. Where are you now?"
"I'm at home"
"Okay, can you come over to our station now?"
"Ermm... No, I'm busy now. Maybe later"
"Now, you need to come immediately, its important"
"Sorry, I'm busy now" Dennis replied and ended the call.
Helen was surprised with the way Dennis ended the call, she wanted to send some officers to his house to get him immediately but she decided to let Uche come back first from wherever he was.
Helen finally sent three officers to bring Dennis after Uche did not return in another twenty minutes, then frustration gotten from the complicated case causes anger to rise up in her heart against Uche, she waited anxiously for him, planning to take disciplinary action on him when he returns.
TBC........
