Episode 8 and 9
~
The news of the murder of the senate
president's daughter has spread wide all around
the country like a raging fire.
The senate president himself is out of the
country on a business trip and it's only a matter
of time before the news reached him.
~
Cole stood up from the chair he previously sat
on, he took the file on the table which was at his
front.
a knock sounded on the door just as he was
about to open it.
"come in" he said aloud.
the door knob turned open and agent bola walked
in with a file in her hands.
"the forensic found something and he wants you
to come check it out" she said dropping the file
on his table.
"oh!" Cole exclaimed gleefully.
"I hope it should be something useful, anyway
let's get going"
he said and left for the CIB lab.
the CIB lab was located at the second to the
topmost floor of the CIB tower, while the
topmost floor was the DG's office.
"welcome detective" the forensic welcomed him
immediately he sighted him coming out of the
lift, bowing his head a little.
"yeah thank you" Cole said and added.
"so, what do you have for me"
"yeah I got something" the forensic started, and
walked to a big flat computer which was
embedded on the wall, he punched in a
command on the monitor and finger prints
appeared on it, six in a row.
"from all the research I have done so far, i found
a distinctive fingerprint on the neck region of the
lady.. "
"fingerprints?" Cole asked, his face lit up with a
glint of hope.
"yes, I ran a test on it but it didn't match with
any of our suspects but am running a
background check to clarify if it would match
with any, the results would be out in two hours
time" the forensic explained.
"did you check the CCTV footages?" Cole asked
expecting him to say yes.
"yeah I did" the forensic replied.
"did you find anything?" Cole asked anticipating
his answer to be yes also.
"No"
Cole face changed, he shook his head and
walked towards the system putting his hands on
his waist.
"I found nothing spectacular, it was like every
other day walking out from the hospital to her
boyfriend's house." the forensic said removing
the black sunshades from his face and sat down
beside Cole facing another system.
"is that what you found?" Cole asked without
taking a glance at him as he had his gaze strictly
fixed on the monitor checking the footages.
"what else would I have found?" the forensic
asked rhetorically.
Cole immediately glanced at him with a furious
look and returned his gaze back to the screen,
he clicked on a footage and fast forwarded it to
23:00.
the footage showed a lady who walked out from
a hospital and the footage ended.
Cole was surprised, he replayed it again but yet
it ended.
"the remaining part of this footage has been
deleted" Cole said casting a glance at the
forensic who immediately stood up with a
puzzled look.
"deleted?" he asked doubtfully.
"yes or didn't you notice that?"
"I didn't take note of that" he replied Cole
checking the footage himself and realization hit
him.
"who could have done this?" he said aloud to
himself.
"who else could have done it?" Cole asked
rhetorically raising his brows.
"were you compromised?" Cole asked already
figuring him out as the culprit.
"no I wasn't, am not ..... I didn't do it" the
forensic stuttered trembling ferociously.
"how can I believe you?.. huh?" Cole said angrily
slamming his hand hard on the table at his front.
"if you didn't do it, then who did?" Cole couldn't
take it anymore, he stood up angrily, already
pissed off.
he walked out of the office and stopped abruptly
at the door, he glanced back at him, shook his
head and said.
"even if you didn't do it, no one could have
possibly hacked into our systems because you
and I know we have the highest maximum
security breach"
he paused and looked at the young man, his
head bent low in remorse as if he was being
chastised by his father.
"you know, you are now a suspect" Cole finished
and left the room with a vast agitation.
~
Mr Ryan was fully clad in a designer agbada, a
Yoruba attire which is usually worn by the local
chiefs.
he stood before a standing mirror in his room,
checking himself out.
he looked radiant and stunning in the outfit even
though, he was a round, big, robust man with a
pot belly that seems to house a set of triplets.
he had a bald head which was concealed by a
green cap to match with the attire.
he was obviously going out to one of his Friend's
birthday party.
which he had to look exquisitely handsome and
he did his very best at it.
he straightened his cloth and made to leave
forgetting his two phones.
one of the phones rang out loud and it
reverberated in his head, he quickly went for it
checking the caller.
the name he saw on it made him froze for a
moment, he couldn't think straight anymore and
his once smiling face changed to a panicking
one.
he picked it.
"sorry, it wasn't you, it's a mistake" he heard a
female voice say and his heart leapt up for joy,
grinning.
the phone rang out loud for the third time and
realization hit him. that was only his imagination
and not the reality.
the reality was here, here for him.
he wished he could swap his reality for his
imagination but thats not possible.
the phone was still ringing in his hand and the
caller I.d keep on displaying state governor.
on a normal day, he wouldn't have panicked but
he knew what he had to deal with.
with what seem like eternity, he eventually
dragged the green icon on his iPad, the call
came through his private number just as it
always does if something crucial is to be
discussed.
"hello, hello, hello..." a husky voice said
repeatedly.
"are you there?" the voice came on again..
he kept mute, as he couldn't talk
he needed to cool his nerves first before he
could talk and he eventually did.
"hello sir" he said trying to be calm which did a
little to hide his nervousness.
"why didn't you pick the call when I first called?,
why were you not talking when you eventually
picked up? and what is all these am hearing?"
the state governor bawled over the phone asking
dozens of questions at a time.
"am sorry sir!" Mr Ryan replied with a concealed
tremor in his voice.
"is that all you could say?"
"yes sir"
"what are you spitting out of your mouth?...
huh?..... do you realize that the senate president
called me?"
"senate president?" Mr Ryan asked stupidly, his
trembling voice now obvious.
"don't act as if you do not know, you do know
that his daughter was murdered in my own state,
right under your nose!" he yelled...
"am sorry sir..."
"no you not sorry, coz if you really are, you
wouldn't have allowed that to happen. now see
what you caused to yourself, to me, to the state
and to Nigeria as a whole...."
"you do realize I made you the director general
of the flawless, criminal investigation bureau and
I can fire you anytime, any day if you prove
yourself to be incompetent. the state police CID
wants to interfere and I would give them the
chance they seek, they will work with you on this
case to find the son of a bitch" the state
governor finished saying and paused while
silence was given the crown for the moment.
with what seemed like eternity, the state
governor eventually talked easing the intense
silence..
"do not talk with me in a trembling voice next
time I call you again, am I clear?"
"crystal clear sir!"
"keep me updated" the state governor said and
hung up the call.
Mr Ryan let out a deep breath, his nerves now
cool.
he had to cancel his trip to the party, since his
mood is badly depressed.
he doesn't like the idea of the police CID working
with him, he had to do something, not just
something but something reasonable.
~
hours later, Cole was in his office, his head on
his crossed hands which was on the table.
he looked tired and exhausted coz his face said
it all.
he kept on thinking of his futile investigation
which he carried out hours ago, he had gone to
the hospital she worked in and he could only
gather little information about Wilson Cora, the
deceased.
her coworkers in the hospital all said they know
nothing about her, that she was being secretive
except for her close friend who divulged the
crucial information he had to know.
"she always goes out late at night to see her
boyfriend" her friend said with tears prickling
down her pretty face smearing the make up on
her face.
she sat opposite to Cole and a table demarcated
them.
Cole opened his mouth wide agape, surprised at
the info.
"who is the guy?" Cole asked as he jotted
something on his notepad.
"I don't know him" the girl said amidst sobs, she
paused to clean the tears on her face with her
bare palm.
"but she once told me that his name is Alex" the
girl continued.
"is that all you know?" Cole asked.
"yes sir, I know nothing again" the girl replied.
"but do the doctors know about she sneaking out
in the night?"
"i think they do because they approved it"
"was it because she is a daughter of the senate
president?" Cole asked.
"I think so"
" but come to think of it, why don't she use a car
instead of walking on foot, she could have called
one of her father's driver to come pick her up."
Cole said thoughtfully.
"no, her boyfriend lives close by, so the need to
use a car never arises"
"oh I get it now, thank you for your time, you've
been really helpful and in case you have anything
I need to know, make sure you do let me know"
Cole said and stood up, he brought out his card
from his front pocket and dropped it on the
table.
"just call me, I'll pick at first ring"
Cole said and left.
minutes later, he found himself at the front of a
big mansion which belonged to the son of a
hotel owner.
finding the mansion amongst all mansions wasn't
easy, he had to go to each mansion before he
finally found it.
he banged the gate but no one answered.
he saw the doorbell beside the huge gate.
he pressed the bell and heard the chime.
still nothing, no one answered.
just for the heck of it, Cole tried opening the
gate, hoping it might be unlocked. it wasn't.
he ranged the bell again, keeping his finger
pressed against it until it rang a third time too.
"hu be rat?" a hoarse male voice sounded from
inside.
Cole kept mute, said nothing and he listened for
any movement.
his ears picked one, footsteps approach the gate,
he was sure the sound emanating from the steps
was presumably a Dunlop slippers as the owner
of the supposed Dunlop slippers dragged its legs
on the floor.
Cole peered through the hole of the gate. he
could make out a hazy figure coming towards
the gate, the steps becoming louder, he heard a
bolt slide and a chain rattle and then the gate
opened.
Cole quickly stood uprightly and gazed at the
man, obviously a gate man.
he looked downwards to his leg and he confirmed
his instinct to be true. the black skinned man
had a Dunlop slippers on.
the man wondered what he was looking at.
"wetin u want?" the man asked revealing his
brownish teeth.
"I need to see your boss, Alex" Cole said peeking
through the space the boogie man left as he
stood on the door way.
"hu yhu be?" the man asked.
Cole didn't have to talk, he only flashed his I.d
and the man respected his old self, he retreated
and headed back into the mansion to inform his
boss.
minutes later, the boogie man came out with a
furious look.
"oga talk say he no wan see u, make u comot for
Im kaba" the man said in his pidgin dialect.
Cole shrugged, he did expect that and he had
other plans.
"alright thank you" Cole said extending his hand
for a handshake, the man shook hands with him
grinning widely revealing his brownish teeth once
more.
Cole smiled and headed back to his car which
was parked far away from the mansion.
his mission had been accomplished.
~
a knock sounded on the door bringing him back
from his reverie of thoughts.
he immediately sprung up thinking it was the DG.
the door opened and the forensic entered.
Cole stood up, his face contorted in abhorrence staring at him .
"here are the results" the forensic said dropping a file on the table with his iPad.
Cole checked the iPad first, the file can wait.
what he saw almost threw him off balance, he checked again to be sure of what he saw.
yet, it remained indignant.
his mouth flew open wide agape like the gate to Jerusalem.
the finger print matched with his, which only mean one thing..... he is the culprit.
"it was you" the forensic said pointing to him.
"no I didn't, it wasn't me" Cole defended.
"who would believe you detective?"
"you did it or not, you are now a prime suspect"
the forensic said and left the puzzled Cole.
To be
continued......
