THE WITNESSES PART 1A Story by Emmy PhenomA young journalist finds himself caught in a deadly web of riddles and murders, he is tasked with the burden of solving the riddles or be responsible for the death of many other innocent peoplePROLOGUE The witness stood in the witness box. Even though it was
weeks after, Ali could still see the hate in his eyes and how much he resented the
accused. The witness placed his right hand on the bible and underwent
the regular ritual 'I swear by almighty God, that the evidence I shall give in
this court, shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so
help me God' After he finished swearing his oath, the clerk moved away
and it was the turn of the defense counsel to cross examine the witness. Ali didn't need him to repeat his name, he knew his name
very well, for the past few weeks, his name had featured on all the top
newspapers and magazines in Jos, his face had become very popular too on
television, he had suddenly become a major celebrity. This was sergeant Bello
though more generally known as officer Bello. Ali wasn't really interested in the other ceremonies as Sergeant
Bello was led through it by the defense counsel, He probably only took keen
interest as well as others that were in the court that day when the witness was
asked the very important question. 'Ok, Sergeant Bello, would you please tell this honorable
court what you witnessed on the 20th of December 2006? The hall suddenly became even much more quiet than it had
been all the while, Everyone was eager to hear, even though so many versions of
the story already existed, there were still a whole lot of people that wanted
to hear this story first hand from the heroic cop that had apprehended the murderer
that had been responsible for the 'golf stick murders’ Yea the golf stick murders that was what the police had
tagged it. Indeed everyone was anxious to hear the story from the cop
that had ended the reign of a menace to society. As the witness recounted his story, all Ali could do was
stare at him blankly, He had heard the story before, as a journalist he had
even had a session with Sergeant Bello, but he could observe how Sergeant Bello
always added new dimensions to the story anytime he talked about it, maybe he
just wanted the story to be really exciting though. In summary, Sergeant Bello had received a generous tip off
from an unknown source that morning regarding the whereabouts of the golf stick
murderer. He had acted swiftly with the aid of a few other policemen. They had bust the address that morning with arms and true to
the information from the source, he had caught the killer totally unawares,
there were exhibits of course to prove the accused was the killer. There were
pieces of human hair inside a cupboard, pairs of shoes and some other items
that the Killer took from his victims as souvenirs maybe, and of course there
was the murder weapon, about a dozen golf sticks were found in a cupboard. In
one of the rooms they also found some other weapons and photos of some of the
victims. The killer was totally caught unawares, Sergeant Bello and his team
busted him while he was still on his bed that morning. Ali smiled despite himself, he knew there were a few questions
that begged answers. Why didn’t anyone think about the fact that the bust
appeared rather too easy? Why wasn't anyone seeing how overly comfortable it was for a
regular police sergeant to have bust a high profile killer like the golf stick
murderer? Ali knew there were missing pieces in the puzzle, this was
just too easy, he was a common journalist but he inherited some basic instincts
from his late Father who was a cop that had died in active duty, shot by
robbers. There was no case, even before the accused pleaded guilty,
Ali knew his fate. Death by hanging was the verdict, somehow it again struck
Ali as odd, the killer never for once defended himself, he simply pleaded
guilty to all his crimes, he never gave reasons too for his sins, he only
claimed he was possessed by the devil. The final verdict from the judge left everyone happy, indeed
to them it was the end of the wicked but somehow Ali just felt there would be
more to come on the golf stick murders. Although he seemed to be alone in his
line of reasoning. As the Black Maria pulled out of the court compound and
everyone found their way out, the occupant of a black jeep parked opposite the
court room smiled. Now he could relax for a while and strategize. He actually
needed this break in transmission, maybe he had become too sloppy recently, now
he was going to be more careful, to the people of Jos, the golf stick murderer
had been apprehended, he was going to allow it remain that way for some time. He knew what he had to do, he smiled again to himself, and
he certainly was playing God here. There were two photographs lying on the
passenger seat beside him, a man and a woman, to one he was going to grant the
gift of life, to the other he was going to grant the opposite. He smiled to
himself again when he thought about the fact that he could play God. He had the
power to give life and take it away too. He watched carefully, as Sergeant Bello drove past him in
his old Volkswagen Passat car, he smiled again and spoke under his breath,
'enjoy your few moments of glory my friend because tonight you meet your
creator' he smiled again as he caressed the photograph of sergeant Bello with
his fingers, he stared at the photograph of the woman and smiled, the thought
of letting someone go free excited him in a weird way, this was the first time
he was going to let a victim go free. But he again felt good as he slowly
muttered to himself 'maybe I have a heart after all, at least I would be
keeping my word by letting her go' He turned on the ignition and drove slowly down the road, he
felt good, maybe it was time to change tactics, he had actually become bored
with the golf stick saga, he had to think about something more creative, maybe
he would even relocate to another part of the country, those were the thoughts
that clouded his brain as he drove to the hideout where he had kept the woman
for six week. CHAPTER ONE Finders Keepers Ali stretched himself lazily on the chair, he had been
sitting there for the past five hours, and he wanted to ensure he finished the
article he was working on before he retired home. The table was a mess as papers were littered all over it,
his boss had left the office two hours ago, Jane had left a little earlier too,
he was the only one left in the office, he took a look at his wristwatch, it
was few minutes past 8pm, he knew he had a few more minutes to spend at the
office, as his street wasn't too safe at nights. He stood up from the chair and walked round his office for a
few minutes to exercise his legs that were almost going numb, his mind drifted
back to the past as he smiled happily to himself. Just five years ago, he had little or no relevance to his
organization. The Daily Tidings newspaper and magazine wasn't even half as big
as what it was now. Then it was just a small office comprising of two rooms, run
by Alhaji Hassan, and his personal assistant Jane. His job at that time was to
go into the streets of Jos and scout for stories and he usually got little
commissions from Alhaji Hassan whenever the stories sold at least to a
reasonable level. His lucky break had come when three years ago, he had
stumbled on the famous 'golf stick murders' He had first read the story on a national daily and
subsequently he had developed keen interest and followed up on the story,
making a personal decision to visit the families of most of the victims and in
a matter of weeks, The Daily Tidings Newspaper experienced a boom as people
began to demand for their publications as they suddenly seemed to be the only
papers with up to date and real time information on the golf stick murders. Alhaji Hassan quickly upgraded Ali's status to chief editor
and he began to share an office with him. The big break finally came for The Daily Tidings Newspaper
after the arrest and execution of the golf stick murderer when Ali had written
a controversial article that raised doubts about the true identity of the golf
stick murderer, the article further received statewide publicity and
recognition when few days after the supposed execution of the golf stick
murderer, the sergeant who had arrested him, turned up dead. It was a blessed period for Alhaji Hassan and Ali, Alhaji
Hassan quickly integrated Ali to the position of partner in the business and
they had expanded and acquired a bigger apartment having two big offices and a
big reception for clients. They had also employed two rookies, Jeni and Ponjul,
they were to be the eyes on the street as well as help with some other office
details. Jane remained personal assistant to Alhaji Hassan. Ali didn’t see a
need for one and he preferred to work alone. His thoughts returned to the office, all those had happened
two years before now and since then no one had heard anything from the golf
stick murderer. Maybe the sergeant had got the right guy after all and maybe,
just maybe the sergeant's murder had being a coincidence or it could have been
one of the disgruntled friends of the killer that had decided to take his own
pound of flesh. Ali whistled softly to himself, he felt good, life had been
fair to him after all, indeed he had been blessed especially in the last two
years, and maybe the golf stick murder saga was a blessing in disguise to him
after all. He sat back on the chair to finish off his article, he had
always loved writing as a kid but he never had the audience, now that he had
the audience. He just couldn't stop writing, he could write for days on end non-stop,
writing was his passion. He was busy writing the last paragraph when his phone rang. The phone was on the table so he could easily take a peek at
the caller id, private number was what he saw on the screen, he ignored it and
continued writing. The phone rang again and he reluctantly picked up the phone. 'Hello!' There was silence on the other end 'Hello! Anybody there? There was still silence, he was about to hang up, when he
heard the rather strange and musky voice from the other end 'Why are you working so late and why are you all alone
tonight? Ali couldn't help it, sudden fear gripped him, and it was
for two reasons, firstly the voice sounded really scary, it seemed the caller
was trying to mask his voice, secondly the caller knew he was alone in the
office, despite the fear in his voice, he managed to respond 'Who is on the line? There was a few seconds of silence before the voice replied 'I want to play a game' Game? Ali couldn't understand any of this, but he responded
all the same 'How do you mean game? Please who is on the line? There was a few seconds silence again and the voice
continued 'Finders Keepers' Now Ali was totally confused and scared too but the voice
continued speaking 'How smart are you? Now we will see if your smartness would
save or condemn, I now crown you seeker, find them before their time runs out,
you find them, you keep them, finders keepers' And the line went dead. Ali held the phone to his ears, he was scared and confused
at the same time, naturally he would have written it off as a prank but there
was something sinister about the voice, Ali was a huge fan of horror movies and
the voice on the phone reminded him of the famous jigsaw puzzle horror flick. He kept on playing the last words of the caller in his head
'find them before their time runs out, you find them, you keep them, finders
keepers' CHAPTER TWO Black is Beautiful Ali sat there for over two minutes holding the phone to his
ears, he suddenly felt a strange cold, he tried hard to get the voice of the
caller off his head but it just kept on coming. It took him another five minutes to compose himself, he
couldn't even finish the article he had been working on, he packed his bags and
made his way home, as he tried hard to convince himself that maybe it was a
prank call after all, it could have been one of his clients or even Jeni. Yea,
Jeni, why hadn't he even thought about it, Jeni was very capable of a prank
like that. By the time he got home, he had successfully convinced
himself that it was a prank, he lived alone, his girlfriend Ann schooled in the
University of Jos, and occasionally spent the weekends with him in his two
bedroom flat. By the time he got out of his car and got into his house he
had already lost all the fears he had exercised earlier, he even began to make
a mockery of himself for being so scared over a prank that he was quite sure
Jeni had decided to play on him. He was definitely going to scold Jeni the next
day, this was a rather too expensive joke. He wasn't in any mood for food that night, he simply got a
bottle of beer from the fridge and after gulping it down, he went to bed, and
he never anticipated the events of the next morning. It was the loud ring of his phone that woke him up the next
morning, he grabbed the phone with sleepy eyes but immediately his eyes caught
the caller Id, he became instantly awake, it was private number, he answered
the call as he secretly hoped it wasn't the same caller from the previous night
but indeed it was, this time the caller didn’t even give him a chance to talk,
the caller just spoke on without even a pause. 'Black is blacker at the mall, all colors are colorful but
black is beautiful, you have twelve hours, if you find it, you keep it, finders
keepers' And the line went dead. It was a very cold morning in Jos but Ali could feel hot
sweat beads running down his back, if he was scared the previous night, he
could very well say he was terrified now, he looked at his wall clock, it was
exactly 6am, the caller had mentioned twelve hours, but nothing made any sense
to Ali at that point, what did he mean by black is blacker at the mall, he
remembered the caller's last words too, if you find it, you keep it, nothing
made sense to him, was this some kind of
riddle or what? A part of his brain suggested this was still a prank but he
chose not to see it as a prank, he was at a loss as to what to do. He prepared
for work very early he had to get to the office on time maybe if he shared with
Alhaji Hassan, he would be able to understand the situation. By 7.00am, Ali was already at work, he could see the
surprise on the cleaner's face when she came to clean his office and found him
already on seat. He was deep in thoughts, he couldn't wait for Alhaji Hassan to
show up, the Alhaji wasn't really a title, it was a nickname they had coined
for Mr. Hassan because he was quite knowledgeable on so many matters, and for
over five years it had stuck with him to the extent that most people had
actually come to believe the fact that he was indeed an Alhaji. Alhaji Hassan arrived work at about 8.20am, Ali had almost
wearied himself out with thoughts, he allowed Alhaji Hassan get settled and
after fifteen minutes he went into his office. 'Hey, Mr. Ali, peace be unto you, how are you doing this
morning' Ali forced a smile and replied, 'very well my friend' and he
sat down opposite him. Alhaji Hassan immediately knew something was wrong. This
wasn't Ali's regular disposition, 'what troubles you, my friend?' Ali paused for a minute as Alhaji Hassan continued to regard
him before he began to speak, he related all the events of the previous evening
and afterwards the events that had happened early that morning and when he was
done he was rather angry that Alhaji Hassan was wearing a smile rather than a
serious look. Alhaji Hassan suddenly started laughing, Ali's anger was
increasing, 'what was wrong with this man, did this seem like a comic movie to
him' Alhaji Hassan could tell that Ali wasn't getting his joke, so he stopped
laughing and spoke 'Common Ali, can't you see it, it’s a big prank, you have
been long in this profession, you should know this by now, we do get prank
calls very often, you know there are a lot of mad people in this country and
many times some people could just pick on anyone in this profession to play a
prank on, remember you are quite popular in this part of the country, come on,
is that why you are wearing a gloomy face? I can bet you, this is a prank, you
should have known that, what the hell is the meaning of 'black is blacker at
the mall?' Come on that's obviously a senseless saying, relax Ali, trust me,
you might have just heard the last from that prankster and am quite sure in the
12hours that you mentioned. He would be looking for someone else to prank. Alhaji Hassan was fully able to convince Ali that it was a
prank after all and Ali even began to laugh at himself for taking the prank
seriously in the first place, he also should have known that in a profession
like theirs, prank calls were actually a part of the things they always had to
deal with. He went about his work as usual, and just like Alhaji Hassan
predicted, 12 hours passed and he heard nothing from the prankster, when he was
leaving the office at about past 6pm, he had totally forgotten about the call
and the weird riddle, he arrived home just in time to listen to the 7.30pm
news. There was a murder story on the highlights but that wasn't
something new in Jos, people always got killed for different reasons,
religious, tribal and all sorts. The news simply mentioned that a middle aged
man was found murdered in his apartment that evening and there still wasn't any
trace of the killer, neither had any motive been uncovered. Ali shook his head as he watched the news, typical Jos,
people getting murdered for little or no reasons, he was about to pass it off
as another regular murder when the words of the reporter hit him like a
lightning bolt. The middle aged man was the famous shoe seller at the mall they
called Beautiful. People had nicknamed the man Blackie as he was very dark in
complexion and only sold black shoes, Ali also remembered the reporter had said
something about the man's time of murder being around 6pm as that was when the neighbors
heard the gun shot and had called the police. Suddenly the words of the strange caller began to replay in
Ali's head 'Black is blacker at the mall, all colors are colorful but
black is beautiful' Ali suddenly began to shiver and just then his phone rang,
he spied the phone screen as he prayed in his heart that it wasn't who he
thought but indeed it was, the private number was calling again. CHAPTER THREE Let the Games Begin Meanwhile on the other end was the caller, as he attempted
to redial the journalist's number he saw a young boy and his father walk down
the road, they walked past his car and he could see just how small the little
boy was. The little boy reminded him of just how he was when he was a
boy, his mind drifted back to one of the most memorable events in his life, the
day that he could as well say he had discovered himself. He could still vividly remember that hot sunny afternoon, it
was November 3rd, and he was in primary school. Primary five to be precise, he
was around ten or eleven years old at the time. His mind drifted further down memory lane to his early
childhood. He didn’t grow up with his dad, his dad had passed on when
he was yet a baby although his mum had remarried so he had for a step father a
drunk and woman beater of a man. His step father always came home drunk at
nights and would always end up beating both mother and son with belts for no
reasons. He suffered a lot of domestic violence in the hands of his stepfather
and maybe that was why he began to find solace in pornography and horror movies
at a very tender age. He also read deep spiritual books and as early as ten
years, he already had some secret evil fetishes and desires. He attended Ariya Montessori, one of the good private
schools in Jos and he was also one of the most intelligent pupils in his class.
He was class prefect and this always got him into trouble with many classmates
especially the bullies among them. He had a small body frame and was sure the target of many
bullies, the chief bully was Tom, He and Tom lived close and most times they
used same route on their way home though he always tried as much as he could to
leave school immediately after the sound of the closing bells but Tom always
had a way of finding him as he had to be Tom's bag carrier. Tom was a rather tall and fat boy, who derived pleasure in
bullying others. Tom had bullied him right from when he could remember but
November 3rd was not every other day. On that day that he became what he was. It was close of school as usual and he had walked rather
fast so Tom wouldn’t catch up with him but somehow Tom had hastened and again
met him on the way. Obviously Tom loved the bullying, in fact, he lived for it.
'Hey, stupid, why didn’t you wait up for me, who are you
expecting to carry my bag for me? Even before he turned around, he knew the owner of the
voice, as he turned around, the slap hit him across the face, not too hard
though but it hurt all the same 'Common, carry this bag stupid' and with that Tom dumped his
bag on him, he received the bag and slung it over his shoulder alongside his
own bag as he walked ahead of Tom, Tom kept on teasing him as he walked behind
him and smacked him on the head at various intervals. There was a flood earlier in the year and it had left behind
a very deep gully that was now filled with muddy waters, the local government
had constructed a wooden bridge over it, but the wooden bridge had begun to
fail and for safety reasons the road had been shut off to pedestrians and
motorists. The wooden bridge route was a short cut though, the other
route was rather very long but most people would rather take the long route
than take the risk of going over the bridge as the bridge was really in a bad
state. Tom knew this but he instructed the young boy to go by the
unsafe short cut route, the young boy obliged, after all, Tom would hit him
again if he refused, the young boy crossed over the bridge but he observed that
the bridge had become much worse as it creaked loudly and shook much, Tom also
made his way over it but just before he got to the end of it, the bridge gave
way and he would have fallen straight down to his death had he not quickly
grabbed a portion of the wooden construction that managed to hang on to the
other side of the road as the bridge broke, just below him was the rather deep
and muddy swamp, he began to dangle helplessly as he looked up to the young boy
to help pull him up. The young boy turned backwards with intent to pull him up
but just then he stopped in his tracks. Tom had so much fear in his eyes. Now he was holding onto
the support with his two hands, as his legs dangled helplessly, even the piece
of wood that he held onto was threatening to give way, 'pull me up stupid, what
are you waiting for' As Tom's voice rang out both in pain and fright, the young
boy stood there looking at him, it seemed he was trying to make up his mind if
it was safe to take another step towards Tom. Tom continued to curse but the boy stood there completely
emotionless, he was enjoying the view, he didn’t move. The young boy looked around briefly and when he was sure no
one else was coming that way, he moved forward to where Tom's hands held on
strongly to the wood piece and stepped on Tom’s hands very hard. Tom let go
immediately, it was more of a reflex action but that reflex action cost him his
life. He fell into the deep muddy waters and the young boy watched him as he
gasped for breath and drowned slowly and painfully in the muddy waters. The young boy stood there watching until Tom's body vanished
completely inside the swamp. He threw Tom's bag also into the swamp. He didn’t feel
remorse even for a second, he felt a certain joy. The sounds that the dying Tom
made as he drowned excited him in a weird way, somehow he knew he loved it and
somehow he knew he would love to watch someone die again. Tom's body was found the next day, no one had a clue. It was
general belief that he had tried to use the bridge and it had given way and he
had met his death. No one suspected the young boy with the small stature. His mind drifted back to the present as he dialed the
journalist's number the second time. The journalist voice came on the line 'please what do you
want from me?' He ignored the question and spoke into the receiver, the
towel was over the mouthpiece of the phone to mask his voice as usual 'Congratulations, I believed you just watched the news, you
lost but I won't count that as a win yet, I would just say it was meant to get
your full attention, now that I have got it, I would start all over, I want to
play a game'' He paused for effect before he continued 'Mary had a little lamb but it was red as blood and
everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go' If you find it, you keep it, you have 24 hours, finders
keepers' The journalist tried to say something but he ended the call. He smiled to himself, he was beginning to enjoy the game, he
was back and better, he just loved Jos, this was his home, he regretted leaving
in the first place, he turned on the ignition and drove slowly down the road,
he wished the journalist luck as he slowly muttered to himself 'Let the games begin' CHAPTER FOUR Run! Run! Run! Ali couldn't help it, his hands shook as he held on to the
phone, and he still found it hard to believe that there was a relationship
between the first riddle and the murder. Now there was a second riddle and he certainly couldn't tag
this as a prank anymore, he tried hard to concentrate but he was sure losing
it, his mind was a complete blur, he didn’t even know where to start from, the
riddle continued to play in his head. 'Mary had a little lamb but it was red as blood and
everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go' None of it made any sense to him, this was only a nursery
rhyme and that was all he could understand from it. He stood up despite his shaky legs and helped himself to a
bottle of beer from the fridge, he needed something to calm his nerves. One bottle didn’t seem enough, he had two more before he
began to feel himself, he had been thinking hard for over an hour but nothing
still made any sense to him, it was a few minutes past 9pm before he eventually
decided to put a call across to Alhaji Hassan, that was the best solution he
could come up with. 'Ali, my man' he
smiled despite himself as he heard Alhaji Hassan's voice on the other
end of the line, Alhaji Hassan could immediately detect something was wrong
from the way his voice sounded. 'Ali, are you okay? You don't sound quite alright' Ali didn’t spend time on courtesy greetings, he went
straight to the point and related all the events of the evening to Alhaji
Hassan' There was a short silence on the other end of the line when
Ali finished talking, Alhaji Hassan knew this wasn't kids play anymore. 'How many hours did he give you this time?' 'Twenty four hours' Ali responded 'Okay let's meet at the office tomorrow by 7am, as it is we
would still have some time to try and solve this puzzle together' After he ended the call, Ali felt a little relieved but he
still had to take two more bottles of beer before he could get some sleep. The sound of his alarm woke him up the next morning, it was
already 6am, he jumped off his bed and hastily prepared for work and he was
already at his office before the agreed 7am. Alhaji Hassan came in a few minutes later and in another
five minutes both men were seating together trying to solve the second riddle. 'Ali, please remind me again, in the exact words of the
caller, what was the first riddle? Ali responded quickly 'Black is blacker at the mall, all colors are colorful but
black is beautiful' Alhaji Hassan seemed to be in deep thoughts, he felt the
first riddle was a rather easy one and they had only lost on that one because
they hadn't taken the caller seriously. The Beautiful Mall was one of the very
popular malls in Jos and if they had only visited the place, it wouldn't have
taken them any extra effort to discover that a man called Blackie actually sold
only black shoes there and maybe just maybe they would have been able to save
his life. Alhaji Hassan felt very bad that he had taken the caller lightly
before and he had also caused Ali to act the same way. Now he was ready to take on the challenge, he loved
challenges, Ali was a very smart person too, he was quite sure that both of
them could handle the caller on this second riddle. 'Okay could you repeat the caller's exact words regarding
the second riddle? Ali responded quickly again 'Mary had a little lamb but it was red as blood and
everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go' And then it hit them, as both of them simultaneously recited
the third verse of the poem 'It followed her to school one day, which was against the
rules' Their eyes brightened as they exclaimed at the same time School!! It was clear, the next victim was definitely related to a
school. Alhaji Hassan looked up at Ali, 'go on and get your system
in here, our search begins at school' Ali dashed into his office and returned with his laptop,
Alhaji Hassan was already on his own keyboard when Ali returned to his office. Ali sat opposite him as he opened his laptop and connected
his modem. 'I think the keyword here should be red as blood' Alhaji Hassan looked at Ali and responded, why would you
think so? 'In the first riddle, Black was the subject, and it happened
to be our man, now Mary is the subject, so it means we should be looking out
for a lady that probably bears the name Mary, again in the first riddle,
beautiful was the emphasized adjective, and it turned out to be our location,
in this case, color red is being emphasized, so I can bet, we should be looking
for a school that probably has a red color' Ali suddenly paused, as the reality of the situation
suddenly dawned on him, of course most schools in Jos were painted red, and
that would certainly be like seeking for a needle in a hay stack. But all the same, they decided to try, they were journalists
and they had the necessary data base to search from and the necessary contacts
to use too. After about one hour they had come up with over a thousand
schools in Jos that could also have thousands of Mary (s), obviously they
needed to narrow down the search a whole lot more. Ali continued to repeat the riddle to himself 'Mary had a little lamb but it was red as blood and anywhere
that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go' He would have repeated it over five times before it struck
him again. 'Orthodox schools, why don't we check on Orthodox schools? Alhaji Hassan looked at him with questioning eyes, then it
hit him too, of course it had to be an orthodox school, Mary was the keyword, and
that could also be understood as Sister Mary, which of course had an orthodox
origin, yes, Ali was right. That narrowed down their search to orthodox schools that had
red colors, this was quite helpful as they had to make some calls, send some
mails and wait for replies, and in another hour they had come up with less than
a hundred schools. This was definitely better, all they now had to do was
scroll through each name and do a series of eliminations. Only three schools remained after the eliminations, and they
remained because they seemed to have a connection with the riddle. There was 'Lamb of God Dedication College' there was 'St
Mary's high school' and there was 'Sacred Lamb high school' All the other schools didn’t quite have a close relationship
with the riddle, the three chosen schools were very far apart, it would take
hours to move from one to the other. There was no time to lose, it was already past 10am, they
had less than ten hours remaining to find it and keep it in the words of the
caller. Ali grabbed his car keys, as they were about to leave the
office, he asked Alhaji Hassan, don't you think we should involve the police?
Alhaji Hassan shook his head, 'certainly not now, moreover they might just
arrest us as well, I would suggest we find out more and get something more
concrete before we go to the police' In another five minutes, they were in Ali's car, Ali turned
on the ignition and drove off, as he drove off, another car ignition sounded
behind them, just a few meters away, the driver of the car smiled broadly, he
knew they would crack the location but the real test would be finding the
victim,, he would be really impressed if they could find the victim before the
time elapsed He smiled again, he almost laughed when he watched Ali and
the Alhaji run out of the office and into the car, he was really enjoying this,
he muttered softly under his breath 'There is fire on the mountain, Run! Run!
Run!' CHAPTER FIVE Knock Knock, Who is that? St Mary's High school was their first point of call, it took
them about forty five minutes to arrive there. There was traffic congestion
coupled with the bad roads. St Mary's high school was a boarding school and was a single
sex school as well for females only. Ali was stopped in front of the gigantic school gate by two
security men, they wanted to know who the two men were as they had never seen
their faces in the school before. It took a lot of explanations and persuasion
both from Ali and Alhaji Hassan before one of the security guards even agreed
to call the school principal on phone. It took them another twenty minutes at the gate before the
gate was eventually opened and they were allowed into the school compound. A staff of the school met them and showed
them the way to the principal's office. They waited at the reception for over ten minutes before the
principal showed up, she was a reverend sister and she was quite old too. Prior to their arrival at the school, Alhaji Hassan and Ali
had already cooked up a story that would sell because they couldn't just bust
into the school and begin to ask for a particular person with the truth, they didn’t
want to raise any unnecessary fears and they also wanted everything to be
contained as much as possible. When Sister Margaret introduced herself as the principal and
also got to know they were journalists and they were working on a story of a
famous family and they wanted to see if they could contact a far relation of
the family that might be in her school, she was more than willing to help. Meanwhile, on their way to the school, both men had being
able to decode that the victim had to be a teacher in the school, the fifth
verse of the nursery rhyme mentioned a teacher, and after much deliberations
they had come to a conclusion that it had to be a teacher. Convincing Sister Margaret to produce a register of all her
staff wasn't a difficult task, she was willing to help the journalists in their
story, and she was a lover of history. Both men studied the register with in depth attention but
nothing seemed to strike them, there wasn't even a single Mary among the staff
list, neither was there any other staff name that bore a resemblance to any
other detail in the riddle. When the two men were leaving St Mary's High school, the
disappointment on their faces was obvious, they had actually placed their best
bet on the school, now they had spent over three hours chasing shadows, their
next best bet was Sacred Lamb High School, it sounded closer to the riddle than
Lamb of God dedication college, the ride to Sacred Lamb High School took them
over an hour as it was far from St Mary's. They had less resistance at the gate, it was a mixed school,
and it was originally an orthodox school but was later handed over to the
government who in turn handed it over to private individuals. Hence it was now
a private school but it still maintained most of its already existing orthodox
standards. It was a day and boarding school. Mr. Peter was the administrator of the school, he welcomed
the journalists and also seemed very interested in their quest, and he was also
willing to help. A careful analysis of all the names on the register of staff
wasn't productive as well for the journalists, there was not a single Mary
among the members of staff neither was there any name that seemed to bear any
relationship with the details of the riddle. By the time they got to Lamb of God Dedication College, it
was already past 5pm, they had less than three hours before the dead line. Lamb
of God Dedication College was an only female school too, Father Francis was the
administrator here, it was a boarding school as well, and he received the
journalists well and as usual after they sold their story to him, he was
willing to help. One look at the register and their eyes brightened, there were
three staff members that went by the name Mary. There was the French teacher,
Mr. John Mary, there was the chemistry teacher, Aunty Mary Ann and there was
the disciplinary mistress Sister Mary, she was a reverend sister. Ali stared hard at the name Sister Mary, as another verse
from the poem came into his head, 'And so the teacher sent it out' Sending out was a connotation for discipline, he was quite
sure he had found the victim, as he was about to speak, Alhaji Hassan asked the
administrator, please can we speak with Sister Mary? There was a look on the administrator's face that made Ali
and Alhaji Hassan lose heart, 'Sister Mary left the school premise a few hours ago, she
received a call from Balm of Gilead hospital that a relation of hers was
involved in a motor accident' As the administrator was still speaking the bells were
ringing in Ali's head, he already knew it, it was about to happen, he looked at
his wristwatch, it was already 6pm, they had less than two hours left, he
practically ran out of the administrators office, Alhaji Hassan understood the
essence of time too, he ran along after Ali, the administrator stared on in
surprise as they ran off to their car, and zoomed off, Balm of Gilead hospital
was about one hour away, if they moved quickly, they could still save Sister
Mary. There was heavy traffic on the road, and rain suddenly began
to fall heavily too, Ali continued to honk loudly and curse at other drivers
but that didn’t make them move any faster. Now he wished they hadn't left in
such a haste, he would have at least got the teacher's phone number from the
school admin, at least he would have been able to warn her. They finally arrived at Balm of Gilead hospital at 7.45pm,
Ali had barely even parked the car properly when Alhaji Hassan jumped out of
the car and ran into the reception hall, when Ali finally parked and entered
into the reception hall, he saw Alhaji Hassan taking with one of the nurses,
she led them upstairs. As they climbed the stairs, Ali's heart continued to
beat faster, he was really scared for sister Mary, they finally got to room
201, and as they opened the room, there was a woman sitting on a chair beside
another woman lying on the hospital bed, Ali didn’t even waste a second, 'Please are you Sister Mary, of Lamb Of God dedication
school?' She regarded Ali for a few seconds and after she had
probably ascertained that he was quite harmless, she nodded positively. Ali heaved a sigh of relief, Alhaji Hassan did too, Ali
looked at his wristwatch, and it was 7.55pm, it was only five minutes left. He smiled, he had beat the caller this time, he had found
this one and of course he was going to keep this one from dying. Meanwhile at about the same time, the recreation and
creative arts instructor at St Mary's high school was busy arranging her room,
she was silently replaying the events of the day in her head, she had being on
duty, attending to the J.s.s.2 students when two strange men had come into the
school earlier in the day, she had watched how they had argued for a long time
with the security men before he had finally allowed them in, anyway what was
her own? she was a part time staff her only job was to take the students of the
junior classes through creative activities, her name was Aunty Grace but the
students had long substituted her name for another, she laughed when she
remembered what the students liked to call her, she also remembered she had
earned the name when she had told them the fictitious story of 'bloody Mary'
she had told it with so much passion and seriousness that the students had
become so scared that when she eventually told them it was fiction they decided
to pay her back by naming her 'bloody Mary' she laughed silently as she
remembered the name, she really loved the children especially the ones in J.s.s
3, she had been with them for three years and watched most of them grow into teenage
hood. She was the definition of a teacher who made the children laugh and play.
She was a par time staff so even though it was a boarding school, she lived in
her own apartment. She was trying to fix the bed spread when she heard a knock
on her door. She looked up at the wall clock, it was 8.00pm exactly, and she
wondered who was at the door. No one ever came visiting her talk more of at a
time like this, she walked towards the door, hesitated for a moment, then she
asked 'who is at the door' She heard a very lovely male voice 'Please open up, I need a favor' CHAPTER SIX Memories Naturally she wouldn't have opened maybe the voice was just
too enticing, she wanted to see the owner of such a rich and lovely voice, her
instinct told her not to open but she ignored her instinct, if she had known
she would have heeded her instinct, because opening that door was the last
thing she was ever going to do in her life. When she opened the door, she didn’t see the metal, neither
did she hear the gunshot. It was only one shot. Straight to the forehead, she
fell down to the floor. The killer turned back and walked slowly into the
darkness, he didn’t even care to check on his victim, he was a professional, and
he knew she was dead even before she hit the ground As he walked away, he sang softly to himself 'Mary had a little lamb and it was red as blood' He knew the journalist would fail, he got out his phone and
dialed the journalist's number, the journalist was beginning to bore him, and
maybe he wasn't so smart after all. Meanwhile it was 8.05pm at Balm of Gilead hospital, the last
ten minutes had been spent talking with Sister Mary, it was already a well
thought out process, Alhaji Hassan and Ali had both agreed that they weren't
going to get sister Mary alarmed in any way, they had sold her a story of
mistaken identity claiming they had mistook her for a certain Mary that was
from a certain royal family. They had spent the extra minutes sharing regular gist
with the excuse that they needed to rest a while before returning to their
homes, Sister Mary certainly needed the company as she continued to laugh at
the funny jokes that Alhaji Hassan kept throwing. Ali's phone rang, he had been expecting the call, he looked
at Alhaji Hassan, they both knew who it was, they excused themselves and left
the room to the passageway, Ali got the phone out of his pocket, indeed, it was
the private number, and he wore a broad smile on his face when he answered the
call. ‘Hello, so now that I won, will you end the games now?’ The caller responded with a soft laugh before he responded
'I would give you a bonus riddle, what do you call a man who spends all day in
the river and returns home to bath with mud water? Ali couldn't find a response to the question, Alhaji Hassan
continued starring at Ali, he sure knew something had gone wrong. The caller
continued speaking 'you sure aren’t so wordy anymore, right?’ ‘Okay, I would help you out, the answer to that riddle is
Ali' Ali continued to stare in confusion as the caller's voice
continued on the other end of the line. 'Mary had a little lamb but it was red as blood, the
keywords were blood and Mary, her name was bloody Mary, now you have two dead
people in your hands, the students of St Mary's high school will never forgive
you' and with that he ended the call. Ali continued to stare in shock, Alhaji Hassan had to shake
him violently before he regained consciousness of the environment. It didn’t
take long for Alhaji Hassan to also begin to feel that way after Ali told him
the details of the conversation. The morning papers carried the news the next day, the
students of St Mary's high school couldn't be comforted, Bloody Mary was like a
mother to most of them, no one knew why she was murdered, no one had a clue, no
one except Ali and Alhaji Hassan, Ali had once again suggested going to the
police but Alhaji Hassan was still skeptical, he didn’t want to be a victim of
the police, it had happened before when he was younger, he had reported a case
and had been arrested, it was by a slim chance that he got off that one, he
wasn't going to allow that happen again, he had strongly insisted that they
would only go to the police when they had something concrete to report. And
that was why the first plan was to record the caller's call the next time he
called. He sat down on the balcony, the music played softly from
inside his room, it was Asa's Jailer, and he was singing along. He smiled as he
listened to himself sing, he really had a lovely voice, he was gifted in so
many ways, he was that frightened skinny boy that had fast grown into a handsome,
intelligent and confident man, he lived in a duplex, he looked over his fence
into the other compound, some kids were running around, a man came out of the
house and scolded them, he watched them as they moved into the house in fear,
trying hard to suppress their tears. He shook his head, he was once like that, defenseless and
quick to tears, but that day on the lonely abandoned bridge with that bully
Tom, had changed his whole life. His mind drifted back to the event, he never had any
intention to allow Tom die, he had turned back with intent to pull him up but
those words ignited something in him, the bully's voice rang in his ears 'Pull me up stupid' It was like a flash, he saw two visions at that moment, in
the first one, he pulled Tom up but in the second, he stepped on his hands and
down he went crashing, he chose the second vision and acted accordingly and he
couldn't stop himself, he enjoyed watching Tom die, it was pleasurable and that
was when for the first time, he knew there was something abnormal about
himself, he didn’t even flinch or blink an eyelid, the final vision of the
dying Tom would have been a picture of the small skinny boy smiling. He longed to feel that way again, he longed to watch someone
die, but it took another two years before his dreams came true, though he
wanted to watch someone die, he probably hadn't gathered enough courage to make
it happen, killing his step father never crossed his mind, he could as well say
his step father had it coming. It was a cold windy night in Jos, the boy was thirteen years
old then, it was his early transitional stage into teenage hood, he had
discovered that his anger level had started rising even to points he couldn't
control. His stepfather still bullied him but he never tried to fight back, he
took the whips, punches and slaps as a man and he always wore the hard
expressionless face whenever his step father chose to attack him, but that
night, there was something in the air he couldn't understand, maybe the wind
was calling for blood. He first heard the noise at about 11pm, apparently his mum
and step dad were having an argument as they always had, the shouts became
louder and it was followed by the familiar sounds of belt lashes and soft sobs.
He buried his head under the pillow but the noise kept on coming, the man kept
shouting and landing his lashes. He stood up from his bed and went to his mother's room, his
step dad was standing over his mum, she was lying on the ground, he was
shouting and flogging her with the belt repeatedly, the young boy turned back
and went into the kitchen, he knew he felt possessed that night, he grabbed a
knife from the kitchen and went back into the room, this time he entered the
room and stood by the door. 'Leave her alone' His step father stopped suddenly and turned around, what he
could see was a small boy holding a
knife with no single emotion on his face, his step father walked towards him as
he held on to the belt. 'You better get out of here now before I kill you alongside
your useless mother' the words hit a strong chord in the boy's heart, he held
on strongly to the knife, his step father came closer, he didn’t ever think the
young boy would strike, his hands were still in midair as he attempted landing
the stroke on the boy's head when the boy sidestepped and with a single thrust
he sunk the knife into his step father’s stomach. His mum shouted in horror,
his step father shouted in pain but the young boy wasn't done, he stabbed his
stepfather three more times in the space of a few seconds and watched the man
die right there in his mother's room. His mum's shouts of 'no!' continued
loudly as he stood there staring into the lifeless eyes of his step father. He
had just committed his second murder but to his mum that was a first. The sound of his phone ringing brought him back to the
present, he answered the call, there were a few dialogues and he said some
words of prayers over the phone too, the caller's final words were 'Thank you very much pastor' and he replied 'God bless you my dear friend' He smiled to himself, he knew it was practically impossible
for anyone to suspect him. CHAPTER SEVEN Eat and Live, Drink and Die Ali decided to take the day off work, it was a Friday, the
last he heard from the strange caller was the night before when he and Alhaji
Hassan had being in the ward with Sister Mary with high hopes of saving the
victim only to discover they had lost again. The words of the caller kept hitting hard at his head 'Now you have two dead people in your hands' The caller was making him feel responsible for the murders,
he couldn't stop blaming himself, he knew that if he had been smarter with the
riddles, he would have been able to save the victims, he wasn't willing to take
any chances again, he was going to the police, he didn't care what Alhaji
Hassan thought about it anymore, if they had gone to the police earlier, maybe
they would have been able to save the last victim. He got his car keys and got out of the house, he was going
to the police and he wasn't going to inform Alhaji Hassan, this was his own
case after all, the caller didn’t involve Alhaji Hassan. He drove out of his compound and hit the road, he was
driving straight to Area command, and he needed detectives on this case, not
just regular policemen. It took him about twenty five minutes to drive to Area
command, one of the policemen at the gate knew him, after all he was a popular
journalist, he drove into the compound and parked his car but as he made to
open the door and come out of the car, his phone rang, a quick look at the
phone screen and it was 'private number' He knew just what he had to do, he tapped the record icon
and answered the call, the familiar voice of the strange caller came up on the
other end of the line' 'Ali, I want to teach you a concept' Ali didn’t anticipate this new dimension, the caller always
had strange phrases every time he called, now what was this one again about a
concept? The caller continued 'This concept is called Actions and
Consequences, I would enlighten you with examples' 'You are about to take an action right now and that action
has also got a consequence' Ali's heart began to beat very fast, he immediately
understood that the caller knew his plans, the caller continued 'Let me make this much more explanatory, let's just say, if
Ali decides to take the action of going into that place that he is about to
enter, then there might be a consequence of Ann not reaching her destination
later today' At the mention of his girlfriend’s name, Ali's voice shot
up, 'listen to me, if you so much as touch a hair on her....' Ali was cut short by the caller's soft voice 'ssshhhh, stop
raising your voice, we are gentlemen here' Ali had to keep quiet despite himself, he was fuming with
anger, now he was really scared for Ann, the caller continued ' I now declare you God, declare the verdict on Ann, live or
die, the choice is yours and again Ali just for next time sake, whenever you
want to record a call do get rid of that beeping tone, it sells you out so easily'
and the line went dead. Ali felt a strange cold break all over his body, he was
shivering, the caller knew he was recording the call, he knew his every move,
but how could that even be possible? Ali knew what he had to do, he turned on the ignition and
drove out of the police station, the policemen at the gate that had seen him
come in looked at him strangely but what was it to them? They simply watched
him drive away, most journalists were mad, maybe this one had gone mad also. Ali was back at his house, the drive home was faster than the
drive to the police station. His head was clouded with so many thoughts, the
caller knew about his girlfriend, the caller knew his office and most probably
knew his house too, he could also bet that the caller had tailed him to the
police station too, could that also mean the caller was probably watching him
at that moment? He parked his car in the compound and looked around, there
was no one in sight, he entered into his house and locked the doors, and he
grabbed his phone and called his girlfriend. Ann picked at first ring, she sounded very okay, she
reminded him that she was coming over to spend the weekend later in the day, he
was about to discourage her from coming but he held his peace, he didn’t want
to create any kind of fear in her heart, when he ended the call, he felt better
at least he knew Ann was safe. He began to play back the recorded voice of the caller, the
voice was certainly masked, it was quite obvious, and he could guess that the
caller had placed something over the mouth piece of the phone, the caller was
certainly covering his tracks. So far, the caller had given two riddles and the two people
involved had died. One question kept plaguing him, why had the caller chosen
him? There were thousands of journalists in Jos, why did it have to be Ali? Suddenly, something flashed in his head, there was a line
that sounded familiar when he played back the audio recording, he got out the
phone again and played back the recording for the fifth time and when he got to
the particular line, he paused it and began to play it over and over again.
'Live or die, the choice is yours' Ali kept on racking his brain, he had heard the line before,
he began to repeat it to himself 'live or die, live or die' then it hit him. Of
course it was from the horror movie 'SAW' That was the favorite line of the killer in the jig saw
puzzles, Ali also remembered the very first time the caller had called him, his
words were 'I want to play a game' that was also another line from the horror
movie SAW. Ali began to connect the dots, in the jigsaw puzzle, the
killer always gave his victims a chance to life, their chances to life was
usually tied around a dangerous and risky task they had to perform and if they
were successful, they would have earned their life. Ali couldn't help thinking,
did this caller see himself as the Jos version of the killer in the Jig Saw
puzzles? Was that why he chose to use riddles and puzzles? But his own approach
was different, in his own game, the lives of the victims weren't in their own
hands to save, he was putting their lives in someone else's hand and that was
the part that Ali couldn't just bear, he was already tired of the games as it
were. He laid on the sofa as his thoughts formed circles inside
his head, he should have slept off because it was the sound of his phone
ringing that woke him up. He looked at the time, it was 2.00pm, and of course the
caller Id was private number. 'Hello, I want to play a game?' Ali decided to talk 'hmm, sorry to interrupt you but why do
you call with private number, if you are as confident as your voice sounds why
don't you call without hiding your id? The caller laughed softly and replied 'Ali my friend, give
me a few minutes, and the line went dead' Ali couldn't understand, he sat on the sofa waiting for the
call, he didn’t know what to do any more. Twenty minutes later, the phone rang,
it was a regular phone number with 11 digits, Ali answered the call and it was
the same voice of the caller. 'Now listen to me, this phone number belongs to a young
teenage boy, I got the phone off his dead body a few minutes ago just to prove
to you that I can call you with whatsoever number I chose to call you with, but
just so you know, his death is also on your head now. I have passed your stupid test, can you pass mine? Ali lost his voice, he couldn't bring himself to believe
that the caller had actually murdered someone just to prove a silly point, the
caller continued speaking 'I want to play a game, Eat and Live, Drink and Die. The blaring flickers of the sun
rise in the East. You have 48 hours to decode that, call it a weekend bonus,
you find it, you keep it, 'finders keepers' And the line went dead. CHAPTER EIGHT My Name Is Jasper Ali couldn't stop pacing up and down his sitting room, he
kept on repeating the riddle to himself, and it just wasn't making any sense to
him. What did the caller mean by Eat and Die, Drink and Live? He tried hard to convince himself that it wasn't even a
riddle at all, maybe the caller only sought an excuse to murder another person. His phone rang, that was the third time Alhaji Hassan had
called him that day, he just continued to ignore the call, he didn’t want to
get Alhaji Hassan involved again, it was bad enough that the caller already
brought his girlfriend into it, the fewer people involved, the better it was. Ali was deep in thoughts, his best option would have been
going to the police but the caller had already knocked out that option. He once
again recalled the fact that the caller seemed to borrow some lines from the
movie 'Saw', maybe it was high time he wore his late Father's detective cloak
and started some investigation for himself. There were many questions he needed answers to, maybe
seeking answers to them was a good way to begin, firstly why did the caller
chose him? Secondly what was the caller's deal with the jig saw puzzle? Thirdly, was there any special reasons why he
picked his victims or were they all random victims? Ali walked slowly to his study desk, he began to see a
challenge in the situation, If the caller had chosen him out of the thousands
of journalists in Jos then there had to be a reason and he intended finding
out, as he sat at his desk and got out some writing materials, he felt a
stronger resolve to crack the case, it was fast becoming personal for him, the
caller had involved his girlfriend, that was personal for him, he was going to
be a detective now. Since the caller wanted to play, he was also going to play,
he muttered softly to himself 'Since you want to play games, let the games continue' The caller sat inside the old Toyota corolla as his mind
travelled to the past. After he murdered his step father his mother took the fall
for him, she admitted killing his stepfather when the police showed up, she
pinned it on self-defense, there was a case with the police but it was later
written off as the dead man in question didn’t have good records either, the
police probably saw it as good riddance to bad rubbish. After the incident, they relocated to a different area
entirely and he had to change school. He was the ideal student, neat, handsome,
quiet and very intelligent, all the teachers liked him, all the students liked
him too especially the girls. The girls loved him but he loved only one girl.
His heart beat for her, he longed for her, he wanted to have her, but she was
out of his reach, he had one major flaw, he couldn't speak to a lady and she
wasn't one of those girls that would have done anything to be with him. His Mum provided all his needs, he loved her so much but he
could feel it, she was scared of him, it seemed she never for once forgot the
night where she had watched him murder his step father, she loved him anyway,
she knew he had done it for her or rather that was what she thought but he knew
he had done it for the pleasure of it. His remaining secondary school days would have been
stainless had Aishat not rejected him, yes Aishat, that was her name. He was
seventeen years old and he was in S.S.3. It was the last day of secondary school, it was the day of
the final exams, after the final exams he had summoned up all the courage in
the world and went to Aishat, he didn't say much but he knew she understood
what he meant, he wanted her to be his girl, Aishat had politely refused him
and told him that she wasn't ready to be in that kind of relationship at that
time. He was still trying to make her have a change of heart when
Aishat's father showed up, he had scolded Aishat for speaking with a boy, he
had even warned the boy never to come close to his daughter again and he had
driven off with his daughter. The boy couldn't take it, he was heartbroken, if he couldn't
have her, then no one was ever going to have her, he knew where she lived, he
had sneaked into her compound on many occasions just to watch her, he was going
to sneak into the compound again one last time but this time he had a mission. The same spirit that possessed him against Tom and against
his stepfather had possessed him again. He sneaked out of the house that night to pay a visit to the
only girl he had ever loved as much as he loved his mother. He knew his way in the darkness, he arrived
at Aishat's house a little before midnight, scaling the fence wasn't new for
him, he had scaled the fence on many occasions, he had learnt to pick locks
too, he entered the house through the kitchen door, he tiptoed straight to her
room, he knew just where she lay. He had been there once before, she had the
blue lights on, he watched her as she slept, he longed for her, he wanted her
to be his forever but again he remembered how she had rejected him. He muttered
softly to himself 'You shouldn't have rejected me: She suddenly opened her eyes and screamed in terror, Her
father came rushing in, he held something in his hands, he didn't see the boy
hiding behind the door, all he saw was his daughter sitting up on the bed and
trying to point towards the boy, as he turned around, he felt the sharp sting
of the knife as it dug into the left side of his stomach, the man's eyes opened
wide in shock as the boy drew out the knife and thrust it in again into the
softness of his flesh two more times. The man was big but he fell like a bag of
rice as the boy side stepped and created a path for his falling body. The girl was still screaming, he held the blood covered
knife to his mouth as a sign for her to be quiet, she obeyed promptly, he
walked towards her, she was sobbing, she was trembling in fear, he motioned for
her to stand up and come to him, she obeyed with fear, her legs shook as she
walked towards him, he closed the gap and turned her around so she wouldn't
face him, he could feel her body shake and vibrate in fear, he wrapped his left
arms around her waist, he could feel the warmth of her flesh as he pulled her
body closer to his, she was wearing shorts and a small singlet, her fear
excited him, as her body shook violently against his, he pressed her all the
more to himself as he felt the warmth of her almost bare skin, he loved the
feeling, he wanted more but he couldn't forgive her, he knew what he had to do,
he held her firmly to himself with his left hand. She was sobbing softly and
begging him, she mentioned his name, he didn't think she even knew his name, he
whispered softly into her ears, 'I really did love you' and with a very swift
motion, he slit her throat' He released her and watched her lifeless body drop to the
ground, as he turned around, something hit him across the forehead, it hurt so
bad but it didn't come with enough force to knock the life out of him, he fell
backwards but he picked himself up quickly before the attacker could strike
again, it was a woman, he knew she had hurt him, he could feel blood pouring
freely from his forehead, his vision was hazy but he could see her, she held a
golf stick, he suddenly remembered, Aishat's father loved to play golf, he had
known that a long while ago, the woman screamed when she saw the dead man and
the dead girl on the floor, she had to be Aishat's mum, she tried to attack
again but he grabbed the golf stick and forced it away from her hands, he
attacked her with it, he was mad with anger, he continued to smash her head
with it until all he could see was a mass of blood. His head was bleeding very badly now, he began to feel
faint, he grabbed the golf stick and ran out of the house, he was going to keep
the golf stick as a souvenir to always remember the only girl he had ever
loved. He was almost faint when he knocked at his door that night,
his mum had opened the door and he had fallen into her arms, she had taken care
of him that night, somehow she knew he had done something evil that night but
she never asked him, she kept the golf stick safely for him too, when he woke
the next day, she handed him the golf stick, she never asked what happened the
other night and he never told her, his mum knew she had a devil for a son, she
had decided to live with it. He on the other hand kept the golf stick, he had
an ugly scar on his forehead too, a scar inflicted on him by Aishat's mum when
she attacked him with the golf stick. He was always going to keep the golf
stick, the scar on his forehead and the golf stick would always remind him of
the only girl he had ever loved as much as he loved his mother. The sound of the car horn behind him brought him back to
reality, he looked behind him and saw that the woman behind him was about to
drive out, his car was rather obstructing her, he drove out and gave her enough
space to drive out, she gave him the angry look as she drove away, he smiled at
her in return. He parked the car again as he sat there watching, he had
been waiting at the bus stop for over an hour, she was due to have arrived over
thirty minutes ago, and just then he saw her, she came down from a bus and
stood for some time like she was waiting for a cab, he turned on the ignition
and drove towards her, he stopped right in front of her, and wound down. You looking for a drop? She peered in through the open window and nodded, she told
him her destination and he asked her to come in, he opened the back door for
her and she entered the car, as he drove down the road, he smiled and introduced
himself, 'My name is Jasper, what do I call you?' She smiled too as she replied 'you can call me Ann' Ann got out her phone and dialed Ali's number with intent to
inform him that she was already on her
way to the house. CHAPTER NINE Three against One Ali continued to rack his brain as he tried to find out the
meaning of the riddle, he had been sitting at his study table for over three
hours, he really couldn't place it, he continued to repeat it to himself, Eat
and Live, Drink and Die, the blaring flickers of the sun rises from the east. His phone rang and it was Ann, she only called to inform him
that she was close to the house, he replied warmly and for a few minutes he
began to feel good but one thought again about the riddle changed his mood. He began to pace up and down, he would have paced for about
ten minutes before he heard the knock on the door, he knew it had to be Ann, he
moved quickly to the door and there she was standing and smiling at him, the
smile on her beautiful face lifted all his worries off him, she jumped into his
arms and he hugged her very warmly, she broke away from the hug after a rather
prolonged hug and carried her bag into the room as Ali followed behind her. The cab driver reversed the car and drove out of the compound,
he couldn't help but pride himself in just how daring he could be. He only
wanted to prove a point to Ali that he could do whatever he wanted and still
get away with it. He laughed softly, he could imagine Ali's reaction when he
would call him later that night to tell him that he actually dropped his
girlfriend over at his house. Ann was quick to notice after a few minutes that Ali wasn't
his usual self, she could tell that something was wrong, she continued to press
on Ali to speak but he simply dismissed it by lying to her that he had fever
and when it was obvious to her that he wasn't going to bulge, she left him to
his business and went into the room in anger. Ali had much on his mind, he didn't have the energy to chase
any woman, he allowed her be and returned to his thoughts and just then he
heard the sound of a car outside his house, the time was past 7pm, he looked
out through the window and it was Alhaji Hassan. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, Ali
hesitated but he had no option, he opened the door and Alhaji Hassan came in. 'What do you think you are doing, ignoring my calls? Do you
know just how worried you got me, you got me wondering if the insane caller and
killer had got to you' Ali tried to ask him to lower his voice but it was too late,
Ann was already out of the room and she heard every word that Alhaji Hassan had
said. As Ali looked at her, she looked at him angrily, there was
no point hiding anything anymore, Ali asked her to sit and asked Alhaji Hassan
to sit too as he began the story from the beginning and ended the story with
the last riddle and how the caller had decided to give 48 hours. It was 7.30pm,
five hours had gone already and yet there was no head way on the riddle, Ann
was lost in thoughts, she wasn't scared rather she was intrigued, she was much
more daring than Ali, she felt a sudden surge of adrenalin, Ali and Alhaji
Hassan could see the smile on her face and they stared at her in a strange way,
she repeated the riddle again, 'Eat and Live, Drink and Die, the blaring
flickers of the sun rise in the east' She smiled again as she spoke 'We would get him this time, he is definitely unevenly
matched, three against one, he definitely can't win this one, we would work on
it together and we would decode this riddle' If there was anything Ali loved most about Ann, it was the
strong will she had, her parents and siblings had died in a motor accident
while she was younger, she had afterwards lived with an uncle who was a
soldier, he had tried to sexually assault her and she had run away from the
house and afterward had learnt to fend for herself and she had made a vow to
herself that she would survive and she had of course being surviving until she
met Ali. They had met two years ago at a public function, she was the
hairstylist and makeup artist for the event and somehow they had clicked and
that was how their love story had blossomed till now. Alhaji Hassan kept racking his brain, they all tried to analyze
the riddle from different points of views but nothing seemed to make any sense,
after spending some hours all to no avail, they decided to sleep over it and
pray that the morning brought them better luck. Alhaji Hassan returned to his house with promises of making
further enquiries and contacting all that could help decode the riddle. Ann and Ali after trying for a few more hours decided to
take a rest and continue the next day, Ali's phone began to ring at about
2.30am, he woke up and it was private number, Ann was already up too, she asked
him to enable the loud speaker and he did. 'Good morning my dear friend, sorry to disturb your
beautiful sleep, he paused for a while as if he suddenly remembered something
then he continued 'I was going to ask you to help me pass a message to our
dear Ann, but I can understand she can also hear me right now' Ali's countenance dropped, the caller knew he had enabled
the speaker, how did he always know everything? The caller continued speaking, 'please could you help me
tell Ann that one of the notes with which she paid me today, had a blemish, and
I don't like blemishes, let's just say she owes me one' Ann's heart jumped into her mouth, she couldn't believe that
she had sat in the same car with the same maniac that Ali had told her about. Ali's anger rose but he knew better than to yell at the
caller, he tried so hard to maintain his calm' The caller continued, 'I would expect you to show me some appreciation for
bringing your girl home, anyway, it's expected, some people are so ungrateful
to be alive, how are you faring with our little riddle, just a reminder that
you have lost twelve hours as it is, good luck my friend' and the line went
dead. Ali and Ann couldn't sleep for the rest of the night, it was
really beginning to seem very personal, Ali could feel it strongly, the caller
had a personal score to settle with him but what it was, he couldn't tell. Ann tried as much as possible to remember how the caller
looked but she hadn't really taken any notice, who takes notice of cab drivers
by the way, she had only observed that the driver wore a face cap and a shade,
and his beards appeared rather too much, it had appeared strange to her then
but now she knew why, he was disguising. There was really nothing she could
pick that would help her identify the driver if she saw him again. The next day which was a Saturday was spent moving from one
place to another all in a bid to solve the riddle, Alhaji Hassan came over to Ali's house in the morning, they
moved from one media house to the other visiting other journalists, and some scholars
too, they tried to be as discreet as possible as they couldn't really reveal
the purpose of their mission but it was a brick wall anywhere they turned. At
the end of the day, everyman returned back to his house, Ali was slowly giving
up on the riddle, he was slowly accepting responsibility for yet the death of
another innocent person but Ann didn't lose hope. It was suddenly a personal
mission for her, she was bent on solving the riddle. Ali's phone rang again that night at 2.30am, the caller was certainly
having fun, he called to remind Ali that he had only twelve hours left and
wished him luck again. Sunday came with little or no hopes, the three of them were
fast losing hope, even Ann didn't seem so enthusiastic anymore, they had found
some answers though but none of the answers seemed the right answer to the
riddle, they were all seating in Ali's sitting room, watching a movie when the
first lights hit them. In the movie, some soldiers camped in a forest and it was
late and very cold too. They made a fire and sat around it, as the flames
diminished, they continued to throw small logs into the fire to keep it burning
and suddenly it began to rain, and the rain began to douse the flames as they
tried to find shelter in their tents. Ann sat up quickly like she suddenly felt an electric surge
as she softly repeated the riddle 'Eat and Live, Drink and Die' Ali and Alhaji Hassan were sitting up too, they could
understand now, Ann had unraveled the riddle, they all chorused in unison 'Fire' CHAPTER TEN Esther Rise The Trio couldn't believe their luck, it was already a few
minutes past 12pm, and they had about two hours left. Indeed fire had to be the answer to the riddle, why hadn't
they understood that all these while, maybe they had expected it to be much
more complex, now that was the first part of the riddle, the second part seemed
a lot more easier to decode. It was a combination of ideas and thought patterns from the
three of them. As Alhaji Hassan continued to repeat the second line of the
riddle 'the blaring flickers of the sun rises in the east' It struck Ali, obviously the keywords were flickers and
blaring, he asked Alhaji Hassan and Ann, ‘what produces a blaring sound?’ Ann
replied immediately, ‘that should be a horn, like the horn of a vehicle’ Alhaji
Hassan quickly added, ‘and if it flickers then it has to be a light’ so Ali
rephrased the question ‘What blares and produces flickers’ both of them replied
simultaneously, ‘a truck’ and it hit three of them as they chorused at the same
time, ‘it's a fire truck’ It became obvious to them, whoever the next victim was, had
a relationship with the firefighting service, the caller planned to attack
someone related with the firefighting department of the city of Jos. It was 12.30pm already, there was no time to lose, the firefighting
department had four major offices in Jos, and they had only two hours left. The
chances of saving the target was working as two teams. Alhaji Hassan was to
check out two of the offices, while Ali and Ann were to work together to check
out the other two offices, they had a deal, if anyone found anything, calling
the other team should be the first option before making any moves. In the next
five minutes, Ali and Ann were in one car and Alhaji Hassan was in another,
they were heading to different directions but the mission was the same. Saving
the next victim was a matter of top priority. The caller watched them as they drove out of Ali's compound,
he knew they had finally unraveled the riddle, he was angry, he expected Ali to
unravel the riddle faster, how could Ali take as much as over 45 hours to
unravel a simple riddle like that, he suddenly began to dislike Ali, maybe Ali
wasn't that smart after all, when he had dreamed about the riddle series, he
had expected it to be so much fun. But to him it had been quite boring, this
journalist was definitely dull, maybe it was high time he ended it for the
journalist. He needed something much more action packed, maybe if he
attacked someone close to the Journalist, the action level of the game would
triple. He made up his mind, one of the three had to go, certainly not the
journalist, he still needed him in his plans, he hadn't even got to the second
stage of his plan yet, so it had to be one of his partners, who would it be? Would
it be Alhaji Hassan or would it be Ann? He thought about it for some time and
settled on Ann. He was going to kill Ann, killing Ann was part of his original
plans after all, it would sure bring out the animal in Ali, that was exactly
the kind of motivation Ali needed, he had picked Ali for a reason and he was
quite sure that if he struck Ann, Ali would wake up, he longed for action and
if killing Ann would bring the action, he was willing to do that. He turned on
the ignition and drove down the road, his destination was a street off Tafawa
Balewa Street. Ali and Ann's visit to the first office didn't produce any
successful outcome, the security at the gate was rather rude, it took Ann's
female poise and persuasive spirit for him to even grant them access to the
manager. The company register had nothing to offer either, obviously Ali and
Ann had hit a brick wall. It was quite different for Alhaji Hassan, he had a little
more cooperation from the security and the manager was even more cooperative, the company register didn't turn up any thing
indicative though but as he was about to exit the office the manager received a
phone call. The details of the conversation didn't really interest him but it
was a name that he mentioned that struck him and brought him back to his seat. The manager hung up and looked at him in surprise as he sat
down again, 'I thought you were already on your way?' Alhaji Hassan replied, 'yes but you mentioned a name just
now, could you tell me more about that person?' 'You mean, Esther Rise?' Alhaji Hassan nodded 'Oh, she is a resource person from Anambra, from the Nnamdi
Azikwe University in Awka, she's meant to facilitate a training for members of our staff tomorrow,
and the information reaching me says she just flew in a couple of minutes ago' The manager suddenly stopped talking as he realized he was
probably giving out too much information to a stranger, 'why do you ask by the
way?' He observed Alhaji Hassan in a quizzing way Alhaji Hassan smiled and responded 'come on, you know am a
journalist and asking questions is part of my job, I was wondering if I could
grant her an exclusive interview, you know, that would also be good for your
company, she would definitely state her purpose for coming and people out there
would get to know the marvelous work you are doing in here. The manager smiled, of course he would love the opportunity,
and it didn't take much for Alhaji Hassan to convince him to reveal the name of
the hotel where Esther Rise would be lodging. Alhaji Hassan left with the promise of returning to grant
the manager a special interview, the manager was all smiles, as he received
Alhaji Hassan's business card. The Daily Tidings Newspaper was a very popular
one, the manager knew he had hit the jackpot on this, he was going to be a
celebrity, and he was still smiling as Alhaji Hassan drove out of the compound.
It was 1.30pm already, Ali and Ann had barely exited the second
office they had visited with no success when Alhaji Hassan's call came through.
He was going after a certain Esther Rise from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, he
sounded so enthusiastic on the phone, she was lodged in a hotel off Tafawa
Balewa Street, they still had about an hour left, and he expected Ali and Ann
to meet him up as soon as they could. Ali's eyes brightened, of course it added up, he repeated
the riddle, the blaring flickers of the sun rises in the east, he repeated the
last lines, 'Rises In The East' he mouthed it softly to himself 'Rise, East',
he repeated it in the reverse 'East Rise' of course, it was Esther Rise. They had found it, he could see the smile on Ann's face, she
had told them that they would beat the caller this time and indeed they were
almost doing that. Ali couldn't believe his luck, he reversed his car, Tarawa
Balewa street was in the opposite direction, it would take them less than
thirty minutes to get there or rather so he thought, how would he have known
that the main route was currently undergoing construction and that had resulted
in heavy traffic congestion. Esther Rise received the keys from the receptionist after
signing the register, she was a regular guest at Maria Lodge, all the times she
had been to Jos, she had never even tried a different hotel, she had been to
Maria lodge once and that once was enough for her to make a final decision on
the place. As she climbed up the stairs to room 204, she took little
notice of two different men that sat at the bar just on the other side of the
reception room. One of them was Alhaji Hassan, he sat there holding a glass of wine
but he knew who she was, he looked at his wristwatch, it was already 2.00pm and
he wondered why Ali and Ann were delaying. Now he knew why the caller had given
Ali 48hours, he wanted her to arrive Jos, he certainly knew she was flying into
Jos that Sunday afternoon. The other man at the bar knew Alhaji Hassan, he smiled as he
watched him from a distance, he was sitting a little distance away from him, and
he was having his favorite drink. It was 2.00pm, he knew why Ali hadn't showed up, he also
knew Ali wouldn't arrive in time to save this woman and that was why he was
fast getting bored with Ali, maybe he should have picked a different journalist
in the first place, this Ali wasn't so smart after all, it was obvious his fame
of three years ago was only a stroke of luck. He had read a few of his
publications then and at a point it had seemed the journalist really did know
everything about the golf stick murderer. He smiled, he had made up his mind, Ann was going down, she
was meant to go down after all, and he was only bringing her name from the
bottom to number four on his hit list. CHAPTER ELEVEN Held Up Meanwhile Ali and Ann had hit a serious road block, the
major route to Tafawa Balewa Street was under construction and all the road
users were confined to a single lane and as it were, a serious traffic jam had
already taken over the single lane. The road users were practically on standstill and some
impatient drivers had gone ahead to block the road, now all the road users were
held up. The traffic didn't seem to clear up at all, time was running
out, it was 2.05pm, Ali could already foresee an inability to meet the caller's
deadline. Ann on the other hand seemed even more confused, they contemplated
reversing and going through a different route but it was already too late as
other cars had already lined up behind them, they had less than 25minutes left,
Ali knew for sure now that they wouldn't get to the hotel before 2.30pm, he was
still contemplating what to do, when Ann suddenly opened the door and began to
run down the road, Ali got the message immediately, if they made a run for it,
they could make the hotel in thirty minutes but even at that, he doubted the
probability of meeting the victim alive, he knew what he had to do, it was
risky but he had to take his chances. It took him about two minutes to do what
he had to do By the time he got out of the car, Ann was already down the
road, he locked the car doors and began to run after her, he was quite sure
other drivers behind him would have stared on in surprise wondering if he was
crazy, but he didn't care, at that moment he wasn't really concerned about how
the other drivers would eventually find their way when the traffic cleared up,
he also didn't care about his car. Whatever happened to it was fine, if the
towing company was going to tow it, that was fine by him but he was hell bent
on saving victim three, he wasn't going to allow this one die. The caller continued to enjoy his drink as he watched Alhaji
Hassan closely, he could tell that the man was getting impatient, he watched
Alhaji Hassan dial a number on the phone, and he could also tell that no one
responded from the expression on Hassan's face. He smiled as he sang softly to
himself a nursery rhyme 'time is flying, flying away, time waits for nobody' Meanwhile Alhaji Hassan just couldn't take it anymore, he
had called Ali twice, there was no response, he had called Ann twice, there was
no response, it was already ten minutes past two, they had only twenty minutes
left, if he didn't act at that moment, they were going to lose again and he
couldn't afford to allow that happen, not when they had come so close, he was
going ahead to save her, Ali or no Ali. He took the last gulp of his drink,
paid the waiter and began to walk into the reception, he was about to climb the
stairs when he felt the need to decongest his bladder, he walked towards the
rest room and opened the door, there was no one in, he walked towards the far
end and zipped down his fly, he certainly didn't hear when the door opened
again and someone else entered the rest room, neither was he aware that the
person also locked the rest room from inside as he entered, it was the sound of
the voice behind him that made him turn around. 'Good afternoon Sir, how are you doing today?' Alhaji Hassan turned around to see a very handsome young
man, he was quite sure he had seen the face before but he really couldn't place
the face, one thing was distinct though, the stranger exuded so much charm that
Alhaji Hassan was sure he would have fallen for him if he was a lady. Alhaji Hassan smiled and returned the greeting as the
stranger moved closer to him, no doubt the stranger wanted to take a leak too,
that was what he assumed though. Esther Rise had only come out of the bath room when she
heard the knock on the door, it was 2.20pm, she wondered who it was, she wasn't
expecting any guest at the hotel, she safely assumed it was room service, she
tied the towel across her chest and opened the door. Hello, can I help you? 'Good evening, my name is Hassan and I am a journalist' She looked at him with quizzing eyes, 'okay what can I do
for you?' He handed over his complimentary card to her, she studied it
for a while and smiled 'Oh, you are from the Daily Tidings Newspaper' She smiled and returned the card to him, please give me a
few minutes, allow me dress up. Esther Rise closed the door and hurriedly dressed up, she
loved the paparazzi, she lived for it, but this time, it wasn't just about the
paparazzi, the person at the door exuded so much charm, she was already
sexually excited, she was that kind of woman, she loved to have fun with men,
especially handsome men, maybe her stay in Jos was going to be as romantically
exciting as the last time. She wore her most expensive perfume and put on a
rather seductive see through black gown, she only had her undies underneath it,
in another five minutes she opened the door and the journalist came in. She had never met Hassan before, if she had, then she would
have known that Hassan wasn't so young and handsome, neither did he have a mark
on his forehead just above his eyes and much more importantly she would have
known that Hassan couldn't be so charming and seductive. CHAPTER TWELVE Witness Esther Rise offered Hassan a seat, she sat opposite him in a
rather seductive manner as she asked him 'So what exactly do you want from me? He laughed and replied 'What if I desire your life? She laughed too, he sure had a comic side, she loved that in
a man, and she crossed one thigh above another, so her thighs were pretty
visible and enticing. She was about to say something, when she saw the gun, he
held it to her head and smiled ''What would you give for your life?' She was about to scream, he saw it in her face. He held the
gun to his lips as a sign that she should keep quiet, he smiled at her again,
she was terribly afraid, and he could see the way her legs shook 'I want to play a game' She continued to stare at him with great fear in her eyes.
She was suddenly mute, she couldn't even say a word. He looked at his wristwatch, it was 2.28pm, he knew Ali had
failed again, it was already too late for Ali to show up, he continued speaking
I would give you a riddle, you have two minutes to solve it, if you fail, you
die. 'I give account of an event and my testimony can either make
or mar a person, who am I? Esther Rise continued to stare at him in fright, she had
absolutely no idea of the kind of answer he sought, he was standing now and he
still had the pistol pointed at her forehead. Ali had managed to catch up with Ann, they were jogging
together now, they had called Alhaji Hassan over five times already, it rang
but no one responded, Ali looked at his wristwatch, it was 2.28pm, they were
already at Tafawa Balewa street, but he knew it would still take them another five
minutes to get to the hotel and getting to the hotel was one phase, finding her
room was another task in itself. He had foreseen an inability to meet the deadline,
which was why he had done what he had to do before he ran out of the car, he
knew it was risky but he just wanted to be one step ahead of the caller, now
all he could hope and pray for was that his plan turned out right. Esther Rise began to beg for her life, she could already see
death looming over her head, but she couldn't understand why she had to die,
she had never met this man in her life. Why did he want to take her life? The man smiled as he spoke again. I think your time is up,
you couldn't save your own life but I would tell you the answer though. The
answer is... He was interrupted by a knock on the door, as his eyes moved
to the door, Esther saw her chance, maybe it was fear that motivated her, but
somehow she suddenly gained a courage that she had never felt before, it must
have been the strong will to survive, she suddenly screamed very loudly, the
man with the gun didn't anticipate that either, as he turned to look at her
again, the door burst open, it was a policeman with a gun, the stranger didn't
waste any time he fired and the policeman fired too, but he was faster, the bullet
caught the policeman on his neck as he went down, the policeman's bullet
narrowly missed him, as he dived for cover. In that split moment, Esther ran
for the door, he fired at her, the bullet hit her but she managed to run out of
the room into the hall way, he ran after her, as he rushed into the hall way,
he saw another policeman with a gun running towards the room, the policeman
fired at him, but he was quick to run down the hallway in the opposite
direction, two more gun shots followed, one of the bullets grazed his shoulders
as he ran away, he rushed down the stairs, went through the back door, there
were no policemen in the compound, he sneaked behind some flowers, as he got to
the gate, the security guard tried to stop him but two bullets to the stomach
silenced him as he ran out of the hotel and made away. Before the policeman rushed out of the compound, he was gone
and at that same time Ali and Ann ran into the hotel compound. It was all commotion, obviously only two policemen had
driven down to the hotel to check out the call that was made by the anonymous
caller, concerning a threat to life of a certain Esther Rise that was lodging
at Maria Lodge. Ann screamed when she saw the dead security guard, the
policeman was calling for backup, he pointed the gun at Ali and Ann and asked
them to remain where they were. After he had made the call, he led Ali and Ann into the
reception room. Most of the hotel guests were out of their rooms now, they all
heard the gunshots, and Ali had introduced himself to the policeman as the
anonymous caller that had given the tip. Esther Rise was hurt. She had caught a bullet in her left
thigh, she had managed to run and hide in one of the rest room, they had found
her lying unconscious there, she had lost so much blood, they had also found
the body of Alhaji Hassan in one of the restrooms. He had been stabbed to death
multiple times. Ali and Ann couldn't believe it when they saw the corpse of
Alhaji Hassan, Ann couldn't hold the tears from falling, Ali on the other hand
tried to comport himself as a man but it hurt so much, he just couldn't take
the hurt, his friend and business partner was gone. In few minutes. The hotel had been cleared, Esther Rise and
Alhaji Hassan were taken away in an ambulance, Ali and Ann had to follow the
policemen back to the station, there was a lot to talk about. Ali shared his incredible story at the police station. It
was almost impossible to believe, it was only when he shared the recorded
conversation that the story actually began to add up to the policemen. Two detectives were assigned to the case, inspector Usuman
and sergeant Fatima. A lot of the
progress on the case was tied to Esther's recovery, at least they had a victim
that had seen the killer face to face, which was a very big advantage for them.
Some policemen were assigned to guard Esther in the hospital till she regained
consciousness, while the two detectives kept very close tabs on Ali and Ann in
case the caller decided to establish contact again. Breaking the news to Alhaji Hassan's family was a very
difficult task for Ali, the policemen had to help out too, He was buried the
next day as his family didn't want him to spend another day in the mortuary. It took two days for Esther Rise to regain consciousness,
immediately she did, the detectives were informed, they picked up Ali and Ann
from the house and visited Esther at the hospital. Esther couldn't provide very detailed information though,
she could only recall that the attacker was very handsome and had a rather
lovely voice too, she mentioned that he had a mark on his forehead just above
his eyes, she also remembered the riddle he had put to her and how she couldn't
find the answer to it. Ali asked her to repeat the riddle, she did 'I give account of an event and my testimony can either make
or mar a person, who am I? Ali repeated the riddle to himself, this was rather easy. The
answer was 'witness' Inspector Usuman provided the same answer before Ali could
even say it out loud. CHAPTER THIRTEEN Connecting the Dots The alarm went off in Ali's head, he asked Esther, 'why
would he give you a riddle that relates to a witness, do you have any clue?' Esther still felt very weak but she realized the importance
of speaking to these people, she knew she had to provide any information that
might help them get the killer, she began to think hard, she really couldn't
find an answer. They decided to allow her rest for a while, she was advised
to get back to them as soon as anything helpful turned up in her head. Detective Usuman continued to repeat the word 'witness' to
himself, he was a hundred percent positive, this sure had something to do with
this case, he called Ali aside and spoke to him privately 'The other two victims, do you have any information about
them?' Ali nodded 'At least I know where they worked' The detective replied 'I think that would be good enough for a start, maybe we
should visit those places, somehow someone might be able to connect the dots, I
have a feeling that these murders are related, witness here seems to be a
keyword. The beautiful mall was the first location on their visit
list, the four of them, Ali. Ann, Inspector Usuman and Sergeant Fatima hit the
road, they were going to make a stop at the beautiful mall where Blackie had
worked and afterwards they would visit St Mary's high school, where Bloody Mary
had worked. It was high time they started connecting the dots. Meanwhile somewhere deep in the woods, 'Jason' for that was
his name, was recuperating. He had suffered a shoulder injury from the police bullet. It
wasn't really so bad though but he was fuming with anger, this was the third
day, he could take care of himself, he didn't need a doctor, he was his own
doctor, he had learnt a lot from his mother. His shoulder didn't hurt so much
anymore and he knew in a few hours, he would be ready for a counter attack. He had a special cabin in the woods where he always
retreated to whenever he wanted to be away from the world. Now he hated Ali
with so much passion, Ali had broken the rules, he had involved the police, now
he Jason was going to retaliate, and he was definitely going to kill Ali and Ann,
which was certain. He needed a new plan, he wasn’t going to follow the scripts
again. Ali had spoilt the original plan. He remembered how he had also had to
cut short the episode on the golf stick murders, it seemed there was always
someone out there with intent on spoiling his plans. He knew with the police now involved in the case, they might
connect the dots and understand that the victims weren't just a bunch of random
victims, indeed there was a connection. He had hoped they wouldn't connect the
dots till he was ready, that was the original plan but now Ali had messed up
his plans, he was simply going to jump to the last page of the script now. He hated everyone, he hated Ali, he hated Ann, he hated the
police and more importantly, he hated Esther Rise, he smiled as he remembered a
popular line from his mentor 'Saw' 'So many people are so ungrateful to be alive, but not for
you, not anymore' He could say that for Esther Rise, but he knew that wouldn't
last for so long, he knew that before the end, Esther Rise would also meet her
end, she had to pay for her sins, he was the punishment of God upon her, he
certainly couldn't forget all that happened three years ago, he quoted a verse
from the bible 'Though hands joined in hands, the wicked shall never go
unpunished' he smiled, he still knew the bible. He was supposed to be a pastor
after all. He hated them all, every one of them that had played a role
in the painful event, he hated everyone that had contributed to his hurt
whether directly or indirectly, he wouldn't rest until every single one of them
paid for their sins. The visit to the beautiful mall was rather productive, the
manager of the mall, Sir. Alex was able to provide details of Blackie's elder
brother. In another thirty minutes, the four of them were at the
address. When the man opened his door and saw four strange faces with two of
them flashing police ID cards, he was rather scared, he immediately became
defensive but Ann was quick to calm him down with her infectious smile. In a few minutes, they were able to get all the basic
details they needed, the police required some basic details and with those
details they could check their data base if anything helpful would come up. The visit to St Mary's High school was also very productive,
the school admin was able to provide them with the basic information that they
required. They already had the information they required from Esther
Rise, now it was time for Ali and Ann to allow the police carry out their own
investigations and connect the dots surrounding the killings. The next day was a Wednesday, Ann had to return to school,
she had already missed two days of school as it were and her exams drew really
close, Ali tried to talk her out of it, he was scared for her but Ann really
didn't care, she wasn't going to be hiding all her life because of an insane
killer, she assured Ali that she would be fine and she left for school that
morning. Later that day, Inspector Usuman called Ali on the phone,
they had finally connected the dots, indeed it had been staring at them all the
while, the two murdered victims and the last victim that narrowly escaped death
had been witnesses in a particular case of manslaughter three years before. It had been an accident, it involved a minivan and a Toyota
Camry, the occupants of the minivan were six university students, four guys and
two girls, and the driver of the Toyota Camry was a middle aged woman, the
woman had died on the spot, two of the students were badly injured while the
others sustained minor injuries. The police intervened, the woman died but no
relative of hers came forward to identify her, the case was however taken to
court, as the police probably sought to teach the young stars a lesson, however
it turned out that the woman had been in the wrong, Witnesses came forward to
testify that the woman was actually mentally nuts at the time and some other
witnesses had confirmed she had been having seizures prior to the time. No one knew much about her. They only knew she lived alone
in a very big house and that some nights someone actually came to see her, no
one had ever seen the person but it was obvious that the person took care of
her and provided her basic needs. Ali listened with rapt attention, indeed he could already
connect a few dots, somehow he had already begun to see where the killer came
in, and then the inspector gave him the major highpoint of it all. 'Ali, we have been carrying out some investigations and
trying to dig into the past, now, guess what? Ali responded 'What?' Inspector Usuman replied, 'the six university students, all
six of them were murdered one after the other and can you also guess the murder
weapon?' Somehow, Ali already knew the answer, he responded 'Golf sticks' Inspector Usuman replied 'Yea, you got that right' A sudden cold broke upon Ali, now he knew why the caller had
picked him, he had been dealing with the golf stick murderer all this time and
he never knew it, now he knew he really had to be scared, his hands couldn't
hold the phone anymore, he began to tremble in fear, to him, the story just got
super real CHAPTER FOURTEEN The Genesis Jason looked straight into the mirror as he stared at his nude body, he
was indeed an awesome masterpiece of the creator, he had the kind of eyes that
ladies couldn’t resist, everything about his face was lovely to behold, his
shoulders stood high and tall, maybe his pride just came naturally, he didn’t
have to work hard at it, his body showed consistency at body fitness programs
and workout, he didn’t have the perfect physique he always dreamed of, but what
he had, ladies totally found irresistible. He wasn’t always like that, he would have referred to himself as ugly
at childhood, his transformation was miraculous, he had grown into a charming
young man by a mere twist of fate or as he preferred to call it, an act of God. His mind drifted to the past, he remembered the night with Aishat, that
night probably changed it all for him, he had murdered Aishat and practically
her family that night in rage, he was a young boy blinded by lust, he couldn’t
calculate, he couldn’t think, all he could do was act irrationally and that was
exactly what he had done. He had woken up a changed boy, somehow the grievousness of his sins had
convicted him the next morning when he recalled all he had done the previous
night, his mum never asked him and he never told her about it, but on that day,
he made a vow, he was never going to kill anyone again, Aishat’s murder did
something to him, he was never going to forget about the only girl he had loved
as much as he loved his own mother. He had kept the golf stick in memory of
her, the golf stick became his personal toy, he treated it like a god, he kept it
at a well-priced place in his bedroom, his mum observed his inexplicable
fondness of the golf stick but she never mentioned anything about it. He could
tell it from the way she looked at him, she was scared of him. He was a very bright student, he got into the university of Jos, he
graduated among the best graduating students, for those five years he was
clean, there were many times he would have yielded to his lust for blood, but
the image of Aishat wouldn’t stop flashing, he even found it hard to hurt a
fly, it seemed she controlled him in a way he couldn’t understand. Securing a job in one of the best companies afterwards wasn’t a big
deal, with his profession and the kind of intelligence that oozed out of him,
companies were at his beck and call. He always had a dream of owning his own
company, he never planned to work in a firm for long, and five years was enough
for him. He was smart, he was intelligent, he was streetwise, he knew the
games, he knew how to make money, he applied the rules and he made a large
amount of money too. He got his mum a decent house, he had plans for her, she
still loved him so much, he was all she had, he loved her so much too, she was
all he had, he was never going to be married, and he would do that for her and
Aishat. He couldn’t always be with her but he took out time to visit her every
other fourth day, he visited her late in the nights and left before dawn. He
provided all her needs, he cared for her, he had bigger dreams for her, no one
knew about his mum, he was that jealous, he didn’t want to share with anyone,
even his so called friends never knew he had a mum, he wanted her all to
himself and just when he was at the verge of achieving the big dream he had
always dreamed about, just when he was about to kick start the first stage of
his entrepreneurial journey, some drunk students ran their van into his
mother’s car and killed her. His world crumbled, he practically died, he couldn’t even show up to
receive his Mother’s body, he was devastated and broken, he decided to let the
law take its full course, at least he expected the students to do time at
least, his mother deserved that but they went scot free, all six of them went
scot free. He had grieved in his loss for the couple of days that followed, he
really didn’t have friends that could console him, after all, no one even knew
he had a mother, no one did know anything about him, he preferred to live his
life that way. The state probably buried his mother’s body in an unmarked
grave, he hated that he couldn’t bury his own mum, indeed he longed to identify
himself and receive her body but maybe his other evil self, had already begun
its first stages of hatching out an evil plan. He spent long hours every day
sitting all by himself and staring at the wall, he slowly returned to his old
passion of studying deep spiritual books, pornography and horror movies and
gradually he returned to his old self. That part of him that longed for blood
struggled to be let out every single day as Aishat’s hold on him slackened at a
faster rate. It didn’t take him so long, hibernating in the shadows and dwelling in the
deep negativities of his mind unleashed the deep evils that had been dormant in
him. His evil self won, breaking the hold of Aishat’s thoughts on him. Now he
was free, now he was ready to hit back at those that hurt him and he had plans
to add bonuses too. It took him six months to be prepared, all the money he had saved up
for his dream empire, he invested into his plans, he built the fully
digitalized cabin house that he needed in the woods, a few millions went in
there, his first victims were everyone that knew about the cabin house, contractors,
site men, laborers, he took them all out, one after the other. No one had a
clue, the police didn’t even suspect a link in the deaths, after all only the
dead knew they had a link to a certain cabin house and dead people didn’t tell
stories. He built a business for a cover
and put people in charge, he built a church too which he donated to a pastor
and he also worshipped there, this quickly earned him the title of Pastor, of
course that was the perfect cover, He also built a house, another cover, he
achieved all these simultaneously, that was where he planned to live, he spent
a lot more on his personal training. He spent four months outside Jos in a secret
training institute where he built himself into the man he had always wanted to
be physically. He also learnt a great deal about weapons at the training
institute and when he returned to Jos, he was ready to activate the first stage
of his plans. He already had the full details of the six students that brought him so
much hurt, he never for once abandoned his golf stick, which was why he included
the golf stick in his plans. He was doing this for the love of Aishat and his
Mum. His first week of return to Jos was spent tailing his victims, in one
week, he knew everything about them, where they went, what they did, he even
knew their favorite friends and favorite foods, he had a game plan, he didn’t
want the murders to be too quickly linked to the accident case that happened a
few months before then, so he had a plan. He sure was going to be popular, he
already suspected how the police would tag him, ‘the golf stick murderer’ that
was why he left a new golf stick at the scene of every crime, which was his own
signature. He had the perfect personality, he could enter into any place at any
time, he had the money, he had the skills, he was super smart too, and he had
the perfect cover, no one would ever suspect him, he intended playing the game
for long, in the long run all six students would be dead but there would be
many bonus kills, the bonus kills would serve to lead the police far away from
the prime reason for the killings, he was only going to let them know when he wanted
them to know. That was why the first reported death on the golf stick murders was
Andy Chuks. Andy Chuks knew nothing about the accident that took the old woman’s
life, but he had schooled with Jason and Jason had hated his guts back then in
school, that was enough reason for him to lose his life, Jason tagged Andy
Chuks as a bonus kill. CHAPTER FIFTEEN The Golf Stick Murderer After he started off with Andy Chuks, his confidence returned, that was
the first time he was taking down a victim in the victim's own house since
after Aishat. When he began to strike his prime targets, he took them out almost
consecutively, he didn't want any excessive time lag so no one would begin to
connect the dots, he repaid them in their coin as he loved to see it within the
space of one month, no one even had a clue, no one could connect the dots, the
police couldn't either, the best they all could come up with was that there was
a pattern and all the murders were classified under 'the golf stick murders' After he had murdered the six students and even added eight bonus kills
equating a total of fifteen murders in the space of two months, he found it
harder to stop, his lust for blood couldn't be satisfied, he sought for more
reasons to continue as he suddenly became famous. 'The golf stick murderer'
became a dreaded name in the city of Jos, he watched it on television and read
it on newspapers too, he fast became a lover of newspaper and magazines as he
loved to read what people thought about him, how people tried to guess his next
moves and how the police continued to be totally clueless, it was his love for
newspapers and magazines that drew his attention to a special publication that
seemed to for the first time know something about him. It was an article and the
writer had written so much that for a split second he had cause to wonder if he
hadn't gone sloppy. The writer had mentioned that the killer had to have had a very abusive
childhood possibly from an irresponsible step dad, he also mentioned that the
killer had to be grieving over something, maybe the loss of a very dear one and
this was his own way of taking it out on the world. Jason had found it hard to believe that anyone could even come so close
to knowing the kind of person he was. He had taken special notice of the newspaper then, it wasn't even a
popular one, and it was 'The Daily Tidings Newspaper' He had taken note of the writer too, he seemed a brilliant journalist, and
the name was Ali. Jason had paid them a visit at The Daily Tidings newspaper, that was
where he had met Alhaji Hassan For the first time, He had met Ali too, He had
visited them under the disguise of having them help him out with a certain
research but his true aim was to meet Ali and probably understand how he knew
so much about the golf stick murderer. After the meeting, he had afterwards convinced himself that Ali was
nothing to worry about, the young man was only acting on thoughts and nothing
else. He had a grand plan, his aim was to murder every single person that was
connected to his mother's death and the subsequent release of her killers. In
the weeks that followed, he murdered the lawyers and the presiding judge but he
always added bonus kills so the real connection wouldn't be easily made and
maybe he might have continued to succeed if the Journalist didn't continue to
make things complicated for him, his thoughts about the killer were becoming
more and more accurate, Jason knew that if he continued with his murder spree,
the police would soon connect the dots and might just be able to save the last
set of victims. He thought about murdering the Journalist but again, he thought against
it, if he did, it would all the more draw the attention of the police to the
journalist and, this would make things worse for him as it would make them
concentrate some more on the Journalist's articles and at the end, they would
still connect the dots before he was done. Jason knew what he had to do, it was the only option, he had to take a
break on the killings for some time, he had to leave his last set of victims
for another time but firstly he knew he had to be caught, yes, the golf stick
murderer had to be caught and prosecuted that was the only way, he could have a
free pass to come back for his last set of victims. He hated them as much as he hated the six students, he tagged his last
set of victims 'The Witnesses' they all witnessed in court against his deceased
mother and their testimonies gave the students a gate pass out of the jail he
had hoped they would end up. They were also six in number, he already had their details but he
believed in patience, he knew it wasn't safe for him to go ahead with his
plans, the journalist had spoilt his plans, he was definitely going to come
back for their heads but first he had to die. He remembered the day, it was December 20th 2006, he had adopted the
only sister of Raphael, Raphael was another criminal based in Jos, and they had
trained together at the secret institute where he had trained. Raphael's only
reason for living was his sister, Jason knew this, he hated Raphael's gut, he
had always nursed plans to murder him, but he had then found a perfect use for
Raphael, he was going to use Raphael as his fall guy, The same night he
kidnapped Raphael's sister was the same night he planted the evidences in his
secret hideout, He had given the anonymous tip to sergeant Bello, early that
morning and just a few minutes before Sergeant Bello and his men cracked down
Raphael's hide out, Raphael spoke with his dearest sister and upon threat to her
life had accepted to take the fall for whatever happened to him in the minutes
that followed, he never for once knew he would be taking the fall for the golf
stick murders, neither did he know that the one who abducted his beloved only
sister was the same Jason he had trained with. Raphael never said anything contrary in the face of the evidences and
accusations that were levied against him, not like it would have mattered
though as the evidences were glaring, he also had his own crime records with
the police, so his words weren't even going to hold in the first place, the set
up was perfect, he would have been able to make some good noise though and
convince maybe some members of the public that the killer was still out there
but he loved his sister too much, he trusted the abductor to keep to his
promise, he pleaded guilty in court, he could die for his sister, he was that
hardened and that was why Jason had chosen him. Jason kept his promise, after all he didn't allow her see his face, and
she was on blindfolds all the hours he held her hostage. He let her go the same
day Raphael was sentenced to death by hanging, she was the first of his victim
he had ever let go, he remembered how he had felt like God that day, he also
murdered Sergeant Bello a few days later, he just didn't want any lags, he was
leaving Jos for a while and when he returned, he was coming for the last set of
his victims, the ones he had tagged the witnesses. He had spent longer than he planned but it was a time well spent, he
had developed himself so strongly, he was ten times better than the man he was
when he left Jos, he returned about two and a half years later, he had found a
mentor in 'Saw' of the movie saw. That was where he got the concept of the riddles, it intrigued him, and
he knew he was going to love the games, he was going to create his own Saw
character. He had his games all planned out, he had come back to get the
witnesses, Ali was going to be a bonus kill, he already had plans for Ali the
journalist, that was why he had included him in his plans, He wanted him to
feel guilty for the murder of the victims and afterwards reveal the story to
him and when he had got the message out to the world for him, he would take him
out, that was his master plan. On his return to Jos, it was obvious, the golf stick murders was dead
and forgotten news, he loved it that way, he could see the end from the
beginning, at the end, he would make everyone see the connections and maybe
everyone would have a lesson to learn. He made his first anonymous call to Ali after he had spent two weeks in
Jos. Jason's mind returned to the present as his hatred continued to rise,
his shoulder wound from the police shot didn't hurt so much anymore, Ali had
broken the rules, he couldn't get that off his mind, Ali had gone to the
police, he knew that the police would be almost cracking the case now, he
couldn't afford to have them saving anyone, all the witnesses had to die, that
was why he couldn't afford to waste another hour, there were six of them, two
were down already, four more had to go, he had twenty four hours to end it all,
he had laid down his plans, it would be a grand ending, he smiled to himself as
he looked at the mirror, he muttered softly under his breath 'Ali you should never have broken the rules' He continued to stare at the mirror, it was the third day since after
the incident with Esther Rise, he was ready to strike again, he put on his
clothes, he didn't turn away from the mirror, he got out his phone and dialed
Ali's number, he didn't bother to mask his voice, he didn't care anymore, he
knew it was time for a bloodbath. Ali was sitting at his study table, trying to do his own investigations
regarding the information that Detective Usuman had passed on to him when his
phone rang, Ali stared at the screen, it was private number, he looked at his
wristwatch, it was 9pm, fear seized him but he answered the call all the same. 'You might be familiar with Newton's third law, I would want you to
know it also applies to breaking rules?' The voice on the phone was cold, Newton's third law flashed in Ali's
head 'For every action, there is equal and opposite reaction' Ali knew he had broken the rules, now that he knew he was dealing with
the golf stick murderer, he was all the more scared, he tried to speak but no
words came out, as he tried to stutter a reply, the voice continued 'I want to play a game, In vain your bangles cast, charms circle at my feet, I am Abiku,
calling for the first and repeated time, you have three hours, you find it, you
keep it, finders keepers and the line went dead' CHAPTER SIXTEEN Sweet Dreams Dear Child Ali glanced at his wall clock, it was two minutes past nine, luckily
for him, the towing company had returned his car that evening after Detective
Usuman had pulled his strings and he had also made some amount of money
available. He had no time to lose, the caller gave only three hours, he knew the
answer to the riddle, this one was quite easy, and it was a line from a poem he
had studied in secondary school. The keywords in this riddle were 'I am Abiku, calling for the first and
repeated time' If it was first and repeated time, then it was no one else but Esther
Rise, the caller was going after Esther Rise again, he had called on her
before, and this to him was a repeat call. Ali grabbed his phone and dialed detective Usuman's number but on a
second thought, he stopped. He had broken the rules the first time and he knew
just how much he had pissed off the caller, he wasn’t even sure of the
consequences. He decided to play by the rules this time at least there were two
officers watching over Esther Rise at the hospital, all he needed to do was
show up at the hospital and be beside Esther Rise before 12.00am and that would
be all the caller required to pass over her, that was what he thought, he
grabbed his car keys, threw on a jacket over the black T-shirt he was wearing
and dashed out of the house, the hospital wasn't so far, he could make it there
in thirty minutes. Ali didn't inform the police about the call, which was his first
mistake. He arrived at the hospital at exactly 9.42pm, he smiled to himself, He
was sure he would beat the caller to this one, he crossed the reception hall,
the nurse at the reception smiled at him, she knew him, he walked down the hall
and climbed the stairs that led to the ward where Esther Rise was admitted. He
met the first police officer at the door, he greeted him, and it was obvious
everything was fine, he entered into the room. Esther Rise had a special room
to herself, which was what detective Usuman demanded as she was a special
patient. The other officer sat opposite Esther Rise on the other empty bed, she
was a woman too, and they obviously had things in common to discuss about. They both greeted Ali fondly, although Esther Rise showed a certain
level of anxiety as Ali entered the room, it was strange to see him there at
that time of the night, but he assured her that everything was fine, he sold
one of his easy get away lies and went out to join the other officer at the door. He also killed the officer's worries, he didn't want to get them
unnecessarily alarmed, he was quite sure that if he kept to the rules, there
would be no death that night. Ali and Officer Victor had a lot to talk about, he had discovered to
his surprise that they had come from the same local government area, they would
have chatted for over one hour before Ali's phone rang. Ali was quite sure it was the caller, he could assume he had given up
as he had obviously lost on this one but to his disappointment, it wasn't
private number that he saw on the screen rather it was Detective Usuman. He spoke rather fast, 'Ali, we have found the names of the other witnesses, they were six in
number altogether, we have found the other three and you won't believe it, Ann
was one of the witnesses' Ali almost choked at the mention of his girlfriend's name 'Wait, how do you mean Ann?' Detective Usuman replied 'I mean, Ann, your girlfriend was the last witness that testified
against the deceased woman in the case three years ago, but never mind, we are
channeling out squads first thing tomorrow morning to bring them all to the
station, we would provide protection for them till we make headway on this
case' Ali didn't wait for detective Usuman to end the call, he dropped the
call and dialed Ann's number. His heart beat rate was alarming, he had never for once thought about
the fact that his own Ann could even be a target for the insane caller. Officer Victor stared hard at him, he knew something was wrong, Ali was
visibly shaken, Ann wasn’t taking her calls, he tried three more times, she
still didn't take her calls, he had to respond to officer Victor's questioning
eyes. 'I am sorry, it is just that I just got an information now, that my
girlfriend Ann was also a witness in the accident case three years ago' Officer Victor's eyes widened, he could understand just how Ali felt.
Ali just needed to warn Ann, she needed to know she was also on the target list
of the insane caller, if only he had called her earlier in the day when the
detective had told him about the discovery of the possible motive for the
murder, he was sure she would have told him she was also a witness and she
would have been safely beside him now. He contemplated sending a text to warn her and just then, the riddle
hit him hard again, this time he knew he had got it wrong. 'In vain your bangles cast, charms circle at my feet, I am Abiku,
calling for the first and repeated time' Of course, the keyword was 'first and repeated time' The caller had met Ann before, when he had dropped her off in his
house, now he was going after her again, the first time was a rather friendly
visit, now he was going after her life. Ali got mad, he hated himself, he had been so blind, he should have
known the first answer to the riddle was
too easy, he looked at his wristwatch, it was already 11pm, he had only one
hour to save Ann, he dialed her number again, she still didn't pick up. Officer Victor continued to stare at him, he was at a loss as to what
to do, Ali briefed him on the situation, there was only one option, since Ann
wasn't picking up, he had to go get her, he had to get to her before the caller
did, officer Victor insisted on Ali informing Detective Usuman but Ali recalled
the caller’s warning, this was about his girlfriend now, he wasn’t going to
give the caller a reason to murder his girlfriend. As he made to leave the hospital, officer Victor volunteered to go with
him at least as a safety measure, as he didn't want to involve the general
police force, Ali declined but eventually gave in when officer Victor kept
pressing and urging him to accept it as an offer from a friend and not just an
officer. He was in plain clothes too so Ali agreed, after all, he didn't know
what could be out there waiting for him. Officer Victor went into the room, he briefed the female officer and in
another two minutes, he and Ali were in the car heading for Ann's off campus
residence. Officer Victor should never have left the other officer all by herself
at the hospital that night, which was another mistake that was made that night. The road was free and Ali drove at top speed. In another thirty
minutes, they were at Ann's house. It was exactly 11. 20pm, Ali was sure he had
beat the killer, it was a student dominated two storey building, Ali got out of
the car, officer Victor remained in the car because Ali insisted he did, Ali
got into the compound, the security man knew him, he had been there a couple of
times, he ran up the stairs, she lived on the first floor, he tapped on her
door for a while and decided to use his personal key, there was no one in the
room, the room was neat and tidy, it seemed no one had even been there all day. Ali dialed her number again, still there was no response, now he was
very confused and scared for her, and it was 11. 25pm already, he climbed down
the stairs, he was going back to meet Officer Victor, maybe he had to involve
the general police now, this had gotten out of his own hand as it were. Meanwhile, Officer Victor had been trying to reach the female officer
he had left in the hospital on phone but there was no response, if only he had
special powers he would have known that her phone was lying just beside her
dead body with a bright red bullet hole on her forehead. He would have also
known that the bed where Esther Rise had lain was empty and that the nurse at
the reception also had a bright red hole on her forehead, eyes staring into
space, murdered in cold blood. Officer Victor only raised his head when he heard Ali's footsteps as he
walked towards him, Ali knocked on his window and he got out of the car too. 'I can't find her, her room is empty, I think I might have to involve
detective Usuman after all' The officer nodded, he agreed with Ali, he replied 'I think so too, I have been trying to get feedbacks from my partner at
the hospital but am making no headway' He was still speaking, when Ali received a message on his phone, the
message was short and precise 'If you ever want to see Ann alive again, meet me at the devil's park,
you have thirty minutes' Ali wasn't thinking, he immediately jumped into his car, Officer Victor
couldn't understand, Ali banged the car doors hard and turned on the ignition,
there was no time to waste, devil's park was a popular park, people nicknamed
it such because bad things happened there at nights, he knew the place, he
could make it in less than thirty minutes, officer Victor stood there staring
in surprise as Ali drove away, Ali hadn't even given him a single explanation,
he watched Ali drive away, leaving him stranded on a road like that at that
time of the night. Ali should have told Officer Victor his destination, which was the
third mistake that night. Ali arrived at the park in twenty minutes, he had driven like a mad
man. He couldn't lose Ann. She meant everything to him. He got out of the car,
he could see flickers of light, like it was from a torchlight it was coming on
and off, it was coming from a secluded part of the park, he was very scared but
his love for Ann gave him strength, he moved closer and closer to the spot
where the light came from, then suddenly the light stopped flickering. He
continued to move forward, he expected anyone to jump out at any moment, he got
to the point where he assumed the light had been flickering from, there was a
white paper on the ground, he bent down to pick it up, as he bent down, he felt
a heavy bang on his head, no doubt it was heavy metal, he felt the strength
disappear from him as his body crumbled to the ground, the last words he heard
before he passed out were 'Sweet dreams dear child' CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Russian roulette Ali opened his eyes, he blinked severally to adjust his eyes to the
light, he lay on his side, his hands were bound behind his back and his legs
were bound to each other, he couldn't tell his location, he had to force
himself up to a sitting position, that was when he observed for the first time
that he was in a bush, a clearing in a forest so to speak, he could hear sounds
of vehicle horns some distance away, he could tell that he wasn't very far away
from an highway, a soft moan made him turn around, that was when he discovered
that he wasn’t alone. There were five of them, there was Ann, Esther Rise, an
old man and a woman, they were all tied same way he was and they all formed a
kind of circle with the way they sat. They were gagged so they couldn't speak
too. Ali looked at Ann, he felt like crying, he could tell just how much
hurt she felt, he felt so bad that he could do nothing to help her, Ann on the
other hand wore a rather confident face, she didn't show any sign of fear, she
seemed like one who had resigned herself to whatever fate befell her. Esther Rise was sobbing, the old man and the woman wore confused
expressions on their face. None of them could move, they were securely bound hands and feet. 'Good day Ladies and gentlemen, did anyone miss me? The voice sounded from afar and they heard his footsteps approaching
until he appeared. Ali recognized him, he was the same man that had met him three years ago,
Esther Rise recognized him too, he had attempted to murder her a few days
before, Ann could place his face now, he was the cab driver she had met a few
days ago, the woman gasped in shock, she knew him as Pastor, he was one of the
pastors in her church, a very rich and influential man he was too, the old man
had seen him before, he had visited the old man on two occasions claiming to
desire supernatural powers for that was what the old man did, he claimed to
help people out with their spiritual problems. Jason walked up to them and stood in the middle of the circle, he
always loved being the center of attraction. He laughed in a very crazy manner, as he danced to sounds he alone
could hear, he dressed rather smartly, black T-shirt on black jeans and he put
on a pair of white sneakers too, he stopped laughing and spoke slowly almost in
whispers 'In vain your bangles cast, charms circle at my feet, I am Abiku,
calling for the first and repeated time' He looked at Ali and shook his head, 'Ali you are so rusty, that was the easiest riddle of all, call it
catching four birds with a single net, yet even a single one of the birds you
couldn't save' He revealed a pistol and held it on his right hand, he began to move
around, he stopped in front of the woman and touched her head with the muzzle
of the pistol. 'Here goes the jewelry merchant, she represented the bangles’ He pointed the pistol at the old man ‘There goes the spiritual prophet, he represented the charms’ He turned towards Ann and again turned swiftly towards Esther Rise,
'and those two represented my first and repeated calls' He smiled like a victor as he repeated the last riddle 'in vain your
bangles cast, charm circle at my feet, I am Abiku, calling for the first and
repeated time' 'Okay, this is how this would go, I would make this a simple game,
ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Russian roulette' with that he
produced another pistol, a revolver this time around, he produced a single
round and placed it in the revolver, then he spun the cylinder and placed his
fore finger on the trigger. He was having so much fun, he was enjoying himself, he continued
speaking 'three years ago, you all except our dear Journalist here aided and
abetted six idiots to go free for the murder of a very harmless old woman.
Let's just say today is judgement day, see me as God, today I would give only
one of you a chance to make it out of here alive, in this game, we would have
only one winner and that winner would win his or her life back' He laughed again, he was really enjoying this, he basked in the
ambience of their fears, Esther Rise was crying now, the woman was crying too,
Ann was expressionless same as the old man, Ali wore a murderous look, he would
kill this maniac if he had a chance. 'Okay, who would be our first players?' Jason looked round and went to the woman, he drew her to the middle as
she cried, he went to the old man and drew him to the middle too. He cut their
hands lose but made sure their legs and feet were still securely tied, he made
them sit directly opposite each other and handed the revolver to the woman 'Ladies first, buy your life' She was trembling, she refused to take the gun, and she continued to
sob. Jason shook his head as he spoke 'never say, I didn't give you a chance'
he spun the cylinder and handed over the gun to the old man, the old man
received the gun pointed it at the head of the woman as directed by Jason and
squeezed the trigger, the woman screamed through her gags, but she was safe, it
was an empty chamber. Jason laughed and jumped excitedly, he loved the game. He took the gun
from the man and spun the cylinder and handed it to the woman again 'now you
have a second chance at life, buy your life' She was crying and trembling, she rejected the gun again, Jason handed
it again to the man, the old man squeezed the trigger again, still there was no
luck, it was another empty chamber, Jason spun the cylinder again and handed it
to the woman, she was still trembling but this time she took the gun, it was
obvious she had to at least try to save herself. With trembling hands, she pointed the muzzle at the man's head and
pressed the trigger, the sound of the gun shot was deafening as the bullet
created a hole on the man's forehead, the woman screamed as she threw the gun
away and the man's dead body hit the floor. Jason continued to laugh and jump in excitement, he loved this game,
and he could do it all day. He pulled the dead man away from the circle as he
pulled Ann to the middle of the circle to face the woman. Ann was still expressionless, Ali tried to force himself up and defend
his girlfriend but he was helpless, the bond was strong. Jason produced another
round, placed it in the revolver and spun the cylinder, he gave the gun to the
woman first. Meanwhile from one end of the forest, Viper heard the sound of the gun
shot, he had trailed Jason to the bush that morning but somehow he had lost
him, he knew Jason had to be up to something, the institute had sent him to
take care of Jason when Jason had gone out of hand. Jason had broken the policy
by setting up Raphael, it had taken them three years to track him down because
when he relocated, he totally went underground, the training institute had
rules, Jason had always been a rule breaker but taking out Raphael was just the
height of it all, Raphael was important to the organization, Viper was here to
take out Jason. At another end of the forest were a team of policemen led by detective
Usuman, they had finally been able to crack the case, they had identified the
killer, he was Pastor Jason, a very wealthy man too, he wasn’t so popular
though as he loved being in the shadows but most elite in the society knew him.
This team of policemen had also tailed Jason to the forest, they knew he had
taken hostages, they wanted him to lead them there. They had also lost him when
they got here, but they heard the sound of the gun shot too, it gave them a new
sense of direction. Ann had refused to partake in the game, she wasn't going to give the
insane killer joy, she would rather die than murder anyone for him, and the
woman had pulled the trigger three times already. Every time she pulled the
trigger, Ann's heart would take a big leap, but Ann had been lucky three times.
Ann knew her luck would soon run out though, the woman didn't seem so
scared anymore, probably she did think Jason would let her go, if she won the
games. Ann stared hard at her as her shaky hands held on to the revolver, she
put her fore finger to the trigger, the woman had tears in her eyes, Ann could
see it, she wanted to live, Ann closed her eyes as the woman pressed the
trigger, she heard the gun shot, it was loud and deafening, she heard it again,
that was strange, she opened her eyes and it was Jason that was on the floor,
the woman still had the gun, she had pulled the trigger but again Ann was
lucky, Jason was holding his chest, the blood was pouring out, he couldn't
believe it that he could bleed that much, he saw himself as a god. Ann turned and there was a man in mask and combat outfit running down
towards them. That was Viper, he was a professional, he had fired at Jason from
a long distance, he hit his mark too, two bullets were enough or so he thought. Viper met them, he ignored Jason as Jason continued to struggle in
pain, he got out a knife and began to cut the ropes that bound Ali, He wore a
mask, so Ali couldn't see his face, but just as he made to turn around to
probably help someone else, a bullet burst through his head as particles of his
brains splattered on Ali's face. Jason was up! As Viper's lifeless body fell on Ali, more gunshots were heard, the
police had come, as Ali pushed Viper off his body, he could see Jason running
away, he was sorely wounded but he was trying to make a run for it, Ali looked
behind him, the police were running down and firing at Jason but they were
still far away, at that rate, he knew Jason would get away, he looked into
Ann's eyes, she knew what he was thinking, she urged him to do it, her eyes
said all the words that needed to be said. Jason had managed to struggle out of the bush, he was still bleeding
profusely but he was determined to survive, he was about to make a run for the
road when he heard a voice behind him 'Stop!' He turned around and saw Ali pointing a pistol at him, no doubt it was
Viper's pistol, and Jason laughed 'Can you even handle one of those? Ali ignored his question and continued 'I want to play a game, you win, you go free, you lose, and you die' Jason laughed despite his hurt, 'Bring it on boy', he staggered as he spoke, he still had his own
pistol on his right hand Ali watched Jason's right hand as he spoke 'What comes to the world with cheers but returns with a bang?' Jason stared at him in confusion Ali grinned as his finger played on the trigger, 'The answer is you sucker', With that he pulled the trigger, the bullet burst through Jason's head
as Jason fell back to the road, he died instantly. No one could have survived
that kind of impact. Ali heard the voices of the police as they tried to find their way
towards him from the trees behind him, he sat on the floor and dropped the gun,
his father had trained him well, he knew how to use a gun and he was a good
marksman too. It was over, the golf stick murderer was gone, this time for
real. EPILOGUE It was six months after the whole incident, the golf stick murder saga
was fast fading off as there were always new trending crimes in the city of
Jos. Ann had returned back to school, Ali had returned back to work, he missed
Alhaji Hassan so much but work had to continue. The daily tidings newspaper and
magazines experienced a major boom and rose to fastest selling newspaper in
Jos. Ali became a state hero too, his popularity spread all over Jos as the man
that had ended the reign of a menace to society. Ali was working on a story so he stayed up late at the office, it was
8pm, when he heard his phone ring, he looked at the screen, and it was private
number. He answered the call and heard a strange unfamiliar voice. 'I heard you are very smart, let us play a game of cat and mouse, you
be the cat, I will be the mouse, if you find me you win, if you don't, let's
just say the cost would be in lives' And the line went dead. © 2018 Emmy PhenomAuthor's Note
|
StatsAuthorEmmy PhenomBenin City, South, NigeriaAboutMy name is Emmanuel Oghieaga aka Emmy Phenom aka Da OTB Master, though formerly known as EMMY Blinks. Graduate of Electical/Electronics Engineering and a prolific story writer. Specialized in short st.. more..Writing
|