Tarasha - Season 4 - Episode 58

Episode 4 years ago

Tarasha - Season 4 - Episode 58

The man was lying in the bed but wasn’t asleep. He sat up slowly and his eyes followed Tarasha to the wardrobe in which she dropped the bag of clothes. ‘I also bought you an antiseptic soap, a sponge, toothbrush and toothpaste. I know you must be feeling unclean the way you are now.’ she closed the wardrobe and proceeded back towards the door. ‘You have enough time to rest after your breakfast, we’d have to do some work together after lunchtime.’ she said and walked out without waiting for a reply.
The man rolled out of the bed slowly and slipped on the slippers by the bedside. He walked to the wardrobe and opened to check what she had bought. After checking all what she came with, he wondered if he was still in abduction or if she had already accepted him as a co-worker.


*
*
2:30pm
Defence Hospital, Anambra
‘Doctor, just dress up the wound. I need to leave here once my colleague arrives.’ Dave said to the Doctor standing in his ward who had just administered some injections to him. Two nurses were in the ward with them.
‘I know you have to get back to work but I’ll advice that you let us watch you till tomorrow afternoon.’ the doctor replied him.

‘For another twenty four hours?’
‘Yes, so we can monitor the wound and ensure its going to close up soon.’
‘I can always come back for you to check me, but I can’t stay here for another twenty four hours. I have some things to do tonight,’ Dave stepped down from the bed and put on his slippers. ‘Excuse me Doc, I’ll like to use the restroom.’
‘I’ll give you sometime to reconsider your decision Agent,’ the doctor said as he watched Dave walk to the toilet. He signalled to the nurses with him and they proceeded out of the ward together.

*
35 minutes later
Agent Dan had arrived with Godwin the SSS director. Another chair had been added to the ward, Dan and Godwin were seated and facing Dave who was sitting in an upright position at the edge of bed.
‘The chairman is mad at you and he wants quick correction,’ Dan said to Dave.
‘I know, but you think he would still place me on suspension?’ Dave asked in a sad tone.


‘I honestly don’t think so,’ Dan replied. He bit his lower lips slightly and placed a thin stare at Dave’s face. ‘That’s what he should have done but I think he was stopped.’
‘Stopped? By who?’
‘I don’t really know but the bottom line is that they think you’re doing well on the case and should not be stopped yet.’
‘And do you know if the police has taken any action with the information available especially the credit card details?’
Dan was yet to answer when the door of the ward flung open and the Doctor walked in with a file in his hands. Everyone in the room turned to him.
‘Agent, you’re free to leave when you like.’ the Doctor stopped beside Dave and handed an A4 sized paper to him. ‘Show them this at the reception, the nurses would give you the drugs I recommend for you.’ the doctor paused a little. Dave was scanning through the paper. ‘Agent, do not involve yourself in strenuous activities or exercises yet, you may open up the wound again.’
‘Thank you,’ Dave said in reply. The doctor turned and courtesied silently to the other agents seated before he walked.

________
‘Have you had lunch?’ Tarasha asked the doctor as she walked into the living room. She had a can of spray paint in her right hand and a license plate of a car in the left hand. From the little stains on her top and jeans trousers, he could tell that she had just finished spraying a car.
‘Yes, I took the plates and tray to the kitchen already,’ he replied and returned his gaze to the television. The news was being read.
She walked to the store in the house and dropped the things she had with her, then she went outside again and returned with a can of spray primer and a masking tap. She didn’t return until fifteen minutes time. She had changed into an armless black top and a blue jean bum short and also carried a laptop with her when she returned.
‘Can we work now?’ she asked as she proceeded to the man’s seat.
He sat up and watched as she approached him. She dragged a footstool with her and placed it beside him.
‘I have a couple of documents here detailing the importation of some drugs into the country between 2010 to 2016. I made some research and discovered that these drugs were banned in the US during that period,’ she said as she opened a document. ‘But the confusing thing here is that the importation was approved by the Nigerian drug agency then. I don’t understand this, ‘ she stopped and looked at his face. ‘You confessed to work with them in the business, so I believe you should have an explanation.’


The man didn’t appear to be listening to her. His focus was fully on the document she opened. ‘Where did you get this from?’ he asked, referring to the article.
She closed the laptop screen on seeing that he wasn’t paying attention to her. ‘I asked you a question first, how did they get this importation and many others to be approved?’
The man sat, he released air from his mouth and looked the other way. ‘The drug agency Chairman at that time was a part of Elvis Richards team, I can recognize his signature in that document you opened but I never knew a document like that existed.’
‘But people bought this drugs, if they’re really fake, how come there were no deaths credited to them?’
‘There were several deaths, an example is the patient that doctor Danjuma treated which led him into trouble. But the way those drugs were; they weren’t really fake or expired. A more proper way to describe them is calling them substandard, they did lesser than they were supposed to do.’ the doctor explained.
‘And no investigation was ever carried out?’

‘During the early days, the drugs and vaccines were only acquired and used by low funded hospitals and some petty pharmacies. Our hospital had to get from them when we suddenly ran out of supply and needed those drugs urgently.’
‘How long did the substandard drugs business last for?’
‘I don’t really know how long they’ve been operating before I met them, but the operations stopped totally in 2015.’
‘But I’m still wondering how they could operate at all, how come no report or investigation was made?’ Tarasha asked with a confused look on her face. She opened up the laptop again.
‘I’m aware that after the Danjuma’s incident, they began to repackage the drugs into similar containers of well known pharmacies in Nigeria. Several of these pharmaceutical companies were shut down by the new government that came in in 2016 because the substandard drugs were found in their names and containers . I think it must be the reason for the end of operations in 2015.’

‘So, do you think we can get proofs for all these?’
‘Well…’ the man sounded not sure. ‘We might get some proofs but we have to visit some locations in Lagos.’
‘Okay,’ she said and opened back the laptop.
There was silence for the next two minutes.
‘But sir… Do you have anything else you think we can use against Elvis Richards?’ Tarasha asked after the silence.
The man who was still reading through the documents Tarasha opened on her laptop stopped and leaned backward. He closed his eyes for a moment as if to recall something. Then he opened it again. ‘I have some documents in my house at Nnewi, if you’re ready we can go there to get them.’
‘Oops! That reminds me, your family has officially declared you missing. What do you want to do about them?’
The man stared at Tarasha blankly. Sadness overwhelmed him. He didn’t know what to do. He had expected that she would tell him what to do instead of asking.
‘How did you know they are looking for me?’ he asked.
‘I heard it being said when I went to get paint earlier and I’m also with your phone, you’ve gotten a lot of messages already,’ she replied and took out his phone from the laptop bag. ‘Would you like to speak with your son?’ she asked as she gave it to him.
‘What would I tell him?’ he replied.
‘Tell him not to worry about you and to make sure the rest of the family is also calm. Also assure him that you’ll be back soon, let him know you’re just taking a short break somewhere.’
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