Must Read: Awkward Ways I Met Girls

7 years ago

Must Read: Awkward Ways I Met Girls

My head began to work. I pondered over the clues long and hard. Poison is a woman’s weapon. Cowardly for a man. And for some reasons, I think Mercy could have done this. A man would rather send assassins to eliminate their target or device other means that are more physical in approach and be done with it.

Although a number of this weren’t connecting yet, I now see a motive. A rather strong motive.

Unemployment in this country is a tale that even rural rats in far away Australia hear about. And the rate of this unemployment must be frightening for these graduates who schooled abroad and must return home after their academic stay there. Everyone would like to return home and hit the ground running. So it seems logical that some people might be making a few quids off these set of job seekers. And in the black market, everything sells as commodities. Maybe a few thousand dollars?

Quite some money if you ask me.

But again, while Efe spoke he mentioned something like “…much like a story you’ve heard before.” I could feel there was more than just the money. Mr Sanya. An odd fish in the kettle.

He once dated a lady in the office. It was his case that began the policy of no dating among colleagues in the firm. But what has that got to do with anything?

I recalled Isa. Suddenly bought himself a new okada. And the clothes he wore looked new too.

Signs of money. Everything new at the same time. Sudden money. It occurred to me that he probably got paid for his role by his ‘contractor’. Can his account tell anything sinister? How possible is it that the detectives get a print of his account details? Hmmm…

Connecting the dots was pulsating.

The permutations and combinations of events juxtaposed with intentions and motives seemed like something I needed to ruminate over with someone. I should have to see the officers in charge.

I went to Ada’s that evening but didn’t mention my encounter with the masked text sender. We had some fun that evening and I was glad Ada was back to her real self. But of course, the shock of the incident has no totally left her.

We played and kissed. After a while, I asked her to tell me about Mr Sanya and the lady he was dating. She did. And at the end of it, I saw another motive. Vengeance.

The lady had been sacked. And Mr Sanya had taken it very personal and blamed Ada for being on the MD’s side.

Yet, in my view and although I can not be a judge in my own case, I thought the circumstances aren’t exactly the same. They both connived and defrauded the company.

And for a moment I wondered why the MD kept a man with a bitter blood against him around him.

Well, I guess same reasons as he preferred Ada stayed and I left. One of reasons being the company’s investments on the senior staff.

Trainings, conferences, seminars, professional bodies affiliations, many of which the company was responsible for. Gaining and retaining knowledge.

And so, Ada has become guilty of same crime and although he was ironically part of the disciplinary committee, he watched as I and Ada were being given options. Unlike his case where they had no options. And perhaps, this infuriated him more.

Vengeance and money is a bloody motive to kill for. Well, except I heard his side of the story, that vengeance part is what I really do not grasp.

I called Detective James that night when I got home and…

The next morning I left the office to see him. He was excited to see me for some reason. Then I got to know, Isa was co-operating. He has presently been released.

We settled down to ruminate over what I had gathered. He listened to me first and agreed to some suggestions.

He arranged to have a copy of Isa’s statement of account. First, to ascertain if he had received any suspicious money recently, how much and who paid it in.

By afternoon, he called. Isa had received one hundred and fifty thousand naira the same day Ada had been poisoned. He had paid it in by himself around 3:30pm. Well, at least that money could explain the sudden acquisition of a bike and clothes.

This prompted my next question: Was such an amount paid for just covering a camera lens? I think not. Isa may be more into this than he is making it look.

The detective thought it was time the next moved was made. I was in the office when he arrived with two of his colleagues. They had come to ‘invite’ Mr Sanya over for a chat.

This sent shock across the office. Mr Sanya looked as far away from all these as possible. His name never came up anywhere close to the entire story. Nobody would think him a suspect.

Yet underground fingers pointed to clever sly man who plots but executes by proxy.

A mastermind. Playing his foot soldiers like pawns on a chess board.

At the station, Isa had been lured back on the promise of having his statement torn.

This was to accomplish a purpose: let two of them see that they are being interrogated at the same time in two different rooms. Each of them being promised reduced punishment or no punishment at all if he tells what he knew about the other person’s involvement.

Mr Sanya was calm and looked a very calculated man. He wasn’t a man that much much but looked a man with enough venom to poison obstacles to his plans.

At the end of the day, both were released.

The next day was the deciding day when precise arrests will be made and suspects charged with specific crimes.

But that same night, I my phone rang, I checked to see the caller. Detective James
“Good evening sir” I greeted him
“Stag something has happened. Isa is dead.”