THE WITNESSES PART 1

A 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 people

PROLOGUE

 

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.

 

Author's Note

What do you think about this piece? Please share your views