Life imprisonment Episode 7

LIFE IMPRISONMENT 7

WRITTEN BY: GRACE OLAYEMI

Mr Emmanuel entered his house and settled himself into the long sofa adjacent to the door and dropped his suitcase beside him. He loosened his tie and said a word of prayer before unbuttoning his shirt. He untied his shoe laces and kicked his shoes off his foot as he lied down on the sofa and closed his eyes.

He had been at the station for over four days without going home and he had little time to sleep or eat. The rigour of the strategies to catch Danger had eaten him up and he wished the case would wrap up soon enough. He was at the verge of collapsing when he took a break and decided to spend time with his family. He didn’t even bother to call out to any of them as he made himself comfortable in the living room.

“Daddy is back,” one of his children screamed when he walked into the living room and saw his father lying on the sofa.

His wife ran out of the kitchen when she heard the announcement and was surprised to find her husband in that posture. He looked tired and worn out and the way he lied helplessly on the sofa made him look more pitiable. His hair was all tangled up and his white socks had lost its color and was looking brownish. His shirt was all rumpled and his wife noticed that was the same shirt he wore the day he left the house. She wondered if he had had time to take his bathe and clean himself up throughout the days he spent at the station. She instructed her son to take his things into the room and she hurried back into the kitchen to finish up the preparation for dinner.

* * * * * *
Mrs Emmanuel tapped her husband gently when dinner was set. She knew of a surety that he must have starved himself or ate just junks throughout the time he was away and she wanted to make sure that he enjoyed the meal that evening.

“How are you? Have you been feeding well? Hope you had a convenient place to sleep. How is it coming along? Are you close to nailing him?”

She bombarded him with questions and he just smiled at her as that was very typical of her and he knew she won’t run out of questions to ask if he dared answer one.

“Go and freshen up then you will be able to enjoy the delicious meal I prepared,” she said finally and he was relieved to be dismissed.

He loved his wife and children dearly and anytime he got to spend at home was enough unwinding for him, he didn’t need any other stress reliever. His wife was a very lively, wise and proactive woman. She would always have something to talk about and most times they were wise words that were beyond her educational attainments and he would wonder where she had read them from. He always loved to talk to her about work and her counsels had helped him in the past to unravel many cases.

His children also had a lot of things to tell him and he sat on the table for over an hour after dinner still listening to updates from his children. They took turns to tell him details of everything they did and all that happened while he was away. He sat there and was wondering how many days it would take them to give him updates on their lives if he had spent a week or a month.

Mrs Emmanuel dismissed the children after a while and they all grumbled that they wanted to spend more time with their father. But, she also wanted to spend time with her husband and she was conscious that he needed to rest and so should not stay up late.

“How far have you gone with the case?” She asked him when they were finally alone and he didn’t spare her any detail. He explicitly intimated her on all the obstacles they were facing while trying to nail Danger and how all their efforts was like pouring water into a basket.

“The worst part is that, we have been getting prank calls ever since we published his sketched portrait and we even had to take the picture down.”

“You don’t mean it?” Mrs Emmanuel said, perplexed to know that the very citizens that ought to support the police so that the criminal would be caught and their lives would be secured were playing pranks.

“I tell you. That’s the most annoying part. These people expect so much from the police and just the little thing that was required of them they turned it into a joke. Some of the witnesses that were even summoned refused to come to the station to give their statements, is that not aiding and abetting crime?” He was obviously frustrated and had gotten to his breaking point.

“What about the guys from the Intelligent Unit?”

“Those ones are brainy human beings but this particular Danger seemed to be more of a spirit than human. They have tried everything in their book and the one thousand and one methods of catching a thief they knew had been put to use, but this guy is still at large and the lives of everyone is in obvious danger because we don’t know who his next victims would be.”

“Hmmm,” she sighed heavily and shifted on her seat, draw closer to her husband and held his hand. She wanted to say comforting words to soothe his mood but she knew that would only calm him for the time being and it won’t be a solution to the problem. She remembered the verse of the scriptures that had been impressed on her heart some days back while she was praying for her husband and the success of his mission.

She took her phone and read that portion of the bible to him and she asked what the verses meant to him after she had read it. The verses were (Proverbs 3:5, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.)

He sighed in understanding of the verse. He had received the conviction that God wanted him on the case before he accepted the promotion and transfer. But, he had not paid attention to ask God for guidance and leading on unraveling the case. He had trusted in his skills, knowledge and education to apprehend Danger but they had all failed him.

He thanked his wife profusely for always allowing herself to be used by God to set him on the right course. They agreed to begin a 7-day fasting and prayer and vigil to seek for God’s mercy and help in apprehending Danger. God definitely knew where Danger was and how to get him; and if He had truly sent him down there to help the people, then He would have to give him the best strategy to use in catching the criminal.

* * * * * *
Mr Emmanuel knew it would be absurd and outrightly impossible for him to stay away from work at that crucial time. He knew that no one, especially those guys from the Intelligent Unit, would buy the idea of joining him and his wife on the fasting and prayer journey in order to catch Danger.

He went to work as usual and discharged his duties accordingly while maintaining a deep mood of prayer. He didn’t have lunch break to himself anymore because every minute and every second of the day was spent in trying to nail Danger. He would rush home after everyday’s work to launch into the prayer with his wife. The children joined them during the vigil and they prayed intently and intentionally to God to reveal where Danger was hiding and put an end to the evil things he was doing.

Through the prayer, he was able to discover that Danger had a lot of connections with top people in the society and that was why he had so much power and had been getting away with his crimes. He wondered why those top government officials who are connected with Danger would still be pressurizing the police to catch Danger. The best way to escape as a thief is to join in the search for yourself. That is exactly what those officials were doing. They wanted the populace to have the notion that they were being hard against the crimes being committed in the society not knowing that they were the mastermind.

On the fifth day of the vigil, he had a revelation where he saw that there was a mole in the Police Force who was working directly with Danger. He told his wife and they immediately began to enquire to know the exact identity of the traitor. No wonder all their efforts had been fruitless. Danger was receiving firsthand information about everything they planned against him and that was why they had not been able to bring him to book.

They continued to pray for the identity of the mole to be revealed. His attention was suddenly drawn to one of the senior officers at the headquarters the next day. He didn’t know why he continued to watch him and suspected everything he did. He wanted to shake off the feeling because the man was a top officer and definitely could not be the mole.

He sat in his office that afternoon still going through files and signing some documents when he became suddenly uneasy, he was feeling heat from inside and beads of sweat invaded his forehead. The AC was on but he didn’t feel relieved.

He walked out of his office as though he was being called and walked straight to a shed behind the station and that was where he saw Mr Dare, the officer he had been suspecting all day, talking to someone on the phone. Against his will, he listened to his conversation and with all he heard he was more than certain that he was the mole.

His heart sank into his chest and disappointment swept over him. He wanted to take action immediately and get him arrested for aiding crime and selling confidential information but he felt a nudge in his spirit to be discreet with his actions so that Danger wouldn’t be hinted and then he would hide farther away. He had seen that Danger had a lot of support and backings and he had decided not to report their strategies to any external person, not even the Chief Superintendent of Police.

The final night of the vigil was intense and he groaned deeply to God to show mercy and give him the key to unravel Danger’s case. He had a revelation after that night and he was certain that he could use all he saw to solve the case. He woke up all sweaty and burst into praise for the grace he got to be a child of God. He had tried all his intelligence could do to unravel the case and even the guys from the Intelligent Unit he requested for could not help much. But when he sought for help from the Almighty God, the All-Wise and All-Knowing God, he got answer to the mystery and then he could crack the puzzle.

To be continued…

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