Episode 2
THE UNDERCOVER
The part of the house I saw through the window that evening was the living room, which was in total disarray, as if a fight had recently taken place. However, it was not this that disturbed me. In a corner of the room, I saw what appeared to be the body of a fat man lying in a pool of bl00d. Beside the body was a big pestle.
“Blood of Jesus Christ!”. A silent scream escaped me.
Just as my brain was still trying to process what was happening, a curtain within was flung open and a young woman appeared. Her face and body were red. Her hair was unkempt and her upper lip seemed to be broken, with blood running down her jaw. In her hand was a big plastic bag.
“This must be the culprit”. I muttered.
I brought out my phone to call for support, but another voice discouraged me.
“Why don’t you record this?”
And that’s what I did. I recorded as she struggled to put the body in the bag. When she realized the bag was no fit for the enormous body, she dropped it beside him and hurried inside.
When she didn’t return after a few seconds, I gently opened the door and tiptoed in.
Just then, the curtain opened, and the woman came out with a cutlass in one hand. When she saw me, the cutlass slipped from her hand and fell to the ground, and she went down on her knees.
“Please, sir. It’s not what you think. I didn’t, I didn’t mean to k¡ll him. You have to..you have to believe me”. She cried.
First, I pulled the cutlass away with one leg, and showed her my ID card before I began to address her.
“Who is this man to you?”.
“My husband. You have to believe me. I’m not a murdērer. He was beating me. I was only going to defend myself with this”. She picked the pestle.
“Drop that;”. I said.
“Please, officer, you have to believe me” She continued pleading.
“Just keep calm, you will explain better in the station”. I said.
I brought out my phone to dial the office, but she said something that distracted me.
“Please, sir, have mercy on me. I don’t want to go to jail. My children are still tender”. She cried.
I was not going to listen to any of that, but then, she said something that distracted me.
“Sir, we can settle this here” She said.
I paused to take a proper look at her.
What is she talking about?. I wondered.
“Please, sir, I will give you 2 million naira”.; She said.
My Nokia torch fell off my hand to the hard floor. I have never seen such an amount of money in my entire life. I picked it up immediately.
“How dare you try to br¡be an officer of the law?”. I asked, feigning annoyance.
She shook her head.
“Okay, sir, we can make it 4 million…5, 6, 7….”. She kept increasing the value.
At one point, I got carried away and didn’t realize when I put the phone back in my pocket.
Just then, a voice could be heard outside.
“Oga, I don come back ooh”. A masculine voice came.
She widened her gaze.
“Oh my God! That is my security man”. She cried.
I quickly bolted the door before the intruder started knocking.
“Isaiah!”. The woman called out.
“Yes, madam”. The voice answered.
“Oga is not around”. She said.
“But na him send me…”
“Isaiah!, go back to your post. You will see your boss when he returns”. She yelled at him..
A moment of silence followed.
“If I’m going to hide you, you’re giving me 10 million naira”. I said when it seems the guy has gone.
“Deal”. She said without any argument.
“But please, I need your help”. She said.
“What?”. I frowned at her.
“Help me take this body out of here. My children and the maid will soon be back”. She requested.
Little was said. She sent the security guard on another errand, which he didn’t return from until we managed to put the body in the car trunk, clean the house, and leave the compound.
I’m uncomfortable saying this, but we disposed of the body in a bush in a different area.
The next day, I was at the office when she came and filed a report about a missing person.
“He left home after we had a little misunderstanding”. I heard her say.
Her demonstration was so convincing that instead of suspicion, she attracted pity from everyone.
“Don’t worry, madam, we shall find your husband and bring him home to you”. The DPO assured her.
For two days, my team toiled the whole street of Enugu, searching bars, clubhouses, br0thels e.t.c for a man who had gone to be with the dev¡l.
In the evening of the third day, an anonymous call came in stating that the almost decomposed b0dy we had dumped in the bush had been discovered. We arrived promptly, but lacking clues to the culprit, we made a mass arrest. All the young men in the surrounding area were taken to the station.
Although the woman fulfilled her promise to me, I didn’t let the matter end there…
Typing 3….
