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There had been many theories about how she was murdered, but none was close to the truth.
The rest of the investigative crew were puzzled but Jehu did not show that he was affected in any way by the events, as he went back to his sparsely furnished three bedroom apartment in the company of some his colleagues, the only thing that puzzled him about the case was the swelling at the base of her ankle, it nagged on his mind so much that he could not hear a word his colleagues said.
All of a sudden out of nowhere as if he had been pushed by an evil spirit, he asked; “How did Miss Askia get the swelling on her ankle?”, the others looked at him puzzled, “Her Doctor said it is a birthmark” replied Ronald, a man with a mismatched face, his eyes were shifty like that of a fox, while his nose and ears were like that of a rat, “Doctor?” Jehu asked in surprise, “Is it not a bit shady that her doctor is the one answering most of the personal questions, or am I the only one who is thinking out of the box here?” “I also thought about it too” replied Aquila, a tall masculine female intern whose voice was tinier than her body”, unlike other interns, she had chosen to go under the wing of the older detectives because she believed it would give her an edge over others, and luckily for her or should I say unluckily for her they were faced with one of the most complicated cases in the history of the town’s police force.
They walked into a dark cozy bar called ‘Pure heaven’, it was the group’s favorite spot for their usual evening lounge before they each took the bus to their different destinations, Jehu chose the table opposite the bar, that way it would be easy to get the attention of the barman who was an old acquaintance of his who helped him do some things which were not too moral when it came to getting evidence that would aid solving certain cases, they had become fast friends when Jehu had saved him from being lynched in the market square for a crime he did not commit, and even though Jehu would rather solve each case without involving him, he had a way of convincing him that it would be better they both worked on it together, he was the secret behind every successful case that Jehu had ever solved, he was the voice behind the mirror, the man behind the shadows and even though Jehu had constantly asked him to join the police college so that he would become a junior detective immediately he graduated he refused.
He wanted to travel to The US and study to become a telecommunication engineer, and even when Jehu offered to support him he refused, saying that Jehu had been gracious to give him life when no one else had, so it would be a grave sin if he dared to ask of any favor from him. That night surprisingly though, Jehu was going to go against his principles and ask him for help, as the waiter served their drinks he quickly put a note asking him to meet him at the male restroom urgently.
Immediately Karl saw Jehu come into the bar in the midst of his friends, he knew he was going to aid him in a new case, not just because the news of Askia’s death was all over the town but because of the cloudy look of confusion on his face. His fears were made true when he saw Jehu’s note, he quickly exchanged glances with his partner, who thought the note was from a love interest and gave him an unnecessary knowing look. He walked briskly to the corridor and saw Jehu smoking a cigarette, he wanted to drag the stub out of his mouth and crush it with a hiss but held himself back knowing his place, he stood a few meters from him waiting for him to say something, but he just continued to smoke, when he was done he walked past him saying, meet me at the morgue by midnight, we will start the investigation. As he got to the doorway, he noticed a figure receding quickly from the corridor. He knew immediately who the person was, he did not try to chase the person, he just took his notepad from his jacket and wrote: ‘Exhibit 1: Accomplice to suspect 1 is seen walking down the passage way to the bathroom in the Pure Heaven bar’.
“What did you hear them say?” she asked him, “I do not know” he replied, “All I heard was something about investigating the body at the morgue tonight, but that will not pose any problem, since the body has been examined and the case has been certified inconclusive. Besides after paying her family a visit yesterday, they have decided that they will ask the police to bring her body to them so that it can be interned properly. Their excuse will be that they find the constant poking of their daughter’s body disrespectful and unnecessary and hence have decided to drop the case” he ended, feeling proud of himself and hoping she was pleased at his efforts to cover their tracks.
But no one knew how the boogeyman really felt, she was a chameleon whose true emotions were never portrayed, she was one who cried when she was amused and laughed when she experienced a great amount of pain, she had been raised in a convent when her parents had died of poisoning from the same substance that her water colors were made from and it is said that the incident had marred her for life. No one apart from the lords of the underworld knew of her existence, mostly because they employed her services to do their dirty work and those who had the misfortune of meeting her in person never lived to tell the tale. So he was not surprised when she pinned him to the wall holding his throat tightly and suffocating him, one never knew where they stood with her.
“I feel insulted that you made me leave my bed at a time so ungodly to listen to this disgusting plan of yours, knowing full well that I have to wake up early for work tomorrow morning?”, she said not even give him a minute to breath, his eyes dilated slightly and his pupil went under his eyelids. As his eyes began to pop out of his head, making him look like an African giant toad, the desire to see what he would look like when they fell out of his head, filled her with a sudden rush of pleasure but she stopped herself knowing his death would be of no use to her letting him fall to the ground as he gasped for air fast, she expected him to man up and ask her why she had done what she had done, but as usual he just sat there gasping
“I will take it up from here, seeing as the object of my frustration is gradually taking the bait and will be at the mortuary today, you do not need to work for me anymore, and once I’m dead, like we planned your passport and visa will be ready and you can go ahead and start a new life abroad, do not follow me to the mortuary. She spat at his feet and walked away, knowing fully well that he would not have the balls to follow her, such a weak docile bastard, just like the others.
Jehu knew immediately he got to the mortuary that he had just walked into the jaws of death, but foolishly he mistook the feeling to be because he was surrounded by so many dead bodies, most of which went through the most painful experiences in their final moments. He walked to the place where Askia’s body was and received the shock of his life, yes there was a body there but it was not Askia’s, it was Aquila’s and she looked like she was beaten to death by a baton. He could barely stand, he dropped to the floor in shock, it was barely six hours when he saw her seated at the bar laughing to Ronald’s jokes, he stood up and walked to her side and just as he was about to open the covering on her body to see the extent of the damage done to her body he felt a sharp point drive through his side, that was when he realized his blunder, he looked at her with shock as the once dead girl jumped down and laughed “You need to see your face right now, the look is priceless and if not that it would look weird, I would have taken a picture” she said waving the bloodied knife up and down. “Seeing as I have ruptured your liver and a few arteries, I guess I have to do you the honor of telling you why I killed you before you actually bleed to death. Let me tell you a story, there was a girl who loved her parents so much that she would do anything to please them, one day while she was painting a picture of a happy family, someone took her water color from her and dropped some into her parent’s tea, thereby poisoning them, no one believed her story when she told it, everyone thought she was mad and she was sent to a place where her insanity only increased” She looked at him with teary eyes and said; “You know who this person is my darling Jehu and you know that saving all the lives and solving all the murder cases won’t save your wretched soul, the only person I owe an apology is Askia, all she wanted was love and acceptance but I had to kill her to get your attention” Jehu felt ashamed and even as death took him all he could say was, “I cannot tell you why I killed your parents, but I can give you a head start, run” “I’m not running, I have achieved my aim in life and I have to leave now” she said as she opened a little bottle in order to drink its contents but someone stopped her and drew her to himself “Don’t do it, let’s start a life together instead”.
