Ujunwa Okafor sat in the living room with a blanket over her shoulders and her son sitting on the arm of the sofa with his right hand on her right shoulder. Her eyes were red and swollen. She had been the first to see his lifeless body. He had remained so still in his chair with his head tilted back. The sight of blood on his neck had made her know something was amiss.
His body had already been taken to the morgue and Godwin was sure the crime scene investigators would be done within minutes; they had been there for hours. It was at about 3:00am that his mother’s scream had startled him awake. He had been running towards her room when he discovered the door to the study was open.
The first sight was that of a man sitting in his father’s chair. He had walked close (but not too close) since he knew the effect of contaminating a crime scene. He stared at the bloody face, neck and chest of the lifeless man before it had finally registered somewhere in his brain that he was staring at his father’s corpse. He had begun to shake when he remembered why he had woken up.
She was standing beside the door with her back to the wall. Her eyes were fixed on her husband half expecting him to jump up and laugh at their serious faces. He gently led her out of the study without saying a word then closed the door behind them without touching the doorknob.
“Mr. Okafor” he heard and noticed the dark large sturdy man standing before him. He looked as if he was in his late fifties. There were not much wrinkles on his face and the ID pinned to his pocket read ‘Det. Insp. Femi Adebayo’.
“I am Det. Femi Adebayo” he introduced and turned his attention to the wife of the deceased. “Good morning Mrs. Okafor” he greeted even though he knew there was nothing good about the morning. She did not reply and he then turned his attention back to Godwin.
“You made the call?” he made it sound like a question
Godwin nodded. “I heard her scream, I got her out of the study before I made the call” he said briefly to the man who simply nodded and looked around the house.
“Are you two the only ones around?”
“For now…yes. I sent my wife and the kids home for safety reasons” he explained to the man and turning to his mother, he added “she refused to go with them”
Femi started to speak when Ujunwa spoke up. “He said he wanted to go through some files”. That was the first time she spoke since her scream earlier that morning. She stared blankly into space and continued “he promised he wouldn’t take long”. There were tears in her voice and soon Godwin also noticed the tears trickling down her cheeks.
“Please I need to take her to her room” he excused himself as the detective nodded.
“I’ll be back in the evening” he informed and left the house.
Godwin locked the front door and took his mother upstairs.
They were alone at home. The moment she sat on the bed, her eyes went straight to their wedding photograph hanging on the wall and fresh tears began to stream down her cheeks.
She was a strong woman and he felt bad seeing her in that state. He thought of what to say to her; did not even know what to say to himself. He just wanted to sit in his room and cry his heart out…but he could not.
He had to be strong for her but he also needed her to be strong for him.
“Mum” he called as she turned but still had that blank stare. “Mum, we need to be strong. I need you to be strong” he begged and almost felt the tears sting his eyes. He really wanted to get the monster who murdered his father. He looked at his mum, her eyes were back on the wedding photograph.
He sighed and rose to his feet. “I have to go to the office. I promise I-” he stopped when he realized he was repeating his father’s last words to his mother. “Take care mum” he said and left her.
*****
Femi walked to and fro in his office with his eyes continuously darting to the pictures he had placed on the wall. The gateman was on duty from 7:00am-9:45pm everyday and so it was assumed that the murderer scaled the wall. There was no forced entry into the house and from evidence, the intruder knew his way around the house.
He looked at the photograph of the victim. His bleeding forehead. The throttling mark on his neck and the knife wound. He could play out the murder scene in his head. The murderer must have been waiting for him (the deceased must have had a habit of going to the study every night) and when he was seated, It must have taken a while for the attacker to pass the string over his victim’s face…and then the struggle. Chf Emeka trying to save himself must have tried to pull the string away(explaining the cuts in his fingers) and when that did not work, he bit the attacker’s wrist (explaining the blood on his teeth) and that angered his attacker making him hit his head on the table and finally stabbing him before someone would walk in. There were no footprints or sand on the rug so Femi could not try to play out an entry and exit scene.
Next up were suspects. The wife of the deceased looked too distraught…but it could still be a facade. The son on the other hand was handling everything so well…too well, Femi thought. Chf. Emeka was a businessman and the chances of his murderer being a business associate would not be far fetched.
With that, he left the office and headed for the Okafor enterprise. The moment he alighted from his car and locked the door, he saw Godwin walking out of the building.
“Mr Okafor” he called out and walked towards him. The surprise on Godwin’s face was obvious. “I just thought I’d drop by” he said when he was finally standing in front of him.
“Too bad, I’m going home already”.
” Its alright. I’ll go with you, I’ll send someone to pick up my car” he said smiling at Godwin who shrugged and led him to the Sienna.
They drove on in silence until Godwin decided to speak.
“Any lead on the murderer?”
“Nothing” he replied and then asked. “Were you close to your father?”
“I could put it that way; we were pretty close”
“Do you have any idea why someone would want him dead? Did he tell you about anyone or an enemy before last night?” He asked as Godwin shook his head and then remembered something.
“My dad had a business partner but their partnership ended two years ago. He had been trafficking children under the guise of running an orphanage and when dad found out, he did all he could to put him out of business”
“Did he succeed?”
“Dad always succeeds” that was one quality he had admired so much in his father. “The man became a pauper overnight. His wife even left him taking the kids with her”
“Do you think-”
“Yes I do. He swore to get back at dad and we all knew he wasn’t bluffing but dad never took him seriously…” He paused. “But the thing is, two months ago, he was on his knees begging my dad” he got angry suddenly.
“I had warned mum and dad. I knew he didn’t mean it, he wasn’t sorry…but dad said he could read the man and that he was truly repentant…he even gave him a cheque, can you believe that?”
Femi said nothing as he watched Godwin deviate. He listened patiently hoping the young man would get back on track.
“He’s a very dangerous man. I saw him order a man’s death because he lost an orphan even though I didn’t know he was angry because of the money he had lost due to the lost child”
‘What’s this man’s name?” Femi asked as Godwin honked and the gateman hurried to open the gate.
“Nduka Okafor” he replied as Femi thought for a while.
“Is he-”
“He’s my father’s younger brother…my uncle” he replied and drove into the compound.
Femi made a mental note in his head of what he had just heard and turned to speak to Godwin once more when he noticed anger and fear in Godwin’s eyes. He followed his gaze and saw a Mazda 626 parked in front; it had not been there earlier that morning.
“Whose car is that?”
“It’s my uncle’s car”
Thanks For Reading.. Next Episode Coming Soon
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