Rod Lady

The buzzing of the flies were what first alerted her before the putrid odor hit her hard. The weather in dry season in Otole is always something else. The sun blazes as if it's a stone throw from where you are standing. It must have been what aided the fast decay. The officers were putting the time of the death to be around two days and few hours. The family later said he was last seen five days before.

The young man's head was gruesomely bashed in with something the police said might be a local ax or digger. According to the woman that saw him in the thicket bordering her farm that morning, who is still in shock for belief among the locals takes such to be bad omen. Discovering the murdered in ones property indicates a future similar thing being your fate or that of the family member. There was no sign of struggle or anything indicating such. The soil, the grass wasn't disturbed in a way suggesting struggle, so they must have murdered the dead guy somewhere else and dumped his body in the thick greenery shrub bordering the farm.

There is nothing like a forensic lab in existence in Otole, police verdict has always been guesswork. The living and the dead always want to know if their own has stood a chance, the manner and when he or she died isn't of any great importance to them. But those are normality with police once they are involved like they do in the case of this young man they later found out was from Umueke community about eight miles from Otole he once or twice in a month visit for his business concerns.

The officers wrapped the dead in a blanket, lay him on a stretcher, one took note of the environ, the scene, all protocols extended for there is nothing like camera evidence in Otole or in the region as a whole in 1954.

Back in their quasi station at Eke Otole, those involved in the case were wrecking their heads on who the dead man is and the motive behind the murder.

"Do you get the facial image well?" One asked the officer sketching on a clipboard.

"I am trying to recreate the face to the best of my ability" he answered with a sigh for they don't llike being distracted once in a flow.

That image was what was circulated in Otole with intention of circulating it in other nearby communities if it warrants that. They need not have worried themselves, half an hour later, about five positive replies flooded in, including one from the man that he deals with when in Otole. After telling the police the man's name, where he hails from, they went to Umueke community and within minutes, they identified the dead man as Jide Okalo from a nearby village to Mr.Johnson's, planning to get married in three months' time.

The weather wasn't cool but the breeze wasn't in short supply either as officers from Otole station parked their beat-up bus in front of the women's endowment center asking to see Mr. Johnson. Not every day you hear a bus coughing out carbon monoxide squeaking to a halt in front of the center so, Mr Johnson was at the window watching three officers on mufti disembarked from the bus talking to the security man that was pointing towards his office probably telling them how to get there. He's waiting when the light knocks on the door.

They didn't even wait to be asked in, they opened the door, filed in like ants, smiled at him as he eyed them suspiciously.

"Mr.Johnson?"

"That's the name. What can I do for you?"

They eyed him as they took in the arrangement of the office, inching towards him.

"We are from Otole police command, here to ask you few questions, probably one of the girl that works here on the investigation we are conducting"

"Have a seat" there were only two, he pressed a buzzer and a girl materialized from nowhere.

"Yes, Mr.Johnson"

" Lucy, please send in one more seat here and tell Theresa to bring coffee to our visitors"

"Sure Mr.Johnson"

She eyed the three, knowing who they were and can guess the reason they were there. It's by then a town news. One of the two were taking out his jotter and pen, one introducing himself and colleagues before the girl walked in with a seat and behind her was Theresa with a coffee tray.

"we hear that the dead man's girlfriend works here, we will like to talk to her and gain little insight on who the dead man really is and maybe the reason for the murder" the officer was saying when the stemming coffee was placed before them, the aroma engulfed the room and they went for it immediately.

"What do you say that the girl's name is again?"

"We heard Ebele Mbano, anyone with such a name here?"

"I believe there is someone like that here" he buzzed once more and the Lucy materialized once more from nowhere.

"Lucy, please send in Ebele Mbano, our visitors wants to talk to her"

"Yes Mr. Johnson"

They were still seeping their coffee when Ebele walked in. Mr.Johnson asked if they wanted to talk to her alone for regulation stipulated that the talk of this nature taking place in the center must be recorded.

" We don't have problem with you around or being recorded, it's just a familiarization talk, more will follow later for sure" the officer in charge said.

They turned their attention to Ebele who stood a few feet away observing them without any hint of fear or jittery in her demeanor. She seems to have even cowed the officers that must have been witnessing such for the first time, the locals are timid kinds that once anything involves government or police, you see them fidgeting.

"We talked to people around here and they pointed you as Jide's girlfriend, can you tell us a little about him and anything you believe to be behind the murder?" They framed the question like that not to give the girl any hint she is a suspect. In their line of work, everyone is a suspect till proven otherwise.

"Em!, I would like to state that they told you wrong," she said in a clear voice eyeing them. "He isn't my boyfriend or anything like that, but he is one of those males that likes talking to me, interested in me I will add but boyfriend?, nah" officers eyed each other as one jotting was writing furiously. The surprise was written all over them.

"Not your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I don't have any, never been to his house,never been to mine. We do all the conversing in the village routes or market stalls around Eke shops here. The others, like that we converse in the same manner. Nothing serious, just general talks"

"You are not planning to marry him in three months time?"

"Nah, in all our talks, nothing marriage have ever been discussed let alone fixing date, but I can tell they somehow interested in such ideas but nothing like that from any of them"

"You said he sometimes talks to you like other guys, can you tell us the name of those other guys that are interested in you?" The officers were eyeing her in a manner that told her what was running around in their minds but she had overgrown insinuations months back burying her nose in the content of the center library, she wasn't fazed. Everyone is entitled to his opinion"

" Since you know him, how many gifts has he given you, can you give us the estimate in monetary terms?" She smirked because she knew where they were heading to. The books in the library seem to be tailor made on them.

"I don't receive gifts from males for such sends wrong signals to some, I discourage such from the opposite sex for I don't want to raise anyone's hope. It's always general talk on this and that,nothing serious" the way they were eyeing her, she knew they didn't believe her but what do she care?

"What line of business is the man into?" The answer to that they know already from his partner in Otole but permutation is part of their game.

"I believe something leather material, supply business or something of that nature, I don't really know. At times they seek my input on how to go about such business but I don't really probe deep. Like I said, such sends wrong signals" they eyed each other, eyed Mr.Johnson who never for once raised his head from whatever it's he was writing nonstop since the questioning started. They dismissed the lady after asking where they will see her if talking to her warranting seeing her after office hours. They thanked Mr.Johnson for his hospitality as they left, more energized as they came in.

They went after a brief talk in their bus in search of other males interested in Ebele. The talk with those interested males lasted over a month without yielding any insight. The officers had narrowed the talk to two most interested believing it must have been jealousy driven prospective suitor act they are witnessing, the girl is an item from what they can see, some can kill for something like that without qualms.

"So, you said she never asked you for anything, no matter how small?" They were asking IK who seemed to be answering with sighs than words to the amusement of the officers.

"Nah, she never asked me for anything, I believe they pay some of them there" he said after another tiny sigh first. That his sighs were reason they narrowed him to the list but after fourth questioning, they realized that the sighs is part of his nature or acquired bad manner. He never answers any question without it preceding them.

The dead man was released to his family after five days of holding it; it has been three weeks or more since then. They had earlier asked the family not to tamper with anything in his room till they came for them.

This particular sunny afternoon, they were systematically going through the man items when they came across what the dead man must have rated book keeping and address book. They concluded it must be one of those supposed Ebele education at work in the man. Few names in the address book directed them to fresh faces they have not talked to.

" Let's start with the females, we seem to have been neglecting them a lot in our questioning," one suggested.

That suggestion seems to be the key that unraveled the investigation. After talking to three in their list, they narrowed their attention to one.

Girls are creatures known to get even through third parties and prefer poison as a tool to physical strength, yet, the vibration coming from this jittery girl isn't sending wrong signals through. They picked her up just to put fear in her.

"Tell us who you hired for the job?" They aren't even asking if she was innocent or not but who she paid to do the work for her. After two days, she came around. It turned out she did the job herself.

The girl isn't even a scorned girlfriend but an acquaintance. One of those whose parents are in the camp of the Umueke elders against the floating of the endowment center and all Mr. Johnson stands for, neighbor to Ebele family.

She couldn't believe the change that she witnessed in the girls, especially Ebele and her two sisters she was five steps ahead of last year but for months now had been treating her as second-class human. In one of her jealous fueled madness, it entered her head that she could kill three birds with a stone if she tried a little. Mr.Johnson, endowment center, and of course Ebele she will pin suspicion on. She had told the man she can introduce him to a friend of his fathers that could introduce him to a man doing the importation of the leather from abroad. She had painted the picture well, how the price will be reduced almost to zero and Jide was bought.

That faithful day, the sun had been hitting like mad, when they entered Otole. Jide, unconscious of the fate awaiting him, had accepted a gin offered to him only to lose self consciousness of where or what he was doing. Lured to the route she must have picked out earlier, she picked out the rod she was carrying in her bag and went after his skull with all the strength in her. The man never twists twice before being silent forever. She lifted him up on her shoulders, went and placed him where she knew the lady that frequents that farm won't miss him even without the flies.

She was waiting for news to filter in to complete the work, there is no way Ebele will escape that she had thought. For five days, she waited wondering what was happening and when it finally came, she was proud of her work till the three came unexpectedly asking hiring questions.

That rattled her like nothing ever did. How they even know someone like her exist was still mystery to her. She had made sure she wasn't seen with Jide anywhere in Umueke for weeks, how did they came after her?