“Good evening and how’re you, Sanna?” she said.
“I’m feeling so exhausted, but am fine,” he replied. “Please, have a seat.”
Mayuka sat down on the sofa while his son picked up the TV remote, playing with it.
“Where is your wife? Hope she is not preparing dinner in the kitchen?” she said.
“No, she went to the shop to buy some bread.”
“I think she must have been the one who left the door open.”
“You’re right,” he said. “She always forgets to close the house-door and it’s not safe especially if no one is in the house.”
Sanna’s wife, Aisha, came in as they were talking about her. She placed two loaves of bread on the table and carried David in her hands.
“David is getting stronger and heavier every day,” she said.
They all laughed heartily.
“Today is his third birthday and he’s so happy,” Mayuka said. “I can imagine how happy his father would be if he was alive.”
Sanna and Aisha were swallowed by an overwhelming sense of emotion.
“But why didn’t you tell us that David’s birthday was going to be today? We are supposed to celebrate it every year. Even though his father is no longer with us, I’m here to give him that love he needs.” Sanna said.
“Uh, actually I thought we are in the month of May until this afternoon when I heard someone say on the radio, ‘Seventeen April’.”
“It’s not too late,” Aisha said. We must quickly organize something and celebrate David’s birthday. My small camera can take nice pictures.”
Sanna nodded.
“Aisha I agree with you. I will take David with me in my car and buy a nice cake in the neighborhood. He should choose which kind of cake he wants and before I go, Mayuka I have a bad news and a good news for you as well.”
“I guess it’s about the diamond issue, isn’t it?” Mayuka said.
He nodded.
“Yes, you’re correct. Earlier today, I went to Instant-Bank and I had a discussion with their Manager and he told me that Jessey kept a diamond with them, but later took it. That’s the bad news.”
“And what’s the good news?” Aisha asked.
“The Manager confirmed to me that Jessey has half-a-million Dalasi in the bank at this moment. Mayuka I will take you there on Friday so that you can sign few documents to withdraw the money.”
“Jessey did tell me about his bankruptcy and that he was going to get a heavy loan from Tick-Tack Bank, but he never told me that he was having a diamond in this bank you mentioned.” said Mayuka.
“Jessey should have let you know about it at least,” Sanna said.
“But Mayuka you told me that Jessey had a problem with his brothers in Ghana over diamond issues, didn’t you?” Aisha said.
“Yes. Jessey’s two brothers who are still in Ghana took away all the diamonds their late father left behind and they gave him only one. Um, but he didn’t tell me that he was in possession of it at that moment and I assumed he must have sold it to settle in The Gambia after his brothers threatened his life in Ghana.”
“Have you thoroughly searched your house?” Sanna said? “There must be a reason why Jessey uttered the word ‘Diamond’ before his dead in the hospital.”
“I combed every corner in the house, but could not spot anything that even looks like a diamond. I don’t think there is any diamond hid in the house.”
“Too bad, isn’t it? I suggest you make a final search in your house and this time, Aisha and I will join you. There is a possibility that we can find it.”
Despite the clouds were far from clear with regards to the diamond, Mayuka and her wonderful neighbors happily celebrated his son’s birthday till midnight.
In the morning, Sanna went to work at Root Bank and like Mayuka, he also had a difficult problem which worried him a lot. His assistant manager, Johnson, had grown so powerful in the company due to the corrupt backings he was benefitting from President Ali Benzouda. It was very clear to him that Johnson wanted to take over his position as General Manager at all cost. Sometimes, he would wish to have Johnson fired, but that was legally impossible; only the head of state had the power to sack top officials of the company.
While thinking about Johnson’s inefficiency and lack of respect for the company, Sanna received a telephone call from his secretary, Suwadu Banta.
“Sir, Johnson wants to know if you’re not busy?” she said.
“Am not busy right now, but could be very soon.”
“Okay, I’ll let him know.”
A minute later, Johnson stepped into Sanna’s office with a black file.
“Good morning, Sanna,”
“Morning, please have a seat.”
“Don’t mind I just want to know if we can persuade the American—”
“Sky-Net Bank?”
“Yup. I think we need to persuade them to give us more time to complete the proposal I’m working on.”
“You’re kidding, Johnson. You must be. You’ve been given three weeks to do this simple work and you have the guts to tell me this absolute nonsense.”
“Say whatever you want! I don’t have the damn time to do this bunch of work all by myself.”
“Do you really know the cost of failing to submit this proposal, huh? First, it will upset our relationship with Sky-Net Bank and it will also mean that our expansion program won’t be attained this year. I just don’t know why you’re employed in this company.”
Johnson smiled broadly and laughed.
“I think President Ali Benzouda is the right person to answer your funny question.”
“You know what? I don’t have the time to continue arguing with you because we are left with forty-eight hours to finish and submit this proposal.”
Sanna stood up with a glowering look and angrily went out of his office. Johnson went up to the door, but he turned back to Sanna’s desk again. He removed a small bottle from the inside pocket of his jacket which contained an internecine poison. He put some of the poison into Sanna’s coffee cup and calmly left the office.
Johnson’s personal secretary later received a call from the deputy assistant manager, Ousainou.
“Hello, Sarata is Johnson in his office?”
“Yes, just a second.”
She got through the call to Johnson.
“Hello, Ousainou,” he said.
“Yes, Johnson, the General Manager has ordered me to complete the proposal that you couldn’t finish.”
“Good! My secretary will bring them to your office in few minutes. If you happen to misunderstand any part of it, you can consult me.”
“Don’t worry about that, Johnson. The General Manager is just entering my office and he will be guiding me through the whole process.”
Just before the cold morning ended, Sanna left Ousainou’s office and went to his secretary, Suwadu Banta.
“Excuse me, Suwadu,” he said. “Please type these papers for me before the next four hours. They are about the proposal of an expansion project with an American bank called, Sky-Net. Please prepare it very well. Ousainou will bring the others as well.”
“Okay Boss I will,” she said.
Sanna went into his office and before he could even sit down, he took his coffee cup and drank almost everything despite it being cold. He instantly became abnormal and very dizzy. He fell down on the floor as he struggled to sit down on his chair and suddenly became unconscious.
Suwadu had the sound of Sanna’s collapse and wasn’t comfortable with it. She took her telephone and called him to know if he was alright. Her call didn’t receive any response for almost a minute. She left her desk and quickly went into Sanna’s office and found him lying on the floor like a dead body. She blenched with fear and screamed for help.
Johnson’s secretary, Sarata came in immediately when she heard Suwadu’s scream. She found Suwadu paralyzed with fear and when she went close to the desk, she saw Sanna’s body lying on the ground. She went back to Suwadu’s desk and telephoned for the security guards positioned at the first floor.
The head of the security guards at the company, Paboi, came and met Johnson and Ousainou giving Sanna first aid while Sarata was assisting Suwadu, whose legs could not benefit her because of fear.
“What’s wrong with the General Manager?” he asked.
“We certainly don’t know,” Ousainou said. “We need an ambulance to carry him to the hospital.”
Paboi was quick to suspect that Sanna was poisoned when he saw the fluids that were oozing from his mouth and the broken coffee cup that lay beside him. He picked the telephone and called an ambulance before he informed the Central Police Unit in Banjul.
Detective Manga arrived half an hour after Sanna was driven to the hospital by an ambulance. He was a tall handsome man in his mid twenties and was incredibly skilled in handling criminal cases of very high degree. As a well-known top class detective, he had succeeded in hunting and bringing to justice decade-long serial killers throughout The Gambia.
He jogged through the entrance of the Root Bank building and badged the security guards. He was directed to the sixth floor and when he came into Sanna’s office, he met Paboi and introduced himself. Paboi knew him well.
“It’s good that you are finally here, Detective Manga. I have just received information from the hospital that the General Manager’s sudden unconsciousness was caused by a deadly poison. In fact, that’s exactly what I suspected when I set my eyes on him.”
“Good job and what’s your name?”
“I’m Paboi, the head of security in this bank. Glad and honoured to meet you. I am proud of you for the top records you’ve set as a detective for The Gambia our homeland.”
“Thank you, Paboi. I will have to call my Forensic team to help us track any physical or testimonial evidence to prove whether it’s an attempted murder or suicide.”
Paboi nodded.
“Yes, you’re right.”
Detective Manga dug his cell phone from his pocket and contacted his Forensic team. He was very optimistic that he will get to the bottom of the case because he had dealt with similar ones in the past few years. Why would someone in an exalted position in a government bank want to kill himself? Maybe someone in the bank planted this plot to have him death so as to succeed him. He thought as he inspects Sanna’s office waiting for his Forensic team with patience.
“Who is the secretary of the General Manager?” he asked.
“The lady at the entrance, Suwadu Banta.”
“And where is she?”
“I left her in the office of the Deputy Assistant Manager.”
“Please ask her to come. I will like to speak to her first.”
Suwadu soon came into Sanna’s office and saw Detective Manga sitting on the desk.
“Good afternoon, Sir,” she said.
“Yup, good afternoon and I guess you’re Suwadu right?”
“Yes, I am.”
Detective Manga stared into Suwadu’s gorgeous eyes and became lost for words.
“Um…. Eh…. Sorry, I am Detective Manga and I’m here to investigate about the possible cause of the General Manager’s poisoning.”
Suwadu nodded.
“Yes. Okay, Sir.”
The beauty that Suwadu possessed was very difficult for a man to resist and Detective Manga was no exception. He knew at the time that he was getting distracted by Suwadu’s beauty, but tried to be professional.
“Your boss,” he said. “is currently under an intense medical care and have very limited chance to survive. It is medically confirmed that drank a coffee tea mixed with poison and I don’t believe it’s an attempted suicide. Somebody is behind this.”
Suwadu was not pleased to hear that and her heart beat as fast as light. She knew she was going to face many questions because she was the only one who prepares Sanna’s coffee every day at work.
“I am scared, Detective. I don’t think I am in a good state of mind to respond to your questions properly.”
Detective Manga noticed Suwadu’s fingers trembling on the table.
“Please, you just have to try. I just need some details and I promise am not going to bother you with too many questions.”
Suwadu Banta nodded slowly.
“Who gave your Boss coffee today?”
“I did in the morning.”
Detective Manga smiled.
“Oh, I see why you are scared. Being the one who gave him coffee today does not automatically mean you’re responsible for what happened.”
“I understand.”
“Good. Did you see anyone entering his office with a coffee?”
“No, Sir.”
“Can you remember those who entered his office today?”
“Yes, only the Assistant Manager entered his office since morning.”
“Are you sure.”
“Yes, I have no doubt about that.”
Detective Manga paused for a minute before he made another follow-up question.
“What’s his name?”
“Johnson.”
“Do you know if the Assistant Manager is in good terms with your Boss?”
Suwadu was silent for some moment.
“Please, tell me,” Detective Manga said.
“My Boss and the Assistant Manager live a cat and a dog life. They argue almost daily.”
“And did they have any argument this morning?”
“Yes I think, but am not very sure. I only had few insults when they were together in the office.”
“Thank you, Suwadu. It’s nice talking to you.”
Detective Manga got up and grabbed a small paper from his pocket that had his phone number and handed it to Suwadu.