Title : Shadows Over Lagos

Shadows Over Lagos Chapter 2: A Fateful Assignment

Chapter 2: A Fateful Assignment

The morning sun cast a dull glow over Lagos as Detective Lola Ajibade steered her car through the busy streets of Lekki. Traffic was already building—danfos weaving recklessly between cars, okadas speeding past like they had nine lives, and hawkers knocking on windows, selling everything from plantain chips to phone chargers.

Lola barely noticed. Her mind was on the case.

Funmi Adegbite.

A woman in her early thirties, working at BLP Holdings—a company with deep political ties and enough money to keep secrets buried. Found dead in her apartment. No signs of struggle, no robbery. Just a single, precise wound to the base of her skull.

A professional hit.

She parked outside Funmi’s apartment complex—a high-rise with tinted glass windows and armed security at the entrance. Lekki was home to some of Lagos’ wealthiest, and it showed. The kind of place where crimes weren’t supposed to happen.

But murder didn’t care about addresses.

Lola flashed her badge at the security guards, who let her through with a nervous glance. The crime scene was on the ninth floor, apartment 9B. The hallway smelled of fresh paint and expensive cologne. Inside, crime scene tape stretched across the door.

She pushed it open and stepped inside.

The apartment was immaculate—modern furniture, marble countertops, everything in its perfect place. If not for the body outline marked on the polished wooden floor, it wouldn’t have looked like a crime scene at all.

"Detective Ajibade?"

She turned to see Sergeant Kelechi, one of the forensic officers, crouched near the victim’s desk. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and had the tired look of someone who had seen one too many corpses.

"Morning, Sarge," she greeted. "What do we have?"

Kelechi sighed. "Strange one. No forced entry. No sign of a struggle. Nothing stolen. Just a single wound—neat, precise, straight to the brainstem. Killer knew exactly what they were doing."

Lola knelt beside the marked outline. "Toxicology?"

"Still waiting on the lab," Kelechi said. "But there’s something else."

He stood and handed her a clear evidence bag. Inside was a flash drive, sleek and silver, found on the victim’s desk.

"It was plugged into her laptop when we got here," Kelechi explained. "We’re still trying to access the files. Looks like it might have been wiped remotely."

Lola frowned. "Remotely?"

"Yeah. The IT guys think whoever killed her might’ve erased the data right after she died. But we recovered some fragments—we’ll know more soon."

Lola pocketed the flash drive and scanned the room again. Something felt off.

She walked over to the closet, pulling it open. Neatly arranged designer clothes. Expensive handbags lined up like trophies. But one thing was missing—shoes.

She turned back to Kelechi. "Where are her shoes?"

He blinked. "Uh… what?"

Lola pointed at the empty space on the closet floor. "Women like Funmi don’t own designer bags and forget about shoes. If she was home, she would have had at least a pair by the door. If she went out, there’d be some missing from here. But it’s empty."

Kelechi’s face darkened. "You’re saying someone took her shoes?"

Lola nodded. "Or she was killed somewhere else and brought back here."

A heavy silence settled between them. That changed everything.

Kelechi exhaled. "Damn. We need to check security footage."

Lola tapped her fingers against the flash drive. "And I need to find out what was on this."

She had a feeling Funmi Adegbite had uncovered something she wasn’t supposed to.

And now, someone was making sure she stayed silent.