Chapter Four – A Body in the File Room
1085 Words
Jessica didn’t expect to return to the clinic again so soon — especially not with an official escort.
Two days had passed since the video leaked. The panel had called an emergency meeting. News outlets from outside the village began sniffing around. Someone from the Ministry of Health arrived in a dusty Prado jeep with the ministry’s coat of arms barely clinging to the door. Things were moving fast.
But the most terrifying thing? Dr. Ugonna had vanished.
Emeka was the one who suggested they visit the clinic together — this time legally, as part of a re-investigation into procedural violations. Jessica, with the logbook and the flash drive, was now a cooperating witness.
She stood at the entrance to the clinic again, this time beside Emeka, who held a stamped government letter in his hand. Behind them, a junior health officer from the state government, and a uniformed officer with a small camera, flanked their entry.
The halls looked cleaner now. Scrubbed, as if someone had tried to wash guilt away.
Jessica led the way.
“Where exactly did Chisom find the logbook?” Emeka asked.
“In the waste pit behind the building,” she said. “But I think whoever threw it away used the side entrance. That’s closer to the file room.”
They walked toward it.
The file room was locked.
Jessica glanced around. “There used to be a spare key in the matron’s drawer.”
The health officer found it and handed it to her.
Jessica turned the key.
The door creaked open — and the smell hit them first.
It was faint, but distinct.
Something decaying.
Jessica paused. “That’s not normal.”
The officer covered his nose. “Check the cabinet.”
Emeka stepped inside with her. Rows of dusty files. Patient folders. Boxes of expired medication reports.
Then Jessica stopped.
There — beneath a collapsed metal cabinet — was a leg.
Human. Dark-skinned. Still wearing clinic scrubs.
Jessica stumbled back.
Emeka leaned down. “Stay out,” he told the others.
The body was facedown. The stench was stronger now.
“Help me lift this,” he said. The officer came in. They heaved the cabinet aside.
It was a man. Young. Slight build. And then Jessica gasped.
“It’s Eze.”
“Who’s Eze?” Emeka asked.
“One of the cleaning boys. He used to help Dr. Ugonna. He was quiet… observant.”
There were bruises on the neck. Signs of a struggle.
Jessica looked around. A faint drag mark on the floor.
“He didn’t die here,” she whispered. “He was moved.”
Emeka’s voice was grim. “Because he saw something.”
The police officer had already begun filming.
That evening, the story broke.
Body of Missing Clinic Worker Found Inside File Room.
Emeka’s phone wouldn’t stop ringing. Jessica refused to answer hers. The village was in shock. The vigil was canceled. Again. Parents warned their children to stay indoors. Someone painted the clinic gate red.
But Jessica stayed focused. In death, Eze had spoken. Now she had to listen.
She went back to Sister Benita. Told her everything.
The nun’s face was pale. “Do you think they killed the girl too?”
Jessica blinked. “Chisom?”
The nun nodded.
Jessica stood. “I have to find her.”
Chisom wasn’t at home. Her mother said she’d gone out the day before and hadn’t returned.
Jessica’s heart pounded. “Did anyone come to the house?”
“A man. Said he was from the council. Asked if she could help with the vigil setup. I thought he was real.”
Jessica ran back to Emeka. “We need to find Chisom. Now.”
They didn’t go to the police.
They went to Obinna.
Adaeze’s husband.
He was sitting alone at the bar he used to run before grief shut it down. When he saw Jessica, he stiffened.
“I know you don’t want to see me,” she began. “But I need your help.”
He stared at her. “Why should I?”
“Because I think your wife’s death wasn’t just a tragedy. It was a crime. And someone’s covering it up with more blood.”
Obinna didn’t speak for a long time.
Then he stood. “Follow me.”
He took them to a small storage compound behind the town hall.
“She was here,” he said. “I saw her yesterday. She came to fetch water.”
Jessica called out. “Chisom!”
A faint voice replied.
They followed it.
Behind an old latrine, in a c***k between the wall and a shed, they found her.
Terrified. Crying. Bruised.
“She said a man took her,” Jessica said later. “Said she was lying. That she had to stop talking.”
Emeka recorded everything. They took her to Sister Benita’s for safety.
And that night, Jessica sat with Emeka in his car, staring at the rain.
“Do you think I’ll survive this?” she asked.
Emeka didn’t answer.
Instead, he reached over and handed her something wrapped in cloth.
“What is it?”
She opened it.
It was a photo. From the ministry’s archive.
It showed Dr. Ugonna. Standing with a politician. And Chief Okonkwo.
Jessica’s breath caught.
“They knew each other,” she whispered.
Emeka nodded. “And that means we’re not fighting one man.”
“We’re fighting a system.”
The next morning, Jessica woke to a knock at the door.
Ngozi stood there, holding a newspaper.
“You’re not going to believe this,” she said, handing it to her.
Jessica read the headline:
MINISTRY OFFICIAL SUSPENDED OVER CONNECTION TO CLINIC DEATHS.
It was the same politician from the photo.
Ngozi stepped inside, locking the door. “Someone’s rattled. That leak you sent has people running.”
Jessica sat slowly. “So it’s working?”
“It’s beginning. But you’ve painted a target on your back.”
Jessica sighed. “Then I better make the target worth the bullet.”
Later that day, she visited the graveyard. Adaeze’s tomb was silent, lonely.
Jessica crouched beside it.
“I don’t know who you were meant to become,” she whispered. “But I promise you — I won’t let your name die with lies.”
She placed a white hibiscus on the grave. The petals danced in the wind.
Jessica stood and walked away.
Behind her, the flower remained.
And so did the vow.
- Writer
