THE WITNESSES

CHAPTER ONE

The witness stood in the witness box. Even though it was weeks after, Ali could still see the hate in his eyes and how much he resented the accused.

The witness placed his right hand on the bible and underwent the regular ritual

'I swear by almighty God, that the evidence I shall give in this court, shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God'

After he finished swearing his oath, the clerk moved away and it was the turn of the defense counsel to cross examine the witness.

Ali didn't need him to repeat his name, he knew his name very well, for the past few weeks, his name had featured on all the top newspapers and magazines in Jos, his face had become very popular too on television, he had suddenly become a major celebrity. This was sergeant Bello though more generally known as officer Bello.

Ali wasn't really interested in the other ceremonies as Sergeant Bello was led through it by the defense counsel, He probably only took keen interest as well as others that were in the court that day when the witness was asked the very important question.

'Ok, Sergeant Bello, would you please tell this honorable court what you witnessed on the 20th of December 2006?

The hall suddenly became even much more quiet than it had been all the while, Everyone was eager to hear, even though so many versions of the story already existed, there were still a whole lot of people that wanted to hear this story first hand from the heroic cop that had apprehended the murderer that had been responsible for the 'golf stick murders’

Yea the golf stick murders that was what the police had tagged it.

Indeed everyone was anxious to hear the story from the cop that had ended the reign of a menace to society.

As the witness recounted his story, all Ali could do was stare at him blankly, He had heard the story before, as a journalist he had even had a session with Sergeant Bello, but he could observe how Sergeant Bello always added new dimensions to the story anytime he talked about it, maybe he just wanted the story to be really exciting though.

In summary, Sergeant Bello had received a generous tip off from an unknown source that morning regarding the whereabouts of the golf stick murderer.

He had acted swiftly with the aid of a few other policemen.

They had bust the address that morning with arms and true to the information from the source, he had caught the killer totally unawares, there were exhibits of course to prove the accused was the killer. There were pieces of human hair inside a cupboard, pairs of shoes and some other items that the Killer took from his victims as souvenirs maybe, and of course there was the murder weapon, about a dozen golf sticks were found in a cupboard. In one of the rooms they also found some other weapons and photos of some of the victims. The killer was totally caught unawares, Sergeant Bello and his team busted him while he was still on his bed that morning.

Ali smiled despite himself, he knew there were a few questions that begged answers. Why didn’t anyone think about the fact that the bust appeared rather too easy?

Why wasn't anyone seeing how overly comfortable it was for a regular police sergeant to have bust a high profile killer like the golf stick murderer?

Ali knew there were missing pieces in the puzzle, this was just too easy, he was a common journalist but he inherited some basic instincts from his late Father who was a cop that had died in active duty, shot by robbers.

There was no case, even before the accused pleaded guilty, Ali knew his fate. Death by hanging was the verdict, somehow it again struck Ali as odd, the killer never for once defended himself, he simply pleaded guilty to all his crimes, he never gave reasons too for his sins, he only claimed he was possessed by the devil.

The final verdict from the judge left everyone happy, indeed to them it was the end of the wicked but somehow Ali just felt there would be more to come on the golf stick murders. Although he seemed to be alone in his line of reasoning.

As the Black Maria pulled out of the court compound and everyone found their way out, the occupant of a black jeep parked opposite the court room smiled.

Now he could relax for a while and strategize. He actually needed this break in transmission, maybe he had become too sloppy recently, now he was going to be more careful, to the people of Jos, the golf stick murderer had been apprehended, he was going to allow it remain that way for some time.

He knew what he had to do, he smiled again to himself, and he certainly was playing God here. There were two photographs lying on the passenger seat beside him, a man and a woman, to one he was going to grant the gift of life, to the other he was going to grant the opposite. He smiled to himself again when he thought about the fact that he could play God. He had the power to give life and take it away too.

He watched carefully, as Sergeant Bello drove past him in his old Volkswagen Passat car, he smiled again and spoke under his breath, 'enjoy your few moments of glory my friend because tonight you meet your creator' he smiled again as he caressed the photograph of sergeant Bello with his fingers, he stared at the photograph of the woman and smiled, the thought of letting someone go free excited him in a weird way, this was the first time he was going to let a victim go free. But he again felt good as he slowly muttered to himself 'maybe I have a heart after all, at least I would be keeping my word by letting her go'

He turned on the ignition and drove slowly down the road, he felt good, maybe it was time to change tactics, he had actually become bored with the golf stick saga, he had to think about something more creative, maybe he would even relocate to another part of the country, those were the thoughts that clouded his brain as he drove to the hideout where he had kept the woman for six weeks

Ali stretched himself lazily on the chair, he had been sitting there for the past five hours, and he wanted to ensure he finished the article he was working on before he retired home.

The table was a mess as papers were littered all over it, his boss had left the office two hours ago, Jane had left a little earlier too, he was the only one left in the office, he took a look at his wristwatch, it was few minutes past 8pm, he knew he had a few more minutes to spend at the office, as his street wasn't too safe at nights.

He stood up from the chair and walked round his office for a few minutes to exercise his legs that were almost going numb, his mind drifted back to the past as he smiled happily to himself.

Just five years ago, he had little or no relevance to his organization. The Daily Tidings newspaper and magazine wasn't even half as big as what it was now.

Then it was just a small office comprising of two rooms, run by Alhaji Hassan, and his personal assistant Jane. His job at that time was to go into the streets of Jos and scout for stories and he usually got little commissions from Alhaji Hassan whenever the stories sold at least to a reasonable level.

His lucky break had come when three years ago, he had stumbled on the famous 'golf stick murders'

He had first read the story on a national daily and subsequently he had developed keen interest and followed up on the story, making a personal decision to visit the families of most of the victims and in a matter of weeks, The Daily Tidings Newspaper experienced a boom as people began to demand for their publications as they suddenly seemed to be the only papers with up to date and real time information on the golf stick murders.

Alhaji Hassan quickly upgraded Ali's status to chief editor and he began to share an office with him.

The big break finally came for The Daily Tidings Newspaper after the arrest and execution of the golf stick murderer when Ali had written a controversial article that raised doubts about the true identity of the golf stick murderer, the article further received statewide publicity and recognition when few days after the supposed execution of the golf stick murderer, the sergeant who had arrested him, turned up dead.

It was a blessed period for Alhaji Hassan and Ali, Alhaji Hassan quickly integrated Ali to the position of partner in the business and they had expanded and acquired a bigger apartment having two big offices and a big reception for clients. They had also employed two rookies, Jeni and Ponjul, they were to be the eyes on the street as well as help with some other office details. Jane remained personal assistant to Alhaji Hassan. Ali didn’t see a need for one and he preferred to work alone.

His thoughts returned to the office, all those had happened two years before now and since then no one had heard anything from the golf stick murderer. Maybe the sergeant had got the right guy after all and maybe, just maybe the sergeant's murder had being a coincidence or it could have been one of the disgruntled friends of the killer that had decided to take his own pound of flesh.

Ali whistled softly to himself, he felt good, life had been fair to him after all, indeed he had been blessed especially in the last two years, and maybe the golf stick murder saga was a blessing in disguise to him after all.

He sat back on the chair to finish off his article, he had always loved writing as a kid but he never had the audience, now that he had the audience. He just couldn't stop writing, he could write for days on end non-stop, writing was his passion.

He was busy writing the last paragraph when his phone rang.

The phone was on the table so he could easily take a peek at the caller id, private number was what he saw on the screen, he ignored it and continued writing. The phone rang again and he reluctantly picked up the phone.

'Hello!'

There was silence on the other end

'Hello! Anybody there?

There was still silence, he was about to hang up, when he heard the rather strange and musky voice from the other end

'Why are you working so late and why are you all alone tonight?

Ali couldn't help it, sudden fear gripped him, and it was for two reasons, firstly the voice sounded really scary, it seemed the caller was trying to mask his voice, secondly the caller knew he was alone in the office, despite the fear in his voice, he managed to respond

'Who is on the line?

There was a few seconds of silence before the voice replied

'I want to play a game'

Game? Ali couldn't understand any of this, but he responded all the same

'How do you mean game? Please who is on the line?

There was a few seconds silence again and the voice continued

'Finders Keepers'

Now Ali was totally confused and scared too but the voice continued speaking

'How smart are you? Now we will see if your smartness would save or condemn, I now crown you seeker, find them before their time runs out, you find them, you keep them, finders keepers'

And the line went dead.

Ali held the phone to his ears, he was scared and confused at the same time, naturally he would have written it off as a prank but there was something sinister about the voice, Ali was a huge fan of horror movies and the voice on the phone reminded him of the famous jigsaw puzzle horror flick.

He kept on playing the last words of the caller in his head 'find them before their time runs out, you find them, you keep them, finders keepers'

Ali sat there for over two minutes holding the phone to his ears, he suddenly felt a strange cold, he tried hard to get the voice of the caller off his head but it just kept on coming.

It took him another five minutes to compose himself, he couldn't even finish the article he had been working on, he packed his bags and made his way home, as he tried hard to convince himself that maybe it was a prank call after all, it could have been one of his clients or even Jeni. Yea, Jeni, why hadn't he even thought about it, Jeni was very capable of a prank like that.

By the time he got home, he had successfully convinced himself that it was a prank, he lived alone, his girlfriend Ann schooled in the University of Jos, and occasionally spent the weekends with him in his two bedroom flat.

By the time he got out of his car and got into his house he had already lost all the fears he had exercised earlier, he even began to make a mockery of himself for being so scared over a prank that he was quite sure Jeni had decided to play on him. He was definitely going to scold Jeni the next day, this was a rather too expensive joke.

He wasn't in any mood for food that night, he simply got a bottle of beer from the fridge and after gulping it down, he went to bed, and he never anticipated the events of the next morning.

It was the loud ring of his phone that woke him up the next morning, he grabbed the phone with sleepy eyes but immediately his eyes caught the caller Id, he became instantly awake, it was private number, he answered the call as he secretly hoped it wasn't the same caller from the previous night but indeed it was, this time the caller didn’t even give him a chance to talk, the caller just spoke on without even a pause.

'Black is blacker at the mall, all colors are colorful but black is beautiful, you have twelve hours, if you find it, you keep it, finders keepers'

And the line went dead.

It was a very cold morning in Jos but Ali could feel hot sweat beads running down his back, if he was scared the previous night, he could very well say he was terrified now, he looked at his wall clock, it was exactly 6am, the caller had mentioned twelve hours, but nothing made any sense to Ali at that point, what did he mean by black is blacker at the mall, he remembered the caller's last words too, if you find it, you keep it, nothing made sense to him, was this some kind of riddle or what?

A part of his brain suggested this was still a prank but he chose not to see it as a prank, he was at a loss as to what to do. He prepared for work very early he had to get to the office on time maybe if he shared with Alhaji Hassan, he would be able to understand the situation.

By 7.00am, Ali was already at work, he could see the surprise on the cleaner's face when she came to clean his office and found him already on seat. He was deep in thoughts, he couldn't wait for Alhaji Hassan to show up, the Alhaji wasn't really a title, it was a nickname they had coined for Mr. Hassan because he was quite knowledgeable on so many matters, and for over five years it had stuck with him to the extent that most people had actually come to believe the fact that he was indeed an Alhaji.

Alhaji Hassan arrived work at about 8.20am, Ali had almost wearied himself out with thoughts, he allowed Alhaji Hassan get settled and after fifteen minutes he went into his office.

'Hey, Mr. Ali, peace be unto you, how are you doing this morning'

Ali forced a smile and replied, 'very well my friend' and he sat down opposite him.

Alhaji Hassan immediately knew something was wrong. This wasn't Ali's regular disposition, 'what troubles you, my friend?'

Ali paused for a minute as Alhaji Hassan continued to regard him before he began to speak, he related all the events of the previous evening and afterwards the events that had happened early that morning and when he was done he was rather angry that Alhaji Hassan was wearing a smile rather than a serious look.

Alhaji Hassan suddenly started laughing, Ali's anger was increasing, 'what was wrong with this man, did this seem like a comic movie to him' Alhaji Hassan could tell that Ali wasn't getting his joke, so he stopped laughing and spoke

'Common Ali, can't you see it, it’s a big prank, you have been long in this profession, you should know this by now, we do get prank calls very often, you know there are a lot of mad people in this country and many times some people could just pick on anyone in this profession to play a prank on, remember you are quite popular in this part of the country, come on, is that why you are wearing a gloomy face? I can bet you, this is a prank, you should have known that, what the hell is the meaning of 'black is blacker at the mall?' Come on that's obviously a senseless saying, relax Ali, trust me, you might have just heard the last from that prankster and am quite sure in the 12hours that you mentioned. He would be looking for someone else to prank.

Alhaji Hassan was fully able to convince Ali that it was a prank after all and Ali even began to laugh at himself for taking the prank seriously in the first place, he also should have known that in a profession like theirs, prank calls were actually a part of the things they always had to deal with.

He went about his work as usual, and just like Alhaji Hassan predicted, 12 hours passed and he heard nothing from the prankster, when he was leaving the office at about past 6pm, he had totally forgotten about the call and the weird riddle, he arrived home just in time to listen to the 7.30pm news.

There was a murder story on the highlights but that wasn't something new in Jos, people always got killed for different reasons, religious, tribal and all sorts. The news simply mentioned that a middle aged man was found murdered in his apartment that evening and there still wasn't any trace of the killer, neither had any motive been uncovered.

Ali shook his head as he watched the news, typical Jos, people getting murdered for little or no reasons, he was about to pass it off as another regular murder when the words of the reporter hit him like a lightning bolt. The middle aged man was the famous shoe seller at the mall they called Beautiful. People had nicknamed the man Blackie as he was very dark in complexion and only sold black shoes, Ali also remembered the reporter had said something about the man's time of murder being around 6pm as that was when the neighbors heard the gun shot and had called the police.

Suddenly the words of the strange caller began to replay in Ali's head

'Black is blacker at the mall, all colors are colorful but black is beautiful'

Ali suddenly began to shiver and just then his phone rang, he spied the phone screen as he prayed in his heart that it wasn't who he thought but indeed it was, the private number was calling again.