THE WITNESSES

CHAPTER FOUR

Ali couldn't stop pacing up and down his sitting room, he kept on repeating the riddle to himself, and it just wasn't making any sense to him. What did the caller mean by Eat and Die, Drink and Live?

He tried hard to convince himself that it wasn't even a riddle at all, maybe the caller only sought an excuse to murder another person.

His phone rang, that was the third time Alhaji Hassan had called him that day, he just continued to ignore the call, he didn’t want to get Alhaji Hassan involved again, it was bad enough that the caller already brought his girlfriend into it, the fewer people involved, the better it was.

Ali was deep in thoughts, his best option would have been going to the police but the caller had already knocked out that option. He once again recalled the fact that the caller seemed to borrow some lines from the movie 'Saw', maybe it was high time he wore his late Father's detective cloak and started some investigation for himself.

There were many questions he needed answers to, maybe seeking answers to them was a good way to begin, firstly why did the caller chose him? Secondly what was the caller's deal with the jig saw puzzle? Thirdly, was there any special reasons why he picked his victims or were they all random victims?

Ali walked slowly to his study desk, he began to see a challenge in the situation, If the caller had chosen him out of the thousands of journalists in Jos then there had to be a reason and he intended finding out, as he sat at his desk and got out some writing materials, he felt a stronger resolve to crack the case, it was fast becoming personal for him, the caller had involved his girlfriend, that was personal for him, he was going to be a detective now. Since the caller wanted to play, he was also going to play, he muttered softly to himself

'Since you want to play games, let the games continue'

The caller sat inside the old Toyota corolla as his mind travelled to the past.

After he murdered his step father his mother took the fall for him, she admitted killing his stepfather when the police showed up, she pinned it on self-defense, there was a case with the police but it was later written off as the dead man in question didn’t have good records either, the police probably saw it as good riddance to bad rubbish.

After the incident, they relocated to a different area entirely and he had to change school. He was the ideal student, neat, handsome, quiet and very intelligent, all the teachers liked him, all the students liked him too especially the girls. The girls loved him but he loved only one girl. His heart beat for her, he longed for her, he wanted to have her, but she was out of his reach, he had one major flaw, he couldn't speak to a lady and she wasn't one of those girls that would have done anything to be with him.

His Mum provided all his needs, he loved her so much but he could feel it, she was scared of him, it seemed she never for once forgot the night where she had watched him murder his step father, she loved him anyway, she knew he had done it for her or rather that was what she thought but he knew he had done it for the pleasure of it.

His remaining secondary school days would have been stainless had Aishat not rejected him, yes Aishat, that was her name. He was seventeen years old and he was in S.S.3.

It was the last day of secondary school, it was the day of the final exams, after the final exams he had summoned up all the courage in the world and went to Aishat, he didn't say much but he knew she understood what he meant, he wanted her to be his girl, Aishat had politely refused him and told him that she wasn't ready to be in that kind of relationship at that time.

He was still trying to make her have a change of heart when Aishat's father showed up, he had scolded Aishat for speaking with a boy, he had even warned the boy never to come close to his daughter again and he had driven off with his daughter.

The boy couldn't take it, he was heartbroken, if he couldn't have her, then no one was ever going to have her, he knew where she lived, he had sneaked into her compound on many occasions just to watch her, he was going to sneak into the compound again one last time but this time he had a mission.

The same spirit that possessed him against Tom and against his stepfather had possessed him again.

He sneaked out of the house that night to pay a visit to the only girl he had ever loved as much as he loved his mother. He knew his way in the darkness, he arrived at Aishat's house a little before midnight, scaling the fence wasn't new for him, he had scaled the fence on many occasions, he had learnt to pick locks too, he entered the house through the kitchen door, he tiptoed straight to her room, he knew just where she lay. He had been there once before, she had the blue lights on, he watched her as she slept, he longed for her, he wanted her to be his forever but again he remembered how she had rejected him. He muttered softly to himself

'You shouldn't have rejected me:

She suddenly opened her eyes and screamed in terror, Her father came rushing in, he held something in his hands, he didn't see the boy hiding behind the door, all he saw was his daughter sitting up on the bed and trying to point towards the boy, as he turned around, he felt the sharp sting of the knife as it dug into the left side of his stomach, the man's eyes opened wide in shock as the boy drew out the knife and thrust it in again into the softness of his flesh two more times. The man was big but he fell like a bag of rice as the boy side stepped and created a path for his falling body.

The girl was still screaming, he held the blood covered knife to his mouth as a sign for her to be quiet, she obeyed promptly, he walked towards her, she was sobbing, she was trembling in fear, he motioned for her to stand up and come to him, she obeyed with fear, her legs shook as she walked towards him, he closed the gap and turned her around so she wouldn't face him, he could feel her body shake and vibrate in fear, he wrapped his left arms around her waist, he could feel the warmth of her flesh as he pulled her body closer to his, she was wearing shorts and a small singlet, her fear excited him, as her body shook violently against his, he pressed her all the more to himself as he felt the warmth of her almost bare skin, he loved the feeling, he wanted more but he couldn't forgive her, he knew what he had to do, he held her firmly to himself with his left hand. She was sobbing softly and begging him, she mentioned his name, he didn't think she even knew his name, he whispered softly into her ears, 'I really did love you' and with a very swift motion, he slit her throat'

He released her and watched her lifeless body drop to the ground, as he turned around, something hit him across the forehead, it hurt so bad but it didn't come with enough force to knock the life out of him, he fell backwards but he picked himself up quickly before the attacker could strike again, it was a woman, he knew she had hurt him, he could feel blood pouring freely from his forehead, his vision was hazy but he could see her, she held a golf stick, he suddenly remembered, Aishat's father loved to play golf, he had known that a long while ago, the woman screamed when she saw the dead man and the dead girl on the floor, she had to be Aishat's mum, she tried to attack again but he grabbed the golf stick and forced it away from her hands, he attacked her with it, he was mad with anger, he continued to smash her head with it until all he could see was a mass of blood. His head was bleeding very badly now, he began to feel faint, he grabbed the golf stick and ran out of the house, he was going to keep the golf stick as a souvenir to always remember the only girl he had ever loved.

He was almost faint when he knocked at his door that night, his mum had opened the door and he had fallen into her arms, she had taken care of him that night, somehow she knew he had done something evil that night but she never asked him, she kept the golf stick safely for him too, when he woke the next day, she handed him the golf stick, she never asked what happened the other night and he never told her, his mum knew she had a devil for a son, she had decided to live with it. He on the other hand kept the golf stick, he had an ugly scar on his forehead too, a scar inflicted on him by Aishat's mum when she attacked him with the golf stick. He was always going to keep the golf stick, the scar on his forehead and the golf stick would always remind him of the only girl he had ever loved as much as he loved his mother.

The sound of the car horn behind him brought him back to reality, he looked behind him and saw that the woman behind him was about to drive out, his car was rather obstructing her, he drove out and gave her enough space to drive out, she gave him the angry look as she drove away, he smiled at her in return.

He parked the car again as he sat there watching, he had been waiting at the bus stop for over an hour, she was due to have arrived over thirty minutes ago, and just then he saw her, she came down from a bus and stood for some time like she was waiting for a cab, he turned on the ignition and drove towards her, he stopped right in front of her, and wound down.

You looking for a drop?

She peered in through the open window and nodded, she told him her destination and he asked her to come in, he opened the back door for her and she entered the car, as he drove down the road, he smiled and introduced himself,

'My name is Jasper, what do I call you?'

She smiled too as she replied 'you can call me Ann'

Ann got out her phone and dialed Ali's number with intent to inform him that she was already on her way to the house.

Ali continued to rack his brain as he tried to find out the meaning of the riddle, he had been sitting at his study table for over three hours, he really couldn't place it, he continued to repeat it to himself, Eat and Live, Drink and Die, the blaring flickers of the sun rises from the east.

His phone rang and it was Ann, she only called to inform him that she was close to the house, he replied warmly and for a few minutes he began to feel good but one thought again about the riddle changed his mood.

He began to pace up and down, he would have paced for about ten minutes before he heard the knock on the door, he knew it had to be Ann, he moved quickly to the door and there she was standing and smiling at him, the smile on her beautiful face lifted all his worries off him, she jumped into his arms and he hugged her very warmly, she broke away from the hug after a rather prolonged hug and carried her bag into the room as Ali followed behind her.

The cab driver reversed the car and drove out of the compound, he couldn't help but pride himself in just how daring he could be. He only wanted to prove a point to Ali that he could do whatever he wanted and still get away with it. He laughed softly, he could imagine Ali's reaction when he would call him later that night to tell him that he actually dropped his girlfriend over at his house.

Ann was quick to notice after a few minutes that Ali wasn't his usual self, she could tell that something was wrong, she continued to press on Ali to speak but he simply dismissed it by lying to her that he had fever and when it was obvious to her that he wasn't going to bulge, she left him to his business and went into the room in anger.

Ali had much on his mind, he didn't have the energy to chase any woman, he allowed her be and returned to his thoughts and just then he heard the sound of a car outside his house, the time was past 7pm, he looked out through the window and it was Alhaji Hassan.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, Ali hesitated but he had no option, he opened the door and Alhaji Hassan came in.

'What do you think you are doing, ignoring my calls? Do you know just how worried you got me, you got me wondering if the insane caller and killer had got to you'

Ali tried to ask him to lower his voice but it was too late, Ann was already out of the room and she heard every word that Alhaji Hassan had said.

As Ali looked at her, she looked at him angrily, there was no point hiding anything anymore, Ali asked her to sit and asked Alhaji Hassan to sit too as he began the story from the beginning and ended the story with the last riddle and how the caller had decided to give 48 hours. It was 7.30pm, five hours had gone already and yet there was no head way on the riddle, Ann was lost in thoughts, she wasn't scared rather she was intrigued, she was much more daring than Ali, she felt a sudden surge of adrenalin, Ali and Alhaji Hassan could see the smile on her face and they stared at her in a strange way, she repeated the riddle again, 'Eat and Live, Drink and Die, the blaring flickers of the sun rise in the east'

She smiled again as she spoke

'We would get him this time, he is definitely unevenly matched, three against one, he definitely can't win this one, we would work on it together and we would decode this riddle'

If there was anything Ali loved most about Ann, it was the strong will she had, her parents and siblings had died in a motor accident while she was younger, she had afterwards lived with an uncle who was a soldier, he had tried to sexually assault her and she had run away from the house and afterward had learnt to fend for herself and she had made a vow to herself that she would survive and she had of course being surviving until she met Ali. They had met two years ago at a public function, she was the hairstylist and makeup artist for the event and somehow they had clicked and that was how their love story had blossomed till now.

Alhaji Hassan kept racking his brain, they all tried to analyze the riddle from different points of views but nothing seemed to make any sense, after spending some hours all to no avail, they decided to sleep over it and pray that the morning brought them better luck.

Alhaji Hassan returned to his house with promises of making further enquiries and contacting all that could help decode the riddle.

Ann and Ali after trying for a few more hours decided to take a rest and continue the next day, Ali's phone began to ring at about 2.30am, he woke up and it was private number, Ann was already up too, she asked him to enable the loud speaker and he did.

'Good morning my dear friend, sorry to disturb your beautiful sleep, he paused for a while as if he suddenly remembered something then he continued

'I was going to ask you to help me pass a message to our dear Ann, but I can understand she can also hear me right now'

Ali's countenance dropped, the caller knew he had enabled the speaker, how did he always know everything?

The caller continued speaking, 'please could you help me tell Ann that one of the notes with which she paid me today, had a blemish, and I don't like blemishes, let's just say she owes me one'

Ann's heart jumped into her mouth, she couldn't believe that she had sat in the same car with the same maniac that Ali had told her about.

Ali's anger rose but he knew better than to yell at the caller, he tried so hard to maintain his calm'

The caller continued,

'I would expect you to show me some appreciation for bringing your girl home, anyway, it's expected, some people are so ungrateful to be alive, how are you faring with our little riddle, just a reminder that you have lost twelve hours as it is, good luck my friend' and the line went dead.

Ali and Ann couldn't sleep for the rest of the night, it was really beginning to seem very personal, Ali could feel it strongly, the caller had a personal score to settle with him but what it was, he couldn't tell.

Ann tried as much as possible to remember how the caller looked but she hadn't really taken any notice, who takes notice of cab drivers by the way, she had only observed that the driver wore a face cap and a shade, and his beards appeared rather too much, it had appeared strange to her then but now she knew why, he was disguising. There was really nothing she could pick that would help her identify the driver if she saw him again.

The next day which was a Saturday was spent moving from one place to another all in a bid to solve the riddle,

Alhaji Hassan came over to Ali's house in the morning, they moved from one media house to the other visiting other journalists, and some scholars too, they tried to be as discreet as possible as they couldn't really reveal the purpose of their mission but it was a brick wall anywhere they turned. At the end of the day, everyman returned back to his house, Ali was slowly giving up on the riddle, he was slowly accepting responsibility for yet the death of another innocent person but Ann didn't lose hope. It was suddenly a personal mission for her, she was bent on solving the riddle.

Ali's phone rang again that night at 2.30am, the caller was certainly having fun, he called to remind Ali that he had only twelve hours left and wished him luck again.

Sunday came with little or no hopes, the three of them were fast losing hope, even Ann didn't seem so enthusiastic anymore, they had found some answers though but none of the answers seemed the right answer to the riddle, they were all seating in Ali's sitting room, watching a movie when the first lights hit them.

In the movie, some soldiers camped in a forest and it was late and very cold too. They made a fire and sat around it, as the flames diminished, they continued to throw small logs into the fire to keep it burning and suddenly it began to rain, and the rain began to douse the flames as they tried to find shelter in their tents.

Ann sat up quickly like she suddenly felt an electric surge as she softly repeated the riddle

'Eat and Live, Drink and Die'

Ali and Alhaji Hassan were sitting up too, they could understand now, Ann had unraveled the riddle, they all chorused in unison

'Fire'