THE WITNESSES

CHAPTER FIVE

The Trio couldn't believe their luck, it was already a few minutes past 12pm, and they had about two hours left.

Indeed fire had to be the answer to the riddle, why hadn't they understood that all these while, maybe they had expected it to be much more complex, now that was the first part of the riddle, the second part seemed a lot more easier to decode.

It was a combination of ideas and thought patterns from the three of them.

As Alhaji Hassan continued to repeat the second line of the riddle 'the blaring flickers of the sun rises in the east'

It struck Ali, obviously the keywords were flickers and blaring, he asked Alhaji Hassan and Ann, ‘what produces a blaring sound?’ Ann replied immediately, ‘that should be a horn, like the horn of a vehicle’ Alhaji Hassan quickly added, ‘and if it flickers then it has to be a light’ so Ali rephrased the question

‘What blares and produces flickers’ both of them replied simultaneously, ‘a truck’ and it hit three of them as they chorused at the same time, ‘it's a fire truck’

It became obvious to them, whoever the next victim was, had a relationship with the firefighting service, the caller planned to attack someone related with the firefighting department of the city of Jos.

It was 12.30pm already, there was no time to lose, the firefighting department had four major offices in Jos, and they had only two hours left. The chances of saving the target was working as two teams. Alhaji Hassan was to check out two of the offices, while Ali and Ann were to work together to check out the other two offices, they had a deal, if anyone found anything, calling the other team should be the first option before making any moves. In the next five minutes, Ali and Ann were in one car and Alhaji Hassan was in another, they were heading to different directions but the mission was the same. Saving the next victim was a matter of top priority.

The caller watched them as they drove out of Ali's compound, he knew they had finally unraveled the riddle, he was angry, he expected Ali to unravel the riddle faster, how could Ali take as much as over 45 hours to unravel a simple riddle like that, he suddenly began to dislike Ali, maybe Ali wasn't that smart after all, when he had dreamed about the riddle series, he had expected it to be so much fun. But to him it had been quite boring, this journalist was definitely dull, maybe it was high time he ended it for the journalist.

He needed something much more action packed, maybe if he attacked someone close to the Journalist, the action level of the game would triple. He made up his mind, one of the three had to go, certainly not the journalist, he still needed him in his plans, he hadn't even got to the second stage of his plan yet, so it had to be one of his partners, who would it be? Would it be Alhaji Hassan or would it be Ann? He thought about it for some time and settled on Ann. He was going to kill Ann, killing Ann was part of his original plans after all, it would sure bring out the animal in Ali, that was exactly the kind of motivation Ali needed, he had picked Ali for a reason and he was quite sure that if he struck Ann, Ali would wake up, he longed for action and if killing Ann would bring the action, he was willing to do that. He turned on the ignition and drove down the road, his destination was a street off Tafawa Balewa Street.

Ali and Ann's visit to the first office didn't produce any successful outcome, the security at the gate was rather rude, it took Ann's female poise and persuasive spirit for him to even grant them access to the manager. The company register had nothing to offer either, obviously Ali and Ann had hit a brick wall.

It was quite different for Alhaji Hassan, he had a little more cooperation from the security and the manager was even more cooperative, the company register didn't turn up any thing indicative though but as he was about to exit the office the manager received a phone call. The details of the conversation didn't really interest him but it was a name that he mentioned that struck him and brought him back to his seat.

The manager hung up and looked at him in surprise as he sat down again, 'I thought you were already on your way?'

Alhaji Hassan replied, 'yes but you mentioned a name just now, could you tell me more about that person?'

'You mean, Esther Rise?'

Alhaji Hassan nodded

'Oh, she is a resource person from Anambra, from the Nnamdi Azikwe University in Awka, she's meant to facilitate a training for members of our staff tomorrow, and the information reaching me says she just flew in a couple of minutes ago'

The manager suddenly stopped talking as he realized he was probably giving out too much information to a stranger, 'why do you ask by the way?' He observed Alhaji Hassan in a quizzing way

Alhaji Hassan smiled and responded 'come on, you know am a journalist and asking questions is part of my job, I was wondering if I could grant her an exclusive interview, you know, that would also be good for your company, she would definitely state her purpose for coming and people out there would get to know the marvelous work you are doing in here.

The manager smiled, of course he would love the opportunity, and it didn't take much for Alhaji Hassan to convince him to reveal the name of the hotel where Esther Rise would be lodging.

Alhaji Hassan left with the promise of returning to grant the manager a special interview, the manager was all smiles, as he received Alhaji Hassan's business card. The Daily Tidings Newspaper was a very popular one, the manager knew he had hit the jackpot on this, he was going to be a celebrity, and he was still smiling as Alhaji Hassan drove out of the compound.

It was 1.30pm already, Ali and Ann had barely exited the second office they had visited with no success when Alhaji Hassan's call came through. He was going after a certain Esther Rise from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, he sounded so enthusiastic on the phone, she was lodged in a hotel off Tafawa Balewa Street, they still had about an hour left, and he expected Ali and Ann to meet him up as soon as they could.

Ali's eyes brightened, of course it added up, he repeated the riddle, the blaring flickers of the sun rises in the east, he repeated the last lines, 'Rises In The East' he mouthed it softly to himself 'Rise, East', he repeated it in the reverse 'East Rise' of course, it was Esther Rise.

They had found it, he could see the smile on Ann's face, she had told them that they would beat the caller this time and indeed they were almost doing that. Ali couldn't believe his luck, he reversed his car, Tarawa Balewa street was in the opposite direction, it would take them less than thirty minutes to get there or rather so he thought, how would he have known that the main route was currently undergoing construction and that had resulted in heavy traffic congestion.

Esther Rise received the keys from the receptionist after signing the register, she was a regular guest at Maria Lodge, all the times she had been to Jos, she had never even tried a different hotel, she had been to Maria lodge once and that once was enough for her to make a final decision on the place.

As she climbed up the stairs to room 204, she took little notice of two different men that sat at the bar just on the other side of the reception room. One of them was Alhaji Hassan, he sat there holding a glass of wine but he knew who she was, he looked at his wristwatch, it was already 2.00pm and he wondered why Ali and Ann were delaying. Now he knew why the caller had given Ali 48hours, he wanted her to arrive Jos, he certainly knew she was flying into Jos that Sunday afternoon.

The other man at the bar knew Alhaji Hassan, he smiled as he watched him from a distance, he was sitting a little distance away from him, and he was having his favorite drink.

It was 2.00pm, he knew why Ali hadn't showed up, he also knew Ali wouldn't arrive in time to save this woman and that was why he was fast getting bored with Ali, maybe he should have picked a different journalist in the first place, this Ali wasn't so smart after all, it was obvious his fame of three years ago was only a stroke of luck. He had read a few of his publications then and at a point it had seemed the journalist really did know everything about the golf stick murderer.

He smiled, he had made up his mind, Ann was going down, she was meant to go down after all, and he was only bringing her name from the bottom to number four on his hit list.

Meanwhile Ali and Ann had hit a serious road block, the major route to Tafawa Balewa Street was under construction and all the road users were confined to a single lane and as it were, a serious traffic jam had already taken over the single lane.

The road users were practically on standstill and some impatient drivers had gone ahead to block the road, now all the road users were held up.

The traffic didn't seem to clear up at all, time was running out, it was 2.05pm, Ali could already foresee an inability to meet the caller's deadline. Ann on the other hand seemed even more confused, they contemplated reversing and going through a different route but it was already too late as other cars had already lined up behind them, they had less than 25minutes left, Ali knew for sure now that they wouldn't get to the hotel before 2.30pm, he was still contemplating what to do, when Ann suddenly opened the door and began to run down the road, Ali got the message immediately, if they made a run for it, they could make the hotel in thirty minutes but even at that, he doubted the probability of meeting the victim alive, he knew what he had to do, it was risky but he had to take his chances. It took him about two minutes to do what he had to do

By the time he got out of the car, Ann was already down the road, he locked the car doors and began to run after her, he was quite sure other drivers behind him would have stared on in surprise wondering if he was crazy, but he didn't care, at that moment he wasn't really concerned about how the other drivers would eventually find their way when the traffic cleared up, he also didn't care about his car. Whatever happened to it was fine, if the towing company was going to tow it, that was fine by him but he was hell bent on saving victim three, he wasn't going to allow this one die.

The caller continued to enjoy his drink as he watched Alhaji Hassan closely, he could tell that the man was getting impatient, he watched Alhaji Hassan dial a number on the phone, and he could also tell that no one responded from the expression on Hassan's face. He smiled as he sang softly to himself a nursery rhyme 'time is flying, flying away, time waits for nobody'

Meanwhile Alhaji Hassan just couldn't take it anymore, he had called Ali twice, there was no response, he had called Ann twice, there was no response, it was already ten minutes past two, they had only twenty minutes left, if he didn't act at that moment, they were going to lose again and he couldn't afford to allow that happen, not when they had come so close, he was going ahead to save her, Ali or no Ali. He took the last gulp of his drink, paid the waiter and began to walk into the reception, he was about to climb the stairs when he felt the need to decongest his bladder, he walked towards the rest room and opened the door, there was no one in, he walked towards the far end and zipped down his fly, he certainly didn't hear when the door opened again and someone else entered the rest room, neither was he aware that the person also locked the rest room from inside as he entered, it was the sound of the voice behind him that made him turn around.

'Good afternoon Sir, how are you doing today?'

Alhaji Hassan turned around to see a very handsome young man, he was quite sure he had seen the face before but he really couldn't place the face, one thing was distinct though, the stranger exuded so much charm that Alhaji Hassan was sure he would have fallen for him if he was a lady.

Alhaji Hassan smiled and returned the greeting as the stranger moved closer to him, no doubt the stranger wanted to take a leak too, that was what he assumed though.

Esther Rise had only come out of the bath room when she heard the knock on the door, it was 2.20pm, she wondered who it was, she wasn't expecting any guest at the hotel, she safely assumed it was room service, she tied the towel across her chest and opened the door.

Hello, can I help you?

'Good evening, my name is Hassan and I am a journalist'

She looked at him with quizzing eyes, 'okay what can I do for you?'

He handed over his complimentary card to her, she studied it for a while and smiled

'Oh, you are from the Daily Tidings Newspaper'

She smiled and returned the card to him, please give me a few minutes, allow me dress up.

Esther Rise closed the door and hurriedly dressed up, she loved the paparazzi, she lived for it, but this time, it wasn't just about the paparazzi, the person at the door exuded so much charm, she was already sexually excited, she was that kind of woman, she loved to have fun with men, especially handsome men, maybe her stay in Jos was going to be as romantically exciting as the last time. She wore her most expensive perfume and put on a rather seductive see through black gown, she only had her undies underneath it, in another five minutes she opened the door and the journalist came in.

She had never met Hassan before, if she had, then she would have known that Hassan wasn't so young and handsome, neither did he have a mark on his forehead just above his eyes and much more importantly she would have known that Hassan couldn't be so charming and seductive.