THE WITNESSES

(PART TWO) CHAPTER ONE

It was six months after the whole incident, the golf stick murder saga was fast fading off as there were always trending crimes in the city of Jos. Ann had returned back to school, Ali had returned back to work, he missed Alhaji Hassan so much but work had to continue. The daily tidings newspaper and magazines experienced a major boom and rose to fastest selling newspaper in Jos. Ali became a state hero too, his popularity spread all over Jos as the man that had ended the reign of a menace to society.

Ali was working on a story so he stayed up late at the office, it was 8pm, when he heard his phone ring, he looked at the screen, it was private number, and he answered the call and heard a strange unfamiliar voice.

'I heard you are very smart, let us play a game of cat and mouse, you be the cat, I will be the mouse, if you find me you win, if you don't, let's just say the cost would be in lives'

And the line went dead.

Ali stared at the phone, he couldn't explain how he felt, this was exactly six months after the whole episode with the golf stick murders, he had fast forgotten about the incident, the adrenalin rush, the hurts, the fears and everything. He had put them all behind him and now he received this call.

If he hadn't shot Jason himself he would have concluded that this was Jason, he began to contemplate some weird thoughts, could it mean that Jason was back from the dead? How was that even possible?

There was a similarity between this caller and Jason, the caller Id was private as it always happened with Jason.

Ali was tempted to assume it was a prank call but he had learnt a great deal from the encounter with Jason, he wasn't going to take any chances this time around, he knew exactly what he had to do, and he dialed a number on his phone and patiently waited while it rang.

‘Hello, Ali my friend, you thought about me today, it’s being a really long while, how are you?

Detective Usuman enquired with so much enthusiasm but he was quick to note that Ali wasn’t as enthusiastic as he was from the way Ali sounded.

‘I am okay, detective Usuman, how have you been?

Detective Usuman paused for a while, he could sense it, this was no courtesy call, and he could feel the tension in Ali’s voice.

‘What troubles you my friend?’

Ali paused for a while, he wasn’t sure any longer if he wanted to confide in the detective, what if it turned out to be a prank after all, this was the city of Jos, everyone knew about Ali and the golf stick murder saga, it was on the papers for two full months, Ali immediately changed his mind, he didn’t want to look like a fool at the end in case it turned out to be a prank call

‘All is well my friend, I just called to check on you, it’s been a while’ as Ali spoke, Detective Usuman couldn’t help but sense that something was wrong, but he sure couldn’t force Ali to say anything to him, they talked for a little while about the recent happenings in Jos, crime, news, business and every other gist they could pick on before Ali ended the call.

One look at the wristwatch and Ali knew it was time to go home, he was the last person left in the office, somehow the call bothered him but he kept on assuring himself that it was a prank call, after all, Jason couldn’t have come back from the dead to haunt him, he grabbed his briefcase, packed his stuff and made for the door, in a few minutes he was driving back to his house, he loved the life he was living, His girlfriend Ann was going to be a graduate soon and he planned to marry her as soon as she graduated.

He had to admit it, the golf stuck murder saga had brought good fortune his way, he had become very famous and that meant more money for The Daily Tidings Newspaper and Magazine, he whistled softly as he drove to his house, he planned to move to a bigger apartment the next year, he really loved the city of Jos, it was a very beautiful city when there were no crimes but there were always crimes, he was still busy basking in his thoughts when he heard the bang from behind, it was loud and deafening, his car shook terribly but he was quick to step on the brakes just before he would have lost control.

He knew what had happened before he even stepped out of the car, he knew someone had hit him from behind, he was enraged, his temper had risen to a dangerous level but he took to Ann’s advice, he sat patiently inside the car, as he counted one to ten in his head, Ann had taught him to always do that whenever he felt so mad, as he made to open the door to step out and see for himself who had hit him and the damage that had been done to his car, a pretty face popped up by his car window, apology was written all over her face as she held her two palms together and mouthed the words ‘I am sorry’

Ali opened the door and stepped out of the car to meet her, she spoke before he could even say anything

‘I am so sorry, it was all my fault, I guess I was so busy with my thoughts that I lost control, please I am really sorry about this’

Ali for a split moment was lost in her world that he almost didn’t hear her, he just kept on staring at her, she was so beautiful, perfect picture of a model, she was dark in complexion and very slim too, he found himself comparing her with Ann, he would have continued staring, if the cars behind them didn’t start to honk loudly, it was only then he remembered he hadn’t parked the car properly and he was standing on the road, he held her hands and led her away from the main road, towards the part of his car that had been bashed, she continued to apologize, he nodded at her and told her ‘it was fine’ he observed the damage, it wasn’t so bad, he was sure a panel beater could fix that in no time, he looked at her own car, it had also suffered little from the hit, but the damage to his own car was worse, she stared at him, he noticed she had lovely eyes too, ‘I am really sorry, what do I do to make up for this?’

Ali was almost tempted to ask her on a date as a makeup but he quickly composed himself

‘Don’t worry, it’s fine, I would get that fixed, but you have to be more careful next time, especially when you are driving at nights’ she smiled and nodded at him

‘Thank you, you are an angel’

Ali smiled, somehow her compliments made him feel good, she had a very lovely voice too, he shook hands with her and introduced himself.

‘I am Ali, from the daily tidings newspapers’ he expected her to have heard about him, when he mentioned daily tidings, but she didn’t seem to know anything about the daily tidings newspapers, she introduced herself as Becky, she was a model, Ali smiled, he had guessed right, he bade her farewell and went into his car, he waited for her to drive past him, before he drove on, he regretted the fact that he hadn’t asked for her contact but again, he let it go, she was a stranger, it was better their meeting ended that way.

It took Ali another ten minutes to get home, he got out of his car, examined the damage again and entered into the house, as he stepped on the verandah, he saw a newspaper peeping from underneath his door, halfway out in a way that he could easily notice it, he knew it was Peterson, Peterson always supplied him with newspapers that had hot news, he always scouted for hot news and tried to get into the scene, that was how he had discovered the golf stick murders in the first place, he opened the door, grabbed the paper and entered the house. When he opened the newspaper, he saw written in red ink, page 6, and the page 6 was circled too, this was strange, Peterson never did this, Ali assumed there was really hot gist on page 6 and that could be why Peterson had written and circled it on the first page, he turned quickly to page 6, and right there was a feature story written by a free-lance writer, the story was boldly captioned

‘CAT VERSUS MOUSE, THE BATTLE BEGINS’

the story was about two local conflicting sects in Jos that had declared war on themselves, they had disputes over territories and none was ready to give way for the other, the more Ali read, the more it didn’t seem relevant to him in anyway, he was beginning to wonder why Peterson would have written and circled page 6 on the front page when he heard a knock on his door, it sounded more like a soft tap than a knock, he stood up and listened, waiting to hear the knock again but he heard nothing, after waiting for about a minute, he walked towards the door and opened it, there was no one at the door, he was about to close the door on the assumption that it wasn’t a knock after all, when his eyes caught sight of something black on the floor just at the far end of his verandah, he moved closer and it was a black cat lying on his verandah, fear gripped him, his first instinct was to rush back into the house and close the door but his curiosity got the better part of him, he walked slowly towards the cat, he bent down to observe the cat, the cat was lifeless, it didn’t move, it was a small cat and it was obviously dead, there was a note tied around its neck, the note read

‘CAT VERSUS MOUSE, THE BATTLE BEGINS’

It was the same title of the story on the newspaper, and just then he remembered the last words of the anonymous caller that called him minutes ago at the office

‘Let’s play a game of Cat and Mouse, you be the cat and I will be the mouse’

The reality of the situation dawned on him, this was no prank after all, someone was out for him, but only one question plagued him, if Jason was dead, then who was after him?

Detective Usuman woke up to the loud ring of the phone, it was 9.00pm, He had probably dozed off and left the phone under his pillow, so immediately it rang, it jolted him quickly out of his sleep, he grabbed the phone and responded ‘hello?’

He listened carefully as his facial expression reflected the fact that he had just received distressing news, as he ended the call, his wife entered the room and stared at him, the loud ring of the phone had drawn her attention to the room too

‘What is it?’

He regarded her staring eyes and replied

‘Never mind, just go back to what you were doing, duty calls’

She continued to stare at him as he got off the bed, put on his trouser, his shirt and got his pistol and car keys from his bed side drawer, he observed the way she stared at him and spoke again probably to calm her nerves, he knew what she was thinking, she thought he was going to see another woman, indeed her instincts were right, it was his mistress that called but she sounded like she was in distress, he was actually going to confirm that she was ok, this was not a pleasure seeking visit but he certainly couldn’t tell her his destination, any man that wanted to live long knew better than to cheat and flaunt it in his wife’s face.

‘Go back to what you were doing, duty calls, put the kids to sleep, I would be back soon’

How incorrect he was, if only he knew what lay in wait for him that night, he would have known he couldn’t be back home anytime soon, in fact he would have known he wouldn’t be back home at all.

Ali dialed the number again, this was the third time he was dialing the number that night, and it was very unusual for Detective Usuman to ignore his call. The phone rang again and again and the call ended when there wasn’t any response.

Ali paced uncomfortably, he couldn’t find sleep, the dead cat that lay on his verandah troubled him greatly, he could sense danger, after he had seen the cat and read the note, he had contemplated for another one hour whether to confide in Detective Usuman or not, Detective Usuman had proven to be very resourceful and with his help, they were able to nail Jason, he had sat for almost an hour, trying to probably give a logical interpretation of the events that had happened that night, he tried so much to see it as a prank but deep down he knew this was no prank, he knew something was coming and somehow he felt this was related to Jason. First it was the call, then it was the newspaper and the circled story that brought Cat and Mouse to his focus, he was quite sure now that it wasn’t Peterson that had circled the newspaper and that realization made it all the more scary for him, it meant whoever it was that had called him, knew him very well and even had access to his house, and again, the thought of the knock and the presence of the dead cat with a note sent chills down his spine, he suddenly regretted the fact that he hadn’t called Detective Usuman earlier, He dialed the number again, this time it was switched off, he concluded that the detective had to be very busy, he probably couldn’t be bothered at that time, he went to bed with the hopes that Detective Usuman would call back as soon as he could.

Ali could barely sleep that night, he had terrible nightmares, at some points he could see Jason’s blood stained face laughing and calling out to him, and Ali was more than glad when it was eventually morning. Again he tried to contact detective Usuman, the phone was still switched off, he hurriedly prepared for work, and he made up his mind to pay a visit to detective Usuman at the station during his break period.

Somehow he was happy, that he heard nothing from the anonymous caller too, when he got out of his house, the dead cat was still lying on the verandah, he mustered up courage and took the body of the cat and disposed it off in a bush as he drove to work, different thoughts ran through his mind, he couldn’t even think, the only person he could confide in was detective Usuman, but he couldn’t get to him, he thought about telling Ann but he quickly changed his mind, he didn’t want to give her any cause for alarm, but he had to speak to her on the phone at least to be sure she was safe, they spoke for about four minutes as he drove to the office, he was glad she was safe,.

Ali could hardly concentrate in the office, his thoughts continued to roam around the dead cat and the note, but still he couldn’t figure out anything, it all seemed like a dead end, he caught himself expecting a call from the anonymous caller but there was nothing of such too, he was still working on a story rather halfheartedly when the receptionist came into the office and informed him that someone wanted to see him

He didn’t believe his eyes when she walked into the office, it was Becky, the least person he expected to see at that moment, she was all smiles and looking even more beautiful than she was the previous day

‘Good day, Ali, I was around the area and thought to visit and say thank you once again for yesterday’

Ali couldn’t believe how happy he was despite himself, Becky certainly stirred up something in him that he couldn’t understand

‘Wow, Becky, I must confess, it’s a pleasure having you here, please have your seat,’

He was about to ask her how she found him but he quickly recalled he had told her where he worked the night before, In a few minutes they were chatting like they had known each other for a long while, Becky confessed that after their chance meeting the other night, she observed that Ali had assumed that she should have known him during the introductions and that had made her do a quick check up on him and to her amazement she had discovered he was once the savior of Jos and a true hero. Ali laughed out loud when she said this, she seemed intrigued as Ali narrated the whole golf stick murder saga to her, and she was super company for Ali as she quickly made him forget all the troubles and threatening thoughts he had entertained minutes before.

When she announced it was time for her to leave, Ali felt compelled to make her stay some more but she insisted she had an appointment to catch, Ali saw her off to the door, with promises of calling her, as they exchanged numbers.

Ali whistled softly to himself as he walked back into his office, he felt really good now, he suddenly seemed to forget about the anonymous caller and the cat, he began to work again when his phone rang, he looked at the screen and his face brightened, it was detective Usuman, he quickly grabbed the phone and answered

Hello!

The voice that responded was certainly not the voice of detective Usuman, it was meant to be a strange voice but it certainly wasn’t strange to Ali because he had heard that same voice the night before, he listened carefully, his heart beat increasing rapidly as the voice spoke

‘Hello, Cat! Your first task inhabits a wooden shelter, find it and get to work’ and the line went dead

Ali stared at the phone, he couldn’t believe it, and he confirmed again to be sure it was detective Usuman’s number.

If the anonymous caller called using detective Usuman’s line, it meant the caller already had Usuman, and if the caller already had Usuman, he Ali, could as well give up on the fight. He couldn’t explain how he felt at that moment, he was terrified and angry at the same time, he hit the table in anger, and it suddenly became clear to him, a wooden shelter, that had to be the cabinet attached to his table, he quickly opened it and much to his surprise there was a very obvious note lying there, he got it out and on it was boldly written the following words

The rat wants some cheese, and the rat would get some cheese, find the cheese before the rat gets it, if you fail, let’s just say, the cost would be in lives.