THE WITNESSES

(PART TWO) CHAPTER TWO

Ali’s heart beat quickened as he read the note, two questions were on his mind, How did the caller access detective Usuman’s phone and how did the note get into his office cabinet?

He thought about the people that worked with him, what if it was one of them but again the thought of the call coming through on detective Usuman’s phone number negated that possibility. Indeed one thing was sure, this was serious stuff, and the caller meant business.

Ali had to be certain, he couldn’t just draw conclusions by sitting at his desk. He grabbed his car keys and moved quickly out of the office, he knew his destination. He had to visit the police station, he had to know for real what had happened to detective Usuman, as he drove out of his office, he was in a very big hurry and so he didn’t notice the red Nissan salon car that was parked a few meters away from his own car, neither did he notice when the occupant of the car snapped three shots of him with a special zoom lensed camera.

Ann had just finished a class, she walked slowly to a pharmacy just outside the school gate, she had a disturbing headache, she always avoided the school health center, and she was among the few that believed that the school health center never administered the right drugs. She had become so used to going outside to get drugs that even for something as little as a headache, she would prefer to go out of the school compound. She still had a class for 2.00pm, her aim was to get the drug, return back to school and hang around till 2.00pm for the class.

She was moving slowly to the pharmacy to get the drug, when she observed a young boy walking rather slowly behind her, she turned at intervals and every time she turned, the boy would stop and act like he was staring at something else, she continued walking but she suddenly wasn’t comfortable anymore, so just before she got into the pharmacy, she stopped so the young boy would walk past her, she suspected he was a pick pocket and she clutched her bag rather very tightly, the young boy walked slowly towards her, when he got to her, he dropped something on the floor very close to her feet and continued walking slowly, Ann observed him as he walked slowly, her curiosity got the better part of her, she stooped and picked what the boy had dropped, it was a brown envelope, she opened it and saw three photographs inside it, they were all photographs of Ali, she couldn’t understand, she turned the photographs and all three photographs had the letter x written in red ink behind them, she looked forward, the young boy was walking rather too slow, like he expected her to accost him, she raised her voice “Hey, excuse me”

The boy ignored and continued to walk slowly, her curiosity got the better part of her, she began to move quickly towards him “hey, I said excuse me”

The boy ignored and continued walking in his slow pace, Ann increased her pace and just as she almost got to the boy, he broke into a race, this took her by surprise, she didn’t expect it, as the boy ran, she couldn’t help it, she ran after him too, the boy was very fast, in a few seconds, he was already far ahead of her, she continued to run after him, the boy ran into a rather secluded street, she ran after him, she sighted him just before he ran into an uncompleted building, she hesitated at first, but again her determination pushed her, she entered into the uncompleted building too, there was no boy, she assumed he had jumped off onto the next street, through the window, she peered through the window, there was no sign of any boy, as she made to turn around to probably have a look at some of the other rooms in the building, she felt an handkerchief drop over her face, it was held by very strong hands over her nose, she tried to struggle, but the hands were very firm and the substance she was inhaling from the handkerchief was rather very strong too, she slowly succumbed to the powerful substance and her fight left her in seconds as she blacked out completely.

None of the inhabitants of the lonely street took any notice when the young boy had run into the uncompleted building, neither did they notice when a young girl had run into the building after him, it was indeed a lonely street, where everyone chose to mind their business, they certainly didn’t also notice when a red Nissan salon car pulled out from behind the uncompleted building and drove away.

Even if anyone had seen the car, no one would have suspected the car had an unusual content in its boot, the inhabitants of the street would have probably being oblivious of all the happenings of that day if one of the area boys hadn’t gone there to smoke and had raised an alarm on beholding the fresh corpse of a young boy inside one of the rooms, the boy had been killed with a baton, it was a series of hit to the head.

The police had come to take the body of the young boy away some hours later, to them it was another case of unexplainable murder probably one of the usual cult clashes. Nobody cared to consider the fact that the boy appeared rather too young to be a cultist, neither did anyone try to dig deeper into possible cause of death, it was a lot easier and comfortable to assume he was a cultist and it was just another case of a cultist meeting his untimely and well deserved end.

Ali had chosen to close rather early, he had a very troubling day, his visit to the police station had complicated things for him all the more, Detective Usuman was officially missing, according to Detective Usuman’s colleagues, his wife had already been to the office that morning to make an official complaint that she couldn’t find her husband, but there were rules in the police force that applied even to a detective, A person couldn’t be declared missing until after 24hours.

Ali was irritated by the way, detective Usuman’s colleagues treated the case with triviality, they were of the opinion that detective Usuman was having a good time and he probably just wanted to be away from the troubles of family for a while, he remembered the words of one of them

“Abeg make una leave oga Usuman, make e enjoy e self o, nor be person like oga Usuman wan lost jorh, oga Ali, go rest for house, oga Usuman go come out when he ready to come out”

Ali had felt really mad because he alone knew detective Usuman was in serious trouble, if he wasn’t dead already but he couldn’t bring himself to tell them anything, he had to get his bearings and be on top of the situation before he could probably tell anyone about the unknown caller. The only person he could speak to was detective Usuman and now there was no detective Usuman.

He had returned to the office and tried really hard to crack the riddle, he had read everything he could on rats and cheese but nothing seemed to make any sense to him, he decided to take a break and go home and probably involve Ann because he had no other option.

He checked his wristwatch, it was a few minutes past 4pm, he wanted to wait till 6pm before he called Ann because he didn’t want to disrupt any of her classes. He still had about two hours to kill, He couldn’t set his thoughts right, he knew he either had to share with someone or find a way to relax, he was sure if he relaxed, he would be able to get a clue to the riddle, just then Becky came to mind, just thoughts about her made him feel better, he dialed her number and she responded on first ring

“Hello, Handsome, How are you doing today?”

The word “handsome” caught him off guard, he caught himself smiling sheepishly, he couldn’t even respond immediately

“Hello! Are you there?” She spoke again to break the silence

“Yes, I am, hi, hope your day is going well” he stuttered a little as he replied

“Yes it is, but I have a feeling, it would be better if you were here” she spoke rather seductively, she knew she had an effect on Ali, from the first day she had met him, she knew he couldn’t control himself with her and she was going to use it to her full advantage.

The conversation lasted another twenty minutes, they always had something to talk about, somehow she noticed Ali was in a mood, and she suggested they hung out for a few minutes, just so Ali could liven up, Ali jumped at the offer with open arms, that was exactly what he wanted, he needed a form of relaxation so that he could be in the right frame of mind to tackle the riddle, they agreed on a venue and agreed to meet up by 5.00pm before she ended the call.

She smiled to herself as she beheld her beautiful face in the mirror, she laughed and spoke to herself, “all men are the same, they can never resist a beautiful woman” she laughed softly again, took off her clothes, grabbed her towel and went into the bathroom.

Ali packed his stuff in a hurry, he was so eager to meet up with Becky, for a split moment, he even forgot about Ann, somehow he just felt so excited about Becky, he couldn’t tell what it was, he knew he still loved Ann so much, he knew his feelings hadn’t changed towards Ann but there was something about Becky, he couldn’t tell what it was but he intended finding out.

Ali got home at about 6:15pm, he enjoyed his outing with Becky, she was one of the most intelligent girls he had ever met, according to her story, her parents were based overseas, she had lived with her grandparents in Benin city for a larger part of her life, she had studied business administration in the university of Benin, she had served in Jos and chose to stay back in Jos when her service year ended. She had afterwards gone into modelling and she was doing well for herself.

When she had asked him about his mood, he had given excuse with work, he couldn’t afford to tell her about the strange caller and the riddle, at least not on a first date. They had a great time together and again when she announced she had to leave, Ali had almost insisted she stayed until he remembered he had a riddle to solve and more importantly, he had to speak to Ann.

Ali suddenly remembered that he hadn’t mentioned it to Becky that he had a girlfriend and he recalled that she hadn’t asked either, he felt a little guilty but again he let it go on the grounds that Becky was only going to be a friend with no strings attached, after all, he was going to tell Ann about Becky.

Ali got his phone and dialed Ann’s number, it was 6:20pm now, he was quite sure, she was done with all her classes for the day, he put the phone to his ears and waited patiently as it rang

“Hello, Ali”

Ali almost threw the phone away, he looked at the number that he had dialed and satisfied himself that he had dialed Ann’s number, his hands shook terribly as he returned the phone to his ears and listened to the scary voice of the unknown caller

“Hello Ali, the rat has the cheese”

And the line went dead.

Ali couldn’t take this, suddenly it became clear to him just how much he loved Ann, indeed the saying “you don’t value what you have until you lose it” suddenly became real to him, so many thoughts ran through his mind, he couldn’t even bear to think that Ann was dead, one thing was certain, if the caller had hurt Ann, he was quite sure, he would hunt the caller down by any means possible and kill the caller.

He dialed the number again, this time it didn’t connect, he tried two more times and got the same result, he was almost running mad, he couldn’t think, he just continued to swear and curse, his heart thumped at an alarming rate, he sat down, stood up immediately again, he began to pace, it was worse for him because he was all alone this time around, there was no Ann, there was no Alhaji Hassan, there was no detective Usuman, it was Ali and Ali alone, he couldn’t even attempt to solve the riddle anymore, his whole mind was a blank, he fell on his knees and began to pray, he didn’t know who he prayed to, he wasn’t a religious person but he prayed all the same, Ann was all he had, he couldn’t bear to have anything happen to her, it would kill him.

He was still mid-way into his forced prayer when the phone rang, he grabbed the phone but was disappointed when he saw it was Becky on the phone, he ended the call, he suddenly wasn’t enthusiastic to speak with Becky anymore. She called again, he ended the call, the phone rang again, this time he was really mad, he was going to answer the call and speak rather rudely to Becky when he discovered that the caller ID was private, he answered the call and immediately began to hurl threats at the caller

‘If anything happens to Ann, I would find you and kill you, I would…’ and the line went dead. It suddenly dawned on him that he was at the mercy of the caller, if the caller chose not to call again, he could as well say goodbye to Ann forever if she was still alive, he regretted raising his voice, he prayed silently in his heart that the caller would call again, and just then the phone rang again, it was the same private caller ID, he answered the call and listened, he had never been so humble in all his life, at this point, he was sure he could do anything the caller wanted, he listened carefully as the caller spoke.

‘I want to make a movie, you would be my star, let’s just say Ann is safe for now, your outcome would determine if she gets out of this movie alive or if she ends up as collateral damage’

The caller paused for a while as if to confirm that Ali was listening, before the voice continued

‘Now listen and listen carefully, the break of dawn heralds an uncertain mission, but late sleepers might catch the moon setting, if it ever sets’ and with that the line went dead.

Ali couldn’t possibly explain how he felt at that moment, he couldn’t think straight, Ann was involved but one thing gave him comfort, the caller mentioned that Ann was safe, he knew he had no way to confirm that but he just had to take the words of the caller. He began to pace again as he replayed the last words of the caller in his head

‘The break of dawn heralds an uncertain mission, but late sleepers might catch the moon setting if it ever sets’

He understood the first part quite alright, it simply meant whatever the caller required of him would be clearer in the morning and he would probably have to go about it in the morning but he still didn’t understand the part about late sleepers catching the moon setting, if it ever sets.

He continued to rack his brain, this was quite easy when he had his team, but now he was alone, it began to dawn on him that maybe he wasn’t so smart after all, maybe it was just pure stroke of luck that had made him defeat Jason. He found it hard to co-ordinate his thoughts, he couldn’t stop thinking about Ann, he tried hard to imagine how she was at the moment, he continued to pace for minutes, yet he had no clue.

His phone rang again, he spied the screen, it was Becky, he ended the call again, he wasn’t really In a mood to speak with Becky but as he ended the call, he suddenly remembered the conversation they had that evening, Becky had mentioned something about a bar in her area that worked 24hours, they were never closed, not even on holidays, she had shared with him when they had discussed just how much some business men in Jos worked very long hours all for money.

The conversations suddenly began to replay in his head, she had mentioned something about the name of the bar being Rising Moon Bar, the name had stuck to his head because he had wondered why any bar would be named Rising Moon, the name had sounded funny then but he had completely forgotten the conversation after speaking with the unknown caller.

The call from Becky had jolted his memory, it suddenly became clear to him, Rising Moon was the moon that never sets and if the caller spoke something about late sleepers catching the moon setting, it meant something was definitely going to happen at the Rising Moon Bar that night and if he understood the concept of late sleepers, it meant it was going to go down around midnight.

Ali’s face brightened but more out of fright than excitement, he had cracked a part of the riddle, something was definitely going to happen at the Rising Moon Bar that night, he didn’t even know the address of the Bar, he quickly dialed Becky’s number, now he needed her and now he was glad God had brought her into his life.

She answered the call at first ring, she was obviously waiting for his call, she began speaking immediately, expressing her anger on the unreturned calls, Ali knew better than to fight with her at that moment, he asked for a meeting as a way to make it up to her, she was rather surprised, they had only met some minutes ago, why did he want to meet again, she was all the more surprised when he asked to meet at the Rising Moon Bar and asked her for directions, though it struck her as odd, she obliged him, gave him the directions and agreed to meet him by 8pm at the bar.

When Becky ended the call, she smiled to herself, it seemed to her that her plans were going quite smoothly, it seemed Ali was willingly falling into her hands, she smiled to herself.

With the way things were going, she knew she would get Ali. She knew exactly what she had to do.

She smiled as she combed her hair by the mirror and whispered softly to herself

“When I am done with him, he wouldn’t even be alive to tell the story”

Becky was one of those ladies who believed in making a man wait for her, so even though she was all set for Ali before 8pm, she decided to allow him wait for another thirty minutes. She eventually got to the bar at about 8.35pm.

Ali had been at the bar for about one hour already, he arrived the bar at 7.30pm, he wanted to be able to check the bar out for himself before Becky showed up, The bar was a rather big bar, it had a very big central compound where the major events went down, there was also a big stage at a central location in the bar. Ali was quick to observe that there was a passageway that led to some other smaller rooms and he could easily guess what went down in those rooms. He wasn’t alien to the operations of a brothel that used a bar as a front for immoral and illicit activities. He himself sat at a vantage position in the bar where he could easily see the major happenings. The bar was half full, there were all classes of people but Ali could tell that over half of the people at the bar that night were criminals.

’Why don’t you allow me fulfil some of your fantasies this night?’

Ali’s had his thoughts interrupted by the skinny dark girl that showed up in front of him, he regarded her for a minute, she was everything but beautiful, the sight of her coupled with what she was suggesting to him disgusted him, he was about to tell her off, when he heard the voice from behind him.

‘Hey b***h, run along, this one is taken’

He looked behind him and saw Becky, for a spilt second, he wondered how she had appeared behind him, as he turned to face the hooker again. She gave Becky a dissatisfied look and walked away swaying her hips so hard, that it almost made Ali laugh out loud. Becky smiled at Ali and sat opposite him.

‘I can see you already had company, maybe I should just run along”

Ali smiled and responded

‘Even if I was going to get down with a hooker, at least she should have some flesh’

Becky and Ali laughed at the joke and then Ali stared into her eyes again, that was when he observed how beautiful she looked that night, somehow he observed he was hot for her, despite himself. He was slowly losing control of his emotions even though he was currently at a difficult end with Ann being in danger.

‘Why don’t we go to my house for a bit? The party doesn’t get started here till 11pm’

Becky said the words in whispers and there was something really seductive about the way she whispered it, Ali knew he was fast losing control, he knew if he didn’t put his emotions in check, he could probably be in more trouble than he already was in.

He was about to refuse the offer, when she stood up and grabbed his arm

‘Come on, let’s go to my house, it’s a few blocks away from here, we would return here when the party kicks in, trust me, it’s boring out here, till 11pm. Let’s just say you are in luck today because the late sleepers show up today by 11.30pm, they haven’t been here in a while, let’s just say today is your lucky day’

The words hit Ali strongly, as she tried to get him up, he resisted for a bit and responded

‘Hold it there for a bit, what do you mean by late sleepers?’

She observed Ali for some seconds like he had asked her a very weird question

‘You mean you haven’t heard about the late sleepers? Come on Ali, it seems you are not quite in on Jos entertainment news, the late sleepers are a band, they are four brothers and they tag themselves that because they pride in themselves that no one ever goes to bed when they are on stage, they would be visiting the bar tonight and trust me, from 11pm, this bar would be so full and so lit that you wouldn’t believe it’s the same bar you have been in’

Ali continued to stare at her as she spoke, the words of the caller continued to slam his head

‘Late sleepers might catch the moon setting’

It suddenly became clear to him, The caller was going to strike the late sleepers, this was the riddle, he had to get to them before the rat did, if he didn’t then they were dead meat and he would lose Ann, he remembered the rat’s words as he had come to associate rat with the caller ‘If you fail, let’s just say the cost would be in lives’

He was still in thoughts, when Becky pulled him up, he observed she possessed an unusual strength as she pulled him up with very little effort.

‘Okay let’s go to my house, I would get you back here, that’s if you would like to return here though’ she smiled at him in a seductive manner, Ali knew just what she meant, he tried to argue but she was already walking out of the bar, he had no option but to follow sheepishly behind her

Meanwhile as Ali and Becky walked out of the bar that night, they were oblivious of everything including the man that sat in a rather dark portion of the bar, he wore a face cap and dark shades, he had seen Ali come in, he had watched him all the while, now he observed Becky leading Ali out of the bar, He smiled and took one more sip from his drink, he had a mission at the bar that night. He was going to make sure the late sleepers slept and never woke up again.

True to her words, Ali observed for himself that Becky’s house wasn’t far from the bar, he was impressed by her standards and great taste too, it was a very beautiful house, she lived alone, and it was a two bedroom flat. Her sitting room was beautifully decorated with art works and flowers, Ali could tell that Becky was quite wealthy, he was still wondering if modelling could afford one all of such luxury when she pushed him to the chair

’Please do have a seat, do you intend staring all day?’

He fell on the chair heavily and again he was quick to observe that Becky possessed an unusual strength for a lady.

He smiled at her and commented,

‘You have got a very beautiful house here’

She smiled and winked at him

‘I have got many other beautiful things and most of these beautiful things, I am quite willing to offer’

She smiled again and turned round to leave the sitting room to the room, she walked rather too seductively, Ali continued to stare at her as she swayed her hips seductively and vanished out of the sitting room.

Ali sat up immediately, he was at war with his conscience, and he knew exactly what it was that Becky wanted or so he thought. He knew he couldn’t resist Becky, he knew if he stayed even one minute longer, he would fall for Becky and probably make the kind of mistake that would haunt him for the rest of his life, yet a part of him, maybe the adventurous part kept asking him to enjoy the adventure.

He kept fighting with his thoughts, a part of him strongly wanted to leave at that point, maybe it was the part that really loved Ann so much and that cared about Ann’s present predicament meanwhile a second part of him kept making him understand that a few minutes pleasure with Becky wouldn’t hurt anyone, that part of him kept suggesting pleasurable thoughts to him, Ali stood up as he couldn’t be comfortable anymore, he continued to weigh his thoughts, he knew he had to make a decision within the minute, he continued to pace, the part of him that suggested giving into his lustful desires was slowly overpowering his sense of reasoning

Becky stood in front of the full length mirror as she observed her beautiful body, she was undressed down to her undergarments, she admired her curves and beautiful body, she was a true model, her body was her most outstanding feature and she knew it and of course she always used it to her advantage.

Her body had always brought her anything and everything she had ever wanted. She had discovered her seductive abilities and the powers of her amazing body in her late teens and afterwards she had used it to its full advantage. She smiled when she thought about Ali. From the very first day she had met him, she knew getting him into her den was always going to be easy. Now she had her chance and she was going to take it. The fragrance of her cologne was overpowering, she was going to give Ali pleasure and she was going to strike him at the moment of his greatest pleasure.

She smiled again to herself and opened the drawer, the picture lay there in the drawer, immediately she saw the picture, her countenance dropped, her smile was gone, it was suddenly replaced with hate and murderous anger, the more she stared at the picture, the more her anger was kindled, suddenly all her lusty thoughts were gone, she wasn’t going through with that anymore, she was simply going for the kill.

She opened the second drawer, the pistol laid there, it was already fitted with a silencer and she had dreamt about this day for months. She had thought about it again and again and again.

She grabbed the pistol, she was still in her undergarments, she loved the thought of pulling the trigger as Ali stared at her half nude body, she termed that a pleasurable way to die. She walked into the sitting room, pistol drawn, hands on trigger, all she needed was one shot to the head, she was a professional, and she entered into the sitting room speaking softly. She was going to take Ali by surprise.

‘Karma, that’s what they call it, let’s just say karma found you today’

The words rolled out of her mouth slowly before her eyes got accustomed to the fact that the sitting room was empty, she blinked twice to adjust her eyes to the light in the sitting room, Ali was gone, no one was there, she called his name twice, there was no response, she moved quickly to the main entrance door, it wasn’t locked, she opened it and Ali’s shoes were gone too, she screamed loudly in anger and hurt. Ali was gone for real, she couldn’t understand why he had left, and he didn’t even inform her he was leaving. She felt really mad as thoughts began to rush into her head on possible reasons why Ali might have left in such a hurry. She continued searching for reasons but in all she wasn’t even close to Ali’s reason for leaving, If only she had been in Ali’s head then she would have known that Ali just like Joseph in the bible had decided to flee temptation rather than fight it.