THE SERIAL MASK BY MORUFAT AJANI CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

 THE SERIAL MASK BY MORUFAT AJANI

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Leila follows Badru to the therapy center.

She stays in the car, far enough not to be seen, but close enough to spy on him. She watches as he walks inside. Then comes out after a few minutes with Hanan.

Seeing Hanan looking confident like someone who had no scar or has never been broken before. The way she walks with her head high, in a smart skirt and blouse, like some polished corporate queen burns into Leila’s chest like acid.

Her hands tighten around the steering as her eyes burn with hatred towards Hanan.

She alters my happiness so she shouldn't be happy either. She can't win like that. The idiot even witnessed me getting beaten up. She witnessed my downfall. I can't live with her being happy while she knows I am not.

She’s not close enough to hear what Hanan and Badru are saying, but just seeing them talk like that makes her dizzy with rage. Her thoughts scatter.

Wait, does Badru still care for her? Why did he run here immediately after he heard she now had a job? Why was he so worked up to the point of coming here almost immediately. And what on earth are they talking about?

Leila’s chest is pounding. She bites her nails, eyes glued to them.

What’s going on? Does he want to get close to her again? Does he want to see her ruin and be suffering so she can go beg him and so that he can marry her again? Why? Because of their daughter? Because of that child that bound them together? So he will now divorce me and then go back to her?

That thought grips her so tight she can barely breathe.

Then what will become of me after ruining my life. No way.

She presses her palms to her thighs.

I won’t let that happen. They won’t do that to me. They won’t be happy together after what they did to me.

Her eyes burn, tears mixing with hate.

I have to act fast. I have to get rid of that girl before things get out of hand. I need to act fast.

Her entire body is shaking, her heart punching through her ribs.

She stays even after Badru and Hanan finishes their conversation. Then when Hanan shows outside again to run errands for his boss, Leila gets out of the car and follows her. She follows her around. And when Hanan goes back to the office, she waits for her in the car. Till it's 4:30 that Hanan closes for the day and goes to pick Moyo at the creche. So after knowing Moyo’s creche, she drives back home.

***

At the police station, Detective Precious runs into the investigation unit’s room, looking anxious and sounding urgent.

“Detective Ola!” she yells, nearly out of breath.

“I just got a report. There’s a de-ad body found in the river at Katampe.”

Ola stands up immediately. “What?”

“Let’s go.” Ola grabs his badge, calls for backup, and rushes out with Precious and two other officers.

Sirens blare as they speed to the scene. By the time they arrive, a crowd has already formed near the riverbank. Some people are crying. Others are whispering in hushed tones, pointing at the de-ad body, shaken.

“Make way. Police. Step aside.” Ola says, flashing his badge.

They move closer to the covered body lying on the ground beside the water, pale and swollen. Precious bends down first, pulling back the sheet. The second she sees right hand missing, her heart drops.

“Still the same case. His right hand is gone.” she mutters, clenching her fist

Ola looks too and his face hardens.

Suddenly, they hear someone shouting,

“Here. Here. Here. Here.” The police rush there and look at what the lady is showing them. It's a phone.

Detective Ola picks the phone up and tap the screen. The backlight turns up and a handsome guy's face appears on the screen. They go back to the corpse and compare the face, they realize the face on the screen is the same as the corpse.

“It's his phone.” Precious says and Ola nods. He puts the phone in a ziplock nylon and gives it to Precious.

“We need to run an autopsy immediately.” Ola says and Precious nods.

They transport the body to the mortuary and within hours, the pathologist confirms: “Estimated time of dea-th was between 1:50pm and 2:10pm.”

They search for his identity and confirm the guy’s name is Caleb Nnamdi.

So at the police station, precious scrolls through the messages with gloved hands. Ola is there with her. She checks his call log, messages and everything she's supposed to search. And then she found out the last number he texted a message to was named Therapist Akinola Bello.

Hello sir, you asked me to see you today. Please where should we meet?

Seeing the name, Precious frowns. Ola bends at her and asks why she's frowning.

Precious stretches her hand to show Ola what she sees. Ola quickly wears his glove and collects the phone. He then says,

“ This guy again?”

“Did I not tell you? That bastard is the culprit. He just got away because he has a good lawyer. He will definitely be apprehended soon. I will make sure of it.”

“Ha, omo. This one shock me o. And to say I almost believe him.” Ola says,

“I never believed him from day one. I knew it's him.”

Ola puts the phone back into the ziplock and heads straight to the chief detective’s office. He doubts the chief detective will give them permission to arrest or even invite him for questioning.

Inside the chief detective’s office, Ola gives the evidence to the chief detective and he collects it. Ola steps back with his hands behind his back. The chief checks it and looks up, looking irritated and says,

“Ehnehn, so? What do I do with this evidence? What other evidence have you found aside from this?” Ola clears his throat and says, “ I have only this for now. But I can…” The chief cut in and says,

“But what? But you can what? Don't tell me you want to go and arrest this guy because of this circumstantial evidence? Are you?” The chief asks, hoping he's wrong and that Ola is not thinking of arresting Akin based on the phone evidence alone.

“Yes, I want to. But I can assure you…”

“You can assure me of what? I know for sure you can assure me of nothing except acting on impulse and eventually land us in trouble. This is why I need detective Hanan back to work but unfortunately, she doesn't take his career seriously. Unlike you, she will never come to me with evidence as weak as this. She would have gone out of line to find better evidence. I am sure we would have caught the serial k!ller if she's still at work.”

Hearing what the chief is saying, Ola is getting so angry but his face remains calm. Since he became the team leader after Hanan left, the chief detective always mentions Hanan, always praises her especially anytime he makes any single mistake. And it always breaks his heart.

Ola tucks the anger in his gut in and says,

“Sir, I know the evidence is weak. But I’m asking for your permission to let us invite Therapist Akinola Bello for questioning. Just for questioning. Please trust me on this sir.”

The Chief detective looks up from his desk, unimpressed. “Invite him with what? Your gut feeling?” He is looking at Ola with disdain. When Ola doesn't talk, the chief shakes his head again and says,

“Have you even gone out to find more evidence? Have you gone to search the victim’s house? I am sure no. You will just get your hand on a small piece of evidence and be running to me. Hanan will never…” As the chief is talking, Ola is feeling stupid but at the mention of Hanan’s name again, he can't hide his anger anymore,

“Chief!!!” He shouts on top of his voice and the chief blinks severally. Ola is breathing heavily with anger and his eyes are wide open.

“What? What? What did I say wrong? You have worked with Hanan, will you dispute how smart she is on this work? And it's high time you admit it, you are not smart at all.” The chief says, sounding authoritative.

“I don't care whether anyone is better than me or not. All I know is I am good too. Well, in my own way. This serial k!ller is just too calculative.” His voice is a little bit calm now. The chief nods unimpressed and pulls up his nose.

Then a few seconds after, he sighs and leans back in his chair.

“Ola, this man has been arrested before, charged, and cleared. You of all people should know the system doesn't favor repeated harassment, especially not without hard evidence. Arresting or inviting him again is harassment and I am sure you know that.”

“I understand, sir. But if I bring him in quietly and ask the right questions, I know I can rattle him. I can get something out of him. I believe I can get the evidence I need from him. Just give me this chance. Please.”

The Chief stares at him for a moment, then leans forward.

“Ola, listen to me carefully. If you touch that man without building a solid case first, and he sues this station for harassment or false arrest, it’s on you. I won’t cover it. You will solely be responsible for it. I won't be put into trouble.”

“I’ll take full responsibility,” Ola says without blinking.

The Chief sighs again and waves his hand. “Fine. But do it right. No drama. No press. No handcuffs. And if you fail to get a shred of usable evidence from him, I’m pulling you off this case. That’s the deal.”

Ola nods, serious. “Understood, sir. I won’t disappoint you.”

“Go and search the victim's house first. Who knows, you might see helpful evidence.” The chief says and Ola nods.

***

At Caleb's house,

A young man opens the door. He looks tense and confused when he sees the officers at his doorstep. His eyes are swollen and red like he's been crying.

“Good afternoon. We’re from the State CID. Are you familiar with this person?” She shows him a photo of the corpse from the river.

“That’s my roommate… Caleb.” Tears well up in his eyes.

“When was the last time you saw him?” Ola asks.

The guy swallows hard. “Four days ago. He left in the morning. Said he had something important to handle. That night, he texted me, said he was heading to his family house and might be gone for a few days. But after that… nothing. His phone’s been off. I’ve been trying to reach him since. Only God knows where he went that he met his dea-th there.” Tears rolls down his eyes.

“Have his family heard about his demise?” Precious asks,

“Yes. They are on their way to Lagos already.”

“Did they confirmed he was was really at their place?”

“No. They said he didn't come. That it's been long since they saw him.”

“But why didn't anyone report it to the police? It's been a week for crying out loud.”Precious asks, voice sharp.

“I—I was going to. I swear. I was planning to come in today. I’ve been worried sick. Then this morning I saw the pictures on social media that he’s de-ad. I couldn’t believe it.”

Tears start streaming down his face and he buries his head in his hands.

Ola and Precious exchange a glance.

“Alright,” Ola says gently.

“We will need to search this house in case we find anything that can help this case. We’ll need you to come down to the station and write a statement. And if you remember anything else, no matter how small, make sure you tell us.” He adds.

“Yes, sir,” the guy nods through his tears.

“Please find who did this to him. Please catch who did this to Caleb.” The guy continues crying.

“We will,” Precious says and the three of them go inside the room together.

***

Hanan drops Moyo at the creche and goes to work. Her skin is glowing this morning and she looks so happy. Need to ask the reason behind the glowing? Of course it's because she slept so well in her new apartment.

Not long after Hanan is well settled at the office, Akin arrives and seeing him, Hanan rises to her feet. She greets him and appreciates him so much for the house. But Akin just nods simply and leaves her front like he wasn't the one laughing and acting well yesterday. He looks like someone who is so long gone in thinking.

Two hours later, two black patrol cars roll to a stop outside the Akin’s therapy center. The uniformed officers stay by the vehicles while two plain clothes detectives, Ola and Precious step out and approach the entrance. Hanan stands up to greet them but she recognizes one of them immediately and he also recognized her.

“Detective Hanan?” Detective Ola says, looking surprised to see Hanan.

“Ola, what are you doing here?” Hanan asks, equally surprised.

Detective Ola was Hanan's direct junior when she's at the police station. They are in the same team and Hanan is the team leader.

“We are here to see the owner of this place. How about you? Do you work here now?” Hanan nods and wants to talk but precious Hum loudly, thinking that since the two know each other, they may start talking. Ola grab why Precious hum and says,

“Oh. Senior Hanan, let's talk later. Where is Therapist Akinola Bello? We need to see him.”  Hanan is surprised and confused.

“Why?” Hanan asks, curiously. But Precious is impatient and doesn't want them to use long talk to delay their purpose there.

“Please, you guys should talk later. Let's go and do what we are here for.” Detective Precious says, frowning deeply, looking nervous and unstable.

“Mr. Bello is with a client,” Hanan says, professionally.

She feels ashamed that her junior in the police force is here, seeing her work as a receptionist. But she doesn’t let the embarrassment show; she acts completely normal.

“Then interrupt him and tell him we’re waiting here,” Detective Precious says impatiently. Ola glances at her, cautioning her not to speak to Hanan that way, but Hanan shakes her head at him, signaling that he shouldn’t worry.

“This is regarding a murder investigation. We need to see him now.” precious adjust her tone, even though she's still sounding blunt.

Not long after, Akinola Bello appears in the hallway, looking calm, and professional. He says smoothly. “Gentleman, how can I help you?”

The moment detective Precious sees Akin, she rushes to him and pushes him roughly and sharply to the wall. His back hit the wall painfully and Akin mourned silently.

Precious is breathing heavily out of anger then she says,

“You this wack psychopath. Mark my words today. I will definitely be the one to catch you and let you face the law. Just enjoy your few days of freedom. You this cold blooded murder.”

Ola rushes to her and remove her from holding therapist Akin, saying,

“Precious, you need to calm down. Leave his clothes, please.” His voice is loud and unbelievable.

Precious leaves Akin’s cloth and moves back, breathing heavily and looking at Akin with disdain. She's feeling as though she should have a magic that can help her k!ll Akin at the moment. She's feeling an intense hatred towards him.

Ola steps forward and says,

“I am sorry on her behalf. She crossed the line and that wasn't professional. Please accept my apology.” Akin doesn't answer, he is using her hand to straighten his shirt, looking so serious but unreadable. No one can even guess what he is thinking.

“No, problem. How may I help you?” Akin asks even though he already knows why they are at his office. He knows they are there to invite him for questioning and he has an idea why so.

“We’re investigating a murder that happened last night. And we are inviting you to our office. Please can you come with us?” Akin nods and says,

“No problem.”

As everything is unfolding, Hanan is watching with her mouth pat in disbelief.

My boss is getting invited to the police station because of murder? And she's not even resisting or denying? She's acting like a regular customer of the police. And why did that policelady hold him like that earlier and call him a cold blooded murderer. Oh God, what is going on?

And then suddenly, the blood that Hanan saw on Akin's shirt yesterday comes to her mind and her mouth opens ajar. She uses her hand to cover her mouth and make sure not to make a sound so no one will hear her.

Oh God, please don't let it be what I am thinking.

“Okay. Let's go.” Akin says, leading the way and the other police follow.

Hanan stands rooted at the office entrance, staring ahead but not seeing anything. Her mind is far away. Her legs feel like concrete on the floor and her fingers are trembling. around the book she's holding.

No. No. It can’t be. Never. It can't be him.

She shakes her head slowly, like the motion will chase away the thoughts crawling into her mind. She doesn't want to believe the puzzle that is aligning together in her mind. She doesn't want it to make sense.

She dashes to her seat and dips hand in her bag with urgency. She pulls out her phone, scrolls through the contact in a rush, and when she sees Detective Ola’s number, she dial it immediately. The line connects.

“Hello,” Ola says.

“Ola, listen, don't say my name right now or act like I am the one you are talking to. Just answer this question I am about to ask you.” Hanan says sharply, her voice rushed but low.”

Ola pauses, curious. “Okay. Go ahead.”

“Have you guys done the autopsy of the corpse?” Hanan asks,

“Yes. Why do you ask?” Ola replies.

“What time did the person d!e?” Hanan’s voice is now barely a whisper, but the desperation is sharp.

“Around 2pm yesterday.” Ola says and the moment Hanan hears it, her entire body stiffens and her hand shoots to her mouth to cover her opened mouth.

“Oh my God… oh my God…”

She ends the call without another word. The phone slips from her fingers and dangles uselessly beside her. Her legs feel weak. Her heart is thudding like it wants to rip through her chest.

He came back yesterday… around past 2pm… with blood on his shirt… looking rough and anxious…And the man d!ed around 2pm?

She clutches her chest and goes on her knees.

“Oh God. Oh God. Could it be that Akin is actually the serial k!ller that I used all my entire career to look for? Oh God. But wait, if he's the one, did he intentionally approach me. Oh God… What’s going on?”

Hanan thinks to herself, her entire body is shaking and her heart beating heavily. Hanan doesn't want to believe he is the one but the logic and evidence surrounding the matter are too aligning, too perfect to be a coincidence.