Chapter seven

Epic 7

“She is a bad person”. I said with a big hiss.

“Wow! Okay”. He muttered and after some time the car became dead in silence. I noticed how he kept hissing as he drove us to the station. As fanciful as Lagos state can be, we still have some dirty areas especially the part of Oshodi where some refuse bins are being dumped. The stench of the dump hit me like a wave, making me feel sick to my stomach. I tried to breathe through my mouth, but it didn't help much. The car felt like a prison, and I couldn't get away from the smell. The air conditioner seemed to be blowing the foul air right into my face, and I felt like I was going to suffocate. I looked at Mr. Ken, and I could tell he was struggling with the smell as well. But he just kept driving, determined to get us to the station.

"This part of Lagos state is so dirty, almost as if the environmental health officers are not doing their work, I just wonder how people survive living around such a nasty area”. Mr. Ken complained when we passed the place.

I couldn't help but smile at his disgusted expression, which made him look ugly. He must have noticed my smile, because he shot me a withering look, and then burst out laughing. "Don't laugh at me!" he said, grinning despite his mock-offended tone. "You're the one who has to sit here and smell it!"

I couldn't help but laugh even harder, and soon he was laughing with me. The tension in the car seemed to lift, and we were both able to relax a little bit. The smell was still there, but it didn't seem quite as oppressive now that we were laughing about it.

“I want to be a forensic officer when I grow up”, I muttered in between the laugh as he paused and smiled at me.

“How did you get to know about them?”. He asked with all surprised emotions

“My Dad tells me stories about them, I want to catch crime offenders and make sure they are punished severely”. I muttered hatefully

“You know, for a child, you speak way beyond your age right?”. Mr. Ken muttered as we both smiled at each other.

“That's my mum's favourite words”. I complimented

"You must have had some great parents, to instil such wisdom in you at such a young age," Mr. Ken said, his admiration evident in his voice. "They must have been remarkable people."

I nodded, my heart swelling with pride at the thought of my parents. "They were the best," I said, my voice full of love. "They always encouraged me to learn and explore, to be curious about the world around me. They were always there for me, and they always made me feel loved."

I could feel my eyes starting to well up with tears, and I quickly wiped them away, in silence, we reached the station.

When we reached the station just a few of the officers recognized me.

“Hello little angel” one of them said while touching my chin. Except for their sub-inspector who wasn't so pleased with my presence.

“You know he is going to distract you right?!”. He said sharply with a brown envelope he was holding.

“These are some of the CCTV footage of the crime scene at Ikeja as of yesterday”. He mumbled as Mr. Ken took the envelope from him.

I could feel the tension rising in the room as Mr Ken took the envelope and began to look through the footage. The sub-inspector's words hung in the air, their meaning clear. He was implying that I was a distraction, that I would interfere with the investigation. I felt a knot of anxiety forming in my stomach, and I knew I had to say something.

"I promise I won't get in the way," I said, my voice shaking slightly. "I just want to help."

Mr. Ken turned to look at me, his expression unreadable. I tried to peep into the pictures, but they were all saying the same thing, it was a huge man clothed in black, even wearing a pull-over baggy black sweater and a black cap. So the picture wasn't super clear. But one thing was common, the muddy black mountain shoe.

The realization hit me like a bolt of lightning. The muddy black mountain shoe - it was the same one I had seen in Aunty Lucy's bathroom. And it couldn't be a coincidence, there was no way. I could feel my heart racing, and my palms began to sweat.

I looked up at Mr Ken, who was still studying the CCTV footage. "Mr. Ken," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "The shoe... it's the same one."

His head snapped up, his eyes wide with shock. "What did you say?" he asked, his voice sounding slightly strangled.

“That's Aunty Lucy”. I whispered as Mr. Ken gave me a weird look.

“Who is Aunty Lucy?”, The sub-inspector questioned but Mr. Ken shuffled it off. “Little children's talk” he had replied before continuing with their discussion.

“Has an autopsy been carried out on the deceased?!”. Mr Ken said while looking at the picture.

“That is left for the forensic officers to do that, though the area has been secured for further proof, they are working on the necessary DNA analysis for it”. The sub-inspector muttered

“It must be a hard one”. Mr Ken whispered after a heavy breath

“Yeah, the assassin is a smart one, so I heard”.

"A smart one indeed," Mr. Ken said, his eyes narrowing as he studied the picture once more. "They've covered their tracks well, there's hardly any evidence to go on. We need to find some kind of clue, something that will lead us to the killer."

"There must be something, some little detail we've overlooked," the sub-inspector said, frustration creeping into his voice. "We need to think outside the box, look at things from a different perspective."

“It's Aunty Lucy”. I said again, but the sub-inspector picked interest even before Mr. Ken could shuffle it off.

“Who is Aunty Lucy?”. He asked again.

“She is our neighbour, he barely even knows her, I only let him stay with her for a day and he started up with all these weird stories about her, and I forgot to tell you earlier, he has been sick and is still sick, so this is probably a delusion”. Mr. Ken whispered and gave me a displeasing look. “Remember you promised to be of good behavior” he had said before I decided to keep quiet.

I felt my heart sink as Mr. Ken discredited my story. I knew that the sub-inspector would believe him over me, and I felt helpless. But I also knew that I couldn't give up, not when I knew that Aunty Lucy was a real person and that something was wrong.

After the meeting, Mr. Ken angrily carried me to the car.

“What is the meaning of that, that you did there? Do you realize you can endanger Lucy's life with such fake news?! You should be mindful of what you say, otherwise I won't be bringing you to the station”. He said angrily.

Instantly tears began to flow out of my eyes, I didn't expect that from Mr. Ken. His words hit me like a slap in the face, and I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. I had only been trying to help, but I must have done something wrong. I felt ashamed and embarrassed, and I could feel my cheeks flushing red. I had never felt so small and insignificant before.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, my voice barely audible. "I didn't mean to upset you or put anyone in danger." I sniffled, trying to compose myself. "I just wanted to help."

“Just get in the

But, something shocking happened, halfway to the drive we saw the terrorist in black, he was dressed the same way and was escaping from another crime scene, Mr. Ken had also noticed him on time so he started to follow him and when he noticed someone was following him a picked up a race and immediately entered a black car that didn't have a plate number. My heart was racing as Mr. Ken followed the black car, tailing it closely as it sped through the city streets. I could tell he was determined to catch the person who had been terrorizing the city, and I was both scared and excited by the chase.

The car weaved in and out of traffic, speeding past cars and taking dangerous turns. Mr. Ken kept pace, not letting the car out of his sight. But then, the unthinkable happened. The black car turned down a narrow alley, and Mr. Ken had no choice but to follow. As we turned into the alley, the car was nowhere in sight.

and shortly after the anonymous disappearance, I sighted Aunty Lucy coming out of a corner.

“Aunty Lucy”. I whispered while pointing in her direction.

“It's her”. Mr. Ken muttered slowly and gently with disbelief.