Chapter ten

Epic 10

The officer's words hung in the air like a heavyweight, and I could feel the tension rising in the room. Mr Ken was silent, his face unreadable. The evidence was stacking up against her, and it was hard to ignore.

"I just...I don't know what to think," I heard Mr. Ken whisper as his voice faltered.

Another loud wail was heard from the room, this time around, it was terrifying but when it got to the third time, it became faint. I watched as tears dropped from Mr Ken's eyes before he ran inside the torture room. "Enough!" Mr. Ken yelled, his voice filled with anger and anguish. "You're not going to torture her like this. She's innocent until proven guilty, and I won't stand for this."

"But sir, we need to get to the bottom of this," one of the officers said, his voice gruff. "We can't just let her go without knowing the truth."

"There are other ways to get the truth," Mr. Ken said, his voice firm. "We're not going to resort to torture."

The officers looked at each other, clearly unhappy with Mr. Ken's decision.

Soon after, Aunty Lucy came out with some officers behind her, she was handcuffed and her face was all bruised even her singlet was covered with blood.

“Ky—ri—an”. She stammered as she walked past me.

I didn't notice I was already in tears until a drop fell to the floor. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. Aunty Lucy looked like a completely different person. The vibrant, cheerful woman I knew was gone, replaced by a bruised and battered shell. It was heartbreaking to see her like this, and I couldn't help but wonder what had happened in the interrogation room.

Mr Ken came out a few minutes later, his face pale and drawn. He saw me crying, and he quickly came over to me. "It's okay," he said softly.

“You shouldn't have followed me today y'know?”. Mr. Ken whispered while squatting in front of me, before using his hanky to wipe off my face

“Where are they taking her to?”. I asked while still having my eyes fixed on Lucy who could barely take a step forward.

“Aunty Lucy isn't such a good person, she committed a crime and has refused to admit to her crime so she is serving her punishment, she is going to be imprisoned just like every other crime offender until she acknowledges her crime”. He whispered.

*******

Years passed, and just after Aunty Lucy got arrested, for a complete five years, Lagos state was at peace. The strong conviction of Aunty Lucy being the assassin was so high, even though she refused to plead guilty while the case was in court, it concluded that she would be murdered through "death by hanging". One week before the due date, a murder case occurred at Surulele.

From the CCTV footage, it was the man in black.

The news sent a shockwave through the city, and the police were under pressure to catch the killer. But how could it be the man in black again? They had arrested Aunty Lucy, and she was the only suspect. The CCTV footage seemed to prove that she was not the killer, but everyone was still convinced that she was guilty.

As the city reeled from the latest murder, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. If the man in black was still out there, who knew what he would do next? I looked to Mr. Ken for answers, but he was just as confused as I was.

It was super hot as we went to the station the next day.

The whole story became fishy as Aunty Lucy's murder case got suspended.

“He is back”. Mr Ken mumbled to one of the officers

“Does it mean the lady has been telling the truth all this while?”. The other officer mumbled.

“I honestly don't know what to think, else this is a new assassin because I don't understand why the serial killing instantly stopped after the lady was captured and then just a week to her death sentence, this assassin showed up from nowhere, there is something I'm yet to understand”. Mr Ken mumbled devastated.

Mr. Ken's words made my heart sink. What if Aunty Lucy had been telling the truth all along? What if she was innocent, and had been wrongly accused? The thought made me feel sick to my stomach.

"But what about the evidence?" I asked, my voice shaking. "There was so much evidence against her."

Mr. Ken shook his head. "I know. But I have a feeling that there's something we're missing. I don't know what it is, but I'm going to find out."

I looked at him, my eyes filled with hope. "You think you can?“

“Let's interrogate Aunty Lucy very well, even if she is not the assassin, the possibility of knowing who the assassin is, is very high”. I whispered to Mr. Ken

Mr. Ken's eyes lit up when he heard my suggestion. "That's a great idea! We should interrogate Aunty Lucy again. Maybe she knows something that we don't."

The officer nodded. "I'll get a team together and we'll head over to the prison as soon as possible. We need to solve this case, and Aunty Lucy might be the key to it all."

Mr. Ken turned to me, a look of gratitude on his face. "Thank you, Kyrian. You're a genius, you know that right?" He mumbled as I smiled shyly, happier than I had been.

“Wow! He should join the force, he is really smart”. One of the officers who had overheard what I said, let out before stepping out.

“Everything will be fine and trust me it's going to be over soon”. I mumbled while grabbing Mr. Ken's soft and tender hand.

“You don't get it, more cases keep unfolding every day and it is looking as if we have been wasting our time here”. He let out bitterly.

“You are thinking that way because you have allowed your brain to process such, you are doing your best, even the universe can attest to that”. I mumbled with a smile before someone came and called him.

I sat in the plastic chair that was almost getting old, while gently observing the old pictures that were mounted on the wall and the good-looking one that was at the extreme. That is their new commander. He seemed pretty cool to me, the first time he saw me, he offered me some biscuits and we had just a little chit-chat.

I had peeped from the outside as I watched Mr Ken enter his office. The commander's office was sparsely decorated, with just a few pieces of furniture and some old photographs on the walls. As I sat in the plastic chair, I couldn't help but admire the way he carried himself with quiet confidence and a calm demeanour. He seemed to notice my gaze, and he gave me a warm smile before Mr Ken came out of his office angry, that was quite unusual especially when it was Mr. Ken coming out from the DPO's office.

“Let's go home son”. Mr Ken mumbled angrily as he came out of the office.

“Are you okay?”. I asked in my most polite tune.

“I don't want you to follow me to the station again” he whispered as my mood changed instantly.

“Did I do anything wrong?”. I muttered in between my mouth, one could barely even hear my voice, because I faced down.

“No...No...No the problem is not you okay?! You did nothing wrong. I just don't want your life to be endangered”. He whispered but I even got more confused.