The following week saw us working with all available evidence and resources to investigate the death of Isadora and also locate Agnes’ daughter. A juggernaut and strict no-nonsense police officer was later involved courtesy of Mr. Tonubari, he promised to support our investigation and come to our aid once called upon.
At long last, we found out the man behind the death of Isadora. It was later noon when Mr. James called me. At first, I wanted to ignore since I was in the loo but in a second thought picked it up, the news conveyed by Mr. James shocked me beyond my bone marrow, prompting me to hurry up and meet the rest at the our investigation.
The moment I stepped in, I saw everyone sitting casually with Biggie chewing a piece of chicken and holding a glass of juice with his left hand. Agnes was busy scrolling through her laptop while Mr. James was busy takingsome sip from a bottle of beer he was holding. I stood still looking at them like I’ve just seen ghosts. In return, they are stared at me like a stranger.
I didn’t utter a word neither did they, we all were in a staring competition. The silence was making me more uncomfortable, Mr. James on his part had resume sipping his beer, Biggie stared pass me while Agnes seems to be the only one in the room who was in a serious work mood, for she was punching away on her laptop keyboard giving us zero attention.
“If I were you, I would have asked why the room is so silent rather than standing and staring at everyone like a zombie”, Agnes broke the silence.
“Imagine, he was staring at us like a zombie”, Mr. James mocked.
It was only Biggie that didn’t utter a word. He was busy eating his fried chicken and drinking his juice giving no care to the outside world.
“It was the atmosphere in the room that made me act that way”, I began but was cut short by Biggie.
“Isadora possess classified information pertaining to the involvement of a very high government official, she had been warned to hand it over numerous times but she refused…even money had been used to try swap but to no avail. To ensure the information doesn’t leak out, the best solution was to eliminate her”, Biggie detailed us looking at me with all seriousness.
“How did you know?”, I asked Biggie who dropped the bone of the chicken he was eating.
“Because the man I was working for was and still a close associate with the said government official, I never knew though, but joining bits and bit together suddenly the whole picture became clearer”. Biggie smiled wickedly.
“Who is responsible for her death?”, I asked Biggie with intensity rising in my voice.
“It’s no other person than the state governor himself”, Mr. James cut in.
“You mean governor Peterside?”, I asked to be sure I heard correctly.
“Yes, he is the one we are talking about. No one else other than him”, Biggie answered as he stood up and paced the room for some time.
“Hope you remember the day we first ran into Isadora at the event in Port-Harcourt where she said she also came to cover the event?”, Mr. James asked me.
“Yes, that was the very first time you guys met”, I nodded to Mr. James.
“Hope you still remembered that we left before her?”, Mr. James tried jogging my memory.
“I remember everything vividly”, I answered Mr. James to avoid further questions.
“Then, that makes it easier”, Biggie cut in.
“While she was hanging around, her boss, Mr. Tonubari asked her to follow him to see the governor’s aid for an exclusive interview. Well, at the end of the interview, while her boss waited behind to have some private discussion with the governor’s aid, Isadora took some stroll around and came across a crime scene in which the governor himself was the one that ordered it. She took video and photos of the scene and was careful enough to sneak away without anyone seeing or noticing her”, Mr. James explained.
“Then how come, they were able to find out?”, I asked Mr. James who in turn faced Biggie.
“CCTV”, Biggie replied staring back at Mr. James.
“So, what was the crime?”, I asked no one in particular.
“A little boy was killed and his organs harvested, reasons unknown though”, Agnes answered forcing my jaw to drop from shock.
“Was that not same crime he fumed over that he’ll bring those behind it to book and shall be shall be made to face the full the wrath of the law?”,I enquired from Mr. James who laughed out hard.
“Well, it turns out he was the culprit of same heinous crime”, Biggie chirped in.
“So, how is he connected to Mr. Lekan?”, I threw my gaze to Biggie who diverted his gaze to Agnes.
“He and Lekan belonged to the same drug cartel, before he ran for the office of the governor of his state. At the surface, he is an innocent business man, but under; he is a drug baron. Here are some photos gotten from Isadora’s drive and here’s the video of the murder of the innocent boy”, Agnes pointed at her system as I watched the screen with horror.
“That explains why he killed Isadora, he didn’t want all these evidences to surface”, Biggie tapped my shoulder from behind.
“We’ve gotten another big fish in our net, what next?”, I asked Mr. James who smiled.
“Look for the bastard with Agnes’ girl, and I believe you have lead on that one”, Mr. James spoke angrily.
“We succeeded in getting the blood sample, after series of tests and all; the DNA didn’t match that of Alhaji Danladi’s wife but Agnes”, I announced my finding and Mr. James whistled loudly.
“Another big fish caught! Now, getting that girl from Alhaji Danladi is like a dog trying to get a meat from hungry lions”, Biggie sat down in frustration.
“So as it is now, we have a very tough battle on our hands”, Mr. James eyed me as Agnes paced about before facing me.
“Nothing is too tough for me, even if it means passing through fire to get my daughter…I will die doing it”, Biggie took a look at her feeling very impressed.
“Bravo, that was a very powerful affirmation”, Mr. James eyed Biggie who was praising Agnes’ bravery.
“Let’s not get our horses running yet, let’s start planning how to go about it. We have nailed everyone on the criminal record and all evidences are also intact, what’s remaining is handing them over to the appropriate authorities and calling the attention of the media to it”. Mr. James spoke out after pacing around for some minute.
“How do we tackle Alhaji Danladi and his wife? Seeing how powerful and influential they are in the country”, I asked Mr. James who remained silent for some time before saying a word.
“We’ll first investigate his involvement. After that, we’ll determine our next move. We’ll go about everything diplomatic measure first”, Mr. James began.
“And if diplomacy fails?”, I pushed further.
“Then we respond to them in the language they understand”, Agnes blew in hotly.
“I have a feeling that the governor, Alhaji Danladi won’t go down easily without a fight”, Biggie cautioned.
“We have gone over the details of all these and we have already agreed that we’ll give them what they want. Be it peace or war, they will all go down with a fight or not. Justice must prevail”, Mr. James spoke calmly, more to his self than to us.
We all sat down staring at each others’ face without uttering any word. It was time for love to bring justice, the love we have for those dear to our hearts. There are prices to be paid for justice to prevail, and we have all agreed on paying the price, be it our life or resources, after all Isadora paid the price with her life.