Abel and Onu still in the hospital room played a game of phone chess and Abel had just won Onu for the second time. “Na wa for me o. This is why I don’t play chess” Abel spoke with playful pride “because you are too good at it?” Abel nodded with a smirk on his face. “Well did you ever stop to think that I may have let you win these two times?” Onu retorted, words that Abel will ponder upon for more time than he would like.
“It’s time for me to go, this was lovely” Onu stood up to leave “we should do it again” Abel suggested “sure” an insincere answer from Onu; he knew that he was never going to see Abel in this way again. Ene’s murder had changed everything.
“Between you and that your colleague Rebecca, who is the better inspector?” Onu was taken aback by Abel’s question but he didn’t show it; he learnt from the police college that in dealing with a known murder the last thing you want to do is to show him/her your true emotions “I believe I am. She has good instincts but I have intelligence and the mind always wins the emotions” he finished with a smile but Abel was not smiling.
“See you soon” Onu bade him farewell and left before Abel could ask him any more questions and he did himself well in that regard because Abel was indeed about to ask him if he believed that Rebecca had an idea that he was the one who murdered his wife but since he was not able to ask Onu that question; he assumed.
He assumed that she had an idea; everything Onu told him about being the better inspector was bullshit to him. He knew that Onu was a very good inspector but Rebecca was better and what made her better was her tenacity. He didn’t see her give up Bishop Chukwu’s case until the killer was arrested “did she and Bishop Chukwu ever have something?” he thought thinking of what to do about her.
He needed something desperately, something he could use to get her to close the case forever and killing her was not an option… except he made it look like an accident; a car crash perhaps. Abel had gone into his murdering thoughts once again forgetting the promise he made to himself not to murder any more people.
Onu drove sombrely from the hospital wondering how he got himself into the position that he was in; in bed with the devil. He thought about going to Rebecca to confess all but that would mean jail time for him and Rebecca was not one to cover for anyone especially not a correctional officer. One who had been protecting a deadly criminal through two murders? No way.
He could negotiate and trade everything he knew about Abel for immunity and zero jail time but his information was already useless. Because he discerned that if he knew that Abel killed his wife, Rebecca already did and it was only going to be a matter of time before she roped him into the case and destroyed his life. This left him with only one thing to do in order to protect himself; black mail.
It was a tall order as Rebecca was an incorruptible police woman as far as he knew. He didn’t know what he was going to find about her if he started digging and he sincerely hoped that it was something worth his freedom.
The tears on his cheeks surprised him; it happened every time he thought about his dear sister Nila. The one whom he joined the police force because of and vowed to protect but never did. Instead he let her die a painful death letting her antagonist go scot free. Who was the culprit? The great Bishop Chukwu.
