“Sir, I would like to start building a case against him” Rebecca was in Inspector Dele’s office; they discussed her new findings about Abel. “Before I give you the go ahead, I will like to ask you a question” he replied waving at Rebecca to sit down which she did with a puzzled look on her face. “Before we go on another goose chase following another suspect, who may turn out to be innocent; I need you to assure me that you are at least eighty percent sure that this man is guilty”
There was a long pause, Rebecca didn’t know whether to tell him that she wasn’t just sure that Abel was guilty but she had a strong feeling that Inspector Onu was also in on it too but she restrained herself. “I am ninety-nine percent sure”. Her answer was good enough for him; after all she was the only one who never believed the two suspects he arrested in the past. “I guess the third time is a charm” “Indeed sir”
It was the end of Rebecca’s work day and the perfect time to talk to Inspector Dele about this case; she made him promise her not to disclose to anyone that she was building a case against Abel. “Not even Inspector Onu?” he asked “especially Inspector Onu” she replied praying that she was making the right decision to trust him.
“There are moles everywhere and I want to be as careful as possible” she explained and he understood. At this point Inspector Dele was ready to do anything to save face; anything to solve this high profile case and get the glory he has been clamouring for.
“You will need a surveillance team to watch Abel’s every move, is that right?” “yes sir” she replied with the knowledge of what his next question was going to be “I won’t assemble a team from this station; if I do that then word will easily get out that I am building a case again Abel” “exactly, so what are you going to do?”
Rebecca scrolled through her phone to a phone number that said “P.I Franklyn” and showed it to him “I am going to use a private investigator to watch him”. Her move was unconventional but it was the only choice that they had. No one in the station could know what they were up to and the more they talked about it, the more Inspector Dele thought it to be a good idea. She offered to bring the private investigator to meet Inspector Dele but he declined “I don’t want too much details just in case” “I totally understand sir” she replied standing up to leave.
As she walked towards the door a wave of chilling fear flashed through Inspector Dele’s body and for a moment he felt endangered by this case “Inspector” he called and she stopped to listen “I know catching the bad guy is very important but don’t forget to be careful; it is the person who is alive that can carry on an investigation” “Okay sir, thank you” she replied with no understanding of where his words were coming from.
Rebecca went back to her office feeling elated about her next move; there was nothing as good as finally catching an elusive murderer. A murderer whom she had been searching for on a case that went from hot to cold and back again. She smiled with satisfaction as she sat on her desk and got ready to close for the day; and as she did that, there was an abrasive knock on the door. It was Inspector Onu.
“Do you have a minute? I’d like to talk to you” he asked letting himself in “I have exactly five minutes” she replied not hiding the fact that she was not pleased to see him. He pointed a chair in front of her, she nodded and he sat down “I am here to talk about Pastor Abel” at the mention of the name Abel, Rebecca’s heart skipped; she wasn’t sure what Inspector Onu was going to say next and that scared her a little bit.
“What about Abel?” she asked in a very composed manner “I think he is the one who killed his wife… or what do you think?” he asked looking intently at her for her answer. “Really? Why do you think so?” “I think he killed her because she knew something he didn’t want anyone to know… or what do you think?”
“What do I think?” Rebecca laughed “I don’t think he did anything, I certainly didn’t get that vibe from the time we interviewed him. You can follow it up but I believe you will be wasting your time again” Onu was very quiet, his plan had failed.
He tried to find out whatever skeleton Rebecca was hiding in her cupboard but she had none, so he decided to see if she was unto Abel so that he could sabotage the investigation but Rebecca refused to admit to him her truest thoughts. He knew deep within him that she was suspecting Abel for everything he had done but not admitting it to him meant that she was onto him too.
He looked at her and she looked at him too; it was the battle of the gaze, who will drop theirs first but none did. They were in a staring contest; a contest they understood meant that they were coming for each other.
