COIN……there are two sides to every story by @obasatemitope (Episode XIII)

Hey Guys,

 

It’s been thirteen weeks now, almost can’t believe it. You guys are WOW.

 

This episode isn’t just titillating, it’s also very looong. Tope decided to give you wonderful guys  a two in one Episode.

 

CLICK HERE FOR PREVIOUS EPISODES

 

Like many ‘Lasgidians’, Kogberegbe’s alarm went off at 5:00am but unlike most of them, he rolled over to turn it off and went straight back to sleep. When his eyes finally opened at 6:30am, he felt well rested and excited. He stretched, did a short devotion, fixed himself a nice cup of coffee and sent Dr. Okanlawon a reminder. Doctor responded immediately, which surprised Kogberegbe; he probably didn’t get any sleep. Feeling alive, Kogberegbe started whistling a song that didn’t exist but the melody was so good that he continued whistling as he shaved.

It took him approximately two hours to get ready and when he was done, he stood staring at himself in the mirror, wondering what on earth was wrong with him. He looked strangely good, perhaps slightly overdressed but two reasons kept him from changing his outfit: time and ironing. Kogberegbe was as hopeless with ironing as he was with women and it’d been a while that he took his clothes over for dry-cleaning. Hoping he didn’t look as stupid as he felt, Kogberegbe grabbed his keys and dashed out the door, stealing a glance at his wrist watch. The only major appointment he had was at the Okanlawon’s residence but he needed to wait for a confirmation call before heading over. However there was a stack of paperwork that he needed to catch up with in the office before going to lunch with Lucy.

Forty-five minutes later, Kogberegbe was in his office; he greeted his secretary airily and she responded with a weird look which spurred irritation in Kogberegbe for he now knew he definitely looked stupid. Inside his office, he noticed that the bin had been thrown out and lined, but his ex-wife’s framed picture lay face-down on his shelf. His irritation was gradually building and after a few minutes of continuous discomfort, he picked up his car keys and the frame and headed out, in the ante-room, he dropped the frame with the secretary.

“Bin it” he said simply.

“Yes sir” she responded.

Kogberegbe drove down to one of his favorite clothing stores around Opebi where he purchased a very simple tee shirt which he immediately changed into. He also bought a female T-shirt which was gift-wrapped for him. Feeling smug now, he headed towards Lucy’s hospital; she should be on lunch break in about an hour. He decided to while away time at a café not far from the hospital. He ordered for a bottle of soda water, brought out his writing pad and started ruminating over his findings so far.

At this point, one thing was certain; Ronke threaded some dangerous waters, lived recklessly and definitely pissed someone off along the line. Whoever it was probably wasn’t just dangerous but also well connected. The most annoying part of the puzzle was that the murderer could be anyone, and he or she could be anywhere. For instance, there was a probability that the person resided within the estate, which would explain the easy access into the house. But the mastermind behind the execution would make him strike out the guards as suspects; the seemed to gullible to effectively plan such and moreover, there was no motive. He couldn’t rule out the parents of the girl; perhaps they found out about their daughter’s disgraceful lifestyle and felt it would be damaging to their careers. But why kill the only child they had? Kogberegbe certainly knew that an average Nigerian wouldn’t be that heartless. But what if Dr. Okanlawon had other children secretly, or if he valued his political image enough to take even his own daughter’s life? Kogberegbe would need to look closely into Dr. Okanlawon’s life.

It was also possible that Ronke’s killer was one of her school mates; it was obvious that she and her friends hung out with some fearful students, or at least were being watched by some. Kogberegbe was almost certain that Fadekemi’s boyfriend for instance was a cultist and even though she was scared of him, she was doomed if she left him; Kogberegbe knew how the gig was. So what if some cultist was interested in Ronke and she gave him an attitude? A cultist, or student at the minimum would be able to carry out such carefully planned murder, and there seemed to be a motive. But he doubted that a cultist would be careless enough to leave such traces as was found at the residence; and it was rare for them to operate outside the school and its environs; except the perpetrator was a new recruit, which made him wonder if it could have been an initiation ceremony.

There was also the issue of Ronke’s pregnancy, which made Kogberegbe conclude that whoever wanted her dead was a man; and judging by the force with which her head was snapped, the killer was definitely a man. He couldn’t shake the fact that everyone seemed to believe that the only man that Ronke dated or that she could have had sex with was Dapo, but the boy denied the fact that the child was his. If the paternity test came back negative, that would corroborate Dapo’s story although it wouldn’t let him off the hook because the prosecutor could argue that the pregnancy was enough motive for Dapo to have wanted her dead. Perhaps he felt the feeling of betrayal and jealousy got the better of him and he did the act before he could come back to his senses. And unfortunately for him, he would not be able to find an alibi during the time of the murder because technically, he would have been on the road, alone. But if Dapo was telling the truth, then his story would pan out with the period that Fadekemi told her that Ronke started behaving funny. Whatever bothered her definitely had to do with sex, which was probably why she finally gave consent to Dapo, and which was finally what led to her pregnancy. The fact that she hadn’t informed any of her friends and boyfriend about the pregnancy could also mean that she had a plan to use the pregnancy to her benefit and then terminate it to get on with her life. Kogberegbe wondered if the pregnancy was how she intended to get back at the person who had intimidated her for so long, if he was to believe Fadekemi’s recount of what Ronke told her. If that was so, then it could mean blackmail and whoever was worth blackmailing was definitely wealthy or powerful. It seemed to Kogberegbe like a well thought out plan gone bad; she was going to have her escapades and still end up with an the non-the-wise Dapo.

She definitely needed more money and when she was refused by her parents, she resulted to working at the club. Or it could have been to get access to some connection, like Jack said. But why was this necessary? To get to the root of that, Kogberegbe would have to interrogate the owner of the club and then every gold and diamond member of the club. But he knew that the club would sooner fold up that give him access to its members; that’s what they paid such ridiculous amount of money for anyway.

Kogberegbe dropped his pen and rubbed his temple, thankful that it was almost one pm. He sipped his now hot soda water, smoothed out his outfit and got ready to step under the sun.

Kogberegbe greeted the nurses familiarly as the made directly for the lunch room. His heart however sank when he saw the Doctor he’d seen the previous day, seated across the unmistakable back of his girlfriend- or ex-girlfriend, he wasn’t even sure which. He hated the sight of the two of them giggling happily together, so he turned to take his leave.

“Hey Steve” Lucy called, waving him over. The Doctor must have spotted him and alerted her. Kogberegbe didn’t want to be childish so he walked over to them.

“Nice of you to stop by” The Doctor said, standing up with a tabby cat smile glued to his face and when he noticed Kogberegbe’s confused look, he added “Lucy said you’d be joining us today”

“Did she, now?” Kogberegbe responded sarcastically, shaking the Doctor’s right hand. Lucy turned her head in embarrassment.

“Good to finally meet you inspector, your job must be interesting” The Doctor said.

“Detective” Lucy corrected with a laugh. “You look sparkly.” She added, trying to look for the reason.

Kogberegbe had never felt so small “It’s just the shirt, I spilled tea on the one I wore to the office so I had to buy this impromptu”

“It’s definitely not the shirt” Lucy said, musing.

“Not the shirt” The Doctor said dumbly. Kogberegbe darted a look his way which made him shut up immediately. He wondered why Lucy would pick such a man above him.

“I wasn’t staying anyway. I was called up on something I didn’t plan for…” Kogberegbe started to say.

“Soooooo you came all the way just to say you aren’t coming? Lucy supplied with  a confused look.

“That about sums it up” Kogberegbe responded with an embarrassed smile.

“That’s unlike you, you could have just pinged”

“Well, I didn’t think of that” He said looking even more embarrassed.

“You always think…”

“Stop it please” Kogberegbe couldn’t hold the humiliation anymore “Nice meeting you Doc”

“Did you get Lucy a gift?” The Doctor rather responded, peering into the little gift bag that Kogberegbe had unthinkingly dropped on the table. Quickly, Kogberegbe scooped it up.

“You do have a big mouth you know that? Kogberegbe said angrily.

“That was uncalled for” Lucy stood up, meeting his glare.

“Just as all these were!” Kogberegbe voiced out his frustration “I’m sorry I walked into such trap; I should have known better”

“Steve” Lucy softly called after Kogberegbe as he stormed out of the hospital, junking the gift as he went. So much for trying to understand women!

Later that evening after more weird glances from his secretary and tediously trying to get his reports up to date, Kogberegbe headed for the Okanlawon’s residence. He saw Musa seated with his peers, head bowed and oblivious to the game of draft they played. It was almost as if he was forced to sit in their midst. When he caught glimpse of Kogberegbe, a tiny sparkle crept into his eyes and freeing the frocks of his jalamia which was previously gathered on his knees, he came up to meet Kogberegbe.

“Oga” He said in a simple greeting, scratching the back of his head.

“How are you holding up Musa?” Kogberegbe shut the door.

“Uhn?”

“How are you?”

“Ha!” he laughed, nodded and lifted his eyes in a funny way “Alihamdulilahi”

“Have you remembered anything since the last time I saw you?” Kogberegbe asked, taking note of how the skin around his face suddenly changed to the sad one he’d worn over days. He looked like two different people when he was sad and when he brightened up.

“Oga, no remember anything again”

“Never mind; but I see you’ve started playing with your friends again?” Kogberegbe glanced in their direction and noticed that the men had stopped playing and now focused on them as if expecting Kogberegbe to cuff Musa and take him away.

“They call, they call” Musa said now, gesturing to explain that his friends had been trying t make him loosen up “And now today, I come, I sit, them, there.”

“Ok Musa” Kogberegbe said “Did someone bring some boxes here?” Kogberegbe also gesticulated for Musa’s comprehension.

“Yes. He ufshair” Musa pointed and started leading the way. Kogberegbe cast a last look at the guards, wondering how anyone could entrust their lives to such men; dogs were definitely better in his opinion because at least they would bark at the sight of strange things or people…but then dogs couldn’t open gates, he mused.

Ronke’s personal effects were neatly packed in boxes, all placed in the living room.

“He there” Musa pointed at the boxes which Kogberegbe had already seen.

“Thanks Musa.” Kogberegbe said as a dismissal but the man stood rooted; Kogberegbe decided to let him be.

As Kogberegbe looked through the boxes, his phone rang

“Yes” Kogberegbe answered

“Inspector Abu on the line”

“Hey Abu, how now?” Kogberegbe said.

“Very well sir. I have the result of the sample you asked me to test. I want to know if you’re in the office so that I can drop it off”

Kogberegbe’s heart raced, this could be the break he needed in the case so he didn’t want to waste time with the information “Just rip it open and tell me what it is inspector”

“Alright sir” Abu said from the other end and Kogberegbe heard the sound of paper tearing, a scrambled sound  that suggested Abu had replaced the phone in his ears and then “negative sir. The samples don’t match.”

Kogberegbe’s hopes sank, he suddenly felt tired so he sat on one of the leather chairs “Thanks inspector. You can hold on to it, I will pick it up when I come around”

“Alright sir”

“Thanks for getting back to me so quick” Kogberegbe said and went off the line. After a few minutes of sitting down, he managed to get himself back together and got back to work without bothering to spare Musa as much as a glance. He knew he was still standing there trying to make sense of what was happening. This was beginning to get frustrating for Kogberegbe; even though his recent findings pointed at various suspects, the singular person he could plausibly place at the murder scene was Sabo, and evidence now showed otherwise.

Pulling himself back together, Kogberegbe resumed scanning Ronke’s stuff, catching Musa’s swaying motion from the corner of his eye but choosing to ignore it. He wasn’t in the mood.

There didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary in the box; just clothes, make-up things and a few cheap jewelry items. There was a key in a large key-ring, along with an I.D card that had the name of the club house on it. Kogberegbe assumed the key opened a locker within the premises, which meant he would have to make a final trip to the club after all, he thought.

He had been hoping that Ronke at least kept a diary but apparently she didn’t- or did she? Kogberegbe wondered if Ronke’s wardrobe hadn’t been tampered with once her friends realized she was no more. He knew he had to get to the club house as soon as possible because if the owners had anything to hide, they would attempt to ransack Ronke’s locker, if they hadn’t done that already. Kogberegbe neatly repacked the box and placed it in Musa’s care then dialed the DPO’s office. He requested for a warrant to search Ronke’s locker at the club because he envisaged resistance. He was assured that the warrant would be issued under the condition that armed policemen accompany him. All the better, Kogberegbe thought to himself; they then arranged for the policemen to meet him on site and then he hung up. Outside, he noticed Musa’s friends were engrossed in their game as if their lives depended on it. Kogberegbe shook his head, knowing that anything could be going on at the moment in the houses they were supposed to keep watch over. Musa appeared beside him, exposing his teeth as usual, in good tiding.

“Is this how you normally play?” Kogberegbe gestured towards his friends and Musa nodded “daily?” Kogberegbe asked further

“Gaskiya ne” Musa responded

“Hmmm” Kogberegbe said, thinking “Do you have a phone Musa?”

“Oga I tell you, I not get” Musa answered

Kogberegbe glanced at his wristwatch, thinking he could spare a few minutes “Get in the car Musa”

“uhn?” Musa said dumbly

“In-the-car” Kogberegbe stressed. He knew there was a call centre within the estate, he just hoped they sell cheap phones as well. Kogberegbe noticed the smug look on Musa’s face as he gathered his garment and entered the passenger side of the car. He also noticed that Musa’s friends stopped their game once again but this time, they stood up, arms akimbo, watching their friend. Kogberegbe couldn’t decipher whether they felt he was arresting Musa or if they envied him for getting a ride; their expression could be that confusing. However, Kogberegbe was more engrossed in the realization that Musa just got in the car without securing the house he was supposed to be guarding. Kogberegbe shook his head and motioned for him to correct this wrong act.

“Aaah” Musa said smiling “e sape, eberywhere” He added, teeth out

“Yea right” Kogberegbe said sarcastically. It was becoming apparent to him that even any stupid amateur could perpetrate evil on these guards’ watch. Anything could have happened on that fateful day, anyone could have lured Musa from his duty post while the plan was being set in motion. Kogberegbe was certain that Musa would have been as careless about the security of the home as he just did.

Musa got back in the car and they drove off. As Kogberegbe made to steer off the street, he almost bumped into a careless driver who just swerved into the street without checking to see if another car was making its way out.

“Sorry” the female driver called out in haste, but she did a double take as she saw Musa “Hey! Hey!! Musa!!!” she called out and hurriedly parked, once again without looking out to see that she was not a harm to anyone around.

Musa peered through the driver’s window and bared his teeth again “Aaah. Madam” He said and Kogberegbe gave him a weird look. Everyone seem to have just one title as far as Musa was concerned. You were either “Oga” if you were a man or “Madam” for women.

“Hi. Sorry about the rough driving” She said to Kogberegbe

“It’s ok. Is everything alright?” He asked

“Are you Kogberegbe”

Puzzled, Kogberegbe responded “Yea?”

“I need to talk to you privately please” she pleaded

Kogberegbe glanced in Musa’s direction, knowing that was as private as any meeting could be, considering Musa’s dumb nature coupled with communication problem. But then, the detective side of him cautioned him; for there was no way he could be absolutely sure that Musa was in fact dumb. This made him ponder briefly on a thought he hadn’t considered before- could Musa have been an accomplice to the murder? His instincts told him Musa didn’t commit the crime, but did he know more than he divulged? He made a mental note to have Musa’s blood sample taken.

“I’ll park properly then” Kogberegbe said to the woman. When he had parked well, he stepped out o the car and met with the woman behind his car.

“I’m Subomi. Chief’s niece” She said in a way of introduction

“Ok” Kogberegbe said

“It was I who picked up Ronke’s things from school today”

“Oh I see. Hope it wasn’t too much of a bother?:

She averted her eyes, a sure sign that she was hiding something “I think something dropped off in my car while I transported the stuff”

Kogberegbe’s eyebrow arched a notch but he chose not to press her just yet “Ok” he simply said.

She produced a small transparent care and gave it to Kogberegbe “It’s a memory card  and sim card. I thought it might be useful to the investigation so I hurried back immediately”

“Ok” Kogberegbe said, assessing the case. He then stared hard at Subomi without saying anything.

“Well, that’s it” She said  nervously

“Ok” Kogberegbe said again.

She let out a heavy sigh “Trust me, it was a mistake. Just please don’t tell my uncle about it or he would never trust me again”

“If it dropped off the box without your knowledge, I see no reason why you should be worried about Doctor having knowledge of it” Kogberegbe said

“I swear it was a mistake”

“Then why don’t I believe you?”

“You have to, it’s the truth?”

“The box was sealed- by you!” Kogberegbe finally pointed out the obvious.

She fidgeted visibly “Look, I’m very sorry about this. But please know that I had a choice, I could have just tossed it; but I realized it might be useful to the investigation. She was my cousin,  and I want the case solved like everyone else does”

“You also had a choice not to obstruct investigation” Kogberegbe countered. She just stared at the ground, so Kogberegbe continued “I assume you already saw or read something on the disc otherwise you wouldn’t have thought it would be useful to the investigation after you originally took it” He paused before continuing “so I’m gonna ask you, what else ‘fell off’ the sealed box?”

“Nothing”

“Sure?”

“Just some jewelry. They are mine, she loaned them from me when she was alive”

“Seriously?”

“I swear!”

“Well, you did before! If I find out that you took more than you are letting on, I promise you I’ll make a case against you!”

“That’s all” she said in a small voice.

“Alright then, gotta dash” Kogberegbe said and circled round her to get to his car. A few blocks down, he saw the call centre, bought a cheap Nokia phone and a sim card, fitted it in, saved his phone number on it and handed it over to Musa. He seemed excited about it, his eyes glowing.

“Musa, can you operate the phone?” Kogberegbe asked

“Oferate?” he asked, confused as usual but smiling all the way.

“Can you use the phone?”

“Aaah, Sabo my priend, he know” he replied and Kogberegbe marveled at him. He who had been in Lagos for many more years than Sabo could not operate a phone but Sabo could.

“Ok here is what I want you to do for me” Kogberegbe said “You need to be vigilant henceforth, you might remember something…or someone might come back. If anything at all happens, I want you to call me…like this” Kogberegbe showed him, demonstrating all of his words and hoping Musa understood. Musa just kept nodding like a puppet even after Kogberegbe had finished speaking. Kogberegbe dropped Musa off at his street and made his own way to the clubhouse, a plan forming in his head. He had to plant a false evidence that would lure the killer back to the apartment or at least cause him to snap. He would have to be careless with the information so that the press could catch wind of it and hope it gets to the killer.

 

It was almost midnight when Kogberegbe returned to his apartment. The club manager had been impressively cooperative, which made him suspect they had already done their cleaning up before Kogberegbe arrived. It wasn’t unlikely that they had informants within the police force, Kogberegbe thought. The only things he found in the locker were her costumes, contraceptives, a wad of cash and a cheque book. Kogberegbe wondered why she kept contraceptives and still managed to get knocked up; that definitely meant she knew what she was up to. From what he gathered about her, she was a smart girl and wouldn’t do anything without thinking it through. The club manager wouldn’t make any comments about Ronke, he claimed he didn’t mingle with the staff.

Kogberegbe notices that many leaves in the cheque book had been used, the duplicates revealing huge sums of money which obviously didn’t come from her parents. The last duplicate revealed that a payment was made to a clinic; Kogberegbe wrote out the name, he would have to visit the place. He would also have to visit the bank to get a hold of Ronke’s account statement.

Back at his apartment, he brought out the memory card and sim card which Subomi gave him.

Searching through the content of the memory card, there were basically two things: Pole dancing training and “things you should know before aborting…” kogberegbe always trusted his theory, but it was nice to know that once again, his theory about Ronke’s plans concerning the pregnancy panned out.

The sim card had a password but it wasn’t difficult to crack; it was her father’s birth date. There were series of received messages on the sim  but none that was sent. It seemed as if someone was negotiating to keep Ronke from sharing a secret, there was mention of the fellow’s “ambition” and how the secret would “tarnish” it. It seemed as if there had been a back and forth financial negotiation. The last message sounded like mockery, saying no one would link the phone number to the sender. Perhaps Ronke had threatened to go public with the SMS evidences. The message claimed that the number was a special one and that he/she never shared the original contact for fear of such.

Kogberegbe was certain that this was a politician; more often than not, they were the ones with dubious minds and schemes right from the beginning. They always are a step ahead of ordinary individuals- at least the smart ones amongst them are. He pressed the ‘dial back’ button and waited as the phone rang a couple of times but wasn’t picked. He tried again a couple of times but the phone was already switched off. A few minutes later, he received an SMS.

“You are dead” The message read. A few seconds later, a second message came in “Calling was a wrong move this line never receives calls so you obviously are a hostile. You know not what you seek. The line will now go dead, just like the girl”