ELVIS: EPISODE 7-9

EPISODE SEVEN

Esiogu walked in briskly, seeing that his subordinates have mounted the chairs in the boardroom, he walked to the head of the table and started arranging the files he brought. The board table is a typical conference room table but shorter than a conference table. It accommodates about 6 chairs on either side and a chair each at the edges, so fourteen in all. Important meetings that boast larger attendances are held in hotels. Esiogu signaled to the attendant standing at the door, the light went off and the projector flickered to life brightening the dark room. A landing pin will be louder than a trumpet, this very moment.
“There are two cases that have been thrown before us, but I’ll have to talk on the most grievous and heart-wrenching one. There is a bomb in Lagos state.” He paused for a few seconds, to make the words sink in. Elvis felt a something kick to life in him, excitement.
“My sources will update me about the current location of the bomb. The proposed bombing site is alleged to be the Tafawa Balewa Square.”
“TBS? Hope it’s not what I’m thinking?” Juliet, the team leader of team B curt in.
“Then we are in the same direction of thoughts” Esiogu continued, “the president is coming for his electoral campaign next two weeks, he’ll be using the TBS” he dropped attracting murmurs from the four team leaders.
Stares of misbelief and shock graced the room, someone bombing the president? who could it be? What a height of utter ‘criminalism’, a disgrace to the security of the nation, an indictment of the high level of security. Whispers flew across the room and heads can be seen turning to each other with malevolent ease.
All heads turned in unison at Esiogu as his phone beeped, their ears stood tall as they listened and grasp as much as they could from the conversation he’s having with the caller, understanding the call is made difficult by the one-sided conversation open to them. They waited in reckless anticipation for the quick disconnection of the call. Relief shone on them as Esiogu dropped the call, clicked his phone’s screen and then dropped the phone. He’s face is stony.
Humans can’t be completely known can they? The lively Esiogu now with a stony expression playing across his face. His fist clenched and his lips tightened, something is not right.
“I’m just been told that the bomb will be detonated on Saturday” he dropped.
Gasps of “Saturday” galloped round the room.
“Why Saturday” Kelvin asked the air.
“If the bomber is targeting the president, why will he detonate it a week before the president’s arrival?” Brian asked again following Kelvin’s footstep.
“Maybe he’s not targeting the president” Elvis asked breaking the silence, 8 eyes stared ‘blinklessly’ at him, “I mean, it’s unreasonable detonating the bomb before the president’s arrival if you are targeting the president, but it’s reasonable if you are not targeting him, just trying to scare him off or something” he said standing up and jesculating all through.
“Scare?” they said in unison, like a sacred word
“I think Elvis’s right on that, you shoot the land before someone to scare a person.” Esiogu said, talking for the first time, seeing the ignorant look on all their faces, he decided to go on.
“I agreed to Elvis’s thought because of who our suspect is.” He continued pressing the remote of the decoder as pictures of Musa Nwanchukwu Seyi comes to view.
Musa Seyi Nwanchukwu, known as MSN is the leader of the underworld in Nigeria, a feared criminal but knows how to meander his way from justice, police’s evidence are always baseless against him and mostly too shallow to sink him. He had a name each from the three major tribes of Nigeria to prove that he is ‘for all’, only a few knows of his original background, an orphaned child at birth, rejected by all except a beggar who took care of him as his own before the beggar’s death. MSN has lived in the ‘street’ since then and could walk the whole lagos with his eyes closed, he fought through the hardship and hard his own group of smugglers and drug traffickers at a tender age of 20, his superfluous zeal was on display when he staged the total obliteration of the other groups. Now he’s the definition of monopoly. Rumors has it that he sponsors some politicians and has their backings, as I said, rumors. But something is not a rumor, he can shoot a fly, and kills with absolute cruelty. He doesn’t beg to be feared.
“MSN flexes his power at will and acts like he owns Lagos; he dislikes the president and has recently openly criticized the decision of the president to go for a second time, to him the president coming to Lagos is utter over-confidence, the president is coming to his lair and he needs to be warned, what else than to blow up his proposed campaign location”.
“What of the lives at stake?” Juliet asked, guess the woman in her did.
“Our job is to save the lives and stop the bomb.” Esiogu countered
Everybody nodded absentmindedly, each frolicking in his own thoughts.
“The other case at hand now is about a politician, who’s believed to have embezzled a large amount of money, we are to get some evidence proofing likewise” Esiogu continued with the screen displaying Omosehinde Titus, a key member of the PPDP political party, he was the vice governor of the last governor, he was once the ambassador of Nigeria to Oman, a former member of the cabinet of minister for an ex-president, he had been a member of the house of representatives of his state for two terms and he’s aspiring for the post of senator in the coming election.
And youths are the leaders of tomorrow.
“Team D will handle the politician’s case, the remaining three teams will work together for the BIG one” Esiogu said with finality.
Elvis shoulder slumped, why his teams of all teams?, now he hates this man.
After spending hours deliberating on the tactical aspect and the know-how of the investigation, they walked out of the rooms to fill their team in about the latest development.
That dream cost him a day, a very bad day.

EPISODE EIGHT
Elvis knows he’s had a bad day, he checked the time, 2:00pm, his bad day is not ending anytime soon. Going to his office is not an option with a perky secretary on his neck, he decided to go after the IG, if he could make him rescind his decision. He badly want the bomb case, not some greedy pot bellied criminal with a flowing agbada. He’s not sure this bombing has anything to do with the BTU hall bombing/ collapse, but all bombing cases intrigues him. He has a sense of obligation for bringing bomb criminals to justice.
“Sir, I want to be part of the bomb investigation crew” he said curtly on entering Esiogu’s office
Esiogu looked up, stood to his feet and walked round his desk, now beside him, he offered Elvis his chair with a open palm pointing to his chair. Elvis dropped his head in embarrassment.
“Young man, you don’t make orders around here, I do, you are a fresh graduate, holding a doctorate degree in criminology, more well-learned than I am, my chair is yours for the taking with your level of knowledge, do you know why I’m still sitting on it? Experience, something you still lack.” he poured out mildly, now sitted on the desk facing Elvis, who’s head is still bent.
“You are precocious I know, but you still lacked the experience, something you need to acquire, it can’t be taught. I can’t put an inexperienced young school leaver in a very precarious and delicate case with many lives at stake. You have the drive, but you have to keep your head down, show me what you can do with the politician’s case and I’ll see what I can do about that.” he said with his usual tone of finality.
Elvis turned and headed for the door, he has just been fed the truth, his anger and vendetta against the unknown bomber of the BTU hall has clouded his judgement.
He called his team members for a meeting, about the case at hand. After much delibration on how to go about it, they decided that someone will have to infiltrate and gather informations from the inside. Elvis volunteered to be the infiltrator. The location to be infiltrated is the shipping firm owned by Honourable Titus. He disguises as a businessman but that’s not enough for the ludicruos amount he’s worth, so the firm will be a good place to uncover his corruption trend. He’ll get to work tomorrow.
After the meeting, the first good thing to happen that day, he headed for his office, flashes of anger are still in him, he avoided Ellie and stormed into his office. He intended to freshen up before going home.
He went straight into his restroom to freshen up. He turned the tap on and washed his face. His sight went woozy, objects multiplied before him, his brows tightened and he felt himself going numb. He passed out.
…………………………………………………………….
He doesn’t know how long he’s been out, he felt a uniform gush of wind get to him at equal quick intervals, he opened his eyes slightly and blinked severally as his eyes get accustomed to the bright light, he managed to focus and saw his secretary bending beside him, her eyes blood-shot, her make-up is a mess, her hands jointly fanning him with a colourful handfan. Fear and sweat play around on her face, her efficacious smile is absent replaced by a forlorn brow, abject indecision and despair is evident on her face.
She hugged him tightly when she saw he’s awake, her eyes heavy with tears, he felt loved.
“I came to apologize for this morning when I met an empty office; I called out to you but heard no reply. I saw you enter your office so I know you must be around somewhere, but your silence scared me so I ventured into your restroom, you could have imagined my shock when I saw you lying unconscious on the floor” she poured out
“Please, hope you didn’t tell anybody” he managed to say with a fear-filled voice
“I didn’t tell anybody, hence my apprehension, I know what is at loss if they should know about this, you would lose your job and your career will go down the drain, I’ve been beside you for close to thirty minutes at loss of what to do, I’m about to give up and go and call the Inspector general if just to save your life when you opened your eyes” she poured out again, the tears forming on her face have dried up. She jumped to her feet to get him a cup of water, she offered it to him and helped him to a sitting position.
“Thank you” he said slightly embarrassed after some mouthfuls of water
She sat opposite him obviously demanding an explanation with her eyebrows and her reluctance to leave. He had not much choice than to tell her everything; she could have called the whole department on him when she saw him unconscious but she didn’t for reasons best known to her. She might also be the most unlady-like lady he had ever met, and kind of cavalier too, also perky but he felt a kind open heart in her.
“It started sometimes after the BTU event; I suddenly discovered that I’ll get woozy and get knocked out, waking up after some times lingering from a few minutes to at times an hour. After my realization of this, I felt wounded emotionally, that spurred me on to find the bomber of the hall. I applied for admission in some crime institutions in Nigeria but got rejected after my medicals, I was not dimmed fit to handle the job, I’ve given up hope of being a detective when by sheer luck a friend of a relative of ours is the HOD of the medical department of a crime institution in USA, the doctor kind of owed our relative and my relative used that as a leverage against him for me to get admission and a clear medical report for admission into the institution, I didn’t fail any subsequent medical all through my academic pursue over there right to my doctorate degree. Please, I’m begging you not to tell anybody about this, I’ve not told anybody this before, let it be our little secret” he said dejectedly before draining the cup with him
“There’s no need for anyone to know about this, it’s our little secret” she said with a childish wink.
They sat on the floor of the restroom, two beings left in the world, they chatted easily jumping from topics to personal matters. Elvis felt so free and warm, the boss-secretary form of interaction went out of the window, replaced by a colloquial version. They discussed varieties of matters, Elvis opened up easily to her with his past, he told her how changed he has become from the BTU incident. He had dreamt of being a civil engineer, but the plan was truncated and grafted vegetatively to him being a detective, he told her about his night mares, he’s been having them incessantly for the past few weeks and it gets scarier with each passing day.
“I’m no psychologist but I think you try too hard on yourself, the BTU bombing is gone, the lives lost there are not your fault, you are a hero for saving thousands of other lives that day, you are bent on catching the bomber and that is affecting everything about you, you hardly smile, you don’t sleep well and peradventure you sleep, it will be flavoured and garnished by nightmares of the bombing, the BTU case is closed and dusted, it has strong hands behind It, please just let it go, if you will catch the bomber, you will in due course, don’t try too hard, it will flow to you in due course” she replied with undiluted sincerity and care.
“Wait, you said BTU bombing not BTU collapse, how do you know it’s a bombing” he asked, with new found vigour
“You don’t know me, do you?, I overheard you talking to the IG about the BTU bombing the first day you came, I later discovered that I owe you my life” she replied
“Owe me your life?” he asked, now at loss
“You saved my life, I was lucky to run out of the hall when you barged into the hall breathlessly, talking about the bomb, I was fortunate to be part of the few that escaped” she admitted
Elvis was stunned, he took a deep breath, he felt calmness he had never felt, the wry ominous cloud overshadowing him disappeared, to some people he’s a hero, and life’s not so bad after all
……………………………………………………………….
“You know boy, I’ve thought about it and I’ve decided to give you part of the experience you seek, on Saturday, your team will be with us at the TBS, you can leave Saturday out from your politician case can’t you?” Esiogu barked after him with a obvious faked menacing look, he caught up with Elvis as Elvis is about to leave the office.
That’s the best news he’s heard that day, but that news is followed by the most needless question of all time, he nodded vigorously like a kid in response to the ‘needless question’, smiling sheepishly
“Don’t be so elated yet, you are just part of the team,
I give the order here” Esiogu said patting his shoulder and breaking into a boisterous and elaborate smile
Elvis can’t find his voice; he kept on smiling like a lottery winner in one of the casinos in Vegas.
“Now have a good night son” Esiogu finished with a broad smile.
Elvis walked to the lift and exited the office. His day is not bad after all. His sheepish smile did not leave his face all through his journey home.
Tomorrow he has an infiltration to start.

EPISODE NINE
Emerald shipping agency stood majestically in its glory. The building housing the firm is a 12-storeyed building, located in the heart of Lekki. Elvis stood dumbstrucked before the building, he hadn’t thought of any plan for gaining access into the firm.
After waiting for a few hours, at loss on what to do, he decided to leave and then come up with a better plan tomorrow. He turned back and strutted home.
What is the essence of dragging himself from his residence in Ikorodu to Lekki without a proper plan, he was so disgusted at himself. At least he ought to get a glimpse of the company and its surroundings.
He walked round the company taking in every vital detail of the firm. The company is situated in a way that the frontage is designed by see-through glasses; the main entrance is made of rotating glass doors, about four doors in all. The interior is designed by flower vases, the security personnel stood at opposite sides of the doors, ushering people in and out, the security post is also close to the door but inside the building. The large desk behind which the receptionists are lurking can be seen from the outside. The pretty head of a receptionist shot above the desk as she attends to a customer.
A large fence is constructed behind the company in a way that the fence joins the walls of the company at the back; the fence is like the continuation of the parallel lateral walls of the firm. The fence is covered with asbestos roofing sheets and the roofing joins the building just under the stop of the first floor. There must be something they don’t want people to see lurking under those walls. He went round the building, mingling easily with the ever unceasing pedestrians working their feet on the road. He got to the back of the buildings and was met with a large gate standing bravely before him. The gate goes right to the roof of the fence.
He looked for a suitable position to have a glimpse of what’s going on behind the gate at any chance. He found a kiosk at the other side of the road, bought a piece of meat pie and a bottle of fayrous. He ate slowly, the first bite a small bit, subsequent bites getting smaller than the previous one; he drags slowly from the bottle of fayrous at intervals. The kiosk is situated directly opposite the gate, he readjusted the wooden bench to lie parallel to the gate, he now sat perpendicularly on the bench, facing the large gate.
He had finished his snacks and was feeling the dizzy, the cool breeze tending tenderly to the tenacity of his tensed skin makes it difficult for him to stay awake for long. He rested his head on the wooden wall of the kiosk yielded and himself to that absolute irresistible feeling.
“Mr, hope no problem” he heard, feeling someone tapping lightly on his shoulder.
He woke to see the concerned face of the kiosk owner; he must have slept for long because the sun’s horizon is higher than before. The kiosk owner was relieved when he saw that Elvis is awake, he stretched Elvis’s change at him. Elvis collected it and jumped to his feet.
A truck is trying to gain access into the compound opposite him, someone peeped through a little rectangular hole, on recognizing the driver of the truck, he closed the hole and spoke to someone. The gate squeaked has it flung open, just wide enough for the truck, the truck rolled into the compound and the gate was closed immediately the truck is in the compound.
Elvis looked intently after the truck, trying to capture the scope of the compound, as large as he could. He could see well-built men harmed with assaulted rifles. Their face has strong as iron. The compound is well lit and looks like a warehouse. Boxes lie idly around, but a peculiar stack of boxes piqued his interest. It looks well-arranged unlike other boxes that are scattered all around. It has about ten boxes well arranged in the stack. The gate flung shut. He frowned in disapproval.
He turned to meet the searching eyes of the kiosk owner, he must have been trying to study what Elvis is doing, something Elvis felt he must have been doing for some time. Elvis ordered another drink, just to shake off any suspicion the kiosk owner might be building up. He sat gently to finish his drink.
Thanked the kiosk owner and left the shop.
He strolled briskly away from the location, took his phone out and put a call across to his team member Dauda.
“Hello sir” Dauda said from the other end, the ‘sir’ a bit reluctant in coming
“Where are you” Elvis said from this end
“the office sir” Dauda replied
“gather the other team members, I want to update you all” Elvis replied walking hurriedly.
The link went numb for some minutes and then came to life
“We are all here sir” Dauda replied from the other side.
“Is anybody else there?” Elvis asked again.
“No”
“Good” Elvis muttered, he updated them of his findings.
“My cover is blown” he finally said before ending the call.
He took a bus and took a long route home, making sure he shakes up any unsuspecting trail. He got home and flung himself to bed.
…………………………………………………………
Upon the departure of Elvis, the kiosk owner took his phone had a long serious chat with the person on the other end of the line.