The Lollipop Flew Away: Detective Mike Sanse # 1 (Mike Sanse series)

by Anthony Mugo

  Sanse got on his feet slowly aware that he was losing his leverage. He thought of a quick smart remark but only managed, “I’ll be seeing you around.”

  Sanse walked to town the fastest he could. He took forty minutes. He deposited a hundred bob to Nimu’s Mpesa money transfer account only to learn that the number had no Mpesa account. Either Nimu was a name in itself or a short form of Wairimu. Munderu’s wife was called Wairimu. Was it possible that while Munderu was having an affair with Elizabeth his wife was busy banging Gitonga?

  Chapter 15

  Sanse woke up an energised man. Now he had some traction on the Gitonga case. He had been on the losing side for so long he had almost forgotten what winning could do to the soul. His spirits was so high he whistled on his way to the bathroom. His whistle died out on stepping into the bathroom. He didn’t have soap! He hurried to the shop still in a vest and a towel wrapped around his waist. He was on his way back when he ran into Alex and Karembo.

  “Morning Mr. Sanse,” Alex greeted.

  “Hey, little one.”

  “Today is my birthday,” Alex said.”I am seven!”

  “Happy birthday, Alex!” Sanse said.

  Karembo was urging the young boy along in an apparent attempt to end the conversation. Catherine must have crucified her following their last encounter. But Alex was not to be deterred.

  “Mama promised me a cake and chicken for supper,” Alex said happily. As always, Alex reminded Sanse of Jake. The two boys could as well have been twins. A loathsome sense of loss hypnotised Sanse. It will be okay, he recalled Rumu’s assurance. Get a hold of yourself. God knows best. Sanse squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them the boy in front of him was no longer Alex but Jake. “Will you buy me a bike?” Jack was saying.

  “Will you come to my birthday party?” Alex was asking.

  A father who can’t buy his son a bike is no father, Sanse told himself.

  “Will you?” Alex asked.

  “I will.”

  “Don’t be late!” Alex said running after Karembo.

  “Hey!” Sanse called coming from his trance. “I was talking to...”

  But Alex was already boarding the school bus. Sanse cursed bitterly. What was happening to him? Hell, he needed a glass of Medusa. He hurried to his house and prepared himself fast then drove to town.

  The secretary at Apex Construction told Sanse that ‘boss’ was on site along Simba Street. Sanse had no difficulty finding the three story building under construction. Christopher Muturi had to be the young man in a suit standing at a distance talking on the phone.

  “I need money like yesterday,” the man was saying. “I am doing half-throttle. If I am not done within three weeks it will mean loss to me. Just get me the money, Doctor.”

  “Christopher Muturi?” Sanse said.

  “I am not hiring,” the man said.

  “Thank God I am not in the market for a job,” Sanse said. “I am looking into Gitonga’s murder.”

  “If you say so.”

  “You called him on the day he died,” Sanse said.

  “What if I did?”

  “Why did you call him?”

  “Why not?” Muturi asked. “Who the hell are you?”

  “Mike Sanse of Genius Investigations.”

  Muturi studied Sanse more closely. “A drunken sleepwalker?” He nudged Sanse. “Mister, when you appear on Young and Rich at twenty-three your competitors will go overboard to cut you to size. I am a victim of my own success. And yes, I called Gitonga because there is competition and there is wasteful competition. The tender he had just won barely covers his expenses. He planned to drive me out of business. I was mad. I still am. I wonder why the old think the youths only exist to toil for them.”

  “Setting up a construction company requires deep pockets,” Sanse asked. “How did you raise capital?”

  “Excuse me?” Muturi said. “Damn, you just spoilt a perfect day!”

  Muturi walked to his Nissan Xtrail and drove off.

  Sanse bought a loaf of bread and a packet of milk then went to Kathare Prison. The warden at the reception had a G3 rifle so worn out it was possibly the oldest in the world. He passed Sanse in after squeezing five hundred shillings out of him. Sanse took the mandatory bite of his goodies before Bob could consume them.

  “Grace suspended my services,” Sanse said.

  Bob took leave from eating to stare at his visitor. “I am happy that she did. I know what happened.”

  “You do? That is good news.”

  “I killed my father,” Bob said solemnly. “It came in a dream. Everything is clear now.”

  Sanse began clicking his knuckles. “Dreams don’t matter,” he said impatiently.

  “This one does,” Bob insisted. “I arrived home and found him in the sitting room. He told me I will not inherit him. I told him it was my birthright to. He said Grace was all I would get. I told him that Grace was not his to give. He told me he was the one that she loved, that I could have her body but not her heart. I told him I was the one she married and would kill for her. I hammered him to death.”

  “That is interesting,” Sanse said.

  “I can’t believe I am so wicked. How could I kill my own father?”

  “Where did you get the hammer?”

  Bob hesitated. “I don’t know. I just found myself hitting him repeatedly.”

  “How did you get to your father’s place?”

  “I walked.”

  “How long does it take?” Sanse said.

  “Why are you asking?”

  “How long?”

  “I can’t tell with certainty.”

  “An estimate will do.”

  “Half an hour to an hour,” Bob said.

  “Not less than half an hour?”

  “Certainly not,” Bob said.

  “You left First and Last at eight. Elizabeth heard you arguing with Gitonga at eight thirty. It means that you walked the distance at night and drunk in less than thirty minutes.”

  “That doesn’t sound right, now does it?” Bob looked confused. “Maybe I took a boda boda.”

  “How much did you have on you?”

  “Zero,” Bob said. “I had spent everything at Kathare Bar before I moved to First and Last.”

  “Then how did you pay for the boda boda?”

  “Surely how did I do it? You may have a point there. You could be right.” Bob stopped as a new realisation hit him. “If Grace sacked you why are you here?”

  “I am looking for a job.”

  Bob’s look was incredulous. “You are joking, right? I can’t pay you.”

  “Let’s not worry about payment for now.”

  “You mean it?”

  “I do.”

  Bob studied him more closely. “Why are you doing this?”

  Because you are my only hope at keeping my home, Sanse thought but said, “Because you didn’t do it.”

  Bob was close to tears. “Thank you. It sounds odd but yes, you are hired. The dream was so vivid I was ready to pay for my sins.” He stopped to reflect. “What if it was more than a dream?”

  “Just leave it to me. Now, close your eyes. You are at First and Last. Jimia is telling you to go home. Will you go to your father’s place or The Ark?”

  “I would rather stay but the waiter is throwing me out,” Bob said with his eyes shut.

  “You are out already. Where will you spend the night?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Think!”

  “I am too bitter with life to care.”

  “How far are you before the ambush?”

  “I am too drunk to tell.” Bob opened his eyes. “This won’t do.”

  Sanse sighed audibly. “Your life is at stake here!”

  “I know.”

  “Show it in action. Think!”

  “I can’t. Maybe I am sick or something. I don’t know.”

  “How did you meet Grace?”

  Bob had a distant look. “I approached her duri
ng one of my father’s medical trips abroad. She warmed up to me readily. She confessed that she had liked me all along, that my father was forcing himself on her. I was beside myself. I proposed to her in jest but, to my surprise, she jumped at my proposal. Now I was dumbfounded. But she was serious. It was a godsend to prove to my father that I am a man. But the old man was far from humiliation. Imagine he walked us down the aisle smiling! He gave me a note that read: Congratulations! You are now a man. Hit the road, hero.

  “Grace and I drifted apart at once. We were neither in love nor compatible. I beat it and went to Nairobi. People laugh at me when I tell them that I am a millionaire in waiting, that I am the son in Gitonga and Sons. I don’t blame them. I have been killing myself with kumikumi and languishing in poverty when my father is filthy rich. My father had the heart of Pharaoh; he neither forgave nor forgot. I wonder how he patched up with Jimia.”

  “What happened between the two?”

  “Throughout my childhood the two were like heaven and earth.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Does the name Nimu ring a bell?”

  “No.”

  The warden declared that time was up and saw Sanse out.

  Sanse had just walked through the prison gate when Naomi’s call came through. She was hysterical. She said that there were two police officers in the office demanding to see him pronto. He told her to relax and switched off his cell phone.

  Chapter 16

  Silverlink Agencies was located on the third floor of Njewa Towers. Sanse went up the staircase fighting the urge to turn and have one or two glasses of Medusa. He won the fight and found himself in a small, neat office. On the walls were maps of properties for sale. For a moment Jimia’s eyes oscillated between the woman seated across the table and Sanse. The woman was in the middle of a meal.

  “Mr. Sanse!” Jimia said jumping to his feet. “What a pleasant surprise! Welcome. Edith, would you kindly give us a minute?”

  Edith grimaced for the briefest moment before her beautiful face exploded into a disarming smile. She was in her forties.

  “I wouldn’t leave chicken and chips for anything in the world,” Sanse said.

  “Edith was just leaving,” Jimia said. He wrapped up the remainder of the food and walked the woman out.

  “My sister has a way of getting in your nerves,” Jimia’s eyes hardened. “Grace terminated your services, didn’t she?”

  “Of course she did. But Bob reinstated me.”

  “I was stupefied when she came to Bob’s rescue. She never had time for the poor kid. What is it this time?”

  “According to Elizabeth you and Gitonga grew up together,” Sanse said. “Did he have a girl before Sharon?”

  Jimia lit a cigarette stick and pulled at it hard. He folded his arms in front of him and regarded his visitor.

  “Gitonga was so discreet he could have had none or several lovers for all I know,” Jimia said. “Again, we were not close thanks to Grandpa.”

  “What about Grandpa?”

  “He pampered Gitonga,” Jimia said. “He educated him up to university whereas none of his sons went to college. He bequeathed Gitonga an acre against half an acre to each of his seven sons. In his own words, Gitonga was his last and favourite son. An illiterate autocrat is the worst nightmare. Of course you know how far we can go when cheated out of land. The tension thawed when Gitonga surrendered the land to two female cousins who didn’t marry. What tells you Bob didn’t do it?”

  “Until I am proven wrong I believe that when one falls they lose whatever is in their grip. Bob still held the hammer.”

  Jimia’s look was long and quizzical. “Is that a fact? I’ve never thought about it. You might be good after all. Making so subtle a deduction must feel great. You’re the closest I’ve come to the detectives in novels! ”

  “Did Bob have money on him?”

  “I did all the buying which doesn’t necessarily mean he didn’t have money,” Jimia said. “Why are you asking?”

  “He couldn’t cover the distance on foot so fast.”

  “When did he leave First and Last?”

  “Eight on the nose.”

  “Who says so? Bob?”

  “Bob remembers nothing.”

  “You could have a point there. Of course if the time of departure is right.”

  “Can anyone vouch your presence at Ikeno Bar?”

  “Am I a suspect now?” Jimia said.

  “Think of it as a routine question.”

  Jimia chuckled. “I know. They call what you are asking about an alibi in the novels, don’t they? You can talk to Earnest, the bartender. Better still you can talk to Felix.”

  “Elizabeth’s son?”

  “We had a word before he left.”

  “Did you talk about Bob?”

  “His name came up as I explained my shift from First and Last.”

  “At what time did Felix leave Ikeno Bar?”

  “Some minutes to eight.”

  “Does the name Nimu mean anything to you?”

  Jimia hesitated. “Nimu? No. It would be unwise to leave without looking at our special offers.”

  “Time for buying property will come.”

  “Nobody can match our terms anywhere.”

  “Is that a fact?”

  “If Silverlink can’t assist you own property you can’t be assisted at all.”

  “That is catchy,” Sanse said. “Thanks for your time.”

  “Bob is lucky to have you,” Jimia said. “Remember, I am happy to help any time.”

  Pai looked like a mad hatter when Sanse got to his office. His companion, a bespectacled rookie, was in a tight shirt and pants. His pointed pair of shoes appeared a size too big. He studied Sanse like a child who has soiled himself.

  “Is the perfume oozing from one or both of you?” Sanse asked. “The word is spray, not dip yourself in it.”

  “You should accompany us to the station,” the rookie said.

  “Did he tell you that I was his partner once?” Sanse said. “I hope you know that he is temperamental.”

  Pai clicked his mouth.

  “Detective Timothy Mavedi,” the rookie said.

  “It’s good to know that you know yourself,” Sanse said. “Why the excitement?”

  “Witness intimidation,” Mavedi said. “Obstruction of justice.”

  Sanse occupied his chair and regarded the two. “Whom did I intimidate?”

  “Elizabeth.”

  “The beauty queen?” Sanse said. “What a hollow excuse! I will save my laughter for later. As things stand public attention is the last thing on Elizabeth’s mind. Detectives, you’re here to find out what I know. I will give it to you for free, sorry, you have to answer a simple question. Gentlemen, have you ever fallen hard on your face?”

  “Save the chit-chat for your grandchildren,” Mavedi said. “We don’t have all day.”

  “Have you, Miss Naomi?”

  “I have.”

  “Were you holding something?”

  Naomi looked confused. “How did you know? I had to search all over for the lipstick!”

  “Thank you Miss Naomi,” Sanse said turning to his visitors. “I put it to you detectives that when one falls hard on their face they lose grip on whatever they are holding. Bob fell so had he passed out yet he still had a grip on the hammer. Facts are so unyielding, detectives.”

  Pai’s eyes clouded for a brief moment. Curiosity was getting the better of him and Sanse knew it.

  “You are crutching at straws,” Pai said.

  “Straws that might just hold,” Sanse said. “What do you make of the fresh earth on Wira’s boots and hands?”

  “What about it?” Mavedi asked.

  “In case you haven’t noticed Wira had just signed a Share Transfer Form. The shares in question are worth millions. Many people have killed for less. But then you wouldn’t see that, would you? Oh, my bad! I should know how this works: just get enough evidence
to augment predetermined guilt. The rest, pooh!”

  “You are so conceited,” Pai said.

  “So you say,” Sanse said. “Isn’t it absurd that Bob should kill for a woman he had abandoned for two years? Mark you, his sole wish was a truce with his father. When his mission failed he didn’t visit Grace to say hello; he got himself drunk to master enough courage to take his own life. How could he kill for a woman who didn’t feature in his scheme of things?”

  “He was cut from inheritance,” Mavedi said.

  “Do you have any proof that he was privy to the will’s provisions?”

  Sanse looked from one to the other like high school students who had failed ABC.

  “Gentlemen, behold the strongest straw,” Sanse said getting Gitonga’s phone. He played the last received call.

  Pai cursed loudly, grabbed Gitonga’s phone and marched out.

  “What is that all about?” Mavedi asked.

  “Ask your partner,” Sanse said. Mavedi left looking confused.

  “For crying out loud!” Sanse said. “They forgot to arrest me! How are you holding out?”

  “I was a bit rattled but now I am okay,” Naomi said. “You handled him magnificently.”

  “You think so? I wish I was as sure.”

  Naomi was studying Sanse with new respect. She had almost quit after her first day at work but her parents had encouraged her to hang on for a few more days. Now she knew there was more to the drunken man than met the eye.

  “Who the hell is RH208?” Sanse asked aloud.

  “RH208 possibly denotes Riana Hotel room number 208,” Naomi said prompting Sanse to look at her sharply. “Riana Hotel went under a year ago. Thomas, one of the attendants, took pictures in Room 208 for two months before his tiny camera was found. Reportedly, the photographs touched on who is who in Kathare. The photos were christened the List of Shame. Riana Hotel reopened under the name of West Court Hotel.”

  “That figures,” Sanse said. West Court Hotel was one of the best hotels in Kathare located four kilometres west of town. He recalled an ‘under new management’ poster at the entrance that indicated a spirited fight against a dark past. The hotel was an ideal hide-out for people with hideous dealings and extramarital affairs.