by Anthony Mugo
“I didn’t kill him, okay?” Diana said. “Hello... Hello?”
Diana redialled Stan’s number but her call went unanswered. When she redialled again Stan was off air. What was she going to do? She had to make Stan understand that she didn’t kill Willy. She calmed down as a thought occurred to her. Stan could not move on her before he got the money.
“I am out of here,” Claire said.
Diana watched her sister walk out of the compound. Her heart beat faster as she took in Kelvin. Did he know about her deal with Willy? She strolled out to meet him.
Chapter 19
“Oscar had political enemies,” Mavedi said. “Oscar rubbed Kirindi the wrong way. He owed people money. He facilitated the deaths of five youngsters. I know that Diana is the natural suspect. However, killing Willy for whatever reason would jeopardize the insurance claim. I don’t think she is that stupid. We are left with the possibility of a copycat.”
“Can you honestly picture Mr Sanse chopping off a man’s head, legs and hands because of a provocative comment?” Pai said.
“Sir, we should explore all the angles.”Mavedi was not going to be put down. Pai had rubbished him for so long. It was time he pushed his ideas.
Pai felt like bashing his partner. The bonehead! At this rate Sanse was bound to fight back. Naturally he would think that Pai was behind the accusations. Pai knew it was time he braced himself for a sack.
Boko was very amused watching Pai and Mavedi argue. To begin with he had not seen Mavedi argue so strongly. Of course he was way off. But more amusing was Pai’s defence of Sanse barely an hour after he had advocated for him to be removed from the case. If Pai was arguing on facts then his objectivity was confounding. But Boko knew that under the surface was mutual disrespect between the two men. The tradition was to place a greenhorn under an experienced hand for mentorship. The arrangement wasn’t working between these two. Boko made a mental note to address the issue later.
Above all Boko saw a chance to cut Sanse loose and someone to blame for it.
“This development shouldn’t leave this room,” Boko said. “Bring Mr Sanse.”
Mavedi left for Sanse.
When Sanse arrived he realised that none of the men could hold eye contact.
“In the short stint we’ve interacted I’ve come to respect your professionalism,” Boko said. “Consequently, I expect you’ll understand if you find yourself under scrutiny.”
Sanse smiled. “What is going on?”
“Your relationship with Willy came up in our deliberations,” Boko said. “You were mad at his release.”
“Still am,” Sanse said. “Now, now, now. Anger, threat, murder, is that it?”
“As I observed you’re a professional,” Boko asked.
“This is interesting,” Sanse said. “Very interesting indeed.”
“I’ll have to request you to account for your time between five and eight this morning,” Boko said.
“I love this country,” Sanse said.
Boko nodded to Pai and Mavedi. Anything to get rid of him, Boko told himself. Of course the whole exercise would reflect badly on his judgement.
Sanse stopped at the door. “Can I say something about my ex-partner?”
Pai could as well have stepped on a landmine. He clasped his shaking hands. Damn!
“Sir...” Pai stammered.
“Congratulations,” Sanse said and stepped out of the office. The three men proceeded to Pai’s desk.
“Where do you live?” Mavedi asked.
“I love visitors,” Sanse said getting on his feet. “Shall we?”
Mavedi looked at Pai questioningly. In answer Pai led the way out.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Sanse asked once the three were in the car. “Always handcuff James Bond because, well, he has the bad manners of vanishing in thin air.”
“Talking of James Bond, I miss the chance to see if one can really out-run a bullet,” Mavedi said.
“Does it mean you’re a good shot?” Sanse said.
“Trust me to get the head if I miss the heart.”
“Aim-for-the-heart-shoot-the-head,” Sanse said. “Interesting.”
Pai drove out of the station.
“Kindly make a stop at Busy Bee Bar,” Sanse said.
“Can’t you find your home while sober?” Mavedi asked.
“If you want to know how I spent the night you should go to Busy Bee,” Sanse said. “If you want to visit my home I’ll take you there. I wouldn’t want anyone pulling a Jack Bauer on me.”
Pai pulled up outside Busy Bee, stepped out and started for the bar. Mavedi dashed after him.
“We should handcuff him,” Mavedi said.
“Are you asking for my permission?”
Mavedi studied Sanse for a long moment before he ran after Pai.
Pewa was at the counter working his books when the two detectives walked in. On being questioned he narrated how he had received a call from Sanse at six upon switching his phone on. Sanse said he was inside the pub, that he had fallen asleep on one of the benches at the corner table.
“Did you buy his story?” Mavedi asked.
“I am still puzzled but he was right here when I opened.”
“Has it happened before?”
“No.”
“Were you drunk?”
“Two beers.”
The two detectives inspected the room, each man engrossed in his own thoughts. The heavy grill on the front window was intact. High above was a concrete slab. The only weakness was Pewa. To prove his case, Pewa called in the boda boda rider who had taken him home. He also called his wife who confirmed that he had spent the night in his house.
“When did you see Mr Sanse last?” Mavedi asked.
“About nine,” Pewa said. “I remember because this man walked in and began abusing Mr Sanse.”
“What man?” Pai said.
“His Sheng was too deep for a local,” Pewa said. “He had a missing front tooth.”
“What was Mr Sanse’s reaction?” Pai said.
“He just busied himself clicking his knuckles. I threw the man out because I don’t allow the use of foul language at my place.”
“Did Sanse follow the man out?” Mavedi asked.
“I can’t tell with certainty. Some customers walked in and I got busy serving them. When my mind went back to Mr Sanse he wasn’t at his customary table.”
“What do you mean customary table?” Mavedi asked.
Pewa pointed at one of the front tables. “Mr Sanse can be very particular. Particular glass…”
“Are you so reckless as to lock someone in your premises?” Mavedi said.
“As I said, I am still baffled.”
“What is your relationship with Mr Sanse?”
“He is my client.”
“A good client?”
“I would say so.”
“How long have you known him?”
“More than a year,” Pewa said. “Is he in trouble?”
“The man with a missing tooth is dead,” Pai said.
Pewa stiffened. “What?”
“Mr Sanse is a suspect,” Mavedi said. “Would you like to change your story?”
Pewa surveyed his premises, raised his hands and dropped them. “What… I mean… what is there to say?”
“The truth,” Mavedi said.
“I told you the truth.”
“It better be,” Mavedi said following Pai out. “I know you disapprove of my actions but I won’t be caught off-guard this time around. They taught that every man is capable of murder.”
“Didn’t they caution against running before one can master to crawl?”
Mavedi stopped in his tracks. “It is time you stopped behaving like I earn from nodding when you talk.” With that he brushed past Pai.
“Am I free?” Sanse asked as Pai and Mavedi joined him in the car.
“You had a brawl with Willy a few hours before he met his death,” Mavedi said.
�
�The pinching shoe is actually on the other leg,” Sanse said. “Just when I thought the new breed had nothing to offer!”
“This is a serious matter,” Mavedi said.
“Tell me about it.”
The three drove back to the station. Boko listened patiently as Pai and Mavedi argued about what their visit to Busy Bee. Pai was gracious enough to admit that indeed there were grey areas.
“We need time to figure it out,” Mavedi said. “Mr Sanse is a very shrewd person.”
“Do you buy the bartender’s story?” Boko asked.
“I do,” Pai said. “I doubt he would conspire to kill just because Willy abused Sanse.”
“Mr Sanse has been a regular at Busy Bee for such a long time he probably has a spare key to the premises,” Mavedi said. “If he did leave all he needed is an accomplice to lock him inside after the murder.”
Pai and Boko stared at Mavedi.
“To what end would Mr Sanse acquire a spare key?” Pai said. “To steal beer? To him Willy belonged in jail until he appeared at the station the other day. Your theory calls on us to assume a world of things.”
Boko sighed heavily. “Bring him in.”
“Sir, about that personal issue…” Pai said the moment Mavedi dashed out.
“Please, not now.”
Sanse walked in. Boko waved Pai and Mavedi away.
“I know this looks bad on you,” Sanse started. “I can imagine the headlines: Kathare DCIO is under investigation for hiring a former CID officer who was relieved of his duties for being a danger to himself and to the society. Mr. Michael Sanse snapped and killed a man he had once sent behind bars.”
Boko’s jaw tightened. “I am glad that you see the situation through my eyes. I wish things were different.”
“Me too.”
The two men studied each other for a long, awkward moment. “Our agreement was pegged on results.”
“I know,” Sanse said.
Boko felt relieved when Sanse just walked out of the office. He had taken a dangerous gamble and for what? His focus zeroed on the word count on the laptop. Six thousand two hundred and ten words. He slapped the laptop shut and beeped Pai.
“Mr. Sanse is no longer with us,” Boko said.
Pai wanted to talk but his voice was stuck in his throat. This is it, he thought.
“I think your partner is way off,” Boko said. “Nonetheless, you’ll agree with me that there are gray areas as far as Mr. Sanse is concerned.”
“My mind is open to what the investigation unearths,” Pai said.
“Good. Put Kachero on Diana twenty-four hours.”
“May I ask why sir?”
“Ten million can create a lot of possibilities,” Boko said. “Lest I forget, see if Gethi and Wachira are really liable of another crime.” He consulted the wall clock. “The twenty-four-hour window closes in an hour’s time.”
Chapter 20
Pai felt so fed up with Mavedi he didn’t bother to engage him in the Gethi and Wachira matter. He walked into the Report Office and went through the statements recorded in the Occurrence Book from 24th, the day Oscar Ciuri disappeared to 26th, the day his body was found. An entry on 24th caught his eye. Two men armed with machetes had broken into the house of Johnson Muriuki, a prominent businessman in town, and made away with a hundred thousand shillings.
Pai took Gethi to the interrogation room. “We pieced it together,” he said. “We know how you covered the deficit on your sister’s operation. You robbed Johnson Muriuki on the night of 24th.”
Pai read defeat in Gethi’s eyes. There was anger too. He made for the door.
“It is her money,” Gethi said. Pai stopped but didn’t turn. “She was a successful businesswoman when she met Muriuki, a tout. Their five-year marriage ended with Muriuki taking off with the proceeds of a bank loan. We invited him to the fund-raising but he didn’t show up. My sister brought me and my siblings up. The doctor says she will live. I am happy that I did it.”
Pai walked out. He called Kachero, the main informer who posed as a boda boda operator.
“What is Kathare saying?” Pai asked.
“But for the concern over the rising demand for heads, arms and legs all is quiet.”
“Johnson Muriuki, the wholesaler.”
“What about him?”
“Do you know his wife?”
“I forget her name,” Kachero said. “She is a walking rose flower.”
“How did he move from touting to wholesaling?”
“He stole the heart of a woman with real dough then her money. It was a bank loan. The woman was left holding the bag. Is this about the theft?”
“Does anything ever pass you by?”
“Would we be talking if it did?”
“Keep an eye on Ciuri’s wife,” Pai said.
“Is she in trouble?”
“She is a millionaire in waiting.”
“I hope she falls for my good looks,” Kachero said.
“If women went for looks you would die single.”
Pai ended the call. He wondered why he wasn’t happy with the solution to the Muriuki theft. Was it because Sanse was right? Was it the circumstances surrounding the crime? He hoped it was the latter. He wondered whether he would have acted differently in Wachira and Gethi’s place. I am happy that I did it. Wasn’t that the ultimate measure of love? The doctor says she will live.
As much as Pai wanted justice to prevail the law remained largely a protector for the moneyed, never a punisher. He had witnessed watertight cases go against parties with less financial muscle. To a good number of inmates incarceration was an indicator of poverty. Or lack of proper connections. Punishing Gethi and Wachira would certainly bloat Muriuki’s ego. He thought of Wachira’s wife and her toddler. Hell, why did he see Ed and Norah in every wayward youth? Was the foreboding common to parents or was he paranoid?
Pai was so touched by Sanse’s decision not to inform of him he felt obligated to pay it forward. However, unlike Sanse, he was duty bound to bring his own mother to book if she overstepped the law. It was upon the judge to determine the consequences thereof. Gethi and Wachira had broken the law. Plain and simple.
Boko said consulting the wall clock the moment Pai stepped into his office. “Your hour is almost out.”
Pai tabled his findings and the circumstances surrounding the crime.
“How sad,” Boko said. “It is still a crime nonetheless.”
Pai nodded grimly and turned to leave.
“About that personal issue,” Boko said.
Pai corked his head. “It is water under the bridge, so to speak.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“That is good to hear.”
Pai walked out.
Chapter 21
Pai and Mavedi traced Willy’s steps to Karumaindo Bar. If you wanted a cheap room and a cheap lay you went to Karumaindo Bar. At the bar the two detectives learnt that Willy had picked one of the hookers, Susie, and left. He didn’t return. One of the revellers offered to take the detectives to Susie’s place. Apparently, Susie had once hired goons to rough him up after she had emptied his pockets. If she needed frying he would help fry her.
Susie lived in Blue Canyon, a neighbourhood famous for prostitution and crime. She was young, probably eighteen. To Pai she was another reminder of Norah. Mavedi had to ask each question at least twice. Willy? She knew no Willy. She didn’t even know the father to her son. She knew no names. All she knew was money. Of course she did it once the previous night with a brutal bastard who couldn’t afford a hundred-bob room. The low-life simply pinned her against the wall. Done, he staggered away. He left her too sore she had to call it a day. Oh yes, he had an upper front tooth missing. What? He was dead? Dead as in…dead? Too bad. But she knew nothing about murder.
“What time was it?” Mavedi said.
“About nine thirty.”
Pai and Mavedi left.
“That sounds like a cul-de-sac,” Mavedi said.
“We should find out where he spent on the day he arrived here,” Pai said. “Most likely he planned to board in the same place. If he actually boarded it will be a plus. In a town with less than twenty guest houses that should be easy to find out.”
***
Kachero pinched camp among the boda boda riders at the junction off Ciuri’s compound. Establishing a link was dead easy thanks to a strong bond among boda boda operators. He lied that he was on the run from a hit and ran.
Diana had arrived home at four the previous day carrying an envelope. She had not left home today. Kelvin had left on the motorbike twice.
Presently Diana appeared at the gate. She was in a headscarf and a pair of huge sunglasses. Kachero was amused by her attempt at disguise. She stood rooted for a full minute, her hands folded if front of her. She walked to the road and flagged down a public service vehicle. Kachero feigned a call and said, “Coming.” He trailed the minivan carrying Diana.
The minivan stopped three kilometres down the road and Diana alighted. She crossed the road just as Kachero got to her. He rode for a hundred metres then he doubled back. He joined the narrow road after Diana. The road bent to the right after twenty meters then straightened out for about a hundred metres. He was in time to see Diana disappear through an opening to the left. He had served clients along this road enough times to know every homestead. Only a deserted, half-built brick house was in the compound Diana had walked into. Kachero wondered what she was up to. Was she relieving herself? It called for a very faulty bladder to require a relief after a three-kilometre ride. He spent past the entrance then doubled back. Diana was heading to the main road when he got to the half-built house. He came to a screeching halt near her.
“Please tell me you’re the one who called me,” he said. “What happened to your phone?”
“Wrong person,” Diana said mounting the bike. “I am happy that you’re here nonetheless. Do you know the Chief’s office?”
“Who doesn’t?”
“Just make sure I return to my daughter in one piece.”
“Relax. I’ve been doing this for years.”
Kachero was now sure that Diana was up to something because the Chief’s office was on the other side of her home. The half-built house needed looking into. The moment they got there called Pai.