Cyril got to where he had buried Veronica. The air was still, the birds chirped and the owls hooted. The rattle snake rattled but the tress made no noise. Darkness enveloped the thick and the only light was from the torch he was holding. Everything seemed quite normal.
When he reached the exact place he had buried her - the site had been dugged and there was no body. The plants that grew on and around it had been destroyed by whom ever had dug it.
He was faced with a big dilemma now, one of the items he needed had been destroyed, nowhere could he get that exact plant unless on another dead body - perhaps the Oracle will understand.
He left the thicket and headed for Abeokuta, he had to go pick Abiola and take him to the shrine.
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Nnoma was one of those who didn't trust her brother. She had woken up the morning before he left the house and had found strands of hair on her bed. She remembered that the night before, she had won an underwear before going to bed but woke up to hair on the bed and no underwear on her waist. She thought for a while but concluded that perhaps she was mistaken and maybe did not actually wear one. After a lot of folks from the community made guesses of her brother's involvement in Nkechi's disappearance, the thought was awakened once more and this time she was sure something was amiss. She - unlike her mother - didn't trust him but she said nothing so as not to offend or hurt her mom.
She refused sleeping that night and wanted to be awake knowing well that Nonso was up to something.
At 12:48 am, she heard the creaking of a door. She got down from her bed and walked towards the exit of her room. Opened the door and saw Nonso tip toeing into an adjacent room. After he entered and closed the door behind him, she followed after. She opened the door as lightly as she could to avoid any creaking and behold, there was Nonso with a syringe in his hand, a red kerchief and a polythene bag. Immediately, she screamed.
The sound filled the entire house and everyone who was asleep woke to the sound of someone wailing and screaming for help.
Nonso was frightened, he turned around rushed towards her and gave her a severe blow on the head. She fell down, he ran past her as she slumped to the ground - hitting her head pretty hard on the ground.
He ran out into the compound but neighbours who had heard the screaming and shouting had gathered in the compound. They were ready because they had suspected Nonso already and so he was cornered with no where to run.
His mom woke up to the scream and saw her son holding a syringe with a potion in it, probably to harm her. She watched as he turned around, gave Nnoma a blow on the head and fled. She ran towards her daughter and picked her up from the ground, crying as she did so.
The air was now clear, the diabolical accusations made by the community folks against her son were true after all.
Nnoma was not dead, she was unconscious. The fall had really an impact on her as she hit her head against the floor.
Nonso's mother walked out of the room to the compound were people had gathered.
He was lying on the ground, he had been tied up by the young men and had taken a severe beating. She cried and wailed and cursed the day she had given birth to him. She ordered him to be taken to the police station and face the wrath of the law.
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It was a busy day at the station, the detective and his team were thinking of a new plan to track Cyril. The floor was opened for anyone to suggest the way forward and they all pitched in what they thought was a great idea.
One policeman suggested that the news of Alice's arrest and the finding of Veronica's body should be aired on a television station, perhaps Cyril will make a move. Another suggested that they set a bait for him. On and on they went for a couple of hours until a noise outside the police station caught their attention. They rushed out to see a group of people with cutlasses and clubs, they had beaten up a man and had him tied up.
The policemen tried to calm the crowd and took the man into the station. They questioned the crowd and found out that the man was Nonso Anosike, he was responsible for the disappearance of his sister and attempted murder of his mother.
The detective was briefed about the new development and he asked to interrogate Nonso if there was any connection with Veronica's case. When Nonso's mother filed for the disappearance of Nkechi, the detective noticed the it had been one week after Veronica's disappearance - perhaps there could be a link.
He was given the permission to question Nonso, when he got into the interrogation room. Nonso was all bloody from head down to his toe, he had been beaten by the community youth prior being brought to the station.
His face was all swollen and one of his eye was blackened by a blow that had landed right on the eyeball.
"Hello Mr. Nonso, my name is Counsellor Michael. I would like to ask you a few questions."
"I will answer anything please don't allow them to kill me." Nonso said.
"Don't worry this is a police station, no one will kill you. Now I want to know how your sister disappeared the same day you arrived at your family home."
"I am responsible for her disappearance." He said.
"Tell me exactly what happened and why." The detective added.
"Me and a group of my friends..... we decided to go and seek from an Oracle how we could make money. When we got there the Oracle told us we had to fulfil three tasks and each task will expire after a week. We were to do all he said accordingly, my first task was to bring hair and somethings I got from my older sister which I did. The second was my youngest sister, which I killed and harvested some of her parts for the ritual."
"So you mean to say that you killed your sister and are willing to do the same to your mother just to get rich?" The detective questioned.
"No!" Nonso exclaimed.
"I wasn't going to kill her...…. I was asked to lay with her and wipe her genitals with a handkerchief. That's why I had the syringe in my hand."
"You must be a sick person." The detective said in disgust.
"I want you to write down all the names of your friends and where I can find them."
The detective handed Nonso a pen and paper and Nonso scribbled down the names of his colleagues.
*Cyril Adebola
* Mbagayin Thomas
*Akurudo Imoh
*Cheta Diri
*Toyin Akintola
*Johnson Akudu
The detective collected the paper, gave it a gaze and something caught his attention.