Kenneth let out a weak sigh as soon as the officers left the ward. His heart kept racing no-stop, but at least now he was a tad bit relieved, knowing that the detective and his assistant would find his wife and bring her back to him, probably injured but at least she'd be alive.
He took a seat on the other side of the ward and Mr. Daniel walked up to his, taking a seat beside him.
"Why is all this happening? Why would someone be out to do such a thing to us?" Mr. Daniels questioned no one in particular.
"I don't know, I just need my wife back to me and then I would fly out of the country with her, ASAP!"
Kenneth's words floated into Daniel's ears and he turned to his wife who was still laying peacefully. His mind was in a haze, he couldn't appear in court like this.
******
"Step on it, Fred!" The detective kept urging Fred.
Fred sighed as he took one last look at the impatient detective. He was speaking as though he doesn't know anything about the popular Lagos traffic. Or does he want him to run some of the Pedestrians over? he wondered quietly, maneuvering his way through the crowd of cars and people.
He took a short cut and soon they arrived at the Bet9ja store in Ajegunle.
The detective stepped out, followed by Fred and they walked into the Betting store. They looked around, the gazes of everyone in the store focused on them.
The room was filled to the brim with the pungent odor of sweat and cheap worn-out perfumes. The loud noises of the people reduced a bit but soon continued as they started screaming the names of football players, while some rejoice at the jackpot they just won.
"How do we know which computer has the IP address?" Fred whispered to the detective.
The detective turned to the attendant who was in charge of dishing out the bet slip; "Police!" he said softly so as not to draw the attention of the other people.
"Which computer here has this IP address?" he asked, showing him the address on his phone's screen.
"Over there." The attendant pointed after taking a good look at it.
They ran over to it, and check through the tabs and system applications but no installed application could stream the video. He took out Kenneth's phone which was with him the whole time and saw that the video was still streaming.
He sighed and returned to the attendant and asked; "Who was the last person that used that computer?"
"No one sir, only the attendants are allowed to operate the computers and as you can see, I am the only attendant on duty today."
"So are…" his statement was cut short by the vibration of his phone.
He sighed and turned away from the attendant and glanced at his assistant before he returned Kenneth's phone to his pocket and brought out his.
"Backing up the wrong tree detective. Because of this haughty act of yours, Kenneth's wife will pay the price of your disobedience. Tell Kenneth that I'll return his wife to him if he figures out my puzzle.
THE FIRST FRUIT THAT CAUSED DISOBEDIENCE."
The detective read the text; his brows furrowed in shock. Fred took the phone and also read it.
"How did he know we are here?" The detective asked and turned around. Looking at the faces of the people there.
"The CCTV camera!" Fred cuts in, drawing the detective's attention to the camera by the door.
The detective scoffs and walks out. they drove back to the hospital quietly. His mind rummaged with different thoughts.
They got to the hospital and made their way to the ward.
"Did you find her?" Kenneth asked, rising to his feet immediately after he saw them walking in.
"Where is my wife?" he asked again, louder this time.
The detective sighed weakly. "I'm sorry but he tricked us. It was all planned out by the assassin. I think he rerouted it to another computer's IP address." The detective broke the news.
Kenneth staggered backward. Mr. Daniel was fast enough to catch him before he fell.
"He said you should solve his puzzle," Fred added.
Kenneth looked up with his brows slightly raised.
"The first fruit that causes disobedience? What does that mean?" Fred asked.
"First fruit that caused disobedience?" Mr. Daniel wondered out loud.
Kenneth's brows curved slightly. He searched his brain and so did the others and just then he jumped up to his feet.
"The first fruit that caused disobedience. The first disobedience is Adam and Eve's. And apple was termed to be that fruit according to Nigerian's logic." Kenneth stated.
"So?" the detective hummed.
"I have an apple tree at the back of my house!" Kenneth added.
Immediately they ran off, and so did Mr. Daniel. They left the hospital and drove straight to Kenneth's house.
Kenneth's lips shivered as he muttered silent prayers all through the drive. They got there, parked the car, and ran straight to his backyard.
They slowed down as soon as they saw a bag hanging on the tree.
Mr. Daniel stopped and held on to Kenneth, saying; "I think it would be best if we wait for them to check it out first."
"No! I need to follow them." He cuts in sharply.
"What if it is a bomb and it explodes and you die, how would you find your wife?" Daniel added almost immediately. He knew that it won't be a bomb, he just wanted to keep his friend away from any traumatizing scene.
The detective and Fred got closer, they tried bringing down the bag but it just won't unhook from the tree. On their second attempt and there was a sizzling sound and the bag ripped open and its content poured down to the ground.
Mr. Daniel tried to avert Kenneth's eyes but he was pushed away.
Mr. Daniel took one more look and puked. All the content in his stomach was vomited out at that moment.
The detective sealed his mouth and Fred placed his hands on top of his head.
Kenneth knelt beside the head of flesh and bones of his wife who had been butchered in bits and piled up in a bag filled with her blood.
Tears welled up in Kenneth's eyes. he tried to cry out loud but his voice was lost in despair.
*******
Seated in front of his computer was the killer. He was watching it all. A smile etched on his lips as everything was going as planned.
He pulled out his drawer and took out a couple of pictures of his next victims. Out of the pictures, he took out that of Mrs. Daniel and smiled.