The Bureau of Kingdom Investigation was a big, imposing, glass-fronted, beachfront building on the serene coastal town of Lama.
Its sheer beauty never ceased to impress Effe and made her take great pride in being a part of the wonderful group of people that worked in the BKI.
At twenty-eight years old, she felt she had done quite well by rising to be one of the senior members in the Forensics Department.
She knew she could have made Assistant Forensics Director instead of the Senior Forensics Officer that she was, but that would not happen, at least not under Susan Biko.
Susan, fifty-eight years old, was the President of the BKI.
Twice married and twice divorced, she had dedicated the rest of her life to the BKI.
Although Susan was a great director, she and Effe had clashed over the years, with several spates in recent times. This was because she had passed over Effe and promoted a long-serving colleague, Korku Totu, to the Director of Forensics.
True, Korku had put in many good years at the KBI, but it was a known fact that he was washed out, and should have gone on pension a couple of years previously, but Susan had made him the head.
And then Susan had also brought a handsome young man, Nana Kuntuo, as Assistant Director.
Effe had been okay with the decision to promote Korku over herself, seeing he had more years in the office, but for the President to bring in a fresher, Nana Kuntuo, as the assistant director had raised many eyebrows and made Effe furious.
She knew that Susan would have fired her a long time ago if it had not been for the fact that Effe was the best in what she did.
And everybody in BKI knew it.
Sometimes she had seethed with fury when work she had done had been credited to the two men.
Recently, it had come to light that Nana Kuntuo was Susan's lover, her toy-boy, and that was why he had made it that high. Effe knew that Korku would retire finally that year, and then Nana would no doubt be made the new director.
She had forced herself to accept that fact, although she knew Nana would be the most incompetent Forensics Director the KBI had ever known.
Effe sighed as she stopped her car at the entrance of BKI for security check-ups. Scanners embedded in the walls at trajectory levels with her eyes gave her a retina check, then she had to verify her fingerprints on another scanner a short distance away.
The heavy metal barriers then retracted to give her access to the staff parking space two floors above ground level.
When she slid into her parking space, her phone rang again, and she quickly checked it.
It was from Susan.
Again!
"Hold your horses, old woman," Effe said petulantly, but then she picked the call. "Hello, Miss Biko."
She knew just how bad it irked Susan to be addressed that way; she preferred the much more prestigious 'Madam President.'
"Effe, damn it, where are you?" Susan asked crossly. "You should have been here thirty minutes ago!"
"I came as fast as I could, Miss Biko," Effe said calmly as she fought to hold down her anger. "I just parked my car. Going to take the lifts now."
"Come straight to my office!" Susan said angrily and cut the call.
"Witch!" Effe muttered as she got out of the car and took her handbag.
She locked the doors and walked briskly to the elevator bank, nodding curtly to the security agents in the garage.
The security elevator also gave her a retina scan and required a passcode to open. She rode straight to the twentieth floor where the Executive Offices were, and where Susan Biko had a whole wing to herself.
She stepped into the plush corridor and nodded to two elderly directors waiting to get into the elevator.
Effe walked briskly to the north wing which had an elaborate sight above the lounge area consisting of gold lettering on black background announcing the premises of the President.
The security doors scanned her once again, took her passcode, and then slid open for her. She hurried across the beautiful lounge with its assortment of fresh flowering plants and deep leather settees.
She passed through to the reception area where a flustered-looking PA ushered her into the big and expensive office of Susan Biko, Director of BKI.
***
The office was like the private dome of a millionaire.
The huge C-shaped, luxuriously-crafted, mahogany desk was at the far end of the room where tall French Windows opened out to a beautiful lounging balcony that had a breath-taking view over the sea.
On the walls were several framed pictures of the King of Eden, His Royal Majesty Henry Okraku and the royal family. Also, there were pictures of Susan Biko and some powerful people in the Kingdom of Eden, KOE.
The western side of the sprawling office was a conference setup, the oval-shaped glass-topped table and the cushioned chairs around it once again made with artistic design and sheer beauty.
A comfortable lounge was on the eastern wing, and beyond that was a closed door that led to an inner bedroom, and Effe knew inside that room Susan had had some of her raunchy escapades, before and with Nana Kuntuo.
As she hesitated briefly on the rich Venetian rug on the floor, she noticed that her three bosses were sitting rather awkwardly around the conference table.
Susan, reel-thin with a sharp, angular face and carefully-coiffured hair, was sitting gingerly at the head of the table with her hands clamped on the glass. Her eyes bored with suppressed anger into Effe. On her right was Korku Totu who looked every inch his real age as he reclined in the chair with a bald head and gaunt face.
On Susan's left was the medium-built but darkly handsome Nana Kuntuo, the rumoured lover of Susan who, nonetheless, had been coming on hard on Effe to go out with him.
His advances had become persistent over time, and when he finally realized that Effe was not one to give in to his advances, he had slowly become somewhat like a tyrant, always trying to pull rank over her.
There was a fourth person in the room.
He was a middle-aged man sitting in the much more comfortable lounge with a newspaper in his hands as he flipped through carefully, looking over his gold-rimmed spectacles.
He was wearing an excellently-tailored black tuxedo, and the whitest shirt Effe had ever seen on anyone. She noticed that he was a muscular man but short, and his hair was groomed nicely and had more grey than black hairs.
His legs were encased in excellent and good-quality shoes. His wristwatch glinted in the lights as he lowered the newspaper and smiled at Effe. And his eyebrows were grey, and he had a big iron-grey moustache.
Effe was immobile for some time as she stared in disbelief!
Surely, her eyes were playing tricks on her!
Perhaps, apart from the king and the royal family, this man in the office right now was the next most powerful person in the Kingdom of Eden.
Sir Lancelot Agyei, known far and wide by the revered handle, Sir Lance, was the Defence Commander of KOE. He had the power to appoint and dismiss any member of various security setups in the kingdom.
He was directly in charge of an elite group of people who formed the fearsome Special Palace Force, SPF.
Members of the SPF were highly trained and had oversight supervisory command of any security apparatus in the kingdom.
They dealt on the international level, but whenever there was a problem in the kingdom that required extra expertise, a member of the SPF would show up, and he automatically became the head for as long as he stayed there.
The SPF was a revered outfit, and its members were handpicked and highly trained for the most dangerous assignments that cropped up.
And of course, they enjoyed the perks of life because of the nature of their jobs. They had the best salaries, the best fringe benefits and the best reverential status in the security agencies.
Every security person in the KOE – army, police, navy, BKI – wanted to be part of the SPF. But it was always hard because recruitment was by a special process and based on the requirement of the SPF.
Only a handful of privileged people made it into the SPF.
Sir Lancelot now walked almost leisurely towards Effe and stopped to appraise her. Effe was much taller than he was, but she found herself wilting under his direct, cruel gaze, making her feel like an ant; that was the clout he commanded.
"Miss Kedem," he said finally in a deep, low voice. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Effe roused herself enough to smile faintly at that.
"The pleasure is all mine, sir," she said as he shook her hand. "I'm extremely sorry to have kept you waiting."
"No fault of yours, believe me," Sir Lance said with a charming smile. "I told your boss, Susan, that I wanted to see you today. She assumed it was for a sort of favour. I'm sure she thought I was seeking to recruit you, and so she tried her best to push her boyfriend my way by recommending him. She claimed Nana Kuntuo was better for a call into the SPF, and in doing that refused to let you know until the last minute."