(Season 1): GENEVIEVE COLE. E3

To read the previous episode, click The woman in the swimming pool (part 1)

Episode 3 Title: The woman in the swimming pool. (Part 2)

******

3:45 pm

Detective Genevieve and Jasmine arrived back at the bureau. They went to their office together and the only person there was Oscar. He was writing inside a short note.

“Where is detective Leroy?”

“He is with the director.” he answered her.

She sat down on her chair. “Since when?”

“Thirty minutes ago.”

Her left eyebrow rose. “Do you have any idea what they are discussing about?”

“I have no idea,” he said and stopped to write. “Have the two of you had lunch?”

“No.” Jasmine replied.

“I am not hungry,” Genevieve said. “I don’t have appetite to eat. The loss of detective Abu’s sister is heartbreaking. I will eat when I get home.”

“Any update?” Oscar asked.

“Not really but we will continue the investigation tomorrow.”

Leroy opened the door and a smile flickered on his lips when he saw Genevieve and Jasmine back. 

“Welcome ladies.”  He said and sit on his own chair.

“Thanks.” Jasmine responded.

“What is so important that has kept you at the boss office for thirty minutes?” Oscar asked.

“The director wanted my advice.”

The three of them stared at him surprise.

“Advice on what?” Genevieve queried.

He rubbed his chin for few seconds and answered. “The rumor is true, he has started to pair some detectives with their partners.”

“It’s a good thing.” Oscar said.

“I don’t have a problem having a partner to work with,” Jasmine said. “As long as the person and I understand each other.”

“If he has agreed to partner everyone,” Genevieve said. “What does he need your advice for?”

“I don’t think you will like it if I tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“He feels we are not enough.”

“What do you mean detective Leroy?”

“He said he needs more homicide detectives. We are only four.”

She did not say anything.

Oscar asked, “Does he want to employ more detectives?”

“Yes but I don’t know how many. He only said one step at a time.”

“Why couldn’t you convince him not to employ more homicide detectives?” Genevieve asked. “I think we are more than enough.”

“I believe it will reduce the work load for the four of us.”

Her face changed. “He can employ hundred detectives, that’s his business. I won’t accept a new detective as my partner.”

“Well, let’s see how it goes.”

Jasmine rose up and marched to Genevieve’s side. “We should inform the boss about the case.”

“I have a slight headache,” she said and wore a consoled face. “You can discuss the case with him.”

“Okay.” She agreed and left.

Leroy uplifted and walked towards Genevieve and whispered inside her right ear. “We need to talk.”

She looked at him. “I hope there’s no problem?”

“No.”

She rose up and followed him outside the building and they moved towards his car. 

“I lied.” he said quietly.

 

“You lied about what?” she asked in a surprised tone.

“I purposely did not convince Quincy Harvey not to employ more detectives because I needed a favor from him. I wanted to be on his good side.”

“What favor?”

“I want a transfer.”

Her jaw dropped drastically. “You want what?”

“I want him to help me with my transfer,” he said. “But it’s not going to happen now.”

“Why do you need a transfer?”

“My wife wants us to relocate after we have our baby.” he replied. 

"How many months?"

“She’s five months pregnant.”

“Relocate to where?” 

“To the east.”

Genevieve sighed. “I guess she wants to be close to her family members.”

Leroy smiled and nodded. 

“Is it immediately she gives birth you want a transfer?” she asked.

“It depends on my wife and the director said whenever I am ready, he will definitely help me with my transfer and work it to any state I want.”

“Can I come over and to with your wife?” Genevieve asked in a calmed voice. “I might change her mind.”

Leroy touched her on the left shoulder. “There is no need for that detective Cole. I could not change her mind.”

“Why don’t you want the others to know about your transfer?”

“They will know when I am ready,” he replied and took away his hand from her shoulder. “I am telling you this because we are close.”

“Okay.” she said. “I want us to go the cafeteria. There’s something important I wanted to discuss with you.”

“I hope it is not serious?”

“It is serious.” 

It took them two minutes to reach the cafeteria. They decided to buy two pack of Chivita orange juice and chicken pie.

“Tell me what is very important,” Leroy whispered to her after he took a bite from his pie and drank some juice from his glass cup.

“I have a hunch that Uncle Freddie was killed.”

The pie in his hands dropped. “You must be joking.”

“I don’t believe he was killed by an armed robber.”

“But the armed robber was caught and jailed,” he said. “Have you forgotten he confessed to the crime?”

“I have not forgotten,” she replied. “And that is why I will like to talk to him again.”

“You want to visit that criminal in prison?” he asked in a stern tone. “There’s absolutely no need for that. He was robbed.”

“What if the killers wanted it to be like a robbery? What if that man in prison was used to cover up the murder and make it look like a robbery case? The only thing they took was his wristwatch and the money in his wallet. His house was not ransacked.”

“Why are you thinking like this?”

“I don’t believe it was a robbery incident that got Uncle Freddie killed in his home. I remember we were supposed to have dinner together at my place but he gave an excuse he wanted to go home and rest. Uncle Freddie said he was having a headache.”

“So?”

“If Uncle Freddie was sick and I told him to follow me anywhere, he would follow me without me giving an excuse.”

“Meaning?”

“It was only a headache that day. I knew he was not himself that particular day. He lied to me.”

“You are thinking this way because you do not want to let go of his death.” Leroy said “Do you want to reopen the case?”

“Yes.” Genevieve replied and took a sip from her juice. Her chicken pie remained untouched.

“I don’t think the director will buy this idea.”

“I will find time to talk about it with him.”

“But you have been avoiding Quincy Harvey.”

“You noticed?”

“Of course! Is there something I need to know?”

“No.” she answered him and ate from her pie. “I want to investigate the case secretly with you.”

“I cannot be a part of it.”

“Why?” she asked in a dazed tone.

“How can I investigate a case when I don’t believe it is a murder case. Detective Cole, you have to let go and forget about the death of Uncle Freddie. I know the two of you were very close but you have to let go and allow him to rest.”

Genevieve sighed. “I am disappointed in you.”

He smiled. “I know but it is the truth. If I believed he was murdered, there is nothing on earth that can stop me from investigating the case with you.” Leroy poured himself more juice to drink.

“Why can’t you believe me?”

“If you want me to believe you, give me evidence.”

She looked at him without saying anything.

*******

By the time Genevieve and Leroy went back to the office, Oscar and Jasmine were already on their way home.

“What did the director say when you told him about the case?” Genevieve asked Jasmine.

“The director said he will call the medical examiner to do a thorough check on the victim.”

“That is exactly what I said.”

“But have you told her?”

“I simply forgot.”

“Quincy Harvey has already called her.”

“I want us to meet her tomorrow morning for an update.”

“What time?” Jasmine asked.

“By 10am in the morning.”

She agreed and left the office with Leroy. Oscar waited for Genevieve to tidy up her table and escorted her to her car.

“You don’t look happy,” he said to her. “Is there a problem?”

“I am happy detective Oscar.”

“I have begged you to call me only by my name. Sometimes you act as if we are not friends.”

“We are in the vicinity of our workplace. Have I ever called you a detective whenever I visit your house?”

Oscar shook his head.

“That should tell you I see you as a friend and not just a colleague.”

“Well, I will be expecting you by the weekend.”

“I can’t forget. Tomorrow is Friday and the four of us are going to hangout as usual.”

“I know.”

Genevieve opened the door of her car and glanced at Oscar. “See you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight dear.”

She smiled at him. “Goodnight and send my regards to Yvonne.”

“I will.”

*****

Thirty years old Genevieve got home and went to have her bath. There was no appetite to eat because of what she thought about Freddie Arinze. She was going to find a way to reopen the case and investigate the man she loved. The man she saw as her father. He was shot five times and that tells a lot.  To her, it does not look like a robbery case.

Time will tell if truly he was killed by an armed robber and not hired killers. Her instincts told her it was not only one person that attacked him that day. She went to bed in a sober mood and cried before she closed her two eyes to sleep. She remembered the good times Uncle Freddie and herself shared together as father and daughter.

*****

10:12am

Genevieve and Jasmine arrived together at the hospital to talk with doctor Ibinabo. One of the lab specialists took her to meet examiner who was working on the victim. It was not their first time to see her working on a dead body.

“Any latest update?” Genevieve asked.

“Nothing new,” she replied her. “I know before she drowned, there was a struggle between the victim and her attacker. I have found nothing that could lead the two of you to the killer.”

“Did you do an x-ray on the victim?”

“I don’t think it’s necessary.”

“I don’t trust the cook.” She said and looked at Jasmine.

“I don’t trust all of them.”

“Let me tell you why I suspect her.”

“Okay.” She said and folded her hands. Ibinabo left what she was doing, removed the white gloves she wore and disposed them into a wastebasket. She listened.

“Did you notice the cook was the first person I gave my phone to?”

“Yes I did and I wanted to ask you but I forgot. I expected you to give it the victim’s husband first.”

“I had a reason,” Genevieve said. “I wanted to know if she was left or right handed.”

“I remember she took your phone with her right hand."

“That means she’s right handed.” Ibinabo added.

“Exactly,” Genevieve said and smiled. “How can a right handed person cut her index finger in her right hand? The cook said she was cutting some ingredients and definitely she must have been using her right hand to hold the knife. How can she cut her right hand holding the knife with the same hand? I don’t understand.”

“That is true,” detective Jasmine said. “She should have cut her finger in her left hand. That means the cook was lying.”

“What if after the victim and the cook fought and when Mrs. Obim couldn’t handle it, she had no other choice but attacked the cook with her teeth?”

“I did not see any bite mark on her body yesterday.”

“She was wearing a shirt."

“But wasn’t torn like the victim’s own.”

“Maybe she changed her shirt, we really don’t know.”

“If the victim really used her teeth on her attacker,” Ibinabo said and walked to where the victim was placed. “Maybe I can find something.”

“Something like what?” Genevieve asked.

“Please hold on,” she said, wore hand gloves and opened the mouth of the victim. She took an operating instrument with two sharp edges and dipped it inside to check if anything was inside. “I think there’s something close to her throat.” She took out the tool with a fingernail and gazed at the detectives. “I think you have found evidence.”

They stared at her in shock.

Genevieve called Mr. Obim that she was coming to his house to ask some questions. She called if everyone was at home. He gave her a positive answer.

When they arrived there, Jasmine spoke to the cook. “You are under arrest for the murder of Mrs. Obim.” She put handcuffs on her hand.

“But I didn’t kill her!”

“This must be a mistake detective.” Mr. Obim said. The housekeeper and the gateman were stunned.

Genevieve spoke, “This is not a mistake. I am sure your wife knew you were cheating on her with your cook.”

He did not say anything but looked at Jasmine. “I think she is innocent.”

“If you think she is not the one that killed your wife, I will remove the plaster on her finger. I know there will not be a fingernail!”

The cook burst out crying.

“You lied about cutting your finger,” Jasmine said. “You will rot in jail!”

“I don’t want to go to prison!” she wailed.

Mr. Obim went to stand in front of her. “Did you really kill my wife?”

She swallowed. “I am pregnant.”

He widened his eyes. “For me?”

“Yes.” she replied. Tears dropped down from her eyes. “She found the pregnancy test in my room. When I came back from the market and went to the kitchen, she came to meet me and asked who was responsible. I told her I didn’t know but she slapped me and that was how we began to fight. She dragged me out outside and…and..I mistakenly pushed her inside the swimming pool after she used her teeth on my finger. I feared for my life, ran to the kitchen to get what I bought from the market and ran. I had to buy another shirt to wear and waited close to one hour before I came back home.”

Eyes fell from Mr. Obim’s eyes. “You should have told me about the pregnancy and I would have found a solution.”

“I am sorry!!”

Jasmine pushed her away to the car and Genevieve followed them behind.

******

Detective Genevieve decided to follow Jasmine to give the report on the case to Quincy Harvey.

“Good job.” he said to them. As they were about to leave, he called them back. “Leroy and Oscar will join us soon.” He gave Jasmine a letter.

She read it and stared at him. “Detective Oscar is my new partner.”

He replied with a smile. “Yes.”

“Thank you sir.”

Leroy, Oscar and a young man wearing medicated glasses entered into the office.

“That is detective Akin.” Leroy introduced him to Genevieve and Jasmine. “He is an homicide detective.”

Jasmine shook his hands. “Welcome to NIB.”

“Thank you.” he said happily.

Genevieve looked at him and smiled faintly. She glared at her boss. “Anything else?”

“Detective Akin is good with computer. He is a brilliant computer literate and he is the new partner of detective Leroy.”

“What!” she exclaimed in total shock. “What about me?”

Quincy rose. “I will act as your new partner…”

Genevieve did not bother to wait for him to finish his sentence. She walked to the door, opened it and slammed it loudly. She was enormously upset!

*****

To be continued… on Sunday by 1pm.