(Season 1) DEEP. Episode 2

The link to the previous episode is here

*****

Tiwa received a massive applause as she entered into the BIA. Most of the investigators working on their desks stood and clapped their hands. They praised her for what she did and her father watched and beamed in happiness. He was a bit worried about Tiwa’s comeback and the same time proud to have her as his beloved daughter, his only child.

She thanked them, departed to her desk and checked the files she saw on it. A male agent was glaring at her scornfully. She took notice of it but that did not bother her. She was used to it and even appreciated his glare; at least she gave him a scratch to remember.

Mr. Bankole buzzed the intercom and requested to see his daughter. Tiwa went to meet him in his large and gracefully organized office and sat down. 

“It seems nothing makes you apprehensive anymore.” He said to her. “Are you not bothered?”

She raised an eyebrow and placed her right hand on his table. “I have to understand your question before I can give you an answer.”

“I saw the way agent Chigozie was looking at you. I am no more comfortable, I am thinking of dismissing him.”

“What!”

"He might hurt you.”

“And you think he wouldn’t do that when you sack him?”

“I might refer him to another agency.”

“I think he loves it here. If he wanted to get back at me for his foolishness,” Tiwa said. “He would have done that a long time ago. Yes, he still bears grudges against me but it is not my fault.”

“You almost blinded him!” Mr. Bankole uttered and rested his back on the chair. 

Tiwa stood up. “I did not! It was just a little scar beside his left eye. It didn’t even bring out blood.”

He shook his head. “Look at what you are saying. If that didn’t happen five months ago, you would not have bought your car. You kept telling me, you prefer to walk, that driving makes you lazy and walking will help you sweat and shed off some fat. If that was what you really wanted, why did you always agree to enter agent Chigozie’s car.”

“He wanted to help and if I had refused, I would’ve appeared disrespectful. It was a lift and nothing else.”

“It was not once it happened.”

“If I had known he wanted to use that opportunity to get close to me and ask me out I would have avoided him like an incurable disease.”

“And because of that you slapped him in front of your colleagues at the cafeteria!”

Her eyes turned angry. She rose rapidly on her feet. “He hit me on my buttocks! How could I have overlooked such a childish and ridiculous gesture from a grown man old enough to be my uncle and father?!”

Mr. Bankole chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous Tiwa! He’s only forty years old. He is divorced with a kid.”

“I am not interested.”

“I never said you were. You have to be careful around him.”

“This is what I don’t like.” She said with a frown on her face and sat again. “Why should I be the only one to be careful around him? Is it because I am a woman? He should also be careful around me. We are equal. Have you not heard about equality?”

He pointed at her and lowered his voice. “Don’t make this about me. I treat your mother with love and care.”

Tiwa knew her father had so much love for three things, which were his family, agency and money. She sighed. “You love her but you treat her…”

“I will not have this conversation here in my office or at home.” He cut her short. “If you believe no harm will come to you then agent Chigozie stays.”

“Better.” she said, stood and walked to the door.

*****

“Hahahahaha!” Adebiyi laughed aloud and drank from his whiskey. A light skinned and attractive woman with thick purple lipstick sat beside him. She was laughing too and eating peppered fried meat with a glass of Andre. Mr. Popoola sat opposite them drinking orange juice. They were chatting about the twitter war about Nigerian vs. Kenyans. “I love my country. No matter the situation and economy crisis we always try to make ourselves happy.”

“I agree with you dear.” Bianca said to him. 

She was his current girlfriend. Their relationship was two months and two weeks old. He planned to end it the day it reached the third month. He was already getting tired of her. When he informed Mr. Popoola about it, he was in support. He gave his reasons for agreeing to the first time Adebiyi was eager to call off an affair.  Bianca was very lazy and rude. 

In the past affairs, Mr. Popoola would beg his boss to stay in a long-term relationship but Adebiyi always refused. No woman was worth his heart, money and body forever. 

“Are you still going to help Madam Cecelia?” He asked.

“Did she call you again?” Adebiyi asked surprised.

“She sent a text message to me this morning.”

“That woman can never give up. I won’t give her a dime! I gave her some amount of money because of her business only for me to find out she has a husband.”

“Maybe her husband is not capable to taking care of his home.”

“You won’t understand babe. I helped her because she said she was a widow.”

She burst out laughing. “The mind of a poverty stricken Chicken! She must be very dull for doing that.”

He made eye contact with his manager and spoke to her. “Have you decided the country we are going to next week?” He changed the subject.

Bianca face brightened and she stroked his lap. “I want us to go to New York. I have never visited there.”

Adebiyi leaned close to her. “Well, you will be visiting there soon.”

She moved closer and kissed him on his lips. “Thank you so much honey. I know we are going to have a lot of fun!” She took the last meat on her plate and ate. “This is really tasty. Mr. Popoola, I think you should inform the chef to get me more.”

Adebiyi quickly winked at him to do as she says. If not, Mr. Popoola would have left to his room, shut the door and slept. 

*****

Tiwatope was in the kitchen cooking when her mother walked inside and stood beside her, she said. “I don’t want you to ever try to lecture your father about how to treat me. Am I complaining?”

“You are not a dice someone can toss around. You are his partner, wife and mother of his children.”

“You think he does not know that?”

“Then why did he force you to quit your job, become a housewife and his errand woman?”

“Watch your mouth. I am your mother….”

“You think I don’t know that.” Tiwa said, left what she was doing and faced her mom. “You are my dearest mother and I respect and love you. I saw the sadness in your eyes when father commanded you to resign and take care of the family. You did, and I will give you a hundred percent for a job well done. You took care of my brother and me, guiding us to be who we are today. It hurts that Temidayo is not here but I am certain he misses you every day and proud to come out from your womb. Do you know he released a new love song?”

“No. Is it interesting?”

“Of course.” She said and smiled. “I listened to it online today. I will download it this night and play you the song.”

Mrs. Bankole grinned. A blind man could see she was very happy. 

“You should ask me the name of the song.” Tiwa said to her.

“Please tell me my wonderful daughter.”

“Sade.”

Her eyes were surprised and excited. “He used my name!”

“Yes mom,” She said. “I know you are not happy that he is far away from you but always remember, your son remembers and loves you.”

“Thank you Tiwa!” She said and hugged her. “On my next birthday both of us are going to visit Egypt together. I have always dreamt of seeing that country.”

“Egypt?”

“Yes.” Mrs. Bankole answered.

“Won’t you go with your one and only sweetie pie?” She asked in a joked tone.

She tapped her on the arm and giggled. “I want to go with my best friend.”

****

Mr. Popoola knocked heavily on his boss’s room door at 12 midnight. Adebiyi and Bianca woke up instantly. They needed enough rest after a rough sex night. She was scared and told him not to go. He assured her everything was fine, and left the bed. He was stark naked, walked to the door and opened it.

“What is it?” Adebiyi asked. The look on his manager’s face revealed it. “Don’t tell me another woman is dead.”

“I’m sorry to say this, another woman has been murdered.”

“Damn it!”

“Honey,” Bianca said. “What’s going on?”

He didn’t answer her, rushed inside to get his robe to wear, told her to go back and sleep. He left with Mr. Popoola to his main living room to watch the breaking news on television. The male newscaster informed the viewers that a woman was brutally killed exactly like the first and second murder. He advised women never to walk alone in a deserted place or empty road during the night until the culprit was caught. The body was transported to a medical examiner for further details.

Adebiyi took the remote from the center glass table, and switched off the television. He moved to his bar and filled the tumbler he collected with whiskey. He took a swallow and paced around.

“What you are doing won’t solve anything.” Mr. Popoola said. “And I hope you are not blaming yourself for this.”

“Leave me alone and let me think!”

He shut up his mouth. 

He added. “I can’t believe the police are not doing anything to catch the sick person killing these women. It must be the same person doing this total nonsense! He is murdering these women the same way. I have told myself that if this happens again, I will have to do something about it. I have to stop it!”

“You are no longer a detective. You don’t have the power to investigate this case.”

“I know.”

“You have contacts. You can inform a reliable bureau or agency to look into the case.”

Adebiyi halted and faced Popoola. “You think I don’t know?” He sighed tiredly. “I want this to end. Nobody has the right to take a human soul.”

“Why don’t you tell your friend that is a director at the NIB?” He asked. “I heard his wife is a fantastic detective.”

“Genevieve Cole. She’s very good but I cannot risk the life of Quincy Harvey’s wife into the hands of a deadly killer. Genevieve is even unavailable to investigate the case. She’s expecting her first child.”

“So what do you want to do?”

He sipped his drink and gave an answer. “I know the medical examiner in charge of this case. I will see him personally about the victims. After that, the case will be investigated in secrecy.”

“By who?” Popoola asked.

He smiled. “I don’t need to tell you now but I know the rightful person for this deadly case. Goodnight!”

****

Four days later, On a Saturday afternoon, Tiwa and her parents were in the dinning eating lunch. It was a quiet one until Mr. Bankole’s phone rang. He checked the caller identity, abandoned his food and walked away to speak in privacy.

“This is the third call dad is receiving behind closed doors today.” Tiwa said to her mum. “I wonder who he is speaking with. Do you have any idea?”

“No. It should be related to work.”

“And I am not involved? Are you trying to cover up for him?”

“What do you mean by that?” Mrs. Bankole asked in a angered tone. “I don’t like where this is leading to. I think you should mind your business.”

She chuckled and continued to eat. Her father joined them without saying anything. The moment he finished his meal, and stood to leave for his room, he spoke to Tiwa. “See me in my bedroom. We need to talk.”

“Okay dad.”

After Tiwa helped her mum wash the dishes, she went to meet her father. He sauntered to his wardrobe to get a file and gave it to her. “Read it. I received the file yesterday.”

She didn’t read up to the middle when she widened her eyes, opened her mouth and gazed at him. “I can’t believe this. I heard about the murder that happened few days ago in Abuja. I can’t believe no one has been able to solve it and catch the murderer. Three women murdered the same way… oh my God! They were raped and their hearts ripped out from them.”

“It’s unbelievable." 

"This is not just the strange handwork of a killer. This is a serial murderer.”

“That is exactly what the person that sent this file believes. He has been calling me concerning the case. He wants an investigator that can solve this case.”

“Who will be in charge of it?” She asked and went back to read the report.

Mr. Bankole did not say anything. He simply showed her his bank alert on his phone, the amount of money sent into his account.

Her jaw dropped. “2.5 million naira?! Who does that? That person is really eager to get the sick animal doing this insane act!”

“Five million naira is the actual amount. This is the first payment.”

“Five million naira?” Tiwa asked puzzled.

“It is also to convince you to take the case. I will give you your share of the money after everything is over.”

“No one needs to offer me a huge amount of money to investigate a murder case. I am ready to take the case. A dangerous lunatic is walking in the streets of Abuja, violating the bodies of innocent women. I will do everything I can to solve the case and catch the serial bastard dead or alive. All I need is a place to stay, speak with the examiner of the case and discuss with the families of the victims to get informations that can help. I don’t want another woman murdered.”

“Are you sure you want the case?” 

She rose. “Yes! By the way, who is this kind hearted person that wants me on the case?”

He sighed and looked another way. “Adebiyi Gold.”

Tiwa gazed at him stunned. “Son of a bloody nincompoop! Is Adebiyi Goat mad?”

“Tiwa!! Stop the insults and listen to me!!”

“I will not! Who does he think he is? The last seminar I attended, he sent one of his messengers to gift all the speakers iPhones with their names engraved on them. The nitwit purposely omitted me! Someone said I might be his bitter ex-girlfriend. Can you imagine?! He humiliated me without showing his dirty looking face!!”

“Please, this happened two months ago. Forgive and forget.”

 

“No way! I will advise you to return his blood money. How could a detective resign and leave the country for some years, only to come back a multi-millionaire. No one knows where he got the money from but I know it is not clean. He is either into dubious deals or a drug dealer!”

“You don’t have proof about that and Adebiyi Gold helps people.” 

“That is to cover up his suspicious acts.”

“Please take the case.” Mr. Bankole begged.

She looked at her father and was disappointed. She began to have a rethink that money could be her father’s first love. “Never!” Tiwa stormed out of his room with resentment filled inside her.

He knew it was going to be very difficult to convince his daughter.

****

“I don’t want to believe what you are telling me is true?” Mr. Popoola asked Adebiyi Gold in his office at home.

“It’s true.”

“Why do you want to risk the life of Tiwa Banks?”

“All I want is to solve the case.”

“And teach her a lesson!” Popoola said in a concerned tone. “Don’t do this. Don’t bring her into this case. I know she might be willing to take the risk but don’t.”

“I am sure her father is already discussing it with her. I am sure the money will make her say yes.”

“This is not right. Don’t risk the life of this woman because of your selfish desire to hurt her. I thought you would get a male investigator on it. Can I change your mind?”

“No! I don’t wish her death but a little pain.”

“In the future, you will remember what I am about to tell you,” Popoola said and got up. “You will regret it!” He walked to the door.

“You won’t join me and celebrate?” Adebiyi asked and smiled widely. “Bianca is out of my life!!”

“But you still gave her a huge amount for her travelling.”

“Of course. It’s a breakup gift. I can’t believe she cried when I broke up with her yesterday. She told me she loved me. That’s gross!” He started to laugh again and it infuriated his longtime friend.

****

“I can’t believe father sent you to persuade me to accept the case.” Tiwa said to her mother. They were in the living room. 

“I know you don’t like Adebiyi Gold but…”

“I hate him!”

“You can’t hate him. It’s a sin to hate your fellow human being. You are not going to take this case because of him but to help those women that were murdered. Do you know how many people will be grateful when you catch the madman that killed those women?”

“You really think I can do it.”

She carried her hands and patted them. “Yes. I believe in you. I want you to do this and make me a proud mother. You never can tell, Mr. Gold might think you won’t be able to crack the case. I want you to prove him wrong that you are capable. Challenge him.”

Tiwa stood up.

“Where are you going to?” Mrs. Bankole asked.

“To meet father and tell him I have accepted.”

She gave a broad smile, rose and embraced her. Tiwa went to inform her dad.

“That’s good news.” He said. 

“But I don’t want the money and Adebiyi Goat must not know about it.”

“Consider it done.”

“You will give me all the necessary details and the contacts of those I will speak with. I also want you to make arrangements in the hotel I will live in Abuja.”

“Your accommodation is arranged. You will live in Adebiyi Gold’s residence.”

“Blood of holy Moses! You mean I will live with him?” She asked shocked.

“Yes.”

“This man believes he can get away with anything.” Tiwa said. “I will live with him and use that opportunity to investigate how he became rich overnight.”

“I want you to be careful.” He said.

“You didn’t think about that when you collected his money. When do I leave?”

“Tonight.” 

“Tonight?” She asked and shook her head. “I.. I … I really don’t know what to say. It seems you have booked my flight.”

“You don’t need that,” He said. “He sent his private jet. He’s pilot is waiting for you at the airport.”

She didn’t act surprised. “Bigheaded punk!”

*****

Adebiyi called Mr. Popoola into his office and stated Mr. Bankole had called to inform his daughter agreed.

“She’s really coming?” He asked to be sure of what he heard.

“Yes my friend. I can’t wait to receive her into my home. It’s going to be a cat and mouse game.” 

“Don’t get too deep into this game. It might cost you a lot.”

Mr. Gold hissed. “If it is my gold accessories that would cost me, I will buy more!”

Popoola simply walked away. He wanted to avoid the words that would come out from his mouth. If he had spoken, he was sure Adebiyi Gold would put a blow on his face. He went outside to survey the surrounding. A woman was coming to live with them and it might take weeks or even months. He had never seen Tiwa Banks except on newspapers but he knew she was someone he would like, an interesting personality.

*****

To be continued….