ELVIS (ACTION) EPISODE 21&22

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Phone ring, phone ring.

“Hello” Caller

“Hello sir” MSN

“Why did you have to kill him” Caller

“That’s what we need to do sir, he is a timid emotional person, he will crack if pressed” MSN replied

“I know that already, I mean why do you have to kill him like that?” The caller replied.

“He was shot straight through the head, he wasn’t able to talk to anybody even if he wished to sir” MSN replied

“The shooting will wet the investigative appetite of the police and importantly the ICO and NBI” the caller replied getting furious.

“Sir, I’m very sorry about the attention we might have drawn but we had to do it on time to prevent him talking with the ex-governor, he might say a word too many sir” MSN replied.

“What will you do about the ICO and the detective that foiled our plan?” the caller replied having calmed down a bit.

“He’s name is Elvis sir, I have a plan sir, I’ll personally deal with him” MSN replied.

“Make sure you do, I don’t want any hitch in the grand plan, oversee that yourself, if you foil it, you have much to lose too”

“I won’t sir” MSN replied lowering the phone from his ear, nodding inadvertently but with intent. He wasn’t having a plan, he has two, a mini plan and a real plan, if the mini doesn’t work, the real will surely do. He must bring Elvis down, the guy looked determined and he had been neglecting him thinking he’ll thin out; it seems his curiosity will end him just like a cat’s.
………………………………………………………………………………………..

“When did it happen?” Elvis asked after recovering from the shock and successfully closing his mouth.

“He was unable to see the ex-governor yesterday due to the delay from the bombing incident, he was shot dead this morning for the make-up meeting with the ex-governor, the news hasn’t been publicized yet, seems it’s a bit political” Timi said but he wasn’t aware that he had lost Elvis during the course of the narration.

Elvis jerked to life has a realization hit him. the bomb wasn’t meant for the public, it was meant for the Honorable, it has all been preplanned, the tanker accident, the hold-up, the plumbing activity, Honorable Titus’s route were all designed, how come did he miss this?

“Is there any idea of the identity of the tanker driver?” Elvis asked

“What?” Timi asked baffled by the twerk in direction of the discussion.

“The tanker that had an accident yesterday, get me every piece of information on the owner, the driver, its route and mission everything.” Elvis said firmly to Timi.

“Yes sir” Timi said getting to work on his system.

Elvis walked towards Ben and Dauda’s cubicles, luckily both of them are at Dauda’s.

“Get me the information of the plumbing company, the identity of the plumbers deployed to the old facility, everything about them” he said to Dauda, who headed towards the exit immediately.

“Get to the 20th floor, get me all the information about the two dead bodies from the forensic department, and anything unusual about them.” He said to Ben, who walked briskly towards the elevator.

Elvis was amazed by the excogitate brain behind the whole planning, the timing and the actions were all designed and executed to the latter. The Bomb squad leader had said the bomb can only blow up a radius of 200m, just enough space to have the Honorable in it. The tanker and hold-up were contrived and accomplished, the timing has been calculated to force the Honorable to time lag in the TBS, as a distinguished Nigerian, the senator will have to park and wait for the traffic to ease up at the less busy part of the square which was what the planner expected, the plumbing company arrived almost immediately to start their day job, something they ought to have started since forenoon, they entered the facility and got to work, while the bomber too set to work.

Something is still puzzling, some questions still need to be answered, why was the honorable planned to be killed and later killed before the meeting with the ex-governor?, what was the meeting about?, does the plumbing company have a hand in this?, what is between MSN and honorable Titus?, what was the money for? And many others which make Elvis’s head throb. Something is certain, the death of honorable Titus means something big is going on, something very big, but firstly he had to have a chat with the ex-governor. He’s sure of something though, he must catch the brain behind this.

He had been at his thoughts for some minutes if not an hour, sitting on Dauda’s desk. His phone rang halting his thoughts, he had switched it on after Timi’s conversation, it was his sister. Jane was asking for when to come for the selfie, he had managed to tell her he’ll call her much to her chagrin and discontent. He saw Timi walking towards him, he rose in expectation, hoping for some ‘news’.

“I found out that the name of the tanker’s company was Exxon Mobil, the tanker was bound for Warri to upload petrol, the driver was found in a drunken state much later after the event, he claimed two men offered to buy him beer at a bar he branched at, he didn’t remember anything afterward, he woke up late in the evening in the same bar he had visited” Timi briefed.

“So that is a dead end?” Elvis asked.

“But we can still interview the man, see what he remembers” Timi said.

“Oh yes we can which we will, but if you are a criminal, will you go to a drunkard when he’s sane?” Elvis asked rhetorically to which Timi was mute.

“Arrange a meeting with the man, let Ben interview him, but I assure you that is a dead end, the brain behind this is much more astute than that.” Elvis said.

Dauda’s call came in next, this is his brief:

“The plumbing company was the Kyle’s plumbing company, ranking among the best in plumbing works in Nigeria. The reconstruction of the dilapidated old facility was a state contract so all hands of their best professional plumbers where made on deck, professional plumbers were hired on contract from different part of the country, so the less familiarization between the professionals, a particular plumber was injected into the team by an high ranked official stating the reason to be ‘for national security’, the company obliged willfully. Only two of the plumbers were from the Kyle’s company, the others are mercenaries. The company claimed that one of the plumbers hired was later found drugged in his apartment later yesterday, the complaint has been filed to the police.”

Elvis doesn’t need to be told, that is another dead end. The ‘for national security’ guy was Nwosu, so Cedrick didn’t go dark, he was on the case. The other dead guy was the plumber; Cedrick had killed him and was trying to disarm the bomb when Elvis killed him. The bomber must have drugged the real plumber and had taken his place, recognition was at a minimum due to them all been mercenaries.

His phone rang again, he absent mindedly moved it to his ear, his eyes widened when he heard the caller talk.

“Hello” the caller said.

“Hello, please who am I speaking with?” Elvis said thinking it was one of the numerous bloggers and journalists.

“I’m sure you are quite busy right now, so I won’t want to waste your time, and mine too” the caller replied.

“Who is this and what can I do for you?” Elvis asked getting exasperated.

“Oh yes, I like your straight-to-business attitude, what can you do for me?, what you can do for me is pretty simple, GET THE F**K OFF MY CASE” the caller replied boldly and suprisingly calm too.

Elvis’s eyes widened in shock as the identity of the caller seeps into his processing unit.

“Why would I want to do that?, don’t tell me you are scared….so soon?” Elvis replied determined to win the war of words about to ensue.

“Scared?, let’s see who’ll be scared, as I said I dnt want to waste your time, more importantly my time too. Check your inbox, I’ve sent you something that’ll interest you” MSN replied before the line went dead.

A MMS message alert tone rang from his phone immediately the call ended, his hands were shaky has he opened it. It was the audiotape of the brief conversation he had with Cedrick before he shot him. How did MSN get the audiotape?, how was it recorded in the first place?.

The audio was followed by the caption:

What would the whole of Nigeria think if I release this audiotape to the press with a nice article?

The idea struck him, someone else was with him, not physically but ‘technologically’, the pen, it records. He had found the spy effortlessly at that. He marched furiously towards Timi’s cubicle, his phone rang again, it was the Chief Commander of the NBI.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The call with the Chief Commander of the NBI was short and precise. Elvis had thought it would be a questioning conversation but rather, the chief commander commended him for his salient and astounding feat with the bomb. He asked about his man, Elvis broke the unfortunate news about his death to him, luckily for him, the Chief didn’t enquire about the manner of his death. He fixed a meeting with Elvis to give him the brief of the compilations the late Cedrick accumulated against MSN. Elvis thanked him and dropped the call.

His fury has abated a bit during the course of the call but it all came rushing to the fore after the call. He walked furiously towards Timi’s cubicle; he met Timi at his desk typing dutifully on his keyboard, eyes glued to the screen, his pair of glasses sitting grimly on his nose which gave him the look of an Harvard archaeologist professor looking intently at a piece of rock. The innocent look Timi’s face went a long way in easing the anger brewing in Elvis as Elvis looked raptly at Timi from a distance. The thought of the presence of privy conspiracy and deceptiveness behind the timid eyes of Timi almost brought out the venomous vehement outburst and possible assault on Timi.

He remembered his dad’s numerous bits of advices and how much his dad wants him to be a civil man, his dad always wants him to tame his anger and be a emotional strong am. A man who tests everything before getting a conclusion, a man who always use the weakness of his enemies against him, a man who doesn’t make rash decision and not jumping to conclusions. He remembered all Timi has done in the past few weeks, his new death escape from the bomb, and his adventure at the Emeralds.

He decided not to be driven by anger; he had to test Timi first, to prove his credibility and loyalty. He would have given him a good beating if he were to follow the precedence of the rage he’s struggling to bottle up in himself. He’ll test Timi but he knows he can never forgive Timi if he were the mole giving out their information to MSN. He has an edge over Timi, Timi doesn’t know his secret identity has been revealed, Elvis has to use his advantage to the fullest. But firstly he had to test Timi, with what?.

He saw Timi looking at him from his desk with a pair of inquiring eyes. He knows he can’t go to Timi now, not while he’s still angry, moreover asking questions about the tape might raise Timi’s suspicions, he had to do something else; he had to tell the IG the truth. His decision to go to the IG has two reasons, firstly to avoid any worsening development, it won’t be ethical if MSN make good of his promise and leak the audio to the press with a well written derogatory article; secondly he needs the tongue-lashing from the IG, it will surely help him to think straight. He turned and walked towards the IG’s office, luckily the IG’s in.

After tergiversating for several minutes, perambulating on unnecessary and unrelated topics, he tried fruitlessly to bring up the motive of his presence in the IG’s office. The IG sensed the recklessness and edginess in him, he knows something is wrong. He inquired about what’s wrong to which Elvis gave a negative answer unconvincingly. The IG pressed presumptuously to which Elvis showed him the message reluctantly. The IG listened with rapt attention to the audio which lasted for only a few seconds, he read the caption too but couldn’t get a grip on what it really meant.

Elvis explained everything to the IG, explaining what had really transpired in the old facility to the call of MSN in the last few minutes. The IG was already walking menacingly round his office by the time Elvis was through with his elaborate explanation; his right hand supporting his jaw with his pointing finger beating his jaw of its own accord, his eyes looked faraway as they stared around the office. His countenance is that of a man in a deep thought. Elvis knows he’s in for trouble.

“Why did you give a different report?” the IG asked after some minutes of silence.

“I was scared sir, I haven’t killed before, he made for his pocket, thought he was going for a gun, that’s why I shot him sir, I didn’t know he was an agent sir, I learnt after his death sir.” Elvis poured out humbly.

“You didn’t answer my question, why did you lie in your report?” the IG asked again firmly

“I was frightened I might be charged with manslaughter or worse for killing an agent of the law”

“Do you know what you did can end your career and land you in jail; giving false statements?” the IG asked to which Elvis bent his head in shame “Had it been you weren’t threatened by MSN, I won’t learn the truth would I?” the IG continued, Elvis’s head is still bent.

The IG made for his seat and sat straight.

“You did something very wrong but I’ll have to think of your punishment, maybe I’ll throw you off the case, but that will be later, we have more pressing matter now. You have to make a press conference giving a vague explanation of what really happened in the facility withholding information on the identity and jurisdiction of the dead agent, the press conference will hold off MSN for some time, I’ll speak with the Chief Commander of the NBI and tell you what next to do.”

Elvis detests press conferences but he has to succumb to this, not like he had any choice, he dragged himself into this, he had to face the brunt alone. He replied in the affirmative mildly to the IG.

“You can go now.” The IG said.
Elvis got up and made for the door.

“How did MSN get the tape?” the IG asked.

“I don’t know sir, there is a mole in my team, I’m working on it sir, I’l let you know if I’ve gotten the identity of the mole sir” Elvis replied, gave a bowing gesture before exiting the room.

He could be thrown off the case, worse still he might go to jail, his feminine cowardice had led him into this, pending the time his punishment is dished out to him, he had to do something. He must test Timi. Seeing Ben hurrying towards him makes his devise a plan.

Ben got to him and narrated his discovery which was no different to what he had thought himself. The identity of the real bomber is unknown, the fingerprints of Cedrick was found all over the real bomber, Elvis’ fingerprint was found on Cedrick and the bullet from Elvis’ gun was found lodged in Cedrick’s chest. The only piece of discovery found that Elvis doesn’t know about was the streak of tarsand found in the sole of his rain boot. The interesting piece of discovery was that his coat has traces of tar smearing on them.

The tar….tarsand feels familiar to Elvis, he had seen the tar somewhere before. Not from highways but somewhere else. He tried to mull over his thoughts and recollect where he had seen it before; he racked his brain before he could catch a glimpse of the recollection. He remembered when he found Ben underneath the Emeralds, Ben was lying down, he remembered when he tried to pull him up, his hand has smeared something on the ground, it was the streak of mud brought by the tires of the truck he knows must have been transporting the stacks of boxes he had found earlier. He had brushed it off then but now the tar discovery has made it all rushing back. The mud smear had tar on it too; the truck and the bomber must come from the same location. He finalized in his thought. He had gotten a lead and also a test for Timi too.
He surged towards Timi’s cubicle, surprised to see Timi resting with abandon on his chair.

“Get me the locations of the tar or tarsand warehouses around Lagos” Elvis said abruptly making Timi jerk before he set to work. Elvis waited for some leisurely while waiting for Timi to bring up his findings.

“Sir, there are about ten tar or tarsand warehouses around Lagos sir and they are each at the outskirts of the state” Timi replied raising his head from the system.

That is too much for him to look into; there must be some way to narrow his search down.

“What about abandoned tar warehouses?” Elvis said.

“There are only two, sir” Timi replied.

“Get me the location of the two” Elvis replied meanwhile watching the appearance conveyed by Timi’s face, he was disappointed to discover that his countenance for once didn’t defect from the serious sincere look it always house. Timi must be an expert at masking his facial expressions and his feelings too.

Timi had given him the location of the two abandoned warehouses, one is on the far side of the state, the other is much nearer. One doesn’t need to be told, he’ll check the nearer warehouse first. He called his team members together and told them about his discovery; they are to probe the two warehouses tomorrow, starting from the closer one.

He had a lot to do, meeting the ex-governor and the NBI Commander, he had planned to meet the ex-governor today but right now he had other plans. He would probe the two warehouses today, alone. He doesn’t know who to trust and he’s decided to catch the ‘warehouse discovery’ unawares, at least the informant would have passed them the information of their impending probe tomorrow. The best is to catch them unawares today.

He entered his car and zoomed off towards the location of the first and nearer warehouse, the sun is just setting giving way to the birth of the night; twilight.