Busted

The time was 10:00 pm. The Sultan's hotel was in lockdown mode after the police showed up with an ambulance. They confirmed Raymond's death in front of everyone and then put him in a body bag and then on a stretcher. Everybody present at the hotel was gathered at the pool area and the policemen- a total of six officers- divided themselves as some tried to interrogate the people present and at the same time controlled them from getting closer to the crime scene. Margret, Veronica, June, Joana, and John were the ones the officers had a hard time controlling as they tried to get to Grace who was at the other side getting interrogated by one of the policemen.

"Can you explain what happened here miss?"

Grace wasn't listening when the police officer standing in front of her asked the question the first three times. She sat on a bench, staring at Raymond's body which was already in a body bag, fragments of pictures flashing in her head, a constant reminder of what she had done.

"Miss, are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure... Uhm, I don't remember anything."

The officer frowned.

"You know there's no need to lie right? We will still figure it all out later."

"I know," Grace said in surrender then buried her face in her hands, using her fingers to massage the throbbing pain she felt in her forehead.

She wasn't lying. She only remembered going to the pool with Raymond- a very poor choice, she realized as she thought of it- and then she remembered getting dizzy and falling asleep. There was no way she would have killed him if she was awake, but right there her memory was telling her something different. She pushed him into the pool and watched him drown. She killed him.

'Murderer!' Her conscience screamed at her.

"No, I'm not!" She yelled audibly.

"What?" The officer asked, alarmed at her sudden outburst.

"N-nothing." Grace stuttered. The fear was already starting to pound her now. Even if she didn't kill Raymond, everyone else was already looking for someone to blame and that was her. The police could take her anytime soon.

"I need to call my brother." She said then brought out her phone from her pocket.

"I don't think that's a good idea." The police officer said reaching for it.

"No!" She yelled and jerked her arms back. It immediately drew the attention of everyone and the other officers who tried to control them from coming closer.

"You haven't arrested me yet and I still have my rights and I want to call my brother!" She continued.

The policeman looked at a colleague who nodded back at him to keep calm. He withdrew his hand and watched as Grace struggled to keep her shaking hands steady and turn on the phone. She finally turned it on but the phone flashed low battery then went off.

"Fuck!"

Soon, the hotel manager came rushing to the man. The policeman sighed.

"Hold on right here, I'll be right back." The officer said before meeting the man halfway.

"Officer weting be all this one na? Na she dey with the boy when he dies, na she kill am so why una dey waste time again? You don forget sey na business we dey run here?"(1) The manager blurted so loud that everyone heard him.

"Oga, calm down. We go soon round up now. We need to confirm sey nothing get as e be before we carry anybody go station."(2)

"Do something now, or else I go call your DPO."(3)

The policeman's eyes got wide out of fear then he nodded. He quickly called on two other officers and they began whispering to each other.

"See, it's better we don't make this thing complicated and get the DPO involved."

"What did you get from the girl?" His partner asked.

"Nothing really, but I'm certain she either did it or she knows who did."

"Then it's settled, let's bring her in. It seems like the rest over there aside from the workers are students and I and Jimi have collected all their names and contacts for any further questioning." His other partner said.

They all nodded in agreement and went on to continue their jobs.

On the other side, Veronica noticed that something fishy was going on.

"This is a joke." She scoffed. "They are not going to find out if she did anything, they are just going to take her away. Just like that."

"They have to let us pass. We have to tell them." June said in fear.

"Tell them what?" John asked, confused.

"Nothing," Joana replied quickly.

"They wouldn't believe us if we said anything and it would only implicate Margret and all of us together," Veronica said.

"That doesn't sound like nothing," John muttered.

"It's nothing," Joana said more firmly, ordering him to close the matter.

Suddenly, they heard the policeman speak to Grace as another handcuff her.

"Grace Williams, you are under arrest for the suspected murder of Raymond Onwuka. Anything you say or do will be used against you in the court of law."

Everything he said afterward didn't make sense to Grace. They just sounded indistinct echoes to her. All she knew was one thing, she was going to jail.

As he spoke, Margret ducked under the arm of the policeman in front of them and ran towards Grace. The policeman tried to follow her but in the process, released the rest to follow Margret. He finally caught up to her and held her by her stomach from behind.

"No! Let me go!" Margret yelled, struggling. "She is innocent! You don't understand."

The rest catching up to her tried to calm her down. She kept struggling until Grace ditched the officer with her and ran towards them. She didn't get too far as she was caught.

"Margret! Listen to me, calm down. Don't do anything, just call my brother." She said as soon as they got hold of her. "Call Efe." She said again as they took her out of the hotel and away to the station.

* * *

Efe Williams stood by the door to the main entrance of the Dako event center, tapping his foot on the floor in impatience, throwing glances at his watch as he waited for Rose, his partner from the Lagos TV news.

The debate for the next governorship election was about to begin and every news agency in Lagos wanted to have a proper cover of everything that would be shown back to the masses and being the best at what he does, Efe alongside Rose was chosen to cover the night's event. Rose was also a good reporter too but the problem Efe had with her was that she had a problem keeping to time. He watched as other reporters trooped in and hoped that the busboy he tipped for a seat in the front row hadn't forgotten about him. He bowed his head down was about to curse just when he felt someone tap his left shoulder. He looked up to see Rose giving puppy eyes.

"I'm so sorry. Peace offering?" She said lifting a nylon bag that contained shawarma and a soft drink. She didn't keep to time but Efe never complained. Somehow, looking at her face just melted the anger and everything else away. Her hair was braided and gathered up in a ponytail. She wore a black jacket that he thought made her look badass and sexy at the same time and wore cherry red lipstick on her full lips. He had a crush on them, he had a huge crush on her. But sadly, the work had to come first.

"Let's go in, they're about to start." He said then took the bag from her.

"Thank you so much, Efe!" She said in excitement as she stood on her toes to kiss him lightly on the cheek.

'Efe, you need to start getting angry more often.' He thought to himself and smiled.

They both walked in and the busboy Efe tipped soon sighted them and ushered them to their seats and settled in. Soon the moderator mounted the stage and called on all the candidates. They all introduced themselves and talked about their plans for the state. After that, they gave room for the journalists to start asking questions. Efe looked at Rose and they both smiled. Immediately He raised his hands among others but was easily spotted and called as he was in the front row.

"Honourable Richards Adewale," He said bringing out a paper from his file. "It says here that from 2013 to 2017 were the minister of transportation for Lagos State, that there was a series of mismanagement of funds and embezzlement amounting up to 13 billion nairas. Would you say this was based on poor management or corruption from your end? And why should the people of Lagos vote you in for either?"

Everyone except Rose was shocked by the bluntness of the question. Efe had done his homework probably more than all of the journalists combined and was ready to target all the corrupt candidates present tonight. The candidate couldn't answer the question but he was sure that it had hit where he wanted it to. He was about to raise his hands for another question when his phone rang. It was Margret.

"Hello, Margret I can't talk right now. Can--"

"Bros Efe, please come quickly. Grace has been arrested by the police." She interjected.

"What? Why?"

"We were at a party, a boy died and they think she did it."

He was stunned with both shock and fear. Grace was the only family he had left. It was up to him to protect her but he wasn't always around because of his job and now the worse had happened.

"Which station was she taken to?"

"Morogbo police station."

"Okay, I'm on my way." He said then hung up immediately. "I'm sorry, I have to go now. It's an emergency." He said to Rose.

"I heard police station. What's going on?"

"My sister has been arrested."

"Oh my God, is she okay?"

"I don't know. Can you please cover for me?"

"Of course, go." She said then held his hands. "Listen to me, she'll be okay."

He forced a smile.

"Thanks."

Rose nodded in reply. She withdrew her arms and watched as Efe dashed out of the hall and then returned her attention to the debate.

_____________

Translations:

(1) Officer what's going on here? She was with the boy when he died, she killed him so why are you still wasting time? Have you forgotten we are running a business here?

(2) Sir, calm down. We would be rounding up soon. We just have to first confirm everything we got before we take anyone to the station.

(3) Else I'll call your DPO.