Seventy-Five
It is the GIRL VIBZ show.
Elaine's advert of bringing new evidence of Chris' 'NIGHT OF EVIL' as she has termed it, has ensured that the studio is filled to capacity, and millions of viewers nationwide are watching.
It has been running for almost thirty minutes now, and still Elaine has not given any inkling of the great mystery. Instead she had interviewed Sylvie Palmer and her father AGYA ATTAH PALMER about the events of that infamous night.
Finally, sensing that her audience is growing impatient, she stands up and faces the camera. She smiles radiantly.
"Now, for my big surprise. I know most of you have been waiting for this moment. Well, tonight, for the very first time ever, I'm going to show you video footage, with sounds, of how Chris Bawa knocked down Sylvie Palmer, making her lose a leg, and how he brutally attacked a policeman, Chief Inspector Dan Curtis, and made him lose his left eye," she says meaningfully.
There is an excited buzz from the packed audience.
Seated in the front row, Afful and Steve exchange sudden glances.
"What the hell is she talking about?" Afful asks, confused.
"She's your wife! Surely, she must have told you about it?" Steve says.
"No, no. She just told me she found some guy who's going to tell her some stuff about Chris' attacks on the girl and on Curtis. She never mentioned anything about any video," Afful replies, puzzled.
"Ladies and gentlemen, without waiting any longer, let me welcome my special guest for tonight, Mr. Wachipa Sey!" Elaine says in an excited voice.
The studio audience stand up and applaud as the doors slide open and a beaming Wachipa Sey emerges. He has a laptop bag slung across his right shoulder. He raises both hands and waves as he walks towards Elaine. He stops besides her, and slowly the applause dies down, and the audience sits down again.
Elaine smiles into the camera and turns to Mr. Sey.
"Welcome to GIRL VIBZ, Mr. Sey. I would like you to introduce yourself for my audience."
"I'm Wachipa Sey, a professional engineer who loves wildlife as a hobby," he says with a beautiful infectious smile. "I've been filming birds and other wildlife animals for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC for eight years now."
"Wow. I'm so excited! Tell me what you have for my audience today! We're so excited and can't wait to see what you have for us."
"Well, I couldn't believe it myself when I watched the videos. You see, I sometimes leave video cameras around my wildlife spots, because sometimes I need to video a whole lifestyle of my particular wildlife subject," Wachipa says, smiling broadly. "Well, five or six years ago I was doing this documentary for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC about humming birds. That stretch of road along the Beach Road, where the infamous Chris Bawa accident took place, is a great spot for humming birds, and so I stationed some cameras there, hidden of course, and left them there for about two days. Normally the batteries last two days, before I change or recharge."
"Wow! And your cameras captured the whole incident?"
"Yes, ma'am! And you wouldn't believe just how evil Mr. Chris Bawa is until you see this footage. You see, I forgot all about it because I had a new assignment. However, three days ago NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC asked for my footage on humming birds, and so I had to go back to my archives, and whilst editing I saw that my cameras had captured the whole Chris Bawa incident that evening. I had about twelve cameras positioned at vantage points, and they captured everything!"
There is a great murmur of excitement from the audience. They all want to see the videos. They are now very interested!
"And your videos show how drunk Chris really was?" Elaine asks with noticeable emphasis.
"Everything, la! His drunkenness, his cocaine sniffing, his attack on the police...everything!"
"I have only watched one of the videos myself because I wanted it to be a surprise to myself as well," Elaine says as she turns and faces the camera. "So here we go! Sit down and get ready for this exclusive video on the thuggery and sheer malice of Mr. Chris Bawa!"
The audience is hushed as Mr. Sey puts his laptop bag down.
"See, because the cameras were a lot and captured various angles, I'll project them from my laptop where I've done some edits, and run a commentary as we move along," Wachipa says.
"Oooooh! I'm so excited!" Elaine says with genuine happiness as she smiles into the camera.
Mr. Sey sets up his laptop and the technicians connect it to the live feed. The television cameras move slowly around the audience. There is expectation and tension. Mr. Sey switches on his laptop, and as it boots Elaine keeps a running commentary about how the truth has to be told. Mr. Sey opens a folder named THE BAWA SCENES on his laptop, and the image on the projector shows many video clips named CHRIS 1, CHRIS 2 and so on.
"Alright! We're set to go! Are you all ready?" Wachipa asks with his beauitiful infectious smile.
The audience cries in a loud unified voice: YEAAAAAAAHHH!!!
Mr. Sey double-clicks a video, and suddenly the image of a long stretch of road becomes visible. It is late afternoon, and not many cars are passing. Presently two people are seen walking towards camera range, and a moment later they become visible. They are, undeniably, a young Sylvie Palmer and her father.
"Here it comes, here it comes, wait for it, wait for it... there!" Wachipa says flamboyantly and with a flourish, the smile never leaving his face.
In the distance a huge car appears.
It is a black Jaguar saloon car.
Chris' car.
It is coming from behind the two people, weaving drunkenly across the road, as if the driver is either drunk or sleeping behind the wheel. The studio audience is now screaming, shouting with horror.
Sylvie Palmer and her father are walking on the edge of the road, and they are safe, and are not aware that Chris' car is weaving drunkenly behind them.
Afful and Steve look at each other.
"Oh, shit!" Afful whispers with sudden horror.
Agya Attah Palmer hears the car at the last moment and turns around. He sees Chris' car coming towards him and his daughter, and he runs straight into the bushes, leaving his screaming daughter behind. The car strikes Sylvie and flings her into the bushes, and then it continues for a while and comes to a halt.
Its lights are blinking, and its horn is on.
There is very loud music blaring from inside the car.
The people in the audience are shouting.
Elaine's hands are covering her mouth with horror!
One of the back doors of the car opens, and Chris Bawa comes out. He is wearing just black jeans and a singlet, and white sneakers. He is running fast towards the spot Sylvie Palmer has been hit.
Wachipa Sey pauses the video.
The studio audience is stunned.
They are looking at Wachipa Sey, and so is Elaine.
She shakes her head, as if in a daze.
Her throat has suddenly gone dry.
And her eyes are opened wide with horror.
She had watched the video on Mr. Sey's laptop up to the point the car had hit the girl, and the video had ended. She had assumed Chris had been driving, and she had been so excited. She looks at Wachipa with horror as a sinking feeling in her guts tells her something is very wrong.
Something terrible is about to happen!
"Good Lord! Chris was in the back seat! He wasn't the one driving the car! Who was the driver?" Elaine asks with horror and dawning fear, and her voice is not quite steady.
Wachipa Sey laughs, obviously enjoying himself.
"Now that is what I also asked myself. Wait for it! Just wait for it!" Wachipa says happily as his derisive laughs rings out.
He resumes playing the video.
The front passenger door of the car opens, and out steps Steve Hollison with a bottle of vodka in his hand.
The crowd gasps!
The driver's door opens, and the driver steps out. He cannot even stand straight. He looks very drunk, and he is holding a cylindrical package in his right hand which he tosses into the backseat. He sways from side to side, and as he steps forward a little the studio audience gasps.
The driver of the car is Jonathan Afful!
He knocked down Sylvie Palmer!
Elaine's husband!