Chapter 6

Effe looked at the elderly man, and there were fury and disgust in the depths of her eyes now.

"My brother, my only brother, Jeff Kedem, was on that train!" she said fiercely. "He died, mangled very badly like the others, and they could not be separated. They were buried in mass graves! Are you telling me this Chris Bawa was responsible for that derailment?"

Sir Lance nodded sadly.

"Yes, he was responsible."

Tears came to Effe's eyes and spilt down her cheeks.

"Then Chris Bawa murdered my only brother!" she whispered, and she wept, and through the pain and agony of remembering the painful death of her brother, Effe's heart soared high with great hatred for the murderer called Chris Eden Bawa, codename Prodigal.

"Chris Bawa murdered a lot of people, my dear," Sir Lance said sadly.

There was steel on Effe's face as she turned to face the security man.

"More than ever, I wish that bastard is alive!" she said fiercely. "I want to look into his eyes as I kill him myself for the pain and agony he brought to my family! What do you want me to do, sir?"

"Prove to me that he's really dead, Effe, because I'm finding it really hard accepting that fact," Sir Lance said quietly. "If he is dead for real, then we'll try and move on from there. If, however, he managed to escape, then you're going to help us track him down!"

"With pleasure, sir," Effe said grimly. "That beast deserves to die a million times and over in the most painful manner. Such a bloody monster!"

And as she spoke, remembering her brother, tears slowly fell down her cheeks.

Thirty minutes later, the three Mercedes cars pulled off the beautiful road to the side where a black van was parked. It was a beautiful van, and only three letters were written on its side in giant white lettering:

SPF

Nothing more was needed; the SPF was the force that moved the kingdom and did not need to make a great fuss. 

"We join the bus here, Effe," Sir Lance said.

"In the van?" Effe asked, a little startled.

She had not expected the chief to sit in a van, even if it was a new one. That showed how humble this man really was; Susan Biko would never get into a van.

"Why, yes, the van," Sir Lance said with a chuckle. "I thought you might want to go take a look at the crime scene inside the prison. I told Paul not to mess it up although he's pretty certain Chris is dead."

Effe nodded, excited immediately.

"Yes, of course, I want to map out the crime scene," she said quickly. "A new pair of eyes might notice something important."

When they got out of the Mercedes, she noticed that a door in the side of the van had slid open, and steps had been lowered to the ground, making it easy for them to climb up into the van.

And when Effe entered, she simply stopped dead in her tracks, and her eyes widened with incredulity. Sir Lance chuckled beside her as he moved across the carpeted space.

"So, you now see why I'm comfortable to travel in a van?" he asked softly and with great mirth.

The interior of the van was not like anything Effe had ever seen.

It was like a complete field office!

In one corner was a bank of medium television screens tuned to major news outlets around the world. Beyond that was a bank of sophisticated computer screens linked to satellites and databases across the world and being manned by men and women in black suits, white shirts and black ties.

There was an area that was stocked with comfortable armchairs and even a conference area with a round glass-topped desk and several comfortable chairs around it.

As Effe followed Sir Lance, she noticed that there were sections in the van for a bar, washrooms with gender signs, a kitchen, an eating area, and even a recreational area where there were game consoles.

People could live here comfortably for days!

"We call these vans Mobile Stations," Sir Lance said as he beckoned to a tall, handsome dark man at the far end standing near a huge multifunctional machine and squinting at a printout.

The man, wearing nice silver-framed lenses, moved quickly to meet them. He was quite handsome and had an engaging lopsided smile as he looked at Effe with frank admiration.

"Paul Blankson, Chief Forensics Officer, SPF," Sir Lance introduced the man. "Paul, meet Effe Kedem, now Assistant CFO. She wants to have a look at the crime scene. Fill her in on anything she might need."

"With pleasure," Paul said with a smile as he extended his hand. "Heard so much about you, Miss Kedem. It is Miss, right?"

Effe chuckled and shook her head.

"You know everything about me already, Mr Blankson," she said softly. "Stop the pretence."

"Paul to you, if you don't mind," he said with a giggle and raised eyebrows. "Straight-shooter. I like that."

Effe smiled, liking this man already.

"Effe, if you don't mind."

"Alright! Swell. Step this way, please, and let me introduce you to the team," Paul said.

"It is about an hour's ride to the Eden Prison," Sir Lance said and yawned. "I'll take a little nap. Wake me up when we get there."

"Yes, sir," Paul said and made a funny face behind the older man's back that made Effe giggle.

"Would you care for something to eat first, Effe?" Paul asked.

"Actually, yes, if you please," she said quickly. "I feel famished. Haven't eaten today."

Twenty minutes later, after she had been introduced to the people, all of them friendly and professional, and after she had eaten a surprising meal of delicious yam and vegetable stew, Effe sat at the conference table and hoisted her machine in front of her.

Paul Blankson sat opposite her and crossed his legs.

"That looks like an ancient and dangerous machine," he said with a smile. "We have the fastest, modern machines here, anything you want, and a new ultra-modern laptop ready for you."

Effe smiled appreciatingly at him.

"Thanks so much, Paul. I'll definitely take a tour of those. In the meantime, I'll stick to old Howey here. Had a bag of customized tricks in his memory for urgent jobs like this."

"Okay, will leave you to concentrate then," he said amiably. "But I do believe that finally Prodigal is dead, and got cremated."

"Well, I'll start from that angle then," she replied.

And just when her computer booted up, and she opened the electronic folder of Chris Bawa again, her phone rang.

It was from Tony.