Chapter Nine
He entered and greeted the three men. What is it inspector? Rolfman asked. ‘I have some answers to give to the present problem, sir, and I would like to say it in the presence of Doctor Palmer because it concerns him. Rolfman said he should proceed. Clive moped his forehead and cleared his throat. ‘First, I’ll like to tell you that Dr. Palmer worked as private doctor for Mr. Shaki of Miguel hotel’. He noticed the surprised expression on Dr. Palmers face, he didn’t care if it gave him constipation either. ‘I gathered from a reliable source that Mr. Shaki and Mr. Borrowly are planning a robbery. I assume Dr. Palmer knows about it, since he is the private doctor’.
‘According to my investigations, Mr. Shaki is both connected to the case of the missing boy and the fire outbreak. I am not saying that he did it, but Dr. Palmer might have threatened to turn them loose and Shaki isn’t a man to ride on. This was something Dr. Palmer given a thought after he left shaki’s office. It never occurred to him that anything of that sort would come up. The attention of the three men was centered on him now. He raised his head slowly’. I’ am sorry for all this, it’s true. I worked for Mr. Shaki’, he said in a very depressed voice.
‘Dr. Palmer, you knew your standing in the society and you know much damage could be done to your status by working Mr. Shaki and yet you continued working with a gang of thugs, why?’
‘I’ am a very popular doctor and as you know, I am rated a rich man. But I am not, I work with the government and supplement my salary with work I do in the private sector, but it is still not enough. I pay heavy tax. You should understand that being at a high post doesn’t mean you are rich. As a popular man I am invited to many parties and in return, I have to throw a lot of parties and so the money doesn’t stay with me. If I don’t throw the parties they’ll think I am a miser. When Mr. Shaki offered me the job, he offered to pay me an amount that was almost equal to my normal salary; I didn’t worry as long as I got the money’.
‘You were there yesterday evening/ Clive asked. ‘Yes, I was’, Palmer replied. ‘What happened’, Latman asked. ‘Shaki phoned me and said I should please come over, he said there were some patients.
I was determined that was going to be the last job I did for him, because I didn’t need his money anymore. I was going to open my own clinic next month’, he licked his lips. ‘There were two people, a young man and a young lady’. ‘Did you identify them’, Rolfman asked. ‘One of them, I think the young lady was the son of the secretary to the state government. I’m not sure; it could have been some other person’. And something else when Mr. Shaki doesn’t need their services, he kills them. Rolfman made some notices to show his bewilderment, then he called unto Latman. We can’t waste anymore time, Latman
‘I want Miguel hotel thoroughly surrounded by plain clothes police men in twenty minutes’. Latman said ‘Okay’ and dashed off the room. He turned to Doctor Palmer, ‘as you know, I am willing to you, but you no doubt have something you will like to tell me about Mr. Shaki that nobody else apart room his boys knows about. The boy you treated yesterday, did he spend the night at the hotel? ‘Yes, Doctor Palmer said generously, ‘Mr. Shaki has a strong room in the hotel, he could keep anyone he wants as long as he wished’.
‘There are two things that make him both safe and dangerous, he has a special hide out built in the hotel, it is located under his office and directly on the staff toilet, so it is between the ground floor and first floor. It is something you can never suspect. The only entrance to the place is in shaki’s office’. ‘The Place was said to be sound proof, so whatever is done in there does not attract anybody’s attention’. ‘In case of heat, apart form the window which will always look like a toilet window when opened, there is a fan. There is also a refrigerator full of food, a transistor radio that keeps you abreast with the latest news’.
‘He has there three, three arm chairs a table, a cupboard filled with an n enormous range of tin food and liquor. You can also make tea with an electric kettle. He has an armory room, filled with different types of guns, so he can stay very safe for months’. ‘That’s enough doctors, thank you’. Shaki’s boys were like any other day, on the gambling table each one of them with either a cigarette or hemp on their lips. But tonight they played their round each one thinking about the next days business. The light was dim, the room was hot and choky, flames came from different angles circled round the room, and it was an everyday affair.
They existed hopelessly. Inside the office their boss sat down, on his table questioning Olumide Ogunbeshin, his eye was red, quite help-less in the midst of three powerful expert thugs. It was putting a sheep in the midst of wolves. It had been difficult for them to get him answer their question, he had determined not to answer any question, from them, but he failed to endure to the last point. The suffering was greater than what he could bear, so he gave up.
They got what they wanted from him; they felt like relaxing a bit, before putting him in the strong room and giving the boys the final instruction about the operation. They settled down a cup of coffee/gin each, a pack of hemp dangling on their lips. They had not noticed the sudden silence in the other room. Ten plain-clothes men had raided the boys without the slightest sound, as vicious as they were. Superintendent Rolfman flanked on both sides by inspector Latman and Inspector Clive; breezed into shaki’s office, gun in hand.
Rolfman spoke first, Ah….hah, aint the big men having a nice time in here?’ He ordered the prisoners to be released, and Olumide be taken to the hospital. ‘So it is time for another turn up, but looks like this one’s a turn down. ‘You boys have been a winner for a long time, but you’ve lost this one, for life. However to make things clearer, there’s one question, who set Dr. Palmers house on fire?’ Rolfman had a way of making his word sound very mean while his expression showed friendliness.
‘I am waiting for an answer’.
‘And you won’t get an answer to that, because none of us did it’.
Inspector Latman replied first, ‘It would have been a different case if you did not make one silly, stupid mistake, and it would have favored you. Tell me where you or were you not the one who set the fire to Dr. Palmers Flat? Before giving your answer, think on these facts’. ‘You hired a Mazda saloon LS 0101, whose tire marks had the been identified by our men, yesterday night. Your garage man testifies to that’. You were too stupid; your finger prints are all over the car’. ‘And lately we recovered an instrument of yours; I wonder what the amount of energy was that you exerted on the drill to get a hole on the door’.
Jaspa’s face was covered with sweat, he found no words, even if he found words, he had no courage to say it. Shaki and Borrowly were dumbfounded; they were transfixed in amazement at Jaspa’s revelation.
There was total silence in the room. It was in resemblance to the type one would find in the desert, and in another minute, ‘Mr. Shaki’, Rolfman interrupted the silence. ‘It is a thing of surprise that even you’re your hideout did not save you’. Then Shaki remembered Palmers word’s, it was about the same time yesterday he had said ‘………………….’ A guy like you who is old in the business, he thinks he is safe now because of his many achievements in the past years’. ‘When he thinks he should start relaxing ……………..Wham? and he is gone for life’.
He lifted his eyes, ‘they met with Latman’s he dropped it quickly again those words came hunting him …………. ‘Wham! And he is gone for life……….’
Three other men came in, hand-cuffed the three of them, and walked them outside to the waiting police land-rover. Much was planned but few was done. One of the ironies of life, we can assume.
Inspector Latman, Superintendent Rolfman, and Inspector Clive, on that bright Friday morning, had welcomed Mr. Ajigbotinu into superintendent Rolfman’s large comfortable office. The proceedings had been very interesting. But on the other hand, it had been very painful for the two gentlemen. They had been given each a copy of the confessions of Gbesan Ajigbotinu, Olumide Ogunbeshin and the girl unknown to them before, but now known to them, Elsie. Mr. Ogunbeshin two days ago when he wanted to pay for some fresh young livestock (for his poultry) delivered to him, discovered that some money was missing from the safe. But there wasn’t any mark of forceful breakage on the safe. He did not tell his brother and assistant, Mr. Felix, he kept it to himself. He kept thinking and thinking about it, but he found no answer.
Everything he saw in the long double sheet, he read in disbelief. The last remarks on the paper, were ‘the boy Olumide Ogunbeshin could be released on his fathers forgiveness only. Not one atom of air escaped not before he said, ‘Yes’. Mr. Ajigbotinu and his friend looked up at the same-time from the sheets, their eyes met, they were silent, each one of them knew it was a great surprise and as shocking as the 9am news, the things they both read.
The boys were brought in after a brief discussion in the room; they in turn could utter no word. It appeared to Olumide that he was the black sheep of the family and he was ashamed of himself.
Then those worse of his mother seemed to flow back to him…… ‘The road of life is very crooked, you can not avoid it’s falls and whenever you fall you shall rise……..You are still an ignorant to life miseries my son, but not too long, they will come along as you journey down the Pathway of life……..’ The two of them summed up one after the other, and begged their fathers for forgiveness. And they received it. ‘What happens to the girl now? Mr. Ajigbotinu asked as they rose up to go. ‘Well, by law, we are holding her under custody as a robbery suspect, until the case comes up in court’ Rolfman replied calmly.
Mr. Ajigbotinu did not say anything. After signing release papers for Olumide. And leaving inspector Latman’s office Mr. Ajigbotinu stood outside the police station and glanced around. Looking at the streets across and the building next to the station. He opened the door to his right behind the front passenger’s seat. He asked Olumide ‘to get in and said wait here, I shall not be long’. Olumide got in the back of the Morris minor car, his father has driven for such a long time, he sank into the comfortable seats, this time totally unaware of any comfort. Mr. Ajigbotinu walked back into the police station, He went to the desk inspector and asked for inspector Latman, the inspector pointed him towards the left office where they were seating only moments ago.
He walked a measured determined stride, his tall frame covering the floor distance faster than normal time, knocked on the door and walked in without waiting for a come in from the other end. There sitting with her two palms clamped together and her face in her hands like someone dipping their face in a wash basin or bowl, the young girl sat with a head full of hair, an afro made into a fizzle, ruffled as though pulled apart by a farm rake, her brownish ebony hands ashen and dry. She leaned over the table in front of her, elbows on the table, holding her chin and head in her palms as though they would fall out without the support of her hands and elbows.
Mr. Ajigbotinu sat down on a chair opposite inspector Latman as he began to get up, Mr. Ogunbeshin waived his hand saying, ‘please do not get up’, Inspector Latman asked ‘why are you back? Mr. Ajigbotinu sat there in front of inspector Latman for almost 35seconds, only glancing back and forth at the young girl and at Latman and at the walls and ceiling and then looking back at Latman, apparently having made up his mind, with a somber expression he said ‘where are the girl’s parents?’ Latman responded ‘We are still trying to locate them sir’,
Latman was silent for another few seconds the said ‘What is the police procedure when the parents cannot be found? Latman said ‘In her case sir, juvenile misdemeanor, she may go to juvenile detention or rehab school, either way she will be out of our hands in two years or less. She was 16 years in March.
Mr. Ogunbeshin sat back, ‘I will like you to do two things for me, call me when you find her parents, and if by this time next week, you cannot find them, ask the department to release her to me, I will serve as her guardian, I want to see that this one does not get lost in the criminal darkness’ Latman seemed very pleased, Mr. Ajigbotinu, ‘You will be the first to know either way, again thank you for co-operating’. ‘They shook hands and Mr. Ajigbotinu walked out of the police department, the somber look still on his face as he started the car and entered the crawling traffic.
