Working Cases - Episode 18

 

"She's ready for you, Nicodemus." the fellow policeman's voice shook me conscious. 
I stood, gathering my wits and gave him a tense smile. "Thank you, Clifford."
He nodded and stalked off. I walked slowly to the door of the interrogation room where the one and only witness who could give us any sort of information that wasn't entirely redundant, sat in cuffs waiting. 
Her head snapped up immediately I opened the door. She bared her teeth in a mocking smile when she saw it was me . "Ah! Nicodemus, you're alive. I'm impressed." her tone was condescending, "The little detective managed to actually find something--oh wait!--you haven't found him yet. You're still looking." She laughed manically. 
"I'm sure you find your new living conditions quite satisfactory, Madame Olivia," I attempted a comeback, "I hear you even have your own toilet. And your room has such nice wildlife. I always say rodents make the best pets." Her expression faltered for a small moment and her lower lip quivered slightly. I grinned. She was still touchy on the subject of her present incarceration. 
"Get on with it," she said, "I know you didn't come here for petty banter. What do you want?"
I took the seat opposite her and put her hands on the table

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. "I want Duncan. The judge is willing to be lenient in your sentencing should you help us capture him. You're the only one who was close enough to know the locations of his hideouts."
"And why would Duncan tell me something like that, eh? Why do you think he would reveal his contingency hiding spots to anybody?"
"Ah, but he doesn't have to, does he, Olivia? I'm sure such an illustrious entrepreneur as yourself would have found out on her own. After all, you pride yourself on being able to control your organization. I'm sure there's nothing about Duncan's plan you haven't already figured out."
She scoffed, but I could see the smile in her eyes that told me I was spot on. "Even if I did know his plans, why would I tell you?"
"You don't need to. I don't need to know his plan. All you need to tell me is something I can use to catch him. His hideout, where he's been recently. None of that will implicate you in his eyes, and if it pans out, you get to leave this hellhole sooner rather than later."
She kept her poker face on, but I could tell she was contemplating my offer. "Let me offer you another scenario. I don't tell you anything. You slap the biggest sentence you can on me, and I chill here and let Duncan's plan go as scheduled. You spend so long looking for him and finding nothing that people start to wonder again if he ever actually existed. He throws in a few people to take the fall and all your evidence goes to pieces. You're disgraced, and fired, and my people are once again in a good position to cancel my vacation here and get me home." She edged closer to me on the table. "Because, make no mistake Nicodemus, that is what will happen if I don't help you. You need me. And I need to cut a sweeter deal."
I clenched my jaw. "What do you want, Olivia?"
She broke out in a broad grin. "I want out of here. A few months tops. I want you to not meddle in my business. I won't break any laws openly, and I won't flaunt my business in the streets, and you'll look the other way and won't come after me or my employees. And I want you to not call me Olivia. If you agree to these terms, I'll call my lawyer up, and I'll tell you all I know about Duncan. Sound good?"
She wanted to help me get rid of Duncan just so she could become the new Duncan? I rose. "In your dreams, Olivia! You'll spend every single day of your sentence in here. I'll make sure of it."
"Things will get worse. It's your loss. You can't find him without me."
But I was already walking away. I wasn't completely out of options, but even if I was, I was never going to let someone as evil and manipulative as Madame Olivia become a crime lord in the streets, and one I could never touch, just because I was desperate. That'd be undoing everything my father and I had worked for. 
I had one more option. I needed to apologize. To Amelia. 

I had the taskforce search the city for Amelia. The day was half gone before I realized she wasn't in town anymore. She'd gone. 
I tracked her down. We collected all the information we could about how she had taken off. She'd used the work computer to book her flight. The flight had been to Otukpo, Benue. Upon further inquiry, I discovered she was visiting her sister. 
So I took the first flight from Port Harcourt to Benue, and plied the road down to her place. 
Standing in front of the door of what was arguably a mansion in its own right, I wondered what Amelia's parents did. I didn't even know her last name. It was nowhere in the office. And she was careful not to bring her family up when we talked. And I never asked because I was too busy being an ass to everyone in my life. Whatever her parents did, they were clearly very wealthy. She didn't need to work for me. I could have worked for her. That made me feel worse. 
I knocked, twice. 
When the door opened, there was a little boy no oder than five at the other end. I knew instantly that he was related to Amelia. They had almost the same marking features. 
"Who are you?" he quizzed, raising one eyebrow. 
A voice rang out from the house, "Vincent, is that your dad? I can't hear his voice. Are you okay?"
"It isn't dad, mom. It's a stranger."
The boy's mother was at the door in moments, and had I not spent the last few days gathering every photo of Amelia I could find, I would have sworn it was her standing there, clutching the boy's shoulder staring at me with a hint of distrust in her smile as she said, "Yes? Who're you looking for?"
"Um, I'm Nicodemus Onojah. I'm looking for Amelia."
Before I finished—she seemed to recognize my name—she spun round and called into the house, "Amelia, love, that dumb schmuck, Nicodemus is here to see you. I told you he'd come, didn't I?"
But she didn't have to. Amelia was already behind her, descending a staircase, looking down at me and frowning. 
I cleared my throat and started. "Amelia, I'm sorry,"