STORY TITLE: Tricias Nightmare EPISODE 24 by Tunde Leye “Tricia’s prosecution judge!” Olu exclaimed. “So she has kidnapped the judge’s kid to force the judgment she wants! That’s desperate!” It was Maro. “She is rather desperate for four million pounds,” Teju pointed out. “I think Olu should make that call to Saranja now,” Maro said. Kofo looked intently at Olu and asked “Olu, are you set?” “Yes I am,” he responded, as if finally making a decision. When he finished the call, Olu could not help but marvel. If he had any other doubts in his mind, it was killed. Saranja was fried, especially considering the considerable leverage he knew the insurance company would have on the British government and by extension the Nigerian government. “Do we contact the Justice?” Taju asked. “While the call was going on, I did a background check on her,” Kofo said. “She’s widowed and he is her only child. Except we can guarantee that she will get that child back, she will not listen to us. And she will be desperate now. ” “And the weakness of our system here is that there is no jury. The judge’s pronouncements are final. So get the judge and irrespective of what the lawyers say, you have the case .” Taju pointed out. “I will get the boy.” It was Teju who spoke. He stood up and Kofo reflexively almost pulled him back to his seat. “You do not even know the country. You cannot!” she said. “You can assure the judge that her son will be unharmed and delivered to her. But she should do the right thing.” Teju said. Then turning to Kofo, he looked at her intently and then said “ I will be fine.” With that, he left the room and Kofo felt her heart lurch. It was late in the evening when Justice Douglas received a call. Ever since the ordeal began, her phone was her one constant companion. The commissioner of police had dedicated multiple teams of policemen to scour everywhere for the kidnappers. She had called every government official she knew and by now, a huge search operation was going on for the boy. These people did not know who they were dealing with. She would find them and deal with them. “Hello,” she said coarsely. “Call the search off, and do not try this any longer. We will find out and you will lose your boy” The line went dead. She slumped into her seat. The Nigerian security apparatus was so compromised. This was supposed to be top secret, and the kidnappers had found out. The phone rang again. Another number. She quickly picked it up “Hello! How did you find out about the search?” she shouted “ Hello ma. My name is Detective Kofo, I was in your courtroom as witness for a murder case involving a…” “Tricia? That wretched case! What in hells hordes do you want! Are you one of them?” Justice Douglas was shouting at the top of her voice. “No ma, I am on your side. I know they have your son and want you to deliver a guilty verdict. Trying to get him through the police is an effort in futility. Top members of the force are involved in this case and all want the innocent girl condemned .” “What would you have me do? Just before you called, they had threatened to kill him if I didn’t call the police search off. How they found out about it, I do not know,” “Ma,” Kofo interrupted “you cannot trust the police on this one. You will have to trust me.” Kofo spoke with such assuredness that the Justice calmed down. “ I do not want to sentence this girl to death, if she is innocent. My conscience could never live with it. But I cannot stand by and watch my only son die. My heart could not take that! ” “We will get you your son. That I promise. We only ask that you deliver fair judgment on the day the case is heard.” “I want to see you. How can I trust someone I have not seen properly?” “Trust me ma, while I would have loved that, they will be watching you. And we need to keep them in the dark about what we are doing. Once we are seen together, they will be on the alert for us. ” Kofo said. “What more can I do right now, really? I’ll have to trust you, seeing that the police have failed me. But you had better delivered; otherwise, I do not trust myself to do the right thing in court.” “We will,” Kofo said. “Do have as much rest as you can ma.” “Goodnight.” “That went better than I thought it would,” Maro said as Kofo dropped the call. Olu Williams got up to leave “it’s late already, I should be on my way. I have to prepare the evidence and file it properly so there are no issues in court on Monday. ” “Very well then,” Kofo said. “See you in court.” When he had left, Maro asked “do you trust him?” “No,” she replied “but I trust his intelligence. He will do what he is made to see is the wisest for him” “Hmmm, and if he doesn’t decide going along with our plan is the wisest?” Taju asked. “I have made a backup of that conversation,” she said, removing a tape from underneath her drawer. “Experience has taught me not to give anything to Olu without backing it up .” The next morning Aisha finally decided to call Saranja. In response to her hello, he exploded over the phone “You kidnapped the Judge’s son without running it by me!” “And how is that different from you killing Ivie without running it by me?” she retorted “Because, in Nigeria, the judge can pull powerful strings. And if it’s ever traced to me, I’m dead and buried. She will make sure of that.” She laughed scornfully “oh, so you are just afraid for your hide? Don’t worry, we have it all covered, unlike you. She called all those people yesterday and they began a manhunt. We called her and threatened her in the evening. By this morning, the search has been called off. She is ready to play ball. And you know, if you had handled your part well, I would not have had to resort to such desperate and crude methods.” Saranja clenched his fist in anger. This woman ticked him off! That afternoon, Justice Douglas received a call. They did not even allow her say hello. This time it wasn’t the female voice she was beginning to grow familiar with. It was a male voice she had never heard before “We are pleased you are cooperating. All the police search parties seem to have been called back, so we will allow you on favor. But note that if we as much as suspect any foul play on your part, he’s a goner. Now, to the favor – the voice you will hear next is one I’m sure you are dying to hear ” “Hello mum,” Timi’s voice came clear over the connection “Oh, my baby, how are you? Are you eating? Are they hurting you, Lord, protect my son,” she said, the words rushing out of her with the same intensity as the tears gushing from her face. “We will be watching you in court.” The male voice came back to the line. And then the line went dead. Peter’s phone rang and he picked it on the first ring. He had been waiting anxiously for any news on the Nigerian situation “ Hello Teju. What’s happening over there? Everyone here is walking on tip toes, waiting for information on this!” “Well, Peter, here’s information for you man. The judge’s son has been kidnapped by Mrs. Ujah, to ensure the judgment is a conviction for Tricia.” Teju responded “Well, that works in our favor. Because even if Tricia is convicted now, we can point to the kidnapping and deny payment,” Peter responded “Don’t be a scrooge Peter. What evidence will you point to that there was any kidnap? She has layered it so well that it’s not traceable to her. If you do nothing now, you will be parting with four million bucks and make Mrs. Ujah and the former AIG Saranja very rich people.” Teju responded. “So,” Peter said “quit beating around the bush. Just hit the nail on the head already and say what you think we should do. I know you wouldn’t have called if you hadn’t come up with something” “Unfortunately for Mrs. Ujah, she didn’t study the Nigerians well. There’s a strict hierarchy of criminals here, and if you can get to the very top, the lower down criminals have no choice but to do the bidding of their higher-ups. So, I went as close to the top of that hierarchy as I could get. They will get the boy, but it will cost you Peter, cost you quite significantly, ” Teju said. “And how much are we looking at here,” Peter asked quietly. “Two Hundred Thousand Pounds or the equivalent of Fifty Million Naira,” Teju responded evenly “What!” Peter exploded. “Where in the British Isles do you expect me to get that kind of money on such short notice?” “Peter,” Teju said calmly but firmly “I am asking you to save Four Million Pounds with Two Hundred Thousand. It’s your call really. I’m sure you’ll need about a day to convince all those involved to authorize this. I’ll wait. ” “I know I’m mad for saying this, but I will try. And if we do get the money released, you do know that my career would be over if you fail? ” Peter said “You fail to realize, dear Peter, that mine would be even deader if I fail.” Teju said and then ended the call. Peter sighed ruefully as he began to call board members to set up a conference call. Considering all the build up to it, the weekend before the final appearance was uneventful, outside of routine paperwork and the likes from both the prosecution and the defense. The kidnappers did not contact the judge any longer and she went into some sort of normalcy mode, as if to handle the situation. She immersed herself totally into work, preparing for this case. Kofo was not fooled though. She knew that the judge would deliver judgment against them if she resigned herself to thinking that was the only way she could get her son back. From her study of the judge, she deduced she would rather have a ruined career than a dead son, if the choices came down to that. Episode 25 loading........
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 10:26:14 +0000
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