Treachery in the Yard by Adimchinma Ibe Page B

any such plot.”
    â€œDoctor, there is a man we know of as Thompson. Do you know him?”
    â€œI do not know anyone of that name.”
    â€œFine. Did you have Thompson, or whatever his real name is, kill Stephen Wike?”
    â€œDetective!” the commissioner barked. He went so far as to remove his glasses. “You either behave yourself or I’ll remove you from this panel.”
    I met his stare but nodded in respect. “I am just doing my job.”
    â€œAre you?” He turned to Captain Akpan. “Do you usually tolerate such an approach from a junior officer? Perhaps I should look into this personally.” He put his glasses back on.
    Clearly if I said anything else, I’d be thrown out of the meeting and probably get suspended. I leaned back and closed my mouth. I’d given the doctor the message. And it felt good. I could stop. For now.
    Unfortunately, for my sense of self-satisfaction, the doctor looked rather amused. He could afford to be. There was no danger to him in this room, except from me . . . the “junior officer.”
    â€œAnyone with more questions?” the commissioner asked.
    No one had any. What a surprise.
    The doctor smiled. “Every opportunity I have, please believe that I urge my supporters to desist from violence. Yet, there has been violence. For example, at the peace meeting we had, there was an unfortunate incident. But both Okpara and myself believe in the democratic process. We know that violence is a cancer. That is why we want to change things around.”
    Good political speech, I thought.
    â€œThank you, Dr. Puene,” Captain Akpan said, smiling.
    The commissioner joined in. “Doctor, thank you very much for coming today. We have no further questions.” He started to pack up his papers.
    That was it. We all stood. They shook hands. No one shook my hand. The good doctor smiled at me and left. They all walked out, leaving me alone. I looked down at the table. Chief came back into the room a moment later.
    â€œWhat the hell were you doing?”
    â€œWhat you taught me,” I replied, trying to look puzzled.
    â€œKnock off that look with me. You were way out of line. Why ask him such obvious questions, unless you just wanted to provoke him?”
    â€œWould we not have looked foolish if no one asked him a hard question? At least now we can say we tried.”
    â€œYou did not ask him any hard questions. You only embarrassed yourself.” He looked at me, trying to figure out if I was being sincere or sarcastic. “I don’t have the authority to cover you if you persist.” He turned on his heel.
    I was left alone in the conference room, and eventually walked out by myself.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    When I walked into my office, Femi looked up from the report he was writing. All he needed was a glance. “I see it didn’t go well.”
    I sat at my desk. A draft report on the Wike murder faced me.
    Femi was still looking at me, wanting more, so I told him, “I figured I didn’t have much of a career anyway. It’s good you weren’t there. Will you give me some money when they fire me?”
    Femi laughed. “You got nothing out of him?”
    I shook my head. “Without evidence, all I could do was bluster. And no one around the table was interested in my trying to pressure him. He’s too high up. Maybe I’ll give up police work and write a novel.”
    Femi was used to my moods. I had started out idealistic but life has a way of changing that.
    Akpan startled me, coming by my office a few minutes after, to tell me that a gunshot had been reported at Borikiri, aroundthe time I left yesterday. He pointed out that the shooting was near the reported address for Thompson. “Bystanders told us that one man, about your age and height, was chasing a younger man who fit Thompson’s description. Some coincidence, eh?”
    We exchanged a look. “Any news of