I took my time getting ready because I was a little pissed. My job takes most of my time and just when I got a break, I was being pulled back in for another case. I could already spell out the curses my mom would rain on the 'horrible'and 'crime infested' Nigeria when I tell her I would no longer be visiting.

I hadn't seen my family in the last two years and I knew the only thing stopping my mom from taking the earliest flight to Nigeria was her cat, Pinky. She loved that cat more than she did any of her children but Pinky wouldn't leave the house and mom just couldn't survive two days without her.

I dressed in khaki pants and a white polo, grabbed the keys to my bike, my baby, the only good thing that came from my last relationship. No, he didn't buy it for me, I took it the night I caught him shagging his supposed cousin. Men are dogs, most of them, to be fair.

I locked my apartment before getting on my bike, I was not bothered about someone breaking in, this side of the city was free of such petty crimes. The criminals here preferred to go big, they knew nothing about starting out small.

I rode through the calmness of my street into the madness of the main road. It wasn't up to 8am yet and the office workers were struggling to get to their creaky wooden desks and chairs clothed in wearing out upholstery.

I sped past screaming taxi drivers, already tired civil servants and uptight wealthy men in their air conditioned cars into a boring part of town I rarely visited; Parliamentary Extension. Home to the rich folks fighting to build the most eye-catching and up-to-date house, making all the houses look identically boring.

I turned into Solomon Okpa street and didn't have to bother about recalling the house number as police vans and an ambulance were parked outside. It was only a few moments before the media would arrive, they just needed a few minutes to sweep their offices and fuel their car.

I turned off my baby, gaining the attention of those in front of the gate, all uniformed men except one. He smiled as I walked to him.

"Took you long enough, Mary." He said.

In the last six years, I had told him not to call me that at least 2191 times. Not anymore.

"I wasn't exactly ecstatic about being dragged out of my leave before it even started, Jimi."

He chuckled, amused by what I called him. He never did like the name but it got worse since that teenfic novel went viral a few years back with the main character bearing the name.

Everyone was talking about it, he got pissed and decided not to read even though I knew he really wanted to read it. Childish but so Charles.

"You are not the only one missing out on a well deserved break, Kaima but this city needs us."

"Did you just quote a TV show?"

"I don't watch crime series."

"Lies."

"Shut up." He ordered and I laughed.

"They are other people who could have done it." I sighed, returning to the issue at hand.

"Try not to be so good then. Maybe they'll let you off."

"This is over exertion. What if I break down?"

"Quit whining, it doesn't suit you. There is a murder waiting to be solved in there. I can see you have your bad girl pants on, so act like it."

"Shut up. What do we have?" I asked as we entered the vast compound.

"A woman identified to be Mrs. Idara Coker. Seven stabs to the pectoral region, one directly on the heart. It's bad Kay, this woman was killed in her sleep, in her own room."

"No murder is pretty Charles." I said as he opened the front door.

The forensics team was already here. Mike, their leader was talking to an officer in whispers. Mike was cool, respects me a lot while still trying to flirt but I kept it professional, for his own good. He caught sight of me and walked over.

"Hello Kaima." He greeted with his goofy smile. Leave it to the guy to smile in the house of a woman who hasn't been dead for 24hours.

"Hi Mike. Always nice to see you." I managed a small smile since I couldn't shake his gloved hand.

"What better way to catch up than at a murder scene, discussing blood and gore? I wanted to tell Charles everything but he insisted I wait for you."

"So, what's your thesis?"

"There are no signs of struggle or restraint so she must have been in deep sleep when she was killed. There are seven wounds, three hitting vital organs.

The heart, left lung, liver. I'd say the heart took the first hit. Not as much bleeding as expected due to her relaxed state. She died almost an hour past midnight." He paused and signaled for me to follow him to a room I guessed the body would be in.

As we climbed the stairs, I noticed a mini elevator beside it. Charles followed my eyes.

"Wheelchair lift." He said

"One of her kids is crippled."

"Looks expensive." I mused.

"Did you see the neighborhood?" He scoffed.

The strong smell of light cologne was almost as strong as the metallic smell of blood. I closed my eyes for a few seconds before opening them to stare at the body.

Mrs. Coker was a beautiful woman. Her fair, slightly pale skin, her size ten body and the tired yet contented look on her face reminded me of my mother. Her death though brutal, must have been painless.

"Any break-in?" I asked.

"None but the gate and front door weren't locked until late at night, anyone could've gotten in and out." Charles supplied.

"Anyone hear anything?"

"Nope."

"Really? No screams."

"Baffling, isn't it?" Mike said as I mulled over it.

"Anything else, Mike?" I inquired

"As you can see, the work is meticulous, careful."

I looked at the body. She was dressed in light blue nightdress and there were seven puddles that marked the wounds from which blood flowed to connect all of them, creating a sea around them, making them look like points on a map.

I was suddenly reminder of a friend's asoebi colors; sky-blue and red. One of those outfits I had worn for just a day.

"I'd place my bet on a woman or a professional assassin, a weightless guy. I have seen a lot of corpses in my line of work but this calm woman will be the first to haunt me."Mike said. I had forgotten I asked him a question.

"Thanks Mike." I said and he smiled a bit.

"Just doing the job."

    I walked down into the living room with Charles.

"Who did this?" I thought out loud.

"Isn't that the ultimate question? Thanks to Mike, we have it narrowed down to either a petite man or a woman and the deceased just happens to have four daughters."

"That's messed up." The thought of me or any of my siblings killing our mom was just absurd.

"Come on, Kay. You should be more open to messed up shit like that."

"Why don't I see them?"

"The body was discovered by the youngest one who is eight years old. Poor thing went into shock and has been slipping in and out of consciousness since then. Sometimes waking in a fit and screaming for her mother."

Definitely messed up. Poor thing indeed.

"They are at the hospital?"

"No, upstairs. Called their family doctor."

I nodded and headed for the stairs but he stopped me.

"COD called, he wants to speak with you as soon as possible."

"Really? Does he want to apologize for taking me from perfect peace to chaos?"

Charles chuckled.

"I doubt that. Go, I'll handle things over here."

"Don't have too much fun without me."

"I'll try."

       I rode back onto the highway and into the police headquarters at Diamond street. Being in close proximity to the governor's office, the station was usually tidy outside safe for the vehicles littered around it, both old and new.

I parked my bike close to the main door and had a corporal watch it until I got back. Nothing is safe in this country, not even in a police station. The station was busy as usual, an officer was busy beating crap out of a teenage boy with his baton who was pleading despite the blood spewing from his mouth.

"My friend keep quiet. Mbok how? Wen u bin de shout squeee nor mi phone yesterday night, u no understand mbok abi? All this calabar south boys. Officer! Comot shege from him body." The officer at the counter said in a mocking tone before he caught sight of me.

He froze and saluted.

"Shun ma!" I nodded briefly and he went back to his normal state.

"Is the COD in?" I asked.

"Yes, COD deh but IG no deh." I nodded again and moved in the direction of the COD's office.

I knocked once and walked in, saluting the chief as soon as I got in.

"Kaima." He said in a monotone and pointed to one of the two seats before him.

"It's almost 9am." He continued in his usual bored tone.

"By my time too, sir." I said, glancing quickly at my wristwatch.

He sighed.

"I expected you to be here at 8am."

Chief of detectives; Cyril Ededem was a very time conscious man and hated tardy. Thanks to his knowledge of my sweet ride, I couldn't give the excuse of being caught up in traffic.

"Sorry sir. I rushed down to the crime scene and only then did I get the message of you requesting my presence."

"So you have an idea of what we are looking at. The media got it yet?"

"Not at the time of my departure." I said with a frown. Was he not going to talk about my leave?

"Good, that woman is quite popular amongst the locals. If it is possible, I need the media completely off this case."

The media was going to publish something, authorized or not, fact or false, everyone has to survive. We both knew that, I was not going to be the one to air it out.

"You are putting me on the case."

"You are heading this case and Detective Bankole will be assisting you." That one was a constant, I never worked on a case without Charles, he was the only one who understood me.

"What about our leaves?" I asked.

"I know you both deserve to take a break but you are the only ones we can trust to solve this mystery. You'll both get 183 days off if you crack this case." He said, taking up that fatherly tone I had watched him use to get his way severally.

"This case is a tough one."

"You are the toughest in the game. I heard the IG say something about a promotion at the end of the road."

I couldn't care less about a promotion but I knew it was all Charles worked his butt off for and I couldn't deny him that.

This case was going to be hard, I could feel it in my gut but as my partner would always say; we are the best in the business.

"Fine. What's the deal?"

"You know the drill. I will give you all you will need, all you have to do is ask but there's a slight change.

In order to prevent overcrowding and conserve jail space, since all the present suspects are progenies of the deceased, they will be placed under house arrest and you will be working from there."

"You can't be serious."

"Oh but I am."

"You are asking me to go live in a crime scene." I was trying to get over the absurdity of the situation.

"That crime scene is considered a home by four girls."

"One or all of whom might have murdered their murder." I retorted.

"Thread carefully detective, I am still your chief and this is an order." He stated coldly, losing his composure for a few seconds.

"Yes sir." I sighed, leaning back on the chair.

"Is there something you want?" He asked calmly.

I just want to go home.

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Thanks for giving this a try, I hope you don't totally hate it.
This is new territory for me so please, go easy on me.
Enjoy❤