My fourth night in the Coker house was anything but boring. Charles, still dressed in his clothes from earlier stood beside me as we both stared across the table at Tamara Coker.

"You are not making any sense Mara."

Charles was surprisingly patient with her. I could already imagine the prints my fingers would leave on her yellow cheek if she didn't stop acting like a Kardashian.

"I've spent days locked in this house, away from civilization, so forgive me if I've lost my sense of comprehension."

"For a dropout, you know a lot of big words." I leaned a little toward her. "If you think this is deprivation of civilization, wait until you are transported to kirikiri where you won't even have the sweet pleasure of seeing a light bulb."

The room was quiet.

"I'm asking you for the last time now. Do you recognize this?" I pointed to the silver chain sitting on a small polythene bag on the table.

"It's my leg chain. I've been looking for it." She gave in.

"Since when?" Charles asked.

"Four days now. Look, I know what you are thinking but it's nothing like that."

"Why don't you tell us what you think we are thinking?" Charles proposed. Her sisters had already confirmed that the chain was hers.

"I know how it looks but I didn't do anything."

"How did your leg-chain end up in Mrs. Coker's bedroom?"

"I was there." She took her legs off the table. "I was in mom's room that night."

"I thought you were at a party."

"After I got back."

"Why didn't you mention it before?"

"It was irrelevant, it only made me look suspicious."

"Even more so now."

"I didn't do anything."

"You should have mentioned it, only the guilty keep secrets, Itoro."

"I am not guilty!" She pounded the table and I smiled.

"I was in the room that night but only because I had mistook it for my own. I was drunk."

"How drunk? Enough to not be conscious of your words, your environment, your body, your actions?"

"What? No."

"Maybe you did it without realizing."

"Right. I just strolled into Sade's room, took her weird knife and murdered our mother without her noticing? She is the world's lightest sleeper."

"You must have taken it beforehand. Sade wouldn't have noticed, she hardly used the blades."

"This is ridiculous."

"I don't think it is. I think you had it all planned out. You used the party as your alibi and since everyone knows you always get wasted at parties, no one would suspect you. Who goes mom murdering in a state of drunkenness right? Except you weren't drunk and no one was awake so how'd they know?"

"Oh my God! You really believe all that shit you are saying, don't you?"

She was horrified, panicky.

"I told you what happened. I got in the room because I thought it was mine but it didn't feel like it so I walked out, I didn't even turn on the lights."

Her words were eager and I knew a certain part of me already believed her but when Charles looked down at me, I knew we weren't being factual. Due to her unfiltered attitude, I had developed a certain likeness for the girl and I feared it was clouding my judgement.

"An officer will escort you back to your room where you'll remain until the investigations are concluded, hopefully in your favor."

She rose slowly.

"I am not a killer, I'm not even that bad as a person."

Charles took a seat on the table after she left and I rested my back on the chair.

"We don't have a motive." He began.

"Not yet."

He crossed his hands.

"Earlier today you were convinced Theodore had done it."

"Earlier today I was angry."

"Aren't you now? I mean you've been angry all day."

"If that is your way of asking if I'm still mad at you, I am not."

"Because there really was nothing to be mad about?"

"Whatever Jims." He chuckled.

"Seriously Kay, all we've got is an article that puts her at the scene of the crime. No prove other than your tight theory that she actually did it."

"I know, which is why I need you to order a full analysis of the weapon."

"It's already been sent to Lag, I'll just ask them to be more thorough."

I nodded.
"I don't know if this is getting easier or more complicated."

"You chose this job because it wasn't easy."

"No. I chose it because it felt right."

"Doesn't it anymore? Doesn't it feel right that at the end of these all you'd have sent another coldblooded killer away for good?"

"It probably will but now, it just sucks."

I got up and sat on the bed.
"Go home Charles, I won't be staying up tonight."

He let out a breath and stared at the floor.
"Martha is there."

"Waoh, you guys are really diving in this time."

"I don't know about her but I am not seeing any river there. Yesterday I complained about her stealing my spare keys and she just went ahead and made a copy so she could return it and still have access to the house."

I laughed a little because it wasn't even surprising.

"It's not funny."

"Oh, it is. Have you tried to have a conversation with her?"

"You think say dis girl be ode? Anytime I try to bring it up, she completely avoids it."

"So she knows you don't want to go there with her."

"She does but I don't know the babalawo that told her she can charm me with food and fuck."

"He was probably right. You're here because she's taken up residence in your apartment. You can't even face the problem."

"What can I do?" He threw his hands in the air.

"You can change the lock for starters."
He scoffed.

"You don't know what you are saying. Dis babe na pure calabar breed, deir craze too high."

"For God sake Charles, you are a police officer, handle your shit. Get out."

He pushed himself off the table and walked to the door.

"Call if you need me."

"No, I won't."

**********

I rose Sunday morning at 6:00am and for the first time, without any muscle cramp so I decided to go for a run. I grabbed a bottle of water and ran off the street and up parliamentary extension. The streets weren't busy. Aside late church goers making their way to 6:00am service and shop owners looking to get a few sales in before church, the streets were deserted.

I toughed it out to Efi-ette roundabout and back and started to feel like myself again. I walked into the shower as soon as I got back to the house and when I got out, my phone was ringing. I cursed loudly the second I saw the caller ID.

"Don't lose your shit." I told her.

"Don't lose my shit? I had to find out from a colleague." Her voice was the sort of calm that you knew was concealing something.

"The news reached Benin already?"

"She was my coursemate and apparently, her friends back home still bother to call. What happened to keeping me posted Kaima?"

"I was going to call you."

"Didn't you get my texts?"

"I don't exactly check my messages."

"So you mean I just wasted airtime? Do you know how much they pay me as allowee?"

She was going to delve into her rant about how bad the NYSC system was, it could take hours.

"End the call, let me call you instead." I proposed.

"Shut up and tell me everything, I'm not that poor."

I took a seat by the window and stared at the compound.

"What do you know?"

"That you and Jimi are in charge of Madam Idara's case. I can't believe he didn't tell me, did you ask him not to?"

Truth is I hadn't even thought of her and I wondered what sort of best friend that made me. Kehinde was Charles' younger sister and possibly my only other friend in the world. We had met through him and at that time, she'd been a second year medical laboratory student at unical. I loved her, she was kind, driven and down to earth but she was as nosy as it gets and didn't like to be uninformed especially now that she was away for her service year.

"Why does he have to tell you?"

"Because I'm his sister, his only surviving relative and I need to know every dangerous situation he gets himself into."

"He's not in any dangerous situation, just a really messed up one."

"What's going on?"

"A lot but not much."

"Gee, very helpful." I sighed fondly.

"We have a good amount of clues but so far it's leading nowhere."

"Care to be more vague?" I imagined her rolling her eyes.

"I can't tell you anything Kedi. This case is classified."

"Classi... What now? You're a secret agent for the government?' I could envision her glaring at whatever was in front of her.

"I know why you called me instead of Charles, it's because I always spill but not this time woman."

"Whatever." She clicked her tongue.

"I can tell you one thing though. I'm living with the Cokers."

"In the crime scene?"

"Yup."

"Gbese."

I spent over half an hour talking to kehinde during which I eventually put on some clothes and went to the pantry to grab an apple. She eventually stopped drilling me for details about my case and told me about her nerdy roommate who she suspected was still a virgin. She'd be passing out in less than three months and she couldn't wait for me to meet her new boyfriend.

She got off the phone because her roomie was dragging her off to a church where they gave gifts to first timers.

The day was painstakingly slow. I thought of going to church myself but it had been too long and my inability to help grant Mrs. Coker any sort of peace plagued me. I stayed in my room going through my notes and replaying recordings of all my sessions with the sisters but nothing called out to me.

I wanted to go have another word with Tamara Coker but I knew she wouldn't budge and I wasn't in the mood to prod. Truth is I was pretty sure she was telling the truth, Tamara seemed like the sort of girl who took pride in all her actions. If she had killed her mom, her attitude would have given it away.

At the end I was left frustrated, Sade hadn't fit the profile, Tamara hadn't either but the bigger problem was that there was no profile, no one could guess what had been going on in the killer's mind, who they were or what they looked like.

I had been staring at the overgrown hedges lining the driveway to the garage when Charles called.

"Tell me something good Charlie boy."

"I got Monica to leave my house." I smiled even as I rolled my eyes.

"Concerning the case."

"The analysis came in this evening."

"Don't make me beg, inspector."

"Tamara's prints were all over it."

There was a slight pause from both of us.
"Well, I better stop jumping into hasty conclusions."

"Yeah." He drawled. "Why'd she do it?"

"I..." My phone vibrated in my hand and I took it away from my ear to see another call coming in.

"End the call Charles, I'm getting a call from the ME." I told him and his call went out.

"Good evening detective." The man's voice always surprises me because I always forgot it was a contrast to his pudgy appearance.

"Dr. Eteng, I've been awaiting your call." I said once I got over the ring in my ear.

"Sorry for the delay, I was out of town as you already know. I just got back in and heard about your new case."

"There is always something going on in this town."

"Tell me about it, I work in the morgue."

"How soon can I expect the results doc?"

"I will be in the office tomorrow to sort through the papers on my desk. After that, your body will be the first I dig into." I cringed, for all I knew the man probably didn't notice the innuendo in his speech.

"You should get your results within the week."

I didn't get my hopes up, he was as sluggish as a millipede.

"I'll be counting on it. Thanks doc."

I cursed the shitty system.

***************************
Yo! Starting to feel like this daily update thing might actually work.
See you tomorrow💜