Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle)

Filtering Clues

FUOYO
We dropped Amanda outside the off-campus building by 2:15 am and Jess collected her number. We didn't bother to tell her not to mention the homicide to anybody, we all knew she was going to try and forget everything about the night. I even suspected she had given Jess a fake number. We said goodbyes although I couldn't afford to look up from the phone in my hands. 

There were lots of potential clues I didn't even know where to start, I just kept forwarding every text message, both inbox, and outbox to my phone. His mail app was logged in and I forwarded every inbox and sent items to one of my phony mail addresses. I also went through his contacts and shared anyone that caught my attention to my phone. There was no contact saved 'boss' or 'oga' or 'work' but there was a particular contact saved as 'G' who judging from the call logs, called him a lot and sent him some instructive messages. I shared the contact with myself. The phone was loaded and it was serious work.

"His battery is low, I don't think I can finish checking it all before it dies"

"shit...okay just speed up, I want us to throw it over the 3rd mainland bridge sef" Kanaku replied

"Why?" Jessy asked

"It's easier for the police to trace iphones" Kanaku replied her.

There was something like experience in his voice and I wanted to jokingly ask him if he'd been nabbed for stealing an iPhone before but when I glanced up I realized we were heading in a different direction

"hey, aren't we going to my place? It's late, we need to get some rest" I complained

"no, no....your house is casted now....didn't the security man take down your plate number?"

I remembered, "yes....but it doesn't mean anything...I bought my car and had the papers done before I moved in"

"you'd be surprised....it's better not to risk it....if you've been to jail before you'll learn never to leave anything to chance, always be on your guard...that's free street orientation i'm giving you"

I stared out the window lost in thought and by the time I got myself, the phone screen had locked again. We were almost at the bridge anyway, and soon enough Kanaku pulled over to the side and I threw the phone into the lagoon. Good riddance

"so where are we going? first, it was my place now it's Fuoyo's" Jessy asked

"well I don't see another choice...we'll go to my home and catch some sleep, by morning we'll go through everything we have and decide on the next step"

"sounds fine" I agreed

"but what about your family? we could be bringing danger" Jess worried

"how?" Kanaku glanced back at her, "no one knows me and by tomorrow we'll decide something. My house isn't big, we'll just manage for the night"

"All the clothes I bought are still in Fuoyo's house" Jess complained

"same here...I have just the clothes on my back" I added

"That's a small challenge, I have some clothes that should be okay on you Fuoyo....and Jess, Barakat's old clothes would fit you perfectly"

"thank you....but maybe I'll go shopping in the morning," Jess told him

"toooh...then let morning reach first"

A companionable silence followed until I asked, "Kanaku....why were you so specific about if the girl had been sodomized, what really happened to you?"

"me? nothing...."

"come on, it was obvious there's something-"

"it happened a long time ago, I don't want to talk about it" he said abruptly

"fine"

"yeah"

Kanaku's house was in a rugged area of Mushin in a neighborhood that even in the dead of night without a single soul in sight, the poverty was like a pungent odour that hung in the air like a mist. The combination of cigarette smoke, marijuana, exhaust fumes, bleached palm oil smoke, and the odor emanating from overfull trashcans came together at the beginning of the street. There was no light and it just felt like they had light only once or twice a year. The darkness was that familiar and too normal, even to a first-timer like me.

His house was actually not bad, at least compared to the wooden shacks and zinc houses and containers in the neighborhood, his was a real house with foundation and blocks. A self-contain apartment at the very end of the street and out of formation with the remaining makeshift houses, as if Kanaku had pushed it forward with his bare hands to stand alone. His baby mama and daughter were fast asleep so we followed his lead and tiptoed into the living room, whispering to ourselves, trying to make as little noise as possible and depending on our phone flashlights.

"I plan to buy a big gen this week" Kanaku explained. He brought a spare mattress to the parlour. It was more or less a student mattress and he signaled that Jess and I should manage it. 

"Just for a couple of hours, it's 3:30 already"

I wanted to shower or wash my face at least or even pee at the very least but I kept mute and Jessy and I squeezed in, although apart from my head and left shoulder, the rest of my body was on the cold hard floor, I watched Kanaku squeeze into the two-seater sofa which was the longest chair in the house, he tossed and turned, trying to tuck his legs comfortably until he decided to sit straight and stretch his legs out on a small wooden table. He was soon snoring softly.

I couldn't sleep, Jessy's breathing was calm and steady which meant she had slept off too.

I shut my eyes tight then stared at the ceiling when I still couldn't sleep. By the time it was 4, I gave up and brought out my phone. I had over 45 unread messages and 17 new emails and I began to read. I removed the papers from the envelope, using my phone flash to scan each paper, while checking the messages and emails for any sort of connection.

I lost track of time but an hour or so later, I read a particular email that made my ears perk up. I quickly scanned the papers, one after the other. A particular word had caught my attention...I was certain I had seen that name underlined and asterisked in one of the papers.

I flipped through the pages from the envelope, scanning the lines with my phone flash until I saw it, I placed my thumb on the word. It was on one of the plainer sheets with one of the faded sketches of a map. A couple of words had been scribbled over the sketch, some were linked with arrows, others were circled. But this word was circled with multiple arrows leading to other circled words which was why it had stood out. I glanced at my phone to confirm the spelling. 

Yes, it was the same. The mail was short and straight to the point. I was also sure Kenekelis had forwarded it. It read, 'TataraMari Village Kokona district, I have to confirm exact location on the map for first excavation'

And there it was, the circled word with half a dozen arrows: "TataraMari?" I pondered about the question mark for a minute then shrugged. It must have been an important name for Mr D to circle it....right?.

I turned to Google and Wikipedia soon educated me that Tatara Mari was a village in Nassarawa State. The same Nassarawa state Mr D had planned to fly to that night. I considered the possibilities. Then I remembered the picture I had taken on the floor of the hotel. I flipped through my pictures until I was looking at the drawing with the line cutting across in a kind of curve. A visual map of Nassarawa's location on google map looked pretty close to one of the asterisked points on the map. At first glance, I had thought it was Abuja but now I was convinced it was Nassarawa and this Tatara Mari location. Unfortunately, the blood had spilled over most of the digits of the asterisked point so I couldn't determine the timeline. But it was 19 something. It could be any date from 1901-1960 for all I knew.

I pondered my new discovery for a while, That was the only instructive message/mail related to the treasure, which meant that was all Kenekelis had known. I suspected Mr. D had told him the location when he requested for trackers.

Well, I had found a starting point but the question was, what now?