Jaja and Normani: Death On The 101st

Revelations

Normani looked up briefly at the CCTV camera with it's tiny, blinking, red light as she entered the waiting room where only Elizabeth sat gloomily on a metallic three-seater. The procedure was that each passenger would go in, give their statement to the sergeant in charge and then their belongings would be searched, after which they are to wait till the officers tell them they can go. So far, Elizabeth and Normani were the only ones in the waiting room.

Normani shuffled quietly beside the women and sighed deeply. "Such a long day," she said.

"Yeah, a very strange one in fact," Elizabeth scowled. "Though, I still do not understand how a man can be murdered on a bus—in the midst of several people—and no one would know."

"Oh," Normani said drily, "I think you do." The photographer bobbed her head in a vigorous but swift sideways shake.

"I know that all what you—" she raised her hand to Normani, "implied might probably be true but it's also kind of hard to comprehend."

"Pretty easy to comprehend if you're the one who orchestrated it."

"Yeah, I know, right?"

Normani paid no mind to Elizabeth's rhetoric. Instead she continued with her conversation, pulling her eyebrows together in thought.

"So why did you do it, Elizabeth?" The question shocked the timid woman. She grimaced in bafflement.

"Excuse...me?"

Normani wearily sighed. "There's no point in pretence, Elizabeth. I know you are responsible for the death of that man—you and Evanda."

"What the bloody hell?" she exclaimed, standing. "What do you mean I killed that man with Evanda? Why would you make false implications against me?"

"You know, I wonder if Evanda would be defending you the same way you are sticking up for her here," Normani said wistfully.

"You shouldn't make such..." she trailed off in search of words, "strong accusations. You have no proof!" she said. Normani smiled mentally. The woman was getting livid; she was starting to work her up.

"I have everything I need, Elizabeth. You just have to look around you. You're a photojournalist, right?"

"Well, yes. Why?"

"The old man reading the newspaper that sat in front of me?" she didn't wait for an answer," I saw a picture under a news headline on page seven. It shows a group taking a picture together; they were mostly famous Nollywood actors and actresses, you see.

"I saw a quick glimpse of Evanda's face among the other numerous faces, and I also saw an Elizabeth Davis written below the photo. The photo credit says someone called Elizabeth took that photo. That is the first connection between you two—you and Evanda."

"But that doesn't mean—"

Normani interrupted her. "Of course it could be another Elizabeth. Well until I collected your camera. Trust me that wasn't my motive at the time. But once I clicked the back button on the camera—by mistake—I saw that same photo. So that explains it."

Elizabeth blinked rapidly. "I took the picture for my company, so what? Evanda isn't even a famous actress, she's an upcoming. So what would I even want with her?"

"Look that is exactly why I couldn't tell the closeness between you right from the beginning. You two played your parts as strangers so well, it's hard to say you might have even seen each other at all. Evanda even played it way better, I've got to give it to her."

"This is preposterous! I can't believe you're making up all these nonsense. Is this a prank, 'cause I'm starting to get really annoyed."

Normani guffawed loudly. "God bless that old mister and his newspaper. Did you know what that headline was, Elizabeth? Let me remind you: UPCOMING ACTRESS, EVANDA DAVIS TO ENGAGE PHILANTHROPIST AND SUCCESSFUL OIL TYCOON, BENJAMIN WILLIAMS."