Jamaica

Chapter 46

"Welcome, my daughter." The minute Jamaica entered the office of Mr. Shehu, ushered in by his secretary, she stood by the door and looked around. The office wasn't dim as there was enough light coming in through the window behind him.

Jamaica didn't like the position in which he sat. He was sitting too close to the window and she felt that he was taking a very big risk. The office was stuffy just like her uncle's office. To her, it didn't make sense why they kept the windows closed. She kept looking around the office until Mr. Shehu told her to come and sit down.

"Come, come, don't just stand there." He beckoned her to come, standing up in the process and smiling at her. Jamaica walked up to him and thanked him.
"Sit down." When she sat down, she took the time to observe him closely while he brought out a file from underneath his desk.

She saw him as having the same age as her uncle. But he had more grey hair on his head than her uncle did. And besides, he wore reading glasses, something her uncle did not use.

"So what brings you here?" He said as he placed both hands on top of the file. Jamaica followed his hands as he placed them on both files. Looking at him she felt worried.

Alfred had clearly told her that if she needed help she should contact him. But as she sat opposite him, her heart beating fast, she was beginning to feel that Mr. Shehu wouldn't be of much help to her.

"Ehm, I was given your card by..."
"Where is the card?" He quickly interrupted. Jamaica hurriedly looked inside her bag, brought out the card, and gave it to him. He looked at the card and immediately knew that Alfred had given her the card.

"What happened to Alfred?" He said, making Jamaica jolt in her chair. She wasn't expecting him to ask her about Alfred. She thought he knew what happened to him.

"Sir, I have no idea what happened to him."

"Because the information we got was that you were the last person that visited him." Mr. Shehu looked right into her eyes for confirmation. But he saw the surprised look on her face.

"Sir, but it was in the news that he was assassinated." Mr. Shehu wasn't convinced and sighed.

"We heard about it, but we have not had any confirmation, yet. What we know is that you were the last person he talked to."

'Sir, I did talk to him but it was only to ask him questions, not to kill him."

"We have video footage of you hurriedly leaving his hotel room. How do you explain that?" Jamaica thought about the events of that day. She had gone to see Alfred for the second time. After Alfred had given her the card, she left his hotel room to take the lift when she heard gunshots being fired.

"Sir, I left his hotel room shortly after he gave me the card. I went towards the lift and only then did I hear shots being fired. I went back to his room and found him dead." Mr. Shehu opened the file and looked down at the paper in front of him. Jamaica wondered what was written on it as she watched him peruse it rapidly.

Then suddenly he looked up at her like she had done something wrong. His look was severe and threatening. But he wasn't angry with her. He had read what was written in the report about her.

"Who do you work for?" He said, showing his severity. Jamaica was beginning to think that Mr. Shehu bore some hostility towards her. And yet they had only met each other for the first time.

" I don't understand, sir." She said, surprised by his attitude. He placed photos on the desk in front of her. When she peered down at them, she saw everything that she had done up till the time she visited Alfred in his hotel room. She gasped at seeing so many photos of her and wondered what Mr. Shehu was doing. Is he conducting some kind of a test, or what? She thought.