46

I checked to see who was knocking. A man’s face, rounded out of shape by the curved lens of the peephole filled my line of sight.

‘Guy, it’s me, Ade.’

I opened the door and finally met my elusive minder. He was shorter than I’d expected. We shook hands in silence, then he apologised for being in Abuja and asked that we go down to the poolside. On the way there I brought him up to date with what had happened. I started at the beginning with Ronnie’s Bar. He wasn’t fazed when I mentioned the dead body in a gutter. I said it appeared to be a ritual killing and he nodded. Then I told him about the horror at Inspector Ibrahim’s police station and how Amaka deceived the police inspector into releasing me. Lastly, I told him how a girl had called Amaka because her friend had gone missing after being picked up by a man the night before. Amaka checked the man’s licence plate on her records and Chief Amadi’s name came up. She was sure the missing girl was the body in the gutter, and Chief Amadi had something to do with it.

I’d told him about Amaka’s records before I remembered it was a secret. Thankfully, he seemed as disinterested as I had been when she first told me about them.

He listened without interrupting. We might well have been talking about the weather. At the bar near the pool, he ordered a bottle of Star for himself and a gin and tonic for me.

‘What do you know about ritual murder?’ I said.

‘Nothing. It’s just one of those things that we still need to eradicate from our society.’ He sounded disinterested.

‘What I don’t get is how this can still be going on today. It should be obvious to anybody that black magic is bollocks. How come people still believe in it?’

He checked his watch and looked over his shoulder at the lobby.

‘Are you expecting somebody?’

‘No. So, your friend Amaka has gone to the Chief’s house?’

‘Yes. I tried to convince her not to go. Won’t it be something if she single-handedly exposes him?’

‘Yes, it would be something. Please excuse me. I need to use the toilet.’

I pointed the way. He started to make a call as he walked.