Officers found a half-full drum of diesel in the generator building. Keeping it upright, two men rolled it along the ground at an angle. Other officers helped get the drum through the front door into the mansion. An officer inserted one end of a rubber hose from the generator building into the mouth of the drum then sucked on the other end till the fuel collected in his mouth. He clamped the hose with his thumb and spat diesel into the trunk of sex toys and onto the sex doll.
The men walked through the house dousing chairs, beds, chests of drawers, and carpets. They tore curtains off the windows, dipped them into diesel and lit them, then they threw the burning fabric onto the beds and retreated only when the fire had taken hold.
By the time the men gathered outside the building, thick smoke seeped out of the windows, curling over the roof.
Standing just outside the door, Hot-Temper lit the wick of a Molotov cocktail he had made and flung the improvised weapon onto the floor inside. Orange flames spread throughout, engulfing the sex toys and the blue trunk.
In minutes, fire was raging behind every window. Through the open front door, flames curled and leapt from every surface, rolled up the staircase, and danced over the walls. The building was soon consumed by fire. The sky darkened behind the inferno; black bits sailed up with spirals of smoke from the burning roof. Everyone watching had to step back and shield their faces from the heat, then the wind changed and the smoke descended upon the party.
‘That is one big house on fire,’ Mshelia shouted over the noise of the burning building.
‘Yep,’ Ibrahim said. ‘Time to leave.’
‘Yes.’ Mshelia looked around for Alex. ‘We were never here. Remember that when you write your report. OK?’
Alex nodded.
‘Do you think we’ll ever find him?’ Mshelia asked Ibrahim.
‘He knew we were coming. He’s on the run. Amaka, have you been able to speak to the girl?’
Amaka looked at her phone. She had new missed calls from Eyitayo but nothing from Naomi. She tried her number.
‘Her phone is still off.’
‘What now?’ Mshelia said.
‘Whether or not she tipped him off, we find her, we find him,’ Ibrahim said. ‘Where is her place?’
‘1004,’ Amaka said.
‘Let’s go.’