5 CHAPTER FIVE: ISABELLE

Alex's Residence

02:12

"Honey I'm home " Alex called out cheerfully when he and Caesar had entered into the well furnished bungalow, "Where are you?"

"Coming, Darling" said a voice floating from somewhere in the building, "I'm in the bathroom"

"Hurry up honey and come here I want you to meet a very old friend of mine."

"Okay, Darling. Coming, coming."

"Why are you hurrying her?" asked Caesar dryly "She said she's coming in the bathroom."

"You watch your tongue when she's around."

"Was it something I said?'

She came out wearing a pink bathrobe. Even Caesar at his most cynical had to suppress a gasp when he saw her.

She was quite tall, almost his height and on the heavy side. Her physique did not affect her figure, which was ample in all the right placers. The colour of her exposed flesh was a golden honey. The hair was a dark chestnut and Caesar could see the richness even through the shower cap she wore. The eyes were huge with a puppy tenderness that made you yearn for her. He nose was rather pert but her lips were full and lush. She exuded a kind of susceptibility that was both arousing and endearing. She made you want to take good care of her and spend all your hard earned cash doing it. Caesar winced. No wonder Alex was in love. He didn't stand a chance.

She was watching him the way a buyer would size up a price bull. Her intense gaze made him fell uncomfortable and that infuriated him. He felt no female could make him feel that way.

"Isabelle I want you to meet Caesar."

"Caesar?" she asked, an amused smile playing on her lips.

"Yes Caesar" Alex said, avoiding the warning look shot at him from his friend. "His mom liked Roman History or something."

"I see."

She took his hand. It was soft and warm and he did not miss the playful stroke at the centre of his palm from her middle finger. A message. Goodness, he hadn't stayed three seconds in her presence and he was already being put into temptation. Eve!

"Very nice to meet you ma'am."

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"Please call me Belle."

"Okay, Belle. Alex has told me so much about in you in the little while we were together tonight."

"He did? Nothing bad I hope?"

"He tried. He didn't succeed."

She laughed. A deep husky laugh that set his nerves tingling.

Alex had told him to check out of his hotel and stay with them while he was in town. He had thought it was a good way of saving Mummy Dearest's money now he wasn't sure it was such a good idea.

Caesar believed in loyalty and the last thing he wanted was to be sniffing around his friend's fiancée. He might hold his own but Belle might not and then it would be the case of poor Joseph the Dreamer in the Bible that had the officer's wife come on to him like a fly to honey. Oh, well. A little tension in the air never did any one any harm.

Alex told her to fix them some drinks and he took Caesar to his living room where he smugly switched on the big screen T.V and the D.V.D player.

"You're not doing badly are you?" remarked Caesar dryly.

Alex shrugged and smiled like a stuffed cat.

She came back with some brandy on ice and passed them round. She said she had to go prepare dinner so she drifted off in the direction of the kitchen. Caesar wished she would put on something more decent than the bathrobe and he firmly avoided glancing at her swaying hips because he knew Alex was watching him with keen interest.

"So how is she?" he asked eagerly, peering at his friend though his spectacles. Caesar gave a wan smile.

"Like I said before – you are not doing very badly."

"Don't worry. A few more years of hard work and you'll be just like me."

Caesar looked at him in amazement.

"Your tongue is your personal property, Alex use it as you like."

"Which brings me to an important question what is your occupation?"

"I was a reporter"

"Was?"

" Yep. I resigned yesterday."

"You don't mean it. Which paper?"

"News Day."

"Aah. You fell out with the Editor. She's a cheeky bitch, eh."

" No. It wasn't for gender discriminating reasons. I just got tired of the whole charade."

"What whole charade?"

"She determining what I wrote that could be published and all that crap. She didn't except my last report so I tossed my resignation letter on her lap and staged a walk out."

" So what are you going to do now?"

" I don't know. Maybe go freelance or something."

"But your mom will always help you out."

"Forget her, please."

" Okay, Okay. So what are you doing in this town? Don't tell me you were just passing by and decided to drop by and see me. To get to this place is not exactly a pleasure trip.

" I heard though the grapevine that something spooky is going on here. But it's still basically a mystery. I came around to see what's up and to see whether it might be my first freelance story." He did not add the mysterious phone call and the so called information he was supposed to receive. Or the counterfeit notes in his bag.

" Well you heard right. There is something very serious afoot in this town right now. Someone is killing young women in a very brutal fashion and dumping them in the marshes."

"Brutal fashion? Can you be more specific?"

"Multiple stabbing, parts missing, eyes and tits gone and other more gory details."

"Gawd."

" Yep. Four victims so far. One every week."

" Any idea who might be responsible?"

"Nope. No one knows. The police say they might be ritual killers, but Tony and the locals don't think so."

" Tony?"

"You remember the guy who was with me at the bar. He thinks it's a serial killer."

Caesar laughed.

" Serial killer? Come on that's a western phenomenon. We Africans do kill but it's usually over land, money, political or ethnic reasons. Not for the hell of it." Believe it or not, Tony thinks that's the poker. He's obsessed about such things."

Caesar waved his hand in impatient dismissal.

"What about the locals?"

" That's a bit more complicated. Let me tell you a story about this town.

"Kebby creek is not really a town but a conurbation of settlements built up by the various oil companies operating here. The existing villages were urbanized to cater for the oil workers who live very far from home. Kebbi Creek is very near a huge expanse of marsh that lies to the east of the town. There is oil at the centre of the marsh land, a lot of it and that is where the oil rigs are located. The only access across those marshes to the rigs is by hovercraft.

These oil workers are normally transferred from Warri, Port Harcourt and Lagos and since the area is extremely humid and hot, they prefer not to come with their families so most of them live alone in here.

" Now the locals make a living for those workers by setting up small scale businesses like small restaurants, shops and other services. But of course they never make one tenth of what the least of these workers earn.

"However the most lucrative business for those locals is prostitution which of course is strictly for the ladies. Kebbi creek has some of the most beautiful women in the country. Most of them are dare complexioned, slim and shapely and quite pretty facially but most importantly harbour no inhibitions whatsoever. "Oil workers after returning from the rig usually want to let of steam. Since their wives and children are not around they are as free as birds. They spend a lot of money on these "call girls" as we call them, some times even up to N20, 000 a night. These girls earn more than their counter parts can hope to get in a year and sometimes they even hit the jackpot by becoming a mistress or even a wife. Then if they score a white man their cash flow is unlimited.

"Inevitably the local males are not happy with the situation. They feel their girls are shunning them now because they don 't have the dough to maintain their expensive lifestyle. Their hatred towards the oil workers is increasing everyday.

"Then these killings started. The locals are blaming the oil workers saying that some of them are now so power drunk they now **** and kill their women. The oil workers are denying this but they don't want to listen. They've been looking for something to use against us for a long times. These victims have been mutilated beyond recognition and not a single one has been positively identified. The police have been trying to cover things up and are not helping any reporters who come on the scene. That might make your case difficult."

" That's putting it mildly."

" However I know how I might help. Tony keeps photos of his work at his home. Most times he tries to make me look at them but I'm not a fan of such graphic material. Maybe I'll take you to him. I'II tell him you've a mystery writer or something and he'd probably become your best friend. I'll bet he would show you the photos for fun."

" Great. I would love to see them."

" I was afraid you'll say that. By the way why didn't you take up mystery writing?'

" You don't think I'll be able to scratch the likes of Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, do you?"

"But you loved reading their books back in the day. You used to be very good at predicting who the perpetrator of the crime was long before the story ended.'

"That was a long time ago. Right now I'm just a frustrated reporter who just lost his job."

Jobo Bus Stop, Kebby Creek

July 12, Saturday, 06:30

There she was, standing at the bus stop, like she always did by 6:30 a.m. I had watched her for so long that I knew her daily routine by heart. I decided that Julie would join Ejiro in Hell where they belonged.

She was stunning as usual. Tall, willowy with a killer figure any man or woman would die for. I pulled the Honda up to her. The suspicious look in her eyes evaporated when she saw me at the wheel.

"Well, well," she said in surprise, "I didn't know you had a car."

"Well, I didn't plan to be poor forever. Need a lift?"

"Of course."

She opened the passenger door and flopped exhaustedly on the seat.

"Are you tired?" I asked as I put the car in motion.

"Yeah."

"Let's go jiving then. I know a very cool place where we can have fun. Just for all times sake."

"Hah, Sweetheart, I've cooled down oh!"

"You Julie? Cooled down? When we reach the joint I'm talking about repeat that statement again."

She giggled deliciously. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw her pick up the perfume bottle on top of the dashboard

"What's this?" she asked.

"A new product. Like to try it out?"

"Sure."

She sprayed a shot on her palm and held it to her nose. The next second she slumped forward and her head hit the dashboard with a resounding bang.

I smiled. I'm going to have another great time tonight.