[Story] The Bonny Island Massacre – S01 E10

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 10

While detective Musa was still questioning Yvonne, with Annabel pacing the garden frantically, with the phone stuck to her ear, the garden was flooded with lights, and camera flashes. The news of the massacre in the Ngegwu mansion had filtered to the media community, and like ravaging vultures, they had circled to the house. They took pictures of the dead bodies, and the heavily armed police men already on the scene.

Detective Musa: “Do not contaminate my crime scene” he yelled, as his men shoved the reporters away from the garden with the butt of their guns.

At the same time, another police van drove into the compound, with an ambulance behind. The men jumped down and with stretchers ran into the garden. They were in the hope that some would be saved, but unknown to them, the bodies were already stone cold in death. The reporters followed the frenzy of activities, not wanting to miss any part of the action.

Annabel was distraught; she didn’t understand why her husband was not yet with them. Wherever he was, couldn’t he hear the news of the massacre that happened in his own mansion? She wondered. She got tired of calling her husband’s private line, and decided to call his personal secretary. The secretary however had no knowledge of her boss’s whereabouts, as the time slot in his organizer said ‘P.E’. P.E could mean anything to the oil magnate, depending on his mood, it could mean he was having a personal evening which would involve a curvaceous long-legged mistress, or meeting with powerbrokers in the country, or it could mean, he wanted everyone to fuck off and leave him the hell alone. So the secretary didn’t know which P.E, her boss was having. Therefore, she didn’t know where he could be.

At this point, Annabel had given up hope that her husband would come to the house that night, so she called the law firm that handled their businesses, Berkeley and Berkett, a multinational law firm that catered to the legal needs of the oil companies in Port-Harcourt. They told her they were sending somebody immediately, to appraise the situation.

Meanwhile, Mira was nowhere to be seen, she had probably ran away with the others, afraid to be caught in a crime scene such as that. The night whiled away, oblivious of the catastrophe in its wake, with the detective quizzing Yvonne, and the Forensic people bagging the bodies, for transportation to their lab, where they would be torn open and examined to ascertain cause of death.

When the lawyer from Berkeley and Berkett was sent, it was a Nigerian lawyer, in his mid fifties, obviously worth his salt. He told the detective that it was not right for him to treat the family as suspects because they were not suspects, yet.

Detective Musa: “Look at this idiot, if they are not suspects, what are they?” he asked sarcastically and closed his writing pad, like he was not interested in questioning Yvonne, anyway. He asked that none of them left the country as an investigation had just been opened and till the end of the investigation, they were forbidden to leave the country. He signaled to his men to follow him, they entered the van and drove away. The ambulance also went away with the bodies. The reporters however remained, and Annabel was helpless to ask them to leave. It pained her that their mansion which had once been revered so much that people did not park their cars in front of their gate for fear of crossing the almighty oil magnate, Prince Ngegwu. But tonight, reporters flocked in, taking pictures of anything and everything, and she couldn’t even tell them to leave.

Yvonne: “Why isn’t dad here?” she asked her mother as they walked into the house, to the East wing, where they could put a distance between themselves and the carnage. Annabel shook her head, unable to tell her daughter that, in the time he was needed the most, her father was nowhere to be found. Femi was perplexed beyond action, he held and squeezed Yvonne’s hand to reassure her. But inside him, he knew he needed reassurance himself.

While the forensics people were bagging the bodies, he had seen Daisy, she was dead too. He was so certain that what Yvonne had done to stop her from launching Daisy Advertising in Port- Harcourt, was going to come back and bite her in the ass, but he was confused as to Daisy being dead too. He was certain that, people would make different assumptions and draw their own conclusions. He was not wrong.

Yvonne had slept like she was under the influence, but it was not alcohol or drugs that made Yvonne sleep with such abandon, it was fear, uncertainty, and anxiety. She slept till the sun was well up in the sky, and only woke when she heard the wail of the siren and raised voices. She jolted out of bed, and rushed to her little balcony that overlooked the gate, to the right. Reality came crashing down on her as she remembered the events of last night. The front of the gate was filled with onlookers who had come to see where the massacre took place. Police vans were not absent either. She quickly washed her face and changed into a pair of ripped denim trousers and a black tee shirt. She combed her hair and pulled it up into a loose ponytail. When she stared at herself in the mirror, she was surprised at how guilty she looked. Her eyes were filled with fear.

Her activities had roused Femi from sleep. Last night, they had cried together when they remembered that just few minutes before the evil event, they had been planning their lives together. They wept because they knew what awaited them in the nearest future. Through their pain, they found passion and saw themselves kissing. Yvonne saw that her body was heating up with uncontrollable want for Femi. Whether it was because of the fear, she couldn’t tell, but she found herself groping Femi. For Yvonne, it was like she was preparing her soul for the inevitable. When Yvonne began to undress Femi, the latter asked her if she was sure.

Yvonne: “I have never been sure about anything as I am sure of this. I do not know what I will face when the morning comes, but I know I will have your love” she said with passion.

Femi: “We are in this together” he said and peeled her clothes away.

They joined their bodies and their souls as Femi thrust into her. He did not hold back when they both climaxed, as he poured his seed into her.

She was almost out of the room when Femi called her, she turned and saw that he was awake and naked.

Yvonne: “The police is here” she said simply and left. Femi jumped off the bed and hurried into the crinkled clothes of yesterday.

When Yvonne got to the living room, her eyes fell on her father, then her mother. There was also present, a host of lawyers sent by the law firm. She also saw detective Musa and when his eyes fell on her, he smiled wickedly.

Detective Musa: “It was nice for you to join us this morning. You see I ordered your parents not to wake you up. You deserve your sleep. However, seeing that you are awake, let’s get right down to business” he said and paused for effect. He looked around at everyone present and turned to Yvonne before he said, “Yvonne Ngegwu, you are under arrest for the murder of twenty people, the bodies are still being cataloged and in due time, you will know the victims of your wicked act” he said and nodded to a constable who stood beside him. The pot bellied constable walked over to Yvonne and clasped handcuffs on her wrists.

Prince Ngegwu: “You have been acting so arrogant, detective. But I tell you that you will lose your badge for this. You come into my house, with the intent to see my daughter but disallowed anyone from waking her up, and now you arrest her for murder? On what grounds, if I may ask?” the tall and handsome oil magnate, Prince Ngegwu, Yvonne’s father said.

When Prince Ngegwu spoke, the tone of his voice could have intimidated any man, and made them tremble, but not a man like detective Musa. He just kept a passive face, like the Prince was not talking to him. Then he said;

Detective Musa: “You failed to tell me that you were the one who baked the cake. Did you think you could hide that little fact from me?” he asked, glaring at Yvonne, and totally ignoring her father, who was seething with anger.

Yvonne did not say a word, she was already prepared for whatever was going to happen. Femi was just coming down the stairs when Yvonne was being led out of the house, flanked by two policemen. He rushed to them and embraced Yvonne.

Yvonne: “Take care of Coveteur. No matter what happens, do not let our dream for the company die. You can do it” she whispered to him, and planted a small kiss on his cheek. Femi was taken aback with the resignation in her voice, he had never known her to give up easily, but what he heard in her voice, told him that she had already resigned to her fate.

When Yvonne stepped out of the gate, she saw a Black Maria waiting to transport her to prison, that was when it dawned on her that, she was going to prison and may never come out again. She broke down in tears and would have fallen on the ground, but the policemen flanking her, hoisted her up and pushed her towards the Black Maria. The reporters flashed their cameras and snapped away, with the whole world, privy to her disgrace and shame.

Question: Who can really say that Yvonne is not guilty, for she was the one who baked the cake, Daisy couldn’t have killed herself, what do you think happened here?