The Red Briefcase

Chapter 5

“Hello, Baba, Detetive Manga must face arrest now. This is an insult to me as President. I just watched the press conference. I will be leaving London tomorrow morning and will be arriving in Banjul at 10 O’ clock.”

“Arrest is too early, Mr. President. Detective Manga is taking care of another case for Interpol and it won’t be wise to arrest him if there is no strong warrant. The EU might pressurize us to release him and that’s a character assassination against you. Let us try to approach the situation differently.”

President Ali Benzouda was a little suspicious about Baba taking sides with Detective Manga.

“How did you know he is taking care of a case for Interpol?”

“He came to my office protesting about Johnson’s release before he made this press conference. Unfortunately, I could not convince him to back down.”

“This mess has already wounded my name and I must heal it. Whatever, when am back I will take a full grip of the situation.”

Johnson also watched some part of the press conference, but refused to allow any pressure to absorb his mind. However, he wasn’t feeling much comfortable and could not even sit at home. He took a taxi and went to the downtown of Bakoteh where criminal gangs, drug dealers and unknown killers have been dwelling. He sat for three hours under two big inclined Mango trees hoping to find a perfect killer. Later on, a tall fat man with a scary face passed by and Johnson saw a pistol squeezed at his back. He followed him for about a hundred kilometer until the guy entered an abandoned warehouse. Two men soon went into the warehouse and he was still waiting, gathering courage to go in. The man he followed came out and stood beside a van tapping his cell phone. He waved at him, but wasn’t noticed.

“Hey! I want to speak to you! Hey!”

The man raised his head and saw Johnson. He walked slowly to him and frown his face.

“Why are you here, man? What do you want?”

“I need serious help. I will pay any amount of money if someone can help me overcome some shit.”

“What kind of problem are you talking about?”

Johnson lowered his voice.

“I want to eliminate someone. I need an assassinator.”

They held each other’s stare for some moment.

“Why do you think I can help you?”

“I saw a gun at your back when you passed by me over there and I have the conviction that you are the right man I am looking for.”

The man laughed heartily and Johnson just kept silent.

“You are a smart guy.”

“What’s your name?” he said.

“I am Ebou, the unstoppable thunderstorm.”

“Waaw, nice name. I am Johnson and—”

“Do you have half-a-million dollar?”

“I am filthy rich, Ebou. You just have to assassinate someone who is blocking my breath. Are you ready for it?”

“Okay, how much are you willing to offer in full?”

“I will reward you more than what you want. One and half-a-million Dollar will all be yours if you do this job well. I am going to give you one quarter of the money and when you are done with the assassination, I’ll give you the other three quarter without any delay.”

Johnson explained the details and the address of the man he wanted death and Ebou noted everything down on a paper. He was hopeful of ending the nightmare that was continuing to cause him desperation. If the man he wanted death got killed, then he will be at an advantage, but if the plot fails, things will be worse for him. The risks involved were more than that of his failed attempt to eliminate Sanna with the poison.

Detective Manga’s press conference was on every news headline and the following morning, it dominated the media coverage as the country awaits the arrival of President Ali Benzouda. The Banjul airport was packed with journalists from print and broadcast media and there was high security presence that sent signal that the President could be prevented from facing the media.

At exactly 10 a.m. the Presidential jet was seen flying with the beautiful blue sky all over and it landed safely on Africa’s longest runway. There were more than seven thousand people welcoming the President back home and he was expected to cheer the huge crowd before heading to the Presidential Palace in the heart of the capital city.

Inside the airport hall, journalists were lucky to throw some questions at President Ali Benzouda. His facial expression directly indicated anger, but the media did not mind to put him under criticism. Two questions troubled him and he found it difficult to hit back.

“Mr. President, you released Johnson without considering the law that govern our nation. Is this what you’ve promised Gambians who voted you into power?” said a journalist from the D-Dot News.

“Gambians trusted me with the highest job in the country and records speak well about my character as a leader. I released Johnson on factual basis and am not going to respond to anymore question in that regard. ”

That was not the answer that the Gambian populace would expect from their head-of-state. The second question troubled him further while the whole nation watched him on TV.

“Detective Manga was the chief investigator in Johnson’s case and we all know he is Gambia’s top security personnel. So why did you fail to consult him when you ordered Johnson’s release?” said another reporter.

“I was unable to talk to him directly because I was not in the country,” he said. “I suppose the Vice President should have done that on my behalf. I have maximum respect for each and every Gambian and that includes Detective Manga. So there is no need to picture me as a dictator.”

This response he made up did not completely match the real shape of truth. It also described his government as generally inefficient in governance, particularly in communication. The press and the public believed that if the President was not doing corruption, then Detective Manga should have been consulted before Johnson got released no matter what it takes.

The dust that Detective Manga raised in the media invaded President Ali Benzouda’s eyes. Comments by thousands of ordinary Gambians through the wires of the media showed anger and mistrust against the entire government.

Ebou began his operation and was absolutely prepared to assassinate his target. At 3:00 in the afternoon on a sunny Thursday, he parked his car very close to the Serrekunda Central Police Station trying to find Detective Manga. He sat inside the car for about an hour, but did not see anyone who even looked like Detective Manga. The sunglass that covered his eyes made his face look scary. Lying on the seat next to him, were two silent guns partially covered by the newspaper that had Detective Manga’s photo.

When Ebou’s patience began to shake off, Detective Manga appeared at the entrance of the Police Station and was spotted very well. He entered his car and as soon as he drove toward the Westfield Junction, Ebou followed him in the traffic. After a couple of minutes, he lost track of him due to traffic light stop-signal. Detective Manga was going to a private television station, Bright-Eye, who invited him to an interview concerning President Ali Benzouda’s releasing of Johnson.

The live interview began at 5:00 and the whole nation was watching. Detective Manga made a cover-to-cover explanation about how he executed the investigation and presented pictures of the evidences that warranted Johnson’s arrest. He went on to describing the President as ‘A CORRUPT LEADER’ and that the nation should remember this during the upcoming presidential election. The content of the interview was a big lash on the President who was also watching the program.

Ten army officers intruded the TV after the interview and Detective Manga was nabbed and taken to the central police in Jeshwang to await trial. No one knew the charges against him and the press got bitterer; the arrest was on every news channel and those in the opposition bracket immediately stood strongly behind him.

Hours later, important news came out; spreading of false info and disrespect of the head-of-state was charged against Detective Manga. The other news was about the resignation of the Vice President, Baba, who was in protest of President Ali Benzouda’s decision. The Interpol together with the EU condemned the arrest, adding more pressure on the government.

Johnson was very glad because Detective Manga’s arrest provided him a fertile ground to move on with the assassination that he had planned with Ebou. He took his phone and called Ebou while the news of the arrest was spreading fast.

“Hello, Ebou, things are coming our way. Detective Manga have been arrested and he’s now in jail,” he said. “Sanna has come to work today and he got a warm welcome from everyone in Root Bank including myself. I felt so horrible seeing him as a boss again. You need to kill him as soon as possible. Detective Manga is not a threat anymore.”

“Good news, Johnson, and I promise that you’ll have news about Sanna’s death within the next twenty-four hours. Just package the remaining cash for me.”

Johnson tried to win Sanna’s trust by moving up and down the whole six floors to parch the works that have been left undone. He gathered all the documents that Sanna was supposed to sign during the period he spent in the hospital. Sanna refused to hate him though he was sure he was the one who wanted to kill him with the poison.

Some minutes before closing time, Ebou came very close to Root Bank with his car. He focused his sight on the entrance of the bank so he could easily spot Sanna. The busy traffic did on several occasions obstruct his view, but he remained concentrated.

Two security guards brought Sanna’s suitcase and some files and put them inside his blue car. He was escorted to his car and he drove by himself. Ebou was behind him in the traffic and only a white van was in-between them. He carefully sped up and overtakes the car in front to be tied to Sanna so he won’t miss track of him. One and half-a-kilometer ahead of them was a police check point and Ebou was not carrying any driving license and there was an unauthorized shotgun too inside his car. When they reached there, Sanna didn’t have any fault and was allowed to move on, but Ebou was asked to park his car on the roadside. There was no way to escape; the only option was to bribe the police officers. He grabbed an equivalent of fifteen Pounds from his pocket and gave it to the senior officer, who accepted the bribe without realizing it was fake notes.

Although he was allowed to go, Sanna was already beyond his view and it was impossible to catch-up with him. Should I go after him or go back home and prepare for the night operation? I don’t know, he thought as he slowed down the speed of his car. His cell phone made a loud message alert and stopped. He opened it and saw, ‘I have packaged the remaining cash’. It was Johnson. This renewed his stamina and he continued searching for Sanna. He used the address that Johnson gave him to find Sanna’s home.

When he reached there, he saw Sanna’s car parked by Mayuka’s home, which was immediately adjacent to sanna’s compound .He looked at the address again and thought maybe Johnson made a little mistake. Sanna was in Mayuka’s house chatting with her and haven’t got to his home yet. Ebou went away, mistaking Sanna’s address with that of Mayuka.

At midnight, Ebou came back completely armed with different weapons ranging from pistols, knives, sleeping bomb and a sizeable hammer. He climbed Mayuka’s tall fence and found his way to the backyard. The place was very dark and there were so many flowers and banana plants on the left and right side and by the fence. Mayuka loved nature and made her backyard have the characteristics of a thick forest with almost no space left. Ebou looked all around, but could not see any door to access the main apartment. The dark-glass aluminum door was covered by bougainvillea flowers in such a way that it seemed like a wall. He turned his torchlight on took see properly and walked carefully towards the area of the door.

A little while later, he heard a slight noise from almost exactly where he was standing and then he pulled his gun from his waist. He turned around and moved part of the bougainvillea flower with his left hand, intending to find the source of the noise. Instead, he saw the door and quickly came closer to open its lock. He inserted a two-headed tiny metal into the key hole and pressed it upwards. He hit it lightly with the handle of his hammer for a few time and the door opened.