The Red Briefcase

Chapter 3

Suwadu nodded.

“Thank you, Detective.

Detective Manga walked a few steps toward the door and he stopped.

“One more thing,” he said. “I just want to tell you that you’re so beautiful.”

Suwadu was astonished.

“Oh, thanks again,” she said.

Detective Manga went to the office on the left-hand-side and saw Sarata seated at her desk ready to face Johnson. He looked above the door and saw a sign that said, ASSISTANT MANAGER.

“Hello, madam. Is this, um, the Assistant Manager’s office?” he asked.

“Yes, it is,” Sarata said.

“I am Detective Manga and please tell him that I want to speak to him.”

Sarata informed Johnson and Detective Manga’s request was given due without any delay. Johnson already knew about his presence and was preparing to face him confidently as well.

“Good afternoon, Detective. Um, eh, have a seat please.”

“Thank you, Assistant Manager. Well, how’re you and what’s your name?”

“My name is Johnson. Am still shocked by what has happened to Sanna, but am alright. Thank God doctors have saved his life.”

“Oh! I am glad to learn that, but I think it will be a bad news for the attempted murderer. That is, if the General Manager didn’t poison himself.”

“Yeah,” Johnson said in a confident tone.

Detective Manga paused for a minute.

“When did you see your boss today?”

“Just about three hours ago.”

“I guess in his office, right?”

Johnson nodded emphatically.

“Yes, Detective.”

“What were you discussing with him?”

“It was about a business proposal and that just took few minutes.”

Detective Manga looked intently into Johnson’s eyes.

“Was that all you two did?”

Johnson quickly suspected that Detective Manga was told about his unhealthy relation with Sanna. He then chose not to lie because that will make him appear more suspicious.

“No, Detective. We had a small argument with regards to the business proposal I was assigned to do.”

Detective Manga tried to read and understand Johnson’s facial expression in order to construct a sensitive question.

“How often do you two argue?”

“Sometimes, uh, I mean not always. Just few occasions where we think differently,” he said.

Detective Manga nodded. His suspicion about Johnson was strengthened by the weak answers he gave. Who else could have so much hatred for the General Manager besides Johnson? Perhaps, he is tired of playing second fiddle to his boss and wants to take up his position. Detective Manga thought in few seconds.

“Alright, Johnson, we’ll hang it here for now. But we still need to talk more.”

“Feel free to come anytime, Detective.”

Detective Manga left and went back to Sanna’s office, where he met his two Forensics people, Jim and Joe.

“How’re you guys. When did you come?”

“We are fine, Sir,” said Joe. “We were told that you were in the Assistant Manager’s office.”

“Yeah, meaning you two just arrived. Have you found anything yet?”

“Yes, we’ve found a broken glass cup and a pen which was lying on the desk. The pen has some liquids on it and could probably been used for mixing the poison with the coffee.”

“Can I see the pen?” Detective Manga said, as he put on a pair of latex gloves.

The senior Forensic, Jim, carefully showed Detective Manga the pen.

“Detective Manga, this could be the only piece of evidence. Look at it very properly,” Jim said.

Detective Manga remember seeing the exact type of pen somewhere. Suddenly, he ran with speed back to Johnson’s office.

THE CUFF….Chapter ❷

D

etective Manga entered Johnson’s office to see if there was any pen similar to the ones which the Forensics people found in Sanna’s office.

“Johnson, I think I left my pen in here,” he said as he set his eyes on the desk.

“Just take one pen from my ink-stand over there. You might have dropped your pen somewhere else.”

Detective Manga took advantage of Johnson’s generosity to find possible evidence. The pens he saw in the ink-stand were the exact type that the Forensics people found. He took three pens instead of one and went back to Sanna’s office.

Joe stopped what he was doing when he saw Sanna back with pens in his hands.

“Where did you get these pens from?”

“I got them from the Assistant Manager’s office and it’s the same one you guys showed me. I have the conviction that it will bring us some clue.”

“We will test the liquid on the pen we found here and if it happens to be a poison…” Jim said.

“If it happens to be a poison, then you’ll have to extract the finger print on it as well.”

“That’s correct.”

“Well, in that case,” Joe said. “we have to take the Assistant Manager’s finger print right away.”

Detective Manga nodded.

“I agree with you, Joe.”

“What’s his name?” Jim asked.

“Johnson.” Detective Manga said. “Let’s go to his office so you extract his finger print.”

Joe went with Detective Manga and he put Johnson’s finger print on a small size paper and on two other white tissues. Johnson didn’t construe what Joe and Detective Manga were trying to establish. He wasn’t comfortable; he wanted to have an idea about their actual intention. What are these people up to? Why did they take my finger print this early? Thank God I didn’t touch the coffee cup with my hand. He thought for a while trying to free his mind and stop worrying too much.

Some minutes later, he remembered using his pen when he was mixing the coffee with the poison and having left it on the desk.

“Damn it! The f*****g detective wanted my pens. I’m stupid! I left my pen on Sanna’s desk and they must have seen some finger prints on it. Am screwed,” he said in utmost frustration.

He went to Sanna’s office to confirm if his pen was taken away. He found nothing on the desk; not even Sanna’s pens. It was very clear to him that his pen was taken away for testing. Then he realized that he has stepped his feet into a very difficult situation which is difficult to escape. He however had strong hopes that he will be backed by President Ali Benzouda and that gave him a little air to breath.

Detective Manga went to the Banjul hospital after driving his Forensic team to the lab in Serrekunda. He met Aisha sitting and waiting along with Mayuka in the ER looking so frightened and he joined them on the seat. He looked at Aisha’s face and felt emotional.

“Hi, why is she shedding tears?” he asked Mayuka.

“Her husband is in critical condition. He drank a poisonous coffee some hours ago at Root Bank.”

“I am Detective Manga from the Central Investigation Unit,” he said. “I was at Root Bank with my Forensic team, where we started our investigation. Am sorry about what happened.”

Aisha remained silent and Mayuka’s mind went back to the ordeal she had gone through when she lost her husband. She quietly wished nothing like that happen to her best neighbor, Aisha.

While they waited for the doctors, Detective Manga’s cell phone ranged violently. He opened it and read the caller ID. It was his senior Forensic, Jim.

“Hello, Jim. Have you tracked anything from the lab test?”

“Yes. The droplets of water on the pen have some poison content in it and the finger print on it as well matched with that of the Assistant Manager.”

“I knew this was going to be the result. Johnson gave me shaky answers when I was interrogating him. He was the only one I strongly suspected.”

Detective Manga ended the call and drove straight to Root Bank to get Johnson arrested. He was in absolute to tally such an arrest to his career record.

When he arrived at the bank, he walked quickly into the elevator lobby and pressed button number six. As soon as he reached the sixth floor, he went out of the elevator with his hand cuff. He entered Johnson’s office without even uttering a word to the secretary at the entrance, Sarata.

“You’re under arrest, Johnson.” he said.

Johnson stood up with an angry responsive face.

“How dare you enter my office like this?”

“I am a short-tempered person and this is not the time for argument.”

“I don’t understand you, Detective,” he said. “Why am I supposed to be arrested?”

“Am not going to bargain with you, Johnson. The preliminary evidence that my Forensic team and I have gathered makes you a key suspect. This is what warrants your arrest.”

Johnson smiled and shook his head in desperation.

“You guys now believe that am an attempted murderer. I advise you to go over your investigation because you are making a big mistake here.”

“Shut your big mouth! Come over and put your dirty hands in this cuff. I will not allow you to disrespect my work.”

The message was clear. Johnson stared into Detective Manga’s eyes and saw the anger that was eating his heart. He came forward and his hands were cuffed at his back.

As they walk pass Sarata’s desk who was gaping in disbelieve, Johnson stopped.

“Are you having my lawyer’s cell phone number?” he asked.

“Yes, I do, Sir,” sarata said.

“Good. Call him and notify him about my arrest. Do that immediately.”

“Okay, boss.”

Detective Manga used the elevator and went down with Johnson. They headed to the police car that he had parked in front of the Root Bank building. He drove straight to the Banjul Police Headquarter, where Johnson eventually got detained.

Johnson worried a lot about the media in the first few hours that he spent behind bars. He was afraid his image was going to suffer significant setback when the press starts covering news about his detention. However, he was cocksure that the case will be dismissed as a mere wolf cry by President Ali Benzouda, but what remained unknown to him was when the President will be back from his trip to the UK.

Later in the day, Johnson’s lawyer, Amadi Njie, showed up at the police station. Johnson’s hand was cuffed and was allowed out of the cell to have a meeting with his lawyer in a private area of the jail.

“Did you try to kill Sanna?” Amadi said, sitting across from Johnson.

“Why ask such a silly question? Come on, don’t you know your job? Am your client and all you need to do is to defend me and not bother me with mad questions.”

“Try to calm down, Johnson. The police chief has just told me that you will be arranged before a judge at the High Court tomorrow morning. I don’t care about whether you tried to kill Johnson or not because all I need is the cash. The investigators must have strong evidence against you that made them want your appearance in court as soon as tomorrow. So you need to tell me the truth because that’s what can vividly help me to know which approach to take in defending you. I guess you already know the top Detective in the country is the one who led this investigation, right?”

Johnson nodded. He held his forehead with his two hands and paused for a minute.

“Yes, I wanted him death. That’s it.”

He felt confused because the situation was overcoming him and the President who had the leverage to sweep the case under the carpet was overseas. My plan has failed me at a very bad time, he thought.

The next morning at 8:00, Amadi came back to the Banjul Police Headquarter to accompany Johnson to the High Court.

“Morning, Johnson, and hope you had some sleep?”

“No, not even a second. My eyes stayed open from the moment I set my foot into this damn cell.”

“We will be heading to the court in about twenty minutes time and what you should do is to stay calm, relaxed and give short answers during the hearing. I will do the rest of the job and—”

“Do you know when President Ali Benzouda will come back from England?”

“No, but someone in the government told me that the President already got the news and will be making comments soon. Let’s hope for the best.”

“I am sure if the President comes back, I will be free from this s**t and be back at work.”

Six police officers armed to the teeth sat at the back of a police vehicle leaving Johnson in the middle. His hands were cuffed and his right foot was chained to the seat. Amadi was at the front seat close to the driver and he felt disturbed by the loud siren.

“Officer, can you reduce the sound of the siren? It’s distracting me and I need to think well before we get to the court.”

“Am sorry, the volume can’t be reduced because the button has been plugged off.”

“I still can’t understand why the security in this country never does things perfectly.”

The officer driving didn’t respond and kept his concentrating on the traffic. He understood that Amadi wanted to irritate him and if he responds, there could emerge unnecessary problems. Seconds later, they popped into a security stop line. Two of the police officers on board came down and before they could say anything, the state guard securities commanded them to open the cuffs on Johnson’s hands. They were fifteen in number with sophisticated guns in their hands.