It is like a normal day at school until a dead body is found in the boys' toilet. The school goes on lockdown as the school board opens an investigation. Everyone is a suspect in this story but who would want to kill the school's golden boy and why...
It was finally the day of the burial; it would have been Okeh's birthday but what else could they do? That's life for human beings. The church was filled with people from Okeh's school, the Nwaokolo family and the church members. The whole room was filled with melancholy and a sombre mood and the weather outside suited the occasion as it was raining heavily.
The Nwaokolo had planned a small burial with just the family, the church and the friends of their son but word had gone around and the whole school showed up. Thankfully, there was enough space in the church to accommodate the guests.
After the burial, the Nwaokolo family retired to their homes. They didn't want a reception as they believed that burial receptions were for those who died at a ripe age, not 14-year-olds who were full of potential but couldn't reach them.
Ifeoma sat in the living room when the doorbell rang. She sighed as her parents were not in the mood to receive any visitor. She walked to the door to open before talking, "I'm sorry but-"
"Hey, Ify," a tall dark-skinned guy smiled.
"Oh, hi, Tunde. I didn't it was you. Hey, come in," she said as she let him in.
"I know this may be a bad time for me to come in but are you okay? You kind of zoned out during the burial ceremony," Tunde asked.
"I'm fine. It's just that there's this thing that has been bothering me for a while now," Ify replied, scratching her head.
"Oh, what is it?"
"Well, the detectives came to investigate my brother's murder and they asked if he has a scorned girlfriend. Knowing Okeh, he hasn't been in a romantic relationship, but I don't know, I have my doubts. What if he has but he didn't tell me? It is quite normal for a guy his age to have romantic feelings and even be in a relationship, isn't it?"
Tunde ran his hand through his hair as he pondered on it. "You're right. Did Okeh own a diary while he was alive?"
"Yes, he did," Ify nodded her head in affirmative.
"Then we'll have to check them to know if he had a relationship."
Ify looked at Tunde like he had grown an extra head. "What?! I can't do that; it would be a violation of his privacy."
"How would you know if you don't find out? Look, I understand why you don't want to read your brother's thoughts on a book, but you don't know what leads you might find in there."
"I don't know if I can do this, but I'll try to," she smiled sadly.
"Hey, it's okay. You call me if you need me, okay. I have to go now, good day," Tunde stood up as he got ready to leave.
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That night, Ifeoma couldn't sleep as Tunde's advice ran through her head. Unable to take it anymore, she walked to Okeh's room with a flashlight in her hand. With the way PHCN was always cutting off power, she couldn't afford to be careless, plus, she didn't want to wake her parents up.
She carefully opened the door and shut it before walking to his drawers. If I was Okeh, where would I keep my diary, she thought as she rummaged through the drawers. After a few minutes of searching, she felt a hardcover book which she picked up. She stood up, wrapped the book in a small quilt before carefully opening the door.
She quickly sneaked to her room and hid the diary, then brought out her phone. Hey Tunde, I have the diary with me. I haven't read it yet. She switched off the phone and placed it on the nightstand before retiring to bed.
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It has been six weeks after the burial of Okechukwu Nwaokolo and Santa Maria International School had already resumed classes. When the students first got back to school, they were talking about Okeh's death and it had been very difficult for them to keep up with the schedule as they had missed a lot of schoolwork due to the lockdown.
"Hey, Ifeoma," Tunde walked up to her. "I've been calling you, but you didn't answer. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I am. I was just thinking about some stuff. The detectives called yesterday," Ifeoma looked away as tears pricked at her eyes.
"What did they say?"
Ifeoma stopped at the hallway and looked at Tunde. "They said that they would have to close the investigation because they have no leads."
"What about Okeh's diary? Did you find anything?"
"I haven't opened it yet," Ify shrugged nonchalantly.
"You have to read it. Look, I know you respect your brother's privacy, but it is important you read his diary for clues. Do you want to see justice being meted out to the culprit? You need to check out that diary," Tunde explained calmly.
The bell rang, signifying the end of recess, causing Tunde to swear softly. "Look, I'll talk to you later, okay. Yo, Musa," he called from a distance as he left.
The students all dispersed into their different classes for the seventh period. The seventh period, Ify scoffed. That was the period when her brother was found dead, thinking about it, could it be that the murderer had chosen that period, since the JSS 3 classes were having their mock exams at that time.
The culprit couldn't have committed the crime during the break time where everyone would be filling up the restrooms like crazy, so the person must have committed the crime either close to the end of break or at the beginning of the seventh period.
Ifeoma gasped in realization, maybe Tunde was right. She had to read that diary if she wanted answers.
I sincerely apologize for not updating in a while. Classes just started this Monday and I had a lot of issues to sort out. I'm still sorting them out but here's a new chapter for y'all guys. 💜
