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...
Mrs. Nwaokolo felt the tears roll down her eyes as she felt the blow of the bad news the principal had given her. She pinched herself, hoping that this was some nightmare but alas, this was a reality.
She was in her shop, going on her normal life when she got a call from the school about her son. Her son, Okechukwu, her dear son whom she loved so much. Who would want her son dead? Her body shook as she cried heavily.
"Mrs. Nwaokolo, please calm down, the police are currently investigating the matter at hand. We are also as shocked as you are. Your son, Okechukwu, was the golden boy of this school. He was the most outstanding student of his set, he was the junior head boy, he was one of our most valuable players on the school football team and he had a very good record in this school, not just in academics but also with his peers," Mrs. Aderonmu, the JSS 3 Maths teacher, said as she was still trying to recover from the shock of the news.
On the other side was Ifeoma who was also in tears. She also had the same question as everyone, who would want to kill Okechukwu? He was friends with everyone so who would really kill him?
"What was the cause of his death, ma?" Mrs. Nwaokolo sobbed.
"The coroners are currently finding the cause, but they are suspecting that someone must have electrocuted your son," Ms. Yejide, the principal, replied.
Mrs. Nwaokolo burst into tears at the reply. Electrocution? Whoever killed her son must have really wanted him to die in the quickest and most quiet way ever to use electrocution.
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The next day, the school held an assembly in the auditorium to alert the students on the reason why the school had to declare an emergency.
"So, you guys are aware that the bell went off in the middle of class. Unfortunately, it was not a drill, it was a real emergency," Ms. Yejide sighed as she addressed the panicky students.
"We found out yesterday that a student was found dead in the boys' toilet and that student happens to be Okechukwu Nwaokolo."
"Ah!" The student body went into a clamour as there were murmurs and mutters amongst the students. This was seriously a bad thing, who would kill the school's golden boy?
"As a result, the school's Board of Education has decided to go on lockdown for two weeks so that we can investigate this case. That means there would be no class for two weeks, we sincerely apologize for this inconvenience," Ms. Yejide concluded before she stepped down from the stage.
The auditorium was filled with groans and tears at the news. They would have rejoiced at the thought of a two-week break but the situation surrounding it prevented them from doing so.
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Ifeoma sat on the edge of her late brother's bed as she cried, looking at the planner in her hands. Her mother was currently speaking with the party planner on the phone. They had been planning to throw a birthday party for Okechukwu's 14th birthday but now, instead of a birthday party, they were planning a burial. Such an irony, Ifeoma smiled bitterly.
It was such a cruel joke life could play on them. They had bought a suit that Okeh would wear for his birthday party, now he would wear it for his burial. Instead of a birthday cake with 14 candles, it would be a plaque bookmarking his death. Instead of joy filling the atmosphere, it would be melancholy. Instead of a box of gifts, it would be a bouquet of dark red roses and rather than an "Okeh clocks 14" bag, it would be a "celebration of life, Okechukwu Nwaokolo, 2003-2017" bag. How ironic that his burial would take place on his birthday, such a sick joke, Ifeoma laughed bitterly as she threw the planner at the door.
On the day of his death, hours before his death, they had planned to go to the printer's office to collect the invitation letters for his birthday party. Who would seriously do this to Okeh? Did he offend anyone? Did he fight anyone?
Mr. Nwaokolo knocked at the door of his son's bedroom before opening it. "Ify, the detectives are here. They would like to ask some questions."
Ifeoma nodded before climbing down from the bed.
"Good Afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Nwaokolo, Ms. Nwaokolo. My name is Saheed Farouq and beside me is my partner, Helen Adeboye, we are detectives sent to investigate this murder case of your son, Okechukwu Nwaokolo. Now, we understand if you don't want to answer any questions, but this is very important in our investigation so that we can find the culprit behind this crime. Do you mind if we investigate this case?"
"Ah, Officer, see it is okay to ask any questions. We need to get to the bottom of this case. Whoever murdered my son cannot walk freely while my son's blood is still crying out for justice. Whoever that person is, may God punish them, may they not succeed in life. As they have cut the life of my son short ..."
"Calm down, madam. It is not the time for curses, the hand of justice will definitely catch up with the culprit, but curses will not solve anything," Helen interrupted.
"Are you not a mother too? Don't you have siblings too? Put yourself in my shoes for a minute, how would you feel if someone should cut the life of your own child short?" Mrs. Nwaokolo said, trying to hold her tears in.
"I'm also a mother too, madam. I understand how you feel but madam, you are a Christian like me too, vengeance is the Lord's. He would surely bring this criminal to justice."
"Okay," Mrs. Nwaokolo sighed.
"Ifeoma, I know that you are the closest to your brother here and it might be difficult to answer some of these questions, just tell me if you can't answer anymore, okay?" Saheed looked at her before he continued. "In all the time you've known your brother, has he ever complained about anyone to you?"
"No, sir," Ifeoma replied dryly.
"I see," he said as he logged it in his notepad. "And he has never fought with anyone? No bad blood? No scorned girlfriend?"
Ifeoma raised her eyebrows at the last question. Scorned girlfriend? Did Okeh have any girlfriends? It was normal for a guy of his age to have crushes and it was even normal for guys his age to have girlfriends but Okeh had always seen romantic relationships as an unnecessary distraction so she doubted if her late brother would have a "scorned lover" after his blood. "None, sir. At least, none that I'm aware of. My brother has always seen romantic relationships as a distraction, it is unlikely he would be in one. Plus, Okeh is loved by everyone. He has always been friendly with even the lowest of students in our school, I doubt if he would have bad blood with anyone."
"Okay, that's great. I've spoken with your brothers' teachers and all of them said the same thing about him. We would be going now but here are our numbers here," Saheed handed Ify a card with Helen's number and his. "If you have anything you want to tell us, you can call us. If we have any more leads, we would call you and your parents, thanks for answering our questions, we would be on our way now."
Mr. Nwaokolo stood up, walking the detectives to the gate while Ifeoma walked up to her room with one question in her mind, could her brother really have been in a romantic relationship?
𖣘𖣘𖣘𖣘𖣘
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