SCUM 3
Four days ago
“No, you did not!”
Maurice gripped the steering wheel. “Massa, you’re looking at the evidence, and you’re asking me if it happened.”
Paul roared with laughter, scrolling through picture after picture on the laptop. “This was last year? A month after you were fired?”
“Chale, I didn’t have a choice. She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Paul pointed at the screen. “Is that the Burj Khalifa?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s magnificent.”
“Chale, Dubai ankasa dey bee. Sika no ahye, but it was fun.”
“And you still haven’t told her you lost your high-paying job?”
“You think Angelina would still be with me if I had?”
“C’mon, man. It’s been a year. How long do you think you can sustain this relationship? You need to let her go. I promise you there’s someone out there for you. Someone who won’t suck the life out of you. Someone like–”
“Like Faith? Chale, not everyone has your luck o.”
Paul smiled, shaking his head. “But these look nice, though. I’d go with Faith, but there’s a fifty-fifty chance she’d abandon me at the hotel just to pursue an investigation.”
“The Dubai girl thing?”
“Yep. It’s driving her crazy, not knowing what happened there.”
“But can you afford the trip, though? It’s not cheap.”
“Yes, Maurice. Some of us have savings because we live within our… wait…” Paul leaned into the screen. “Is that…”
“What is it?” Maurice turned to his friend.
“Paul?”
***
The ‘Event Gardens’ of Palace hotel, spruced up the night before to celebrate the union of a happy couple, was now a holding weary guests hostage. Having succumbed to hunger amidst the doom and gloom of the morning, and eating to their hearts delights in the absence of their hosts, they squirmed in their seats, unsure what their next steps should be. Was it okay to leave now, when the groom was dead, or had, possibly, jilted the bride? The rumour mill was still churning out details, so the news of his death could be a ploy by the family to cover up the severe embarrassment.
A woman was walking up to the MC now: the bride. People straightened as she walked into the middle of the gathering. The music died down gradually and they all directed their attention to her. The groom was dead, she confirmed. Friends and well-wishers who minutes ago had fed the rumour mill, chronicling their suspicions on social media, scrambled for their phones. They had called an innocent man names, stamped him with a common tag for people who did such despicable things: a low, vile, and worthless waste of space. They could only hope now that screenshots would not come back to bite them later in the day and for the rest of their lives.
“I know some of you have a long way to travel,” the bride was saying,” but I would plead with you to stay with us for an hour longer. We, his family and friends, will have a small ceremony in his honour before the day is over. I know you won’t abandon us in this desperate time.”
Everyone nodded. Of course, they would wait.
“Thank you.”
***
Oteng was waiting for her at the hotel entrance.
“Are you sure you want to be a part of this?” He asked again. Faith sighed.
“We’ve been over this, O.T. Let’s go.”
“Alright. In the interest of objectivity, I’ll take the lead on this.” They climbed up the stairs to the hotel’s first floor. “The speech was good enough to keep people here for another hour or two.”
“Good.” It’s possible our killer already left or didn’t show up here at all, but at this point, everyone’s a possible suspect.”
“You talked to the local police?”
“Yes, they’re on board. I have the contact of an Inspector Kumi, who’ll take the lead and liaise with us.”
“Great.”
They walked past the rooms, stopping at the door with a ‘Room 13’ tag. Oteng knocked and opened the door to Divine’s room. The three men stood as they entered.
“Is it true?” Divine asked Faith. “You think Paul was murdered?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head. “By whom and why?”
“That’s what we’re here to find out. At this point, we’re working under the assumption that his death is related to the wedding. Of course, we’re considering other angles, but we need to retrace his movements these past few days: everything he did, anybody he spoke to, whatever he said. We’re going to have to figure out what exactly happened and why it happened so we can find who did this.”
“Divine,” Oteng stepped in, “do you know anyone who wanted your brother dead?”
“No. Absolutely not. Everyone loved Paul.”
Faith pursed her lips. Obviously, someone didn’t.
“Maurice, any conflicts at his workplace, people who hated him?”
“No. It’s like Divine said. Paul is… was the best. And if there was something like that, I think he’d have told Faith.”
Oteng nodded. “Yes, I’ve been through these questions with Faith.” He pulled out his notepad.
“Were there any ex-girlfriends who were scorned in the making of this wedding?”
“No, Faith was Paul’s first girlfriend.”
“Did he say or do anything this week that gave any indication he was worried about something or someone?”
“No. Nothing.”
“Ace, you went running with him on Thursday, right?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s possible you were followed. Do you remember seeing anyone on the route?”
“No, it was really early. A few people were heading to their farms, but that’s it.”
“Alright.”
Someone knocked and opened the door. Frankie of Nananom Photography poked his head through.
“Please, come in.” Faith said. “O.T, this is Frankie.”
Oteng nodded. “Maurice, we’ll need your help going through Paul’s things. Faith will go with you. The rest of us will finish up here.”
Maurice wiped a sleeve over his forehead and followed her out into the corridor.
“What’s your room number?”
“Twenty-six.”
“Maame Yaa.”
Faith stopped at the sound of her mother’s voice and turned. Theodora was strolling towards them, still clad in her red lace and heeled shoes.
“I’ll be right with you, Maurice.”
He nodded, waving at her mother before leaving. Faith inhaled. “Yes, Maa?”
“What are you doing up here? Everyone is asking of you.”
“I’m kind of busy with the investigation.”
“Yes, your brother told me.” She held Faith by the shoulders. “You shouldn’t be running around like this. You just lost your husband. What do you expect people to say?”
“Paul was murdered, Maa. I need to find out who did it. That’s all that matters right now.”
“It also matters that you are seen mourning him. People will make assumptions about your love for him based on your actions from this point forward. Paul’s family, for instance. You don’t think they’re watching?”
“I think they’re more concerned about finding his killer.”
Theodora shook her head. “You haven’t changed one bit, you know that?” “Always asking questions, never accepting things as they are. Your brother too. Always acting on impulse, wielding his hot temper. I told him to wait this morning and not to be hasty. Now see the mess he’s made. I can’t even face them, for God’s sake.”
“You’re not listening to me, Maa. The murder trumps whatever happened this morning.”
“And how do you know that for sure, hm, that he was killed by someone?”
“Because it’s my job to know.”
“Yes, your job. But is it possible that you’re not ready to see things for what they really are?”
Faith snickered. “That, what, his death was the will of God? Look, Maa, I know Paul wasn’t your first choice for me, and maybe you’re happy he’s dead, but the least you could do is summon a modicum of empathy for your grieving daughter.”
Theodora recoiled. “Why are you talking to me like that? I know you’re hurting, but don’t forget I’m still your mother. I have been where you are. All this is not necessary. You’re throwing yourself into work so that you don’t have to deal with reality. And I’m telling you right now, this is not going to get you anywhere. Do you understand me?”
***
Maurice was waiting in the room, looking conspicuously unsettled in his buttoned-up suit.
“You didn’t change.” Faith closed the door behind her.
“What?”
“Earlier, you said you wanted to change.”
“Oh.” He ran his fingers along the lapels. “Yeah, it’s fine. I’m cool koraa.”
Faith nodded. He looked anything but cool.
“Tell me about last night.” She looked around the room.
“Nothing interesting. Divine and his friends took us to that bar after the rehearsal. That was around ten. We came back around midnight, then we went to bed.”
“What did you talk about?”
“I honestly don’t remember. We talked about… a lot of things.”
“Anything that might have seemed normal then, but in light of new information seems out of place?”
He sighed. “I’m sorry. I want to help, but it’s all so fresh. I don’t know.”
Faith sat on the bed. “I know. I keep thinking I’ll wake up, and it’ll be Wednesday again. Then, I’ll get a call from him, telling me he is on his way to make me his wife.”
Maurice swallowed.
“You came with him, right?”
“Yeah, we drove here together. Angelina wanted me to wait and come with her on Friday. Paul told her he was too tired to drive, so she’d let me come earlier.”
Faith nodded. “Did he meet or speak to anyone on the way? Did he seem anxious about coming here?”
“No.” Maurice twisted his mouth, recollecting. “We left Accra that morning. He got a haircut before we left. We played music, listened to sports.”
“What else?”
“Um…I got a call from my boss to send some backup files. But I was driving so Paul got out my laptop and the external. He saw some…. err…we had the music on.”
“He saw what?”
“Nothing. It’s just some embarrassing stuff. We had a good laugh over it. That’s it. Then we arrived here.”
Faith nodded, going back to that day. They had both wanted to wait till the ceremony to see each other so she hadn’t come to the hotel. She tried to remember if there was anything she might have missed during the traditional marriage. Paul looked happy then. She would have known if he knew something.
She pulled a drawer by the bedside. Empty. In the second one, there was a lone piece of paper: a receipt.
“Which ATM did he go to?” She reached for the receipt.
“What ATM?”
Faith read the timestamp. “Last night. He was at the ATM”
Maurice frowned. “We didn’t go to the ATM.”
Faith held up the receipt. “He was there at nine-thirty.”
“He was?” Maurice laughed. “I don’t know anything about that.”
“I thought you were with him?”
“Well, actually, I left for like thirty minutes, so maybe that’s when he went there.”
Faith narrowed her eyes. “You left?”
Maurice nodded.
“Left for where?”
Maurice licked his lips. The beads of sweat on his forehead trickled down his face. “I don’t… know.”
***
Back in room 13, Oteng paced as the two men watched the ‘wedding footage’ from that morning. Their interrogations had yielded nothing substantial yet. As suspects, both men were not great candidates. Ace had left town after the traditional wedding. He only had reason to kill Paul when he thought his sister had been humiliated, not before. Divine had spent the morning trying to cover for his brother by making everyone believe he was indisposed. That was protective brother behaviour. Understandable. Plus, he looked genuinely distraught, and there was no apparent motive for wanting his brother dead. He wondered how Faith was faring with the best friend.
A message from Inspector Kumi popped on his phone: The station was short on manpower, but he would get back to them soon. Great.
“Anything?” He asked the men.
Divine buried his face in his hands. “I still can’t believe any of this is happening.”
“Isn’t there something more we should be doing to find the killer?” Ace shrugged. “Just sitting here feels like a waste of time.”
Oteng pulled a chair to sit beside them. “You’re a teacher, right? High School?”
Ace nodded. “Part time.”
“Well, this is like the research part. It’s kind of dreary, but that’s how you find the good stuff. An imperfect analogy, I know, but this is how we catch the bad guys: by doing the boring work.”
“And what if it wasn’t a guest, or they didn’t even come to the church? What if it was a random robbery?”
“Local police is looking into that. They know the area. They’ll round up the usual suspects. If we’re wrong, we’ll find out soon enough.”
“Faith said she thinks this has to do with a case she’s working on? Is that right?”
“Eyes on the screen, please. And no. It’s just a similar tactic.”
“What case?” Divine asked.
“A girl who went missing in Dubai. Tragic story. There were flyers on Facebook and everything.”
Oteng groaned. “Gentlemen, I need you to focus. The video is less than an hour long. If you need a break–”
Ace hit a key, pausing the video. Both men stared at him. He reversed, then hit ‘play’. On the screen, the camera panned to a lone guest in the back of the church. He looked briefly into the camera, then looked away. Ace turned to Oteng.
“I need to talk to my sister.”
***
Faith watched Maurice unravel, unsure what to make of his behaviour. She was starting to realise that she had misinterpreted his demeanour earlier.
“You’re lying to me, Maurice. What I don’t understand is why.”
He shook his head. “I’m not lying.”
“You know what happened to Paul. Is that it?”
“No, I don’t know anything about Paul’s death.”
She’d thought Oteng’s decision to consider everyone a suspect was a bit extreme, but maybe she was wrong. Maurice was definitely acting suspiciously.
Faith crossed her arms, gathering her thoughts. She knew Maurice. She knew how to get him talking.
“Maurice, Paul loved you like a brother. When your sister died, he postponed his surgery so he could be there for you. Do you remember that? You always said that you wished you could do more to show you how much you appreciated him. It’s not too late. You have a chance to do that. Right now. You have a chance to be a good friend, like he was to you.”
Without warning, Maurice broke into tears. Faith waited. There was no way Maurice killed Paul. No way. So, why was he bawling? Fear? Nerves? Guilt?
Maurice sat on the centre table, wiping his face with the back of his hand. Faith sat beside him.
“Talk to me, Maurice.”
He reached into his suit and held out an envelope to her. Before she could reach out, he emptied its contents onto the table: crisp hundred-cedi notes.
“What is that?”
“Paul’s money.” He hung his head. “I stole it.”
Faith stared at the money, waiting.
“Paul wanted to have some cash on him, in case he had to pay for everyone at the bar. But Divine paid, so I was going to ask him to loan it to me this morning. He would have said ‘yes. You know that. After everything that happened, I figured you would come here to look around. I needed the money, so I came to pick it up.”
His voice broke. “I’m so so sorry. ”
The door opened. Oteng walked into the room, followed by Ace. They each took in the scene, turning to her.
“Bad time?” Oteng asked.
Faith got up, deciding to process that confession later. “Do you have something?”
“Yes. Your brother saw someone who apparently is not supposed to be here. ”
Faith turned to Ace. “Who is it?”
“Jones.”
Faith came up to Ace. “You saw jones?”
“Yes. He was at the church.”
“Can you tell me who he is now, Ace?”
“My Ex-boyfriend,” Faith rubbed her eyes.
Oteng nodded slowly. “I’m guessing you two parted on bad terms?”
“Something like that.”
“Bad enough to make him want to get back at you by killing the man you were going to marry on your wedding day?”
Faith stared into nothingness, recalling her last encounter with David.
“We need to find him.”
***
The guest checked out at reception and stepped out of the hotel. He hadn’t planned to stay this long but plans rarely went the way they were supposed to. He threw his bag into the boot of his car and pulled out of the parking When he got to the gate, he stopped, waiting for the security man who now approached him.
“Yes, sir. You’re leaving already?”
“I am.”
“I hope you had a good stay.”
“I did.” He slipped a ten cedi-note to the man who grinned with gratitude.
“Thank you, sir.” He stepped back. “It’s a shame what happened to that wedding. Did you know the couple?”
The guest nodded. “I know the bride.”
“Oh. She must be having the worst day of her life.”
David Jones rowed up his window, setting his sights on the road ahead.
“Yes, I can only imagine.”
©2021 AMA POMAA
Photo by Khalid Boutchich on Unsplash
Thanks for reading. One more suspect and I’ll get to snippets of what happened to Paul that morning. As always, let me know your thoughts in the comment section. And if you don’t want to miss the next part, let me notify you of updates.
Have a productive week!
