As part of Trixan’s instruction to reshuffle the teams, Zemeron joined Narvari’s team. Narvari could guess exactly why Zemeron joined her team. But she wasn’t complaining. If there was a chance that they would run into royal demons on their missions, then they needed all the senior vanquishers they could get.
By the time one week passed, Narvari’s team had gone on five missions yet none of those missions had anything to do with royal demons. Not even ninth-order demons.
That was a relief but at the same time quite a disappointment.
Then one Friday morning Narvari received a notification on her xuul about a new mission in Lagos.
She met with the team at the Junior Lounge and Zemeron activated the portal. Being the last person to walk through the portal, Narvari found herself in an office. Professionally decorated with the Nigerian flags and the portrait of the Nigerian president on the wall, the office wasn’t small or shabby by any means but being used to Trixan’s incredibly massive and luxurious office made it seem like a cubicle in comparison.
Behind the desk sat a plump man in a light blue uniform with graying temples and a mouth wide agape. His shock soon eased into a wide smile as if he had suddenly remembered why a group of strangers had suddenly appeared out of thin air right in his office.
“You must be from the Special Unit,” he said, getting up from his large desk.
“Special Unit?” Narvari whispered to Yanvirrak and he just grinned. How many names did people know them by? In the last five missions, everyone had a different name for them. In one mission in Senegal, someone had even called them the Department of Extraordinary Affairs. Really? What kind of name was that?
“I’m Temitope Adeishola, Commissioner of Lagos State Police.” The man shook Zemeron’s hands.
After Zemeron introduced himself and the team, the commissioner scrutinized them with wide brown eyes.
“How can we help you, Commissioner?” Zemeron took the liberty to sit down in the ergonomic chair.
Temitope coughed before taking his seat. Since there were no other chairs, Narvari, and the others just stood there.
“We have a serious case,” The commissioner nodded. “Three months ago, forty-nine people were reported missing within two weeks.”
Forty-nine people in two weeks? Narvari narrowed her eyes. Damn.
“We tried everything but we found nothing. No suspects. No missing people. Nothing. The case transferred to FIB but they too found nothing and it became a cold case.” The commissioner paused, taking a deep breath. “What happened three months ago repeated itself four days ago. So far twenty people have gone missing. It followed the same pattern and we believe it will be difficult to crack the case without outside help. It’s why we’re transferring the case to the Special Unit with immediate effect.”
As serious as this case was, Narvari had doubts that it had anything to do with demons at all. It just sounded like a case of police incompetence. But as with all their missions, no matter how improbable it was to involve demons, they still investigated it thoroughly. From the few missions, Narvari had learned how cunning demons could be. As vanquishers, they couldn’t leave any stones unturned.
They followed Temitope out of the office, bypassing several police officers in black uniforms. Wherever they went, the officers halted in track saluting the man with a loud ‘Sir.’ Temitope simply passed by without any acknowledgment. Passing one hallway to the other, he finally led them to a smaller room. The stacks of boxes lay on the large oval table in the center of the room.
“We’ve made all the files of the victims available for you.” Temitope put a hand on top of one of the boxes. “We have been trying to find something — a connection or pattern. Anything to give us an idea of who’s behind the abductions. The only pattern we’ve discovered is how mysteriously the people disappear. The victims themselves have nothing in common, except that they all lived here in Lagos.”
“I see,” said Zemeron. “No worries. We’ll take it from here.”
Temitope nodded. “I’ll leave you to it then. Let me know when you need anything else.”
When Zemeron assured Temitope that he would, the commissioner left them alone.
Yanvirrak grinned at Narvari. “You look pale.”
“Shut up, Heinz.”
Pheera chuckled, already digging through the contents of the box.
Had Zemeron not instructed them to unpack the boxes, Narvari was sure Yanvirrak would have clapped back at her.
Yanvirrak grunted, gazing at a file. “Did demons really abduct these people and not some psycho serial killer with a lot of imagination?”
“That’s what we’re about to find out.” Zemeron buried his hands in his pockets. “We’ll divide the files of all forty-nine victims among ourselves. I want you to go through every single detail. Don’t take anything for granted.”
Two hours later Zemeron had pinned a picture of every victim on the large evidence board on the wall. Other information such as the victims’ ages, occupations, families, and time and place they were last seen all featured on the board.
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Finally, they all took a step back to look at their handiwork.
“I don’t see any pattern,” said Zemeron, not taking his eyes off the board.
Narvari nodded in agreement. Everything was just random in her eyes. If a serial killer was behind this, then their modus operandi would be that they didn’t discriminate when it came to killing.
Zemeron turned around. “Azmel, what do you think?”
Azmel had been so quiet the entire time that Narvari had almost forgotten he was with them. Though Azmel was no longer the captain because Zemeron outranked him, it was obvious Zemeron respected his opinion a lot.
“All these cases may have nothing to do with each other,” said Azmel. “But even if they’re related, we won’t find anything here unless we dig deeper. You know, interrogate the families of the victims and all that. “
“I agree.” Zemeron nodded. “This could take a while. We’re not leaving until we’re certain it has nothing to do with demons.” Zemeron glanced at his xuul. “It’s 9:04 am. We’ll form two teams to cover more ground. Yanvirrak and Pheera, you’re with me. Narvari, you are with Azmel.”
Sweet. Narvari smiled.
----------------------------------------
Azmel knocked twice on Room 203. It was on the fifth floor of the second tallest high-rise apartment in Lagos. A few seconds later, the door clicked open and a tall man in his thirties showed up at the door.
He raised a thick brow, casting a suspicious glare at Azmel. “Who are you?”
“Azmel Ray, Special Unit.” Azmel held out his silver license in front of the man’s face. “That’s my partner, Narvari Shar.”
“Never heard of that.” The man didn’t even bother to look at the license.
Azmel didn’t seem fazed though. “Eric Okarfor, right? Husband of the missing Cecilia Okarfor.”
Eric’s eyes wavered with uncertainty. “Who are you people?”
“I believe I already introduced ourselves.”
“And you expect me to believe you?” The suspicion in his eyes deepened.
Azmel, in his monotone voice, said, “Mr. Okarfor, we’re trying to find your wife and your cooperation will be most needed. Unless of course, you don’t care if she’s found.”
Oh god. Narvari almost face-palmed.
“Do I look like an idiot to you?” Eric scoffed, glaring at Narvari.
“I thought I’d seen everything in this world. But then a child and a white man show up at my door claiming to work for the Nigerian police. Leave, before I call the police you’re impersonating. Maybe this time they will do their job.”
Now that Narvari thought about it, the man had a point. “Mr. Okarfor — ”
“My name is Eric.”
“Right, Eric.” She nodded. “The Nigerian Police has contracted us for this case because it’s… special. Right now we’re the only ones who can find Cecilia. You just need to trust us.”
Eric paused as if pondering over Narvari’s words. Though he said nothing, Narvari saw the inner war waging in his eyes. Eventually, Eric sighed and invited them into his tiny apartment. He told them to sit on the couch and offered them some water but they declined politely.
“We’d like to ask you a few questions,” said Azmel.
“I don’t know what else you want to know. I’ve already told the police everything and they’ve done nothing.”
“We’re not the police.”
Eric paused. He stared briefly at the floor before looking back at Azmel with emotional brown eyes. “Can you really find my Cecilia?”
“We’ll do our best.”
Eric nodded. “Okay then. What do you want to know?”
“Did you notice anything odd before her disappearance? Perhaps, did she seem distressed or tell you about being stalked or anything of that sort.”
“Honestly, Cecilia was troubled for a while. But it had nothing to do with stalkers. Not at all.” He paused. “It was just our regular old issues like always. But we learned to cope with it.”
“What issues?”
Eric sighed. “Fertility issues. We tried starting a family, but…” Eric slumped into his seat. “We were still happy, you know. I don’t understand why anyone would want to hurt her. She’s the kindest person I know. Despite everything, she was always so cheerful and kind to everyone.”
“She sounds like a wonderful person,” said Narvari. It reminded her of Pheera’s kindness and thoughtfulness. Narvari smiled.
“She is.” Eric smiled for the first time. “I always thought that someday she would be a wonderful mother but I didn’t raise the issue anymore because it always caused her so much sadness.” Eric clenched his jaws when his voice cracked. “But you know, she’s very stubborn and not one to give up easily. She found a specialist in these kinds of things and they said we were making progress with our treatment. But now…” he paused, “now she’s gone. What if I never see her again?”
Silence hung in the air for a while. Azmel broke the silence. “When was the last time you saw her?”
“Four days ago. Right here in this room. She went to work and never returned.”
“Where does she work?”
“New Valley Primary School. She’s a teacher there.”
“Here in Ikeja?”
Eric nodded.
“And that was the last time you ever saw her?”
“Yes.” Eric nodded. “I still can’t believe it. I mean I spoke to her that evening and she told me she was on her way home. But she never came back.”
Azmel tilted his head. “You two spoke that evening?”
“Yes. She called me to deliver the good news.” Eric rubbed his forehead, his eyes becoming even more exhausted. “She said the hospital had called her that evening to schedule an appointment. They had found a new treatment with a 99% rate of success. She was so happy she couldn’t wait to get home before telling me. She had left work shortly before calling and I expected she would be back in an hour or so. But I waited all night.” Eric shook his head. “I tried calling her several times but her phone was dead. Up till today, it’s still a mystery where she’s gone. I called her parents, her friends, her school. No one knows where she is. I know Cecilia, she isn’t one to just go somewhere without telling anyone. Even if she didn’t tell me, she would inform her father. And her father never heard anything. No one has. The police can’t do anything.”
Eric, who could no longer hold all the anguish inside finally broke down. Though he didn’t cry out loud, the tears just poured from his eyes like a broken dam and his shoulders shook. He covered his face.
“I’m sorry,” he sniffled, wiping his tears. “I’m sorry for being pathetic.”
Narvari bit her lips. “You’re not pathetic, Eric. There is nothing pathetic about what you’re doing. It’s okay to cry.”
Eric glanced at her with puffy red eyes. He exhaled deeply and nodded. “Thank you.”
“May I ask one last question, Eric?” Azmel asked.
Eric nodded.
“What’s the name of the hospital?”
“New Life Hospital,” said Eric. “It’s right here in Ikeja.”
“Alright then.” Azmel stood up. “Thank you for your time. We’ll do our best to find your wife.”
But what if they never found Cecilia? Narvari thought. And worse, what if Cecilia was dead? Besides, if it turned out that demons had nothing to do with this case, would they just ignore it? They were only here for the demons after all, but it didn’t sit right with her that this man, as well as dozens of people, would suffer so much for the loss of their loved ones, and yet nothing could be done about it.
It made her sick to her stomach.