“Quadri, olori buruku, omo jati jati”, Alhaji insulted. “I will kill you in this life before you finish me”, he continued. Mr. Quadri replied, “Sir, no need to swear at me, have you forgotten, you sent me a mail and copied Mr. Chukwuma that you were no longer interested in the loan from Bond bank. Not only did you send a mail, to my humble self and Chukwuma, you sent a memo to the entire management board that the company will not pursue such a financial strategy now or in the nearest future.
Alhaji Bature was shocked to hear this from Mr. Quadri, he said, “Are you saying that an email originated from me asking you not to adjust the 3 quarter statement any longer and a second email purported to be from me, also ask the board not deliberate any longer on any matters pertaining to the proposed loan from Bond bank now or in the nearest future?”
“Yes Sir”, cried Mr. Quadri, he went on to tell Alhaji that not only did he receive the email, that Mr. Chukwuma called him claiming that he received a phone call from call from Alhaji Bature, on the day of his departure to Ibadan carefully explaining in detail that Bio chemicals was no longer interested in accepting a loan from the bank.
All this sounded like a mystery in the ears of Alhaji Bature, he wondered how the email could have originated from his account on the day he departed from Ibadan. He also imagined how the purported phone call could have come from his phone number. Who called Mr. Chukwuma? Who sent the email to Mr.Quadri and to the board? These are questions that needed a divine answer. Just as he was immersed in thoughts of what could have been, he received a phone call from Mr. Chukwuma, who told him that not only did receive a phone call indicating a desire not to pursue the loan any longer, he also claimed that he saw Alhaji the following day in traffic, at the close of business for the day.
Alhaji Bature said, “You saw me? But how could that be, I was hospitalized in faraway Ibadan, after I was attacked by assailants in Ijebu-Ode, and now you are saying that you saw me in traffic in Lagos.” Alhaji Bature had not been so confused before, he thought of two possibilities. Either Mr. Chukwuma or Mr. Quadri were up to no good or he was going insane. He believed that the former was more realistic than the later, he didn’t believe one bit the theory of insanity. He remembers vividly what happened that day up to the point he was set upon by the assailants. He remembered how their vehicle broke down in Ijebu-Ode and how Akpan left to go and get an electrician. The last thing he remembers was when Akpan called his attention just before he was struck, then waking up at the hospital in the midst of doctors and his wife.
He thought that the answers to the mystery could only be answered only when they find Akpan. Perhaps Akpan held the key to the mystery. But where could Akpan be? He pondered on what to next, whether to hire a private investigator, because he knew all was not as it seemed.
