"So what are we going to do next?"
Ego's question interrupted Okemmiri's thoughts.
He turned toward her.
"Are you sure everyone has taken the oath?"
"Yes," she replied. "Apart from the people who travelled with me."
Okemmiri's eyebrows rose.
"They must also take it."
"Is that really necessary?"
"Woman, are you questioning the gods?"
"Of course not."
Ego immediately ordered Onumara and everyone who had accompanied her to Nnewi to come forward.
There were six of them.
One after another, they answered Okemmiri's questions and drank from the calabash.
Nothing happened.
No one staggered.
No one confessed.
No one displayed the slightest sign that the Mmiri Eziokwu had affected them.
The entire exercise ended with the same result.
Okemmiri looked around.
"Is this everyone in the compound?"
"Yes," Ego replied, then remembered something. "Apart from my son. He is sleeping inside."
Okemmiri shook his head slowly.
Something was wrong.
He began pacing back and forth.
"The gods have never been wrong," he muttered. "Someone has not taken the drink."
He suddenly stopped and looked at Ego.
"We must do this again."
His finger pointed directly at Ndubisi.
"We begin with him."
Ndubisi gave a short laugh.
"Because of my dear, I agreed to take the oath willingly, and I was proven innocent. There is no way I am drinking that substance again."
"Then we have a problem," Okemmiri replied.
"We certainly do. I'm not taking that unsavory substance again."
"If you are truly innocent, you should have no problem taking it again."
Ndubisi's expression changed.
"I'm beginning to think you have something against me personally."
Okemmiri remained unmoved.
"And I'm beginning to think you have something to hide."
The tension between the two men immediately thickened.
Ego knew she had to intervene before the situation got out of hand.
"It is alright," she said, turning toward Ndubisi.
"Dim oma."
It was the first time she had addressed him by that name in public.
The effect was immediate.
The anger slowly disappeared from his face.
He smiled.
"Please, for my sake, take the oath again and prove to everyone that you are truly innocent."
Ndubisi looked at her for a moment.
Then he smiled like a child who had just been given what he wanted.
"Alright. Anything for my love."
He turned toward Okemmiri.
The smile disappeared.
"Let's do this one more time."
Okemmiri motioned for him to kneel.
Ndubisi reluctantly complied.
The Dibia lifted the calabash and held it before him like a priest administering Holy Communion.
"Drink."
Ndubisi took a mouthful.
He swallowed.
Then he closed his eyes.
For more than a minute, he remained completely motionless.
The crowd watched.
Nothing happened.
Then—
His eyes snapped open.
He stood up and began laughing.
Again.
The same strange laughter.
At first, everyone thought he was mocking the Dibia.
But after a few seconds, something about the laughter changed.
It became deeper.
Rougher.
Almost painful.
People leaned forward.
Was he laughing?
Or was he groaning?
Then, without warning, Ndubisi screamed.
He collapsed onto his knees.
His body trembled violently.
His pupils disappeared.
Only the whites of his eyes remained.
A collective gasp swept through the compound.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Ego stood frozen, her mouth slightly open.
Okemmiri remained calm.
"You can ask him anything now," he announced. "He will tell you nothing but the truth."
Ego's voice trembled.
"Ndu…"
She stepped closer.
"Please tell me this isn't you. Tell me I'm dreaming. Tell me I'm having a nightmare."
Ndubisi did not blink.
"Ndubisi!"
Nothing.
"Ndubisi!"
Still nothing.
She turned desperately toward Okemmiri.
"Why isn't he responding?"
The Dibia stepped closer to the kneeling man.
"What is your name?"
The answer came immediately.
"Ikemnefuna."
The voice was frightening.
It sounded like that of an elderly man who had spent his entire life smoking tobacco.
"Ha!"
Ego staggered backward.
"I am finished!"
She turned toward Oluchukwu, who had already come beside her and placed an arm around her.
"Ndubisi isn't even his name!"
She looked back at the possessed man.
"Ndu! Your real name is Nwosu. What other lies have you been telling me?"
There was no response.
The man remained on his knees, eyes completely white.
Okemmiri studied him carefully.
Something was bothering him.
He turned toward the man.
"How did you escape the spell the first time?"
The answer came without hesitation.
"I did not drink."
The crowd went silent.
"I licked my lips and squeezed my face to make everyone believe I had drunk it."
"Ha!"
The crowd erupted.
Murmurs spread from one end of the compound to the other.
"Ndubisi! You are indeed tricky!"
"Yes, oh!"
"He fooled the Dibia!"
Okemmiri raised his hand, silencing them.
"Are you the one who entered the room?"
"Yes."
Ego's heart sank.
"Why did you enter the room?"
"To collect money."
The crowd became silent again.
"Why did you believe there was money inside?"
"Because Ego sometimes goes there to collect it."
Ego covered her mouth.
"How did you discover that?"
"One night, inside Ego's hut, I noticed she went outside and returned carrying a large amount of money."
He paused.
"The following night, out of curiosity, I followed her when she went outside."
"And what did you discover?"
"She only went to urinate."
A few people exchanged confused looks.
"I was disappointed and abandoned the idea. But several weeks later, I saw her return with money again."
Okemmiri's face hardened.
"What did you do?"
"I began following her."
"Every night?"
"Yes."
"And what did you eventually discover?"
"She was getting the money from that hut."
Ego's knees weakened.
The secret she had guarded for years had finally been exposed.
Ndubisi continued.
"Not long ago, I stole the totem she used to break the spell that protected the room."
Okemmiri's eyes narrowed.
"You stole it?"
"Yes."
"What did you do with it?"
"I took it to a Dibia and had him duplicate it."
A terrible silence descended upon the compound.
Ego stared at the man she had loved.
The man she believed had saved her life.
The man she had trusted with her wealth, her business, and her heart.
And now she was discovering that the man standing before her wasn't even Ndubisi.
He was someone else entirely.
Someone who had been watching her.
Someone who had been studying her secret.
Someone who had entered the room where she kept the source of her fortune.
And he had done it while sleeping beside her.