Three Years Ago: Festac Town, Lagos
The late morning sun bathed the coffee shop in a warm, sepia glow. Inside, Detective Ṣeun Aristotle sat hunched over a table, his face a map of exhaustion. He was a man consumed, currently buried in the details of a string of bizarre suicides that had been plaguing Lagos like a silent contagion. Across from him sat Gerald Tumbuktu—a man as hard as the pavement and twice as cold. Gerald took every case personally, pursuing criminals with a silent, simmering vendetta that earned him a reputation for brutal efficiency.
Ṣeun, fed up with the oppressive silence radiating from his partner, finally snapped.
ṢEUN: (Exasperated) Come on, bro. Why don't you talk or let yourself out? I thought that's how humans were supposed to connect.
Gerald didn't blink. He simply leveled a frigid stare at Ṣeun.
GERALD: (Coldly) … (Sips coffee) …
ṢEUN: You know what's funny? The fact that you're so vocally locked in and you're still my friend. It's weird, man. Like... omor...
Gerald's lips quirked into a lightning-fast, sarcastic smile before his face snapped back into its usual stone-cold mask. Ṣeun's frustration flared.
ṢEUN: (With a sudden spark) Don't you dare give me that smile again! Try saying something. You aren't mute, are you?
Gerald offered a silent, mocking huff of laughter. Suddenly
BEEP! BEEP!
Ṣeun's phone vibrated against the table. Duty was calling. The station had finally processed the footage from one of the "suicides."
ṢEUN: (Suddenly serious) Oya guy, duty calls. We have to go investigate the CCTV footage of the Doctor's death. Let's go.
GERALD: (Nodding in approval) … (Serious) …
20 Minutes Later....
The detectives burst into the police headquarters as a unit, their strides synchronized and purposeful. The office was a chaotic hive of activity—officers pacing with files, suspects in handcuffs, and the constant hum of a precinct in motion. Suddenly, a suspect being dragged toward the holding cells erupted in a shrill, manic wail.
CRIMINAL: (In terror) SMILING DEMON DEY OUTSIDE O! HIM GO KILL ALL OF YOU!!!
The outburst sent a jolt of genuine fear through Ṣeun and Gerald, causing them to instinctively stagger back. Shaking off the unease, they pressed on toward the CCTV control room. Ṣeun entered first, followed by Gerald, who immediately locked the door behind them. Inside, the Network Officer and the General Officer were waiting.
GENERAL OFFICER: Ah, good afternoon... or is it still afternoon? (Chuckles)
ṢEUN: (Forcing a smile) It's probably afternoon.
They exchanged quick handshakes, the air in the room thick with professional tension.
CCTV OFFICER: Good afternoon. We've located the footage, but we haven't opened the file yet.
GENERAL OFFICER: I thought it best we viewed it together.
ṢEUN: This is the footage of Dr. Bernard's death?
GENERAL OFFICER: No, we haven't secured that one yet. We're still working on it.
CCTV OFFICER: This one is the Magistrate's suicide.
ṢEUN: (Realization)Oh... I almost forgot that case.
Ṣeun glanced at Gerald and found his partner already glaring at him with profound disappointment but Ṣeun sends back a mild suspicious expression. The General Officer caught the exchange, his eyes narrowing.
GENERAL OFFICER: (Suspiciously) You both seem to know what's on this footage.
ṢEUN: (Hastily) No, we don't. But we know who killed him. It wasn't a suicide.
GENERAL OFFICER: (Shocked) What?!
ṢEUN: (Intense) Calm down. Whatever you see in this footage, do not tell a soul. We don't know who we can trust.
CCTV OFFICER: (Confused) I don't understand. This was a crime scene. We investigate it, everyone finds out...
ṢEUN: (In a sharp whisper) Shhhhh! Walls have ears.
GENERAL OFFICER: (In a low voice) Who killed him?
He locked eyes with Ṣeun, his voice dropping an octave into a realm of deep suspicion.
GENERAL OFFICER: Who... killed... the Magistrate?
ṢEUN: We'll find out in the footage.
The Network Officer hit the play button. The room fell into a graveyard silence as they watched the mute, grainy footage. The camera was positioned in the top corner of the Magistrate's sitting room. He and his wife were staring at something just out of the frame—the dining area. Suddenly, the wife collapsed into a fit of weeping, but the Magistrate remained eerily still.
ṢEUN: (Intense) What are they looking at?
CCTV OFFICER: It's the dining room. I don't know... it looks like someone is standing there.
GENERAL OFFICER: Who is it?
ṢEUN: Why is she crying? What did she see?
In the back of the room, Gerald's eyes were fixed on the screen in a predatory glare. On the monitor, the Magistrate suddenly moved, walking toward the balcony. His wife scrambled after him, dragging at his clothes, but he didn't even fight her off. He simply stepped out into the void of his three-story apartment block.
CCTV OFFICER: (Gasping) Jesus...
GENERAL OFFICER: You see? It was a suicide. No one was near him.
ṢEUN: No... what kind of suicide is that? Why would someone just stare at something and then... jump?
CCTV OFFICER: (In a sharp, suspicious tone) Who's... what is that?
They leaned in. In the shadows of the dining room, a figure in black appeared. It was crawling on the wall like an insect—a man wearing a red, smiling theatrical mask and a black hat.
GENERAL OFFICER: Who is that?
CCTV OFFICER: (With a nervous grin) No be Spiderman be this?
ṢEUN: This is not Spiderman! This is not a joke!
TUMBUKTU: (In a cool, level voice) The Masked Man...
Everyone spun around to look at Gerald in genuine shock.
CCTV OFFICER: (Surprised) So... you can talk?
Before anyone could reply, Ṣeun looked through the glass door. Outside, armed squads were sprinting toward their vehicles. Sirens began to wail, tearing through the quiet of the precinct. Ṣeun bolted out of the room, the others hot on his heels.
ṢEUN: Where are they going?
GENERAL OFFICER: (Confused) What is happening here?!
The General Officer intercepted a running officer.
GENERAL OFFICER: Where is the deployment heading?
POLICEMAN: There's been or will be a homicide at the Tochukwu mansion. We're moving to stop it!
ṢEUN: (Urgent) Don't worry, Sir. We'll deliver a report on what we find over there.
The General Officer nodded. Ṣeun and Gerald dove into their car, tires screaming as they joined the convoy.
12 Minutes Later
They arrived at the lavish Tochukwu estate. The police breached the gates, and Gerald drew his weapon as they swept into the mansion. They moved with tactical speed until.
HAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
A blood-curdling, heavy female scream ripped through the air, vibrating the very floorboards. The officers staggered back for a split second before charging inside. In the living room, they found the housemaid. She was hanging from the ceiling, her body limp and eyes glazed—dead in the air.
HAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
The scream thundered again from the floor above. They surged up the stairs, kicking in doors until they reached the master bedroom. Blood stained the expensive rug. Mrs. Tochukwu stood in the center of the room, shivering, her eyes locked on the space above the doorframe.
Ṣeun rushed to console her, but he realized she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at the top of the corridor. With a trembling hand, she pointed upward. Slowly, the detectives turned their heads.
There he was. A figure in a black jacket and a red theatrical mask, clenching the wall near the ceiling. The mask's painted grin seemed to mock their very existence. For a heartbeat, the world stood still.
TUMBUKTU: (A roar of pure fury) BOOMBOCLAT!
BANG! BANG!! BANG!!!
Gerald's gunshots shattered the silence. The other officers joined in, a hail of lead chewing up the wall. But the figure was too fast. It crawled away with supernatural speed, disappearing into the rafters as an eerie, maniacal laughter echoed through the house.
Mrs. Tochukwu collapsed, sobbing in relief and terror. Ṣeun knelt to help her, but his eyes caught a trail of blood leading to the veranda. He followed it, his heart hammering against his ribs. He stepped out onto the balcony and looked down.
Below him, the famous ganglord Hedges Tochukwu lay broken on the pavement, surrounded by a pool of his own blood. Ṣeun stared down at the body, the wife's muffled screams behind him the only sound in the world.
TO BE CONTINUED...