I was going to have to trust Shola's ability as far as the investigation was concerned.
With Khadija still following my car, it was obvious that I had to actually go somewhere and do something, or she'd know for certain that it was a distraction.
"Christ," I muttered.
"Oga wetin happen? (What happened, Sir?)" The taxi driver asked.
"Nothing," I said, remembering that I didn't take the slip of paper that Shola had picked up. That meant I really had nothing to do except ponder on what I'd learned so far and on the outstanding questions that remained.
Where could Khadfija have kept the child if she had him? That question would be extremely difficult to answer as there were not a lot of places to keep a living child where a few cries wouldn't alert members of the public.
I quickly messaged Alhaja on WhatsApp and asked for a recent photograph of Usman. She responded quickly with the picture, asking if I'd found anything.
Not yet.
As soon as we reached the market, I stepped down and quickly mingled with the crowd to avoid Khadija following me. She'd catch up pretty soon: she spends most of her time here and should therefore be better at navigating the place than me, but I'd at least have a head start.
As soon as I reached the middle of the market, I took another path and came back to the front, knowing exactly who to ask.
I first asked the foodstuff sellers about the boy, showing them his picture. Not only where their stalls very close to the only entrance into the market, but their wide-open eyes must also have seen a lot since they were the gossip hub for the entire market.
"I never see this one before sha(I haven't seen him before," The first woman answered. Most of the others replied similarly. I was about to give up when one last woman who was selling bananas and peanuts asked if she could see the picture.
I showed it to her, and her eyebrows quivered.
"I don see am (I've seen him)," she said.
"When? Where?" I asked desperately.
"Haaa. Calm down oh! Na three days ago when I dey...(It was three days ago when I was...)," she suddenly stopped, her cheeks turning red. Only God knew what she was remembering at that point in time, but I wasn't willing to broach the subject.
"Wetin be the time? (What time was it?)," I asked frantically, not knowing if Khadija was closeby.
"Na evening oh! E be like say na around 3 or 4 o'clock (It was in the evening, perhaps 3 or 4 PM)," she answered.
"Was he with anyone?" Iasked, noticing from the corner of my eye that Khadija had spotted me, and was approaching closely.
"I no too sabi oh. Nobody dey for him side, but e bin dey like say he dey follow somebody for back sha. Maybe one woman like that (I'm not too sure. Nobody was walking alongside him, but it was as though he was following someone behind, perhaps a woman),"
I quickly brought out a two thousand naira note and asked for her biggest bunch of bananas with a big bottle of peanuts. Her eyes lit up when I asked her to keep the change.
"Thank sah! Thank sah! (Thank you sir)" she exclaimed.
"One more thing. The woman wey you think say he follow, you fit describe am? (Can you describe the wman you say you thought the boy was following?)"
"I no know sha, I only sabi say na Hausa woman and she bin dey wear hijab (I don't know really, I'm only sure that she was a Hausa woman, and she was wearing a hijab)," she said.
*Hausa is a northern Nigerian Tribe.
"Thanks," I said, not knowing whether to go with her assertion that all people who wore hijabs were Hausa. But if viewed in that light, all fingers pointed at Aisha.
Suddenl;y, a random theory popped up.
That was it!
If my theory was correct, I knew not only who kidnapped the boy, but where he was being held. There was only one piece of the puzzle missing, and I was 100% sure that Shola had it on him.
I quickly messaged Alhaja on Whatsapp again, asking for two things: Khadija's market stall number and the Usman's favorite restaurants.
She replied both, listing Chicken Republic and Tantalizers, before asking me what was the matter. I calmly ignored the message and looked at my maps application. Tantalizers was closest to the market, so I boarded a Taxi and asked the car to take me there.
I noticed that Khadija was now on my trail again, so when we reached a traffic holdup, I stepped down from the Taxi and continued on foot, meandering until I lost her.
Then I renavigated my way back to the Tantalizers restaurant and walked in. I asked the question, and I got the response I wanted to hear.
The case was as good as closed.
I made a call to my friend Babs who was a policeman with some specific instructions. It was time for the movie to play out.
*********************
We were all seated in the couples' sitting room - all of us except the kids, that is. Khadija looked exhausted but oddly confident. The couple looked confused. Shola was smiling, as was I.
"Well, we wanted to announce to you that the case has been closed," I said calmly.
It was followed by a barrage of 'What! How? Why?' from Khadija, Alhaji, and Madam Aisha.
"And that's because your son has been found," I said, whistling.
Two officers walked in, each supporting an emaciated Usman into the room.
Babs followed them in, saying "Miss Khadija whatever-your-surname-is, you are under arrest!"
**********************
How do you think Ifeanyi solved the case?
I bet this is interesting, innit?
I am Subcribe please Subcribe me..