EDWARD, ARE YOU THE ONE? (EPISODE 3)

Edward: She knows me very well and I have been going to their house.

Officer: What do you normally go there to do?

Edward: Her elder brother, David is my best friend.

Another officer: (hit him on the head) you are a very wicked boy! You raped and killed the only sister of your best friend. You are not supposed to be alive by now.

Officer: Why did you do that, a fine young man like you? Did you want her to be your girl friend and she refused?

Edward: Sir I don’t know what came over me.

Officer: When was the last time you went to their house?

Edward: About six days ago, just before David went back to Rivers State where he is serving.

Officer: What happened that day, which warranted your going back to kill that girl?

Edward: Sir nothing unusual happened. All of us were just gisting and playing games in David’s room as we used to do before.

Officer: Who were the other people?

Edward: I mean three of us – David, Bisola and I.

Officer: So what happened?

Edward: Nothing sir. It is just that I became attracted to her. That day she was wearing one black bum shots like that, which was quite revealing of her very fair skin on her laps. And as we were playing she bent over my body to collect her phone from David and her chest rested on my own. At that moment I didn’t know what happened to me again and I started imagining some weird things.

Officer: So?

Edward: I quickly got up and told them that I was going and I left.

Officer: And?

Edward: When I got home I could not get her off my mind and I desired to have her by all means.

Officer: Continue.

Edward: That was just that. When my parents went to work in the morning I told my siblings that I wanted to pick some things from the mall and left the house. I went to their house straight.

Officer: How did you know she was alone in the house by that time?

Edward: I called her and told her that I just wanted to know how she was doing and if she was missing Dave. It was then she told me that she was alone and would not mind if I paid her a visit.

Officer: So you accepted the invitation and went and killed her?

Edward: I didn’t mean to. I only wanted to have fun with her. But she just died when I was still on that.

Officer: (getting angry with him for the first time or so it appears) will you shut up your mouth you lying beast! She died while you were making love to her meanwhile the footage showed you suffocating her with a pillow. You even came around to have a second round with her lifeless body. And that reminds me, what was that liquid you tried to force down her throat?

Edward: (obviously terrified) sir…sir, it…it was Sniper. But I just took a small quantity from the one in our house.

Officer: You said you did not want to kill her, why then did you go there with Sniper?

Edward: I…I…I don’t..

A slap from the other officer behind him could not let him complete the statement on his lips.

Officer: Now tell me, how many other girls have you done this to because you seem to be a master in the art?

Edward: Sir, this is just the first time I wa...

Another slap and a shove from the other officer brought him down to the floor with a heavy thud. This made him to cry out in pain. He was however mercilessly forced to stand on his feet again.

Officer: I am giving you the last chance before something sinister happens to you. Tell me how long you have been in this business and who your accomplices are. By the way, why are you not in school since they said you are a final year student of Victory Crest University?

Edward: (shaking like a leaf with blood dripping from one of his nostrils) Sir, I was sent out of school about 2 months ago because I got involved in a cult activity. But my parents are still trying to see if they can work their way into getting me back to the school. That is why no one knows about it yet. It was other members of the cult I joined in the school that introduced me into gang-raping of girls. They also taught me that the best way to avoid being caught is to eliminate the victim after using her. I don’t know the number of girls I have raped from my second year in the university when I joined the cult but this is the second one to die in my hands.

Officer: Who and where was the first victim?

Edward: She was a girl in my department in the school and it happened during one of our gang activities in the school. We raided the girls’ hostel and her room happened to be one of the rooms assigned to me to raid. We were meant to raid the girls’ rooms and collect their hand sets and other valuables. But when I got to their room her room mates were not there so I decided to rape her. While raping her she called out my name so I decided to kill her to cover my tracks.

Officer: Mhnn, oh boy you have gone far ooo. Listen to your language; you decided to kill her TO COVER YOUR TRACKS. How did you do that? Well, I don’t think that is necessary now. Are your parents aware of all these?

Edward: They got to know when they were invited to the school because of the last incident that involved the daughter of the deans of students’ affairs.

Officer: How old are you?

Edward: I will 20 years in December.

At this juncture those who went to the clinic to bring Mrs. Joseph and their nanny for some interrogations came in with them. Of course they had told her to console herself with the fact that her daughter’s murderer has been caught and was already in police custody. Hence, Mrs. Joseph entered the interrogation room with the utmost curiosity to know who she offended so much that decided to take smiles from her face for the rest of her life.

And to think of it, that fateful day the T-shirt Edward was wearing was the same one Mrs. Joseph bought for him and his son, David when she took them to the trade fair complex about a year ago. She was not prepared for what she saw when she entered into the police interrogation office.

On seeing Edward in that dimly lit police interrogation room, every atom of strength that remained in Mrs. Joseph left her. Just before she collapsed on the floor, she managed to say in a trembling voice, “EDWARD, ARE YOU THE ONE?”

These are the facts we have been able to pick from the story:

·                    Edward, David Jospeh’s best friend killed Bisola, the only sister David had.

·                    Edward killed Bisola right inside her parents’ house, where he had always spent good times with the family before that fateful date.

·                    Bisola trusted Edward so much and as such did not hesitate to throw their door wide open for him despite the fact that she was alone in the house. Another proof that 90% of pedophiles and other child sexual molesters are people known to the child.

·                    Neither David nor his family knew that his best friend was a cultist and serial rapist.

·                    They also did not know that he was already rusticated from the campus and could not conclude his final year.

·                    Edward was filled with lustful desires to waste Bisola from the day she unconsciously exposed her thighs and chest in a very unbecoming manner before him. Another reason why we should ensure that our daughters dress decently even at home, especially when there are male visitors in the house.

That is the end of the story for now. But watch out for another series. Draw your own conclusions as a parent and as a family. I am still your friend.

Shalom!

? Ijeoma Igwesi, 2020

@familymattersng.com