A Dirty Game

Chapter Twenty

155 Twenty ne morning, two weeks after Foti was back from the capital city, at the pace of a snail, he drove to his office. It seemed something wasn’t going on well. At the same time he sat in his office thinking about what would happen Wilson entered to ask if he succeeded in processing his documents. He explained to him why he could not make it. He couldn’t refund his money but promised him that he would use it to make him succeed an examination into a police college. His office radio was on, and he was ready to get the news before getting into files. Before news headlines from the radio, Kingsley knocked at the door. At normal and happy moments, Kingsley would say in a loud voice, ‘The Lord Mayor.’ But that morning, it wasn’t the case. He knocked and entered the office without saying a word. Even when news used to be bad, he had never been that sad. Foti looked at him expecting him to deliver the bad news. He threw himself on the chair and folded his arms, but holding a newspaper. ‘Have you read The Watch Newspaper this morning?’ ‘No,’ he responded with raised head. ‘What is in the making?’ He threw the newspaper on the table without saying a word. Foti picked it up and looked at the front page. One of the main headlines was A Man Claims Responsibility for the Death of Tanga. He didn’t continue reading but looked at his friend with surprise. At the length of about two minutes, both men were silent. For Foti, it was a bolt from the blue. After several seconds, Kingsley said, ‘We have fought wars, but for this one, we have to retreat.’ It was clear that if Achiri confessed that they killed Tanga in a hotel room, he could possibly say the names of the O 156 master planners. That was their doubt and confusion. The frustration began. They closed themselves in the office making confused proposals and rejecting it at the same time. There was clear uncertainty. After about thirty minutes, Lucy was at the waiting room with a contractor who wanted to talk with the mayor. Foti didn’t want to talk any business that morning. Lucy knocked, opened and informed him that someone was there waiting. ‘Tell any person who is there and any other that comes that we don’t work today. Let them come some other time,’ Foti said. The man could hear him talking to Lucy. When she walked back to her seat, Foti keyed the door. He was never the type who could give up easily. He remained at the same spot cracking out his mind for a solution. ‘He is in detention in Yaoundé,’ he said. Foti supported his head with his hand as he thought further. ‘What do you think, Foti?’ Without any waste of time, he responded to his own question, ‘We have to take action. Let us kill him there immediately.’ ‘How can that work?’ Foti asked and breathed out heavily. He thought for about five seconds. ‘We need to pay somebody to poison him there. That is the only way now. You know people are heavily starved there.’ ‘We have to wait for a few days and see what happens to him next before taking action.’ ‘No, Kingsley,’ he laughs perfunctorily. ‘We don’t give him room to leak all secrets.’ As the minutes were ticking off, fear was mounting in them. The two fat cats feared surprises and decided to leave for Kingsley’s. His wife was at the job side while his four children were in school. At one o’clock that afternoon, at Kingsley’s, Foti’s mobile telephone rang. He clicked it to answer but in that 157 fumbling, he had no time to look at the screen. He simply said, ‘I am busy please.’ ‘Who was that?’ asked Kingsley. ‘I didn’t look.’ ‘This is the time to be more careful. You have to know any call that comes in and why.’ He picked his mobile and looked at received calls. It was the Tiko police calling. ‘Hey, your boys have called.’ It rang again. He picked it up. One of the police officers told him that an unknown group of eight just asked for help on how to get to the Tiko council. They equally told Foti...