"I just got off with Henry," Femi said, pulling up in the driveway of the Subomis.
"What did he say?"
"He updated me about Bisola."
"Oh, What did he say about that?"
"Bisola's dad was truly writing about a murder on the loose. The footprint is matched to the one they found where the Uber driver was killed."
"Killed? Not drunk to death like we speculated?"
"Nah, the ME result came out and there was no sign of alcohol in him. His family said he doesn't drink, so he was murdered."
"The murderer is an amateur. Why kill and dump the body close to the victim's house?"
"Perhaps he is not. Maybe there wasn't enough time to think of a place to dump the body, so he must have thought of the idea to place the beer by his side."
We got out of the car and started walking towards the front door.
"The uber driver wasn't part of his plan. The right place at the wrong time. He must have been thinking of walking into the house to kill or must have been waiting patiently to capture whoever comes out first."
"And he just walked up to the driver and asked him why he was there."
"Then he must have answered he was to pick up Mrs Adeniji which must have made him attack while he was peeing."
"Everything is just based on speculation. I hope we are all right. With the way Henry sounded on the phone, I feel as if things are getting closer and they wouldn't hesitate to make a move.
I sighed and knocked. "I hope so."
The door opened halfway and a young woman leaned on the door. "Hello." Her nice voice greeted us.
"Hi, I am Tosin, and this is my partner, Femi."
"Okay. Hmm..." She shifted her gaze between Femi and me. "I don't think we've met before."
"Of course, we haven't."
"Hey, honey, who is that?" a voice from inside called.
"Some people I don't know. I'll be back."
"You are Aminat Subomi. You once worked at a Classy hotel in Lagos state, right?"
Aminat frowned. "Well, yes. Who are you, people?"
"We are here to make enquiries about the death of a person in room 302."
"The suicide one?"
"Is there any other one?" Femi asked.
"Well no... I don't know. Is it about the Joe guy?"
I nodded.
"Well, officers, I don't have anything to say again. I already told you all I know on that day. It was about five years ago."
"Please, can you let us in?"
"Honey? Can you tell me where the remote is?"
"Baby, I'm coming," Aminat yelled over her shoulder, a frown on her rounded face. She was tall, dark and wearing a long hijab that reached her knees. "Officers, I have nothing more to add, besides, I can barely remember anything now. So I can't help you."
"We aren't officers," Femi said.
"What? Really?" We nodded. "Well, the more reason you should not be here. Please, kindly leave." Aminat tried shutting the door but I quickly put my foot in the way.
"I figured you left the day after the incident. That was weird. This brings me back to suspect your involvement in a murder case."
_________________
"What? A murder case? And you suspect me?" Aminat looked scared and furious.
"Mrs Subomi, please, let's talk this through. Or the police will get involved," Femi bluffed.
She snorted. "Fine, come in." Aminat opened the door wide as we stepped in. "We don't allow strangers."
The house was nice and comfortable in a way. It was welcoming and homely. The husband's legs were parted, chest forward as he was lost in the world of football matches.
"Honey, we've got companies," Aminat announced.
"Huh," the husband kept staring at the TV.
"We have visitors, Rasheed. They are here to make enquiries about the murder that happened five yes ago."
Mr Subomi Rasheed turned his glance at us. "I thought it was over. Besides they thought it suicide."
They thought, not what you thought, I wondered.
"Well, thank you for letting us talk. We are just here to make a few enquiries. Please, bear with us. We think it was murder and not suicide, so we need Mrs Aminat to think well."
Animat sighed. "Fine, what do you want to know?"
"You recognize this dude?" I showed her a picture of Joe.
"Yeah."
"Tell us what you know," Femi said.
"He came in the evening; at seven and said he needed a room. He said he wanted a room next to the customers that came before him because they were friends."
"And you gave him?" I asked.
"Yes, I did."
"Is that possible? You do that often?"
"Miss, yes and no. No, it's not possible if it was occupied, but when Joe asked, it was vacant and I saw no big deal in it. So I gave him the key to the next room. Room 302. I can't forget which room it was. The headline said SUICIDE IN CLASSY HOTEL: ROOM 302 SPECIFICALLY. In fact, for confirmation purposes, he put a call through his friend and I heard him say he should come over."
"Him?" I glanced at Femi.
"Yes, him. It was a male.".
"The same guy who lodged before Joe?"
"Well, I don't know..."
"What do you mean?" Femi asked.
"Because they were three. They lodged in the lodger's line. I only input the details of one of them. The one that paid.
"They? All male?" I asked.
"Yes, all male."
"Describe the one that paid."
"Tall, huge, rounded, big belly and hairless."
"Sounds like a description that fits a boss," Femi said and Aminat nodded.
"Well, some can be skinny too," I shrugged, thinking of Henry. Henry wasn't skinny, but not fat either.
"It was in the paper that he killed himself, what can you say?"
"Mr Femi, I don't know what I can say to that..."
"Did Joe order a drink or did he come with it?"
"Ordered it. He came empty-handed, I'm pretty sure of that. He was only with a small cell phone."
"Small cell phone." If he was with a small phone on that day, then where is his smartphone? Because there would be some kind of things to help us with this case.
"He didn't come with a drink, he ordered it," Femi confirmed.
"In fact, he called me on that day when he could have called the kitchen directly. A red wine. There were glass cups and disposable ones carefully placed on a tray in case he needed it."
"When did he order it?" I asked.
"Early in the morning. As at 8 a.m."
"Who delivered it for him?"
"The delivery boy."
"Can we have his contact if you have it? We don't want to trouble him, just a few questions."
"Well, I'm right here," Mr Subomi said.
"You?" I pointed at him and then moved my finger to Aminat.
"Yes, me. I was the delivery boy on duty that morning."
"You two?" Femi asked unbelievably.
"Yes. I was into her then. I had a crush on her and it took her a while to accept me. Let's forget that."
"You were on duty the night they lodged in, how come you know who delivered the drink in the morning?" Femi asked.
"Because the person who was supposed to take my shift came late. Mr Joe put a call through me instead. Rasheed was always standing next to the staircase, going to and fro to deliver."
"You sure he was the one who ordered?" I asked.
"Yes, I recognised his voice that day."
"Mr Subomi, when you went to deliver it, you gave it to Joe right?" Femi asked.
"If you are asking if I delivered the red wine to the guy who committed suicide, the answer is no. It was someone else I gave it to. Someone who I presumed was Mr Joe until the news came out that same morning."
"Who was the person you gave it to?" I asked.
"I don't know him."
"Describe him." I urged Mr Subomi.
"Tall is all I can remember. I had to leave the next day. I knew something wasn't right. I referred to him as Mr Joe and he didn't bother to correct me. Just ordered me to put wine on the table."
"That's all?" I questioned eagerly.
"I heard the water running, so I guessed it was a lady in there when it was the real Mr Joe. Just my thoughts."
"Can you recognize him if you see him?" Femi asked.
"Maybe."
"Do you think he was murdered or he committed suicide?" I asked Rasheed.
"Well, is my opinion valued? Maybe he was murdered. Maybe the person who was in the room with him killed him or someone else, I don't know."
"Babe, you didn't tell me all this."
"I thought it was nothing. I didn't want to scare you and I was scared I might be wrong. I'm sorry."
"The cleaner that saw..."
"Mrs Naomi," Aminat said, "what about her? She is just an old woman."
"Do you know her whereabouts?".
"The incident nearly turned her insane. She was old when she saw it."
"You are talking like you know where she is. Tell us."
"I don't know how her contribution can add anything to what we have told you, because she only went to clean and saw a dead body. But if you insist..."
"I insist."
"Fine." Aminat snatched a piece of paper from the journal on the table and scribbled something down before giving Femi. "She is still in Lagos. Don't scare her."
"We won't. Thank you for your time." Femi stood up and I took that as a clue we were setting off soon.
"It's okay. Anything to help."
"But one more thing," Femi said and the Subomis frowned at us. "You said the boss gave his details that day, right?"
"I don't know if it was the boss or not, but the person who paid to lodge gave his name, phone number, address and signature and all that," Aminat said.
"Can I get it?"
"It's been long, but you can ask the manager."
"Okay. Thank you."
"They walked us out and waited for us to pull out of their driveway.