Tarasha 4 Do You Care For Juice?

office seat, he had been out all morning with

members of his team. Earlier that day, he

received a call informing him about the discovery

of a dead body just by the gate of a house winch

was only few metres from the warehouse. The

body was later identified to be Mr Felix, the

manager of the warehouse.

After hours of roaming the estate and

interrogating people; especially those who stayed

in the house whose gate the body was found,

James and his team returned to the office with

no substantial clue about how the body was

dropped there.

'Do you care for juice?' Sandra asked as she

walked into the office with a gla.s.s cup and a

juice pack.

'No, thanks' James replied, adjusting himself on

the seat properly.

Just then Segun, the third occupant of the large

office walked in, he curtsied to James and

Sandra who were already seated before he

walked to his own table.

Segun and Sandra were the top officers in the

team headed by Inspector James and worked

closely with him at all times. Segun was the

officer who visited the injured man in the

hospital with James and was also the one who

called that morning to inform him about the body

that was found.

'Sir' Segun spoke up after watching hos boss for

sometime, he took a look at Sandra who was

busy with other things and looked less worried.

'It's a pity that the security cameras around that

street aren't working anymore, I think the

government has to do something quick about it, it

would have provided us with more information'

'Yea, the government has to do something about

it' James replied, wiping his face with an

handkerchief. 'But I don't think we would have

gotten much from it'

'Why do you say that sir?'

'I believe the body was laid there late in the

night; that's why n.o.body saw them. The cameras

wouldn't be able to show us clear images even if

it was recorded' James answered

'Hmm, that means they don't just have to make

sure it's working, they also have to improve the

quality of the cameras' Sandra joined.

'This is 2030 for G.o.d's sake, how can these

things not be working properly? And they expect

the police to perform magic' Segun complained

bitterly. 'Everything is just messed up in third

country, the government, it's officials; nothing to

write home about'

'It is high time we stopped laying blames on the

government for our personal inefficiencies and

take responsibility for ourselves; our jobs' James

said, looking at Sandra and Segun's faces one

after the other. 'Fifteen years ago, Nigeria was

not like this; it was far worse, so we should be

grateful to G.o.d that we have a better

environment'

'But look at other countries sir' Segun argued.

'They use better technology to aid their security

systems, but here in Nigeria; the government

keeps misusing, funds and fabricating stories for

the public'

'No, you're wrong Segun; things are far better

than they used to be' James maintained his

position. 'Now we are living up to the name

"Giant of Africa", we are the best in Africa in

terms of technology and development and we

are doing better than several other non African

countries that used to be ahead of us'

'But we as the police needs some very vital

things for… 'Segun was arguing when James

interrupted again.

'No Segun, we don't have any excuse not to do

our job well. In years past, several criminal cases

like the ones we have now have been solved by

the police with very little level of technology or

even no technology at all. I believe if everyone

would play his part properly then we wouldn't

have problems with our work' James said with

seriousness in his voice, totally silencing Segun

and Sandra as they pondered deeply on his

words.

The office was silent for some minutes; the

threeofficers got deeply engrossed with the

computers on their table.

'Boss' Segun called to James, he scratched his

head as he seemed to remember something. 'I

think we need to look into this matter of the

guys on patrol that met those guys in the

midnight'

'We're already doing that' James replied, ending

his typing on the keyboard. He looked towards

Sandra who was already looking at him too.

'Sandra, I told you to handle it'

'Yes sir, i checked the records just after we

came in this afternoon' Sandra answered. 'There

was no record of any statement taken, I don't

even think those driving the van were brought to

the station'

'What? But they said they were found laying

unconscious on the road' James questioned

'Yes,I think we have to take disciplinary action on

our men' Sandra suggested. 'I believe they were

bribed, that's why they didn't do the right thing'

'Oh! You ask them to see me when they return

today' James ordered as he stood up from his

seat and walked towards the door. 'We won't

take it lightly with them if they were truly bribed,

they'll be punished severely'