Dipo woke up with a jump. His brief sleep was plagued with nightmares. He looked at himself, and he was sweating profusely.

His mind wasn't at ease. He knew the danger of what he was attempting to do...

He was about to pick up his phone when someone screamed his name. Then he realised that his wife wasn't in the room. Ever since his baby disappeared, they had been sleeping in the same room. Was she already up this early in the morning? From the curtains, he could estimate that the time was around past seven.

It was Tiwa. "Uncle Dipo! Please come and pacify your wife, she won't stop crying!"

Although he was still sleepy, his heart broke.

Quickly, he got up from the bed. He smelled his breath and it was...foul. He would worry about that later.

He wore his slippers and went in the direction of his sister-in-law's voice. In the living room, was a sight. Daddy Dami was on a chair, looking confusedly at Tiwa and Tamilore. Maybe he didn't know what to do or how to contribute positively to the situation.

Tamilore was on the floor, crying. When he entered the room, she didn't even look up at him. Tiwa was trying to make her stop crying, but her efforts didn't seem to be doing a lot.

Dipo sighed, and went to her. He bent to her level and nodded at Tiwa, who left her alone and stood at their backs.

Tamilore finally raised her gaze, her eyes wet with tears. "Is this the end, Dipo? Will we never see him again?"

Dipo bit his lip, almost drawing blood. His eyes began to water too.

"We will find him. We...we will."

Tamilore's cries reduced to sobs. But she still looked...lost. This was her first child. Her first child. Her son. Oluwatunmise.

Dipo could not possibly put into words how bad he felt. "Sit up," he urged his wife. Slowly, she stood up from the floor and sat on the couch.

He looked at her. Since the beginning of this unfortunate incident, she had only changed her clothes like two times.

"Where is Iya Dami?" Dipo asked Kola, Iya Dami's husband. Tamilore was snuffling, wiping her face with the edge of her Ankara wrapper.

"She's still sleeping, with Dami," Kola said and yawned.

"Sorry her...her cries woke you up man. I know you were still sleeping," Dipo apologised to Kola, referring to his wife.

"That's okay," Kola waved him off, although he fought to conceal a yawn.

"Tiwa? Why are you up so early?" He turned to his sister-in-law.

"I...I had a stomach ache. Cramps."

Dipo nodded. "Well, where is Titi?"

"I don't...know..." Tiwa said, walking in the direction of the kitchen. "She's not there," she announced. "Probably still sleeping."

"Go and wake them up! All of them! They're able to sleep while we're still looking for..." Kola cut himself off, when Dipo and Tamilore glared at him.

"I'll go and wake Titi up. Bode is not feeling fine," Tiwa said, walking towards the stairs that led upstairs.

* * *

Modupe had gone to put her plates in the kitchen, when she started hearing her phone ring. She dropped the plates in the sink and left, heading back to the dining room.

Tiwa, who was still sucking on a chicken bone looked up immediately Modupe entered the room.

"Aunty Modupe, your husband called you," she told her.

Nerves settled in Modupe's stomach. "Thank you," she said to her sister.

As Modupe picked up her phone and began walking towards the room she was staying in, she wondered if she should call him back or not. She knew he was definitely mad, and that he would definitely say some bad words to her.

* * *

After he had breakfast, Dipo was able to steal away from the gathering of his family members, on excuse to "go and have his bath". He went into the room and picked up his phone.

He dialled the police man, Detective Chris' number. The detective picked up after the first ring.

"Hello? Hello Officer?" Dipo said in a shaky tone.

"Hello...Sir. I hope everything's good---"

"Of course it's not," Dipo deadpanned.

"Well then. Sir, I promise you, we will get to the bottom of this. We are working---"

"It's true. It's showing in your body that you are working. That's why my baby is in his cot sleeping soundly abi."

"Sir, I promise you---"

"Erm Officer, I did not call you to ask you about your non-existent progress. I only called to tell you about a clue I think I might have, one that could aid your snail-like investigation."

If Detective Chris was offended by Dipo's insults, he didn't show it. "Well then Sir. Should I come over? I could---"

"No no. I'll tell you over the phone," Dipo said.

"Okay Sir. Please go on. I'm listening."

He brought his voice low, "Okay. Well, you know my wife's sister Modupe---I don't know if you know her, she's not the pregnant one, or the young one, there's another one---"

"I think I have an idea of who you are talking about. The day Detective Chioma and I came, she was wearing a floral dress, right?"

"Me I don't know. How do you expect me to know the dress my wife's sister was wearing?"

Detective Chris chuckled. "Okay, okay Sir. Continue, Sir."

"Um...for a long time now, Modupe has been trying with her husband for a baby, all to no avail." He paused, letting the implications of the words he would speak sink in, "I honestly don't think we'd be too far off, if we considered it possible that she could very well be the culprit responsible for the disappearance of my son."

Chris nodded, although Dipo couldn't see him. It was a habit he had cultivated over a long period of time. "Alright, Sir. Thank you very much. We will look into this, and in the meantime we urge you to stay hopeful. We will do our best too over here, and we encourage you to continue to share anything you know, as it will aid our investigation. Once again, thank you for sharing this piece of information."

Dipo nodded, told the detective to hasten his investigation and bring his baby home, and ended the call.

* * *

Modupe had ascended the stairs and was now two rooms away from the room she was staying in---she figured she could as well start calling it her room, since only God knew how long she'd be in this house---when she heard a hushed voice.

They were coming from Tamilore's room, and the voice definitely belonged to her sister's husband, Dipo. It sounded like he was on the phone.

Curiosity got the best of her and she decided to eavesdrop on his conversation. She stood very still, and leaned on the wall. Then she began to pay attention.

And then she heard it.

Dipo was saying, "---time now, Modupe has been trying with her husband for a baby, all to no avail." He paused. "I honestly don't think we'd be too far off, if we considered it possible that she could very well be the culprit responsible for the disappearance of my son."

Modupe didn't listen to the rest. She broke down there and then. Her sister's husband was insinuating that she could kidnap her own cousin...all because she hadn't given birth to her own baby yet?

She wiped off the tears on her face furiously and stomped towards the stairs. She was still very angry, even as she descended the stairs, and found herself wishing what he was saying was true, just to teach him a lesson that it isn't nice to insult people with their disabilities.

But then, she remembered the reason why she came up in the first place, and angrily ascended the stairs back, the whole time feeling like a fool and a barren woman. She passed Tamilore's room, eyed Dipo, who wasn't even there to see her, went into her room, and shut the door.

She sat on the bed with a huff and dialled her husband's number.

In a way, Modupe was grateful for the anger she felt now, because it erased the nerves in her stomach temporarily. And anger, was always better than nervousness.

"Hello?" She said, when she saw that he had picked. The call had been going on for six seconds already.

"You're just seeing my missed call, Modupe?"

"I...I'm sorry---"

"So, I told you to come home, and you dared to go against my order?" He let out a sinister chuckle.

Modupe was angry at her husband for talking to her like this.

"Can you think of somebody else but yourself for a minute? Just a minute. You don't know what's going on, do you? Do you know, Tunde, that Tamilore's baby disappeared the night of his naming ceremony? You don't know that. All you know is how to shout and order people around. Listen, you'll see me, when you see me." With that, she hung up on him.

When all the adrenaline evaded her, she sighed. She knew she would probably regret her words, but that could wait. First, she had to teach her sister's husband a lesson.

Modupe went back to the living room. Minutes after she was seated, she saw her sister's husband start to come down from the stairs.

"Uncle Dipo, you didn't have your bath again?" Modupe asked him. Inside, anger was welling in her heart.

Dipo looked down at his clothes, which were the same ones he was wearing before he left. He wasn't sure why she asked, and so he began feeling guilty conscience. Did she overhear him talking about her, or was this just a pure coincidence?

"Uh...I...I wanted to take salt. There was an earthworm in the bathroom," he said.