As soon as Preston Arina arrived back at the police station, he went straight to the interview room. Inside, he saw Michael sitting across from a woman. There was a table separating them, made of grey metal. The woman, Imelda Wako, had her elbows on the table, and one hand was covering her face. It looked like she might have been crying. Imelda was the wife of Gary Wako.

"A quick word," he said to Michael, then got out of the interview room.

Michael followed him and closed the door behind him. Preston was standing along the hallway. Hands pressed to his waist.

"What's the news?" Preston asked.

"She claims that Gary Wako was driving his car out of their gate when suddenly a white minivan stopped in front of them. Two masked men dragged Gary out of his car and threw him into the van before driving off," Michael replied.

"Where was she?" asked Preston.

"Closing the gate when the van drove by. She screamed for help, but no one was around," Michael explained.

"And the van?" asked Preston.

"It was a white van, but she didn't catch the number plate. She says it looked old and beaten, with chipped paint in some parts," Michael said.

"She sees all that, and yet she fails to catch the number plate?" Preston asked, puzzled.

Michael merely shrugged.

A white van. In a big town like Nairobi, there must be thousands of white vans. Finding the one that took Gary would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Preston sighed. "What about the driver? Did she see the driver's face?"

"The windows were tinted. She couldn't see the driver," Michael replied.

"Of course, I expected this to be harder," Preston muttered.

"Why kidnap him?"

"Gary knew a lot," Michael said, his face grim.

For a moment, Preston regretted not having interrogated Wako. He had missed his chance. "That's what scares me," he said. "He could be killed."

"First Officer Edward's car accident, then this. Whoever killed Diane Rucho surely doesn't want to be found."

"It's not about that. It's about the drive. Gary knew what was on the drive."

"Get rid of the drive."

"And get rid of Gary."

Preston was suddenly uneasy. The murder of Diane Rucho was not an ordinary one. It wasn't a case of robbery or being at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was something more sinister, and the key to solving the mystery was the drive.

"Did Gary ever tell you what was in the drive?" Preston asked.

"Told you earlier. He refused to discuss it," Michael replied.

"Was he scared?"

"Worse. He was petrified. He thought he would be targeted."

"Why didn't Officer Edward give the drive to the department when he had it?" Preston inquired.

"Gary mentioned that Edward didn't trust anyone in the department," Michael explained.

Did Edward have fears about the role of the Department in the murder investigation?

"We need to find Diane's killer fast before we find ourselves pulling Gary Wako's body from who knows where it would have been dumped," said Preston.

"Did you manage to track down Diane's movements up to the time she was taken to the hospital?" Preston asked.

"I did," replied Michael.

"And what did you find out?" asked Preston.

"It turns out that Diane didn't show up for work on the day she was allegedly found unresponsive on the roadside by Gary Wako. According to one of her colleagues, Diane had asked for a one-day leave the day before."

"Why did she take a day off?" asked Preston.

"Her colleague wasn't sure, but she suspected that Diane had gotten a gig somewhere."

"Why did she suspect that?" asked Preston.

"Her colleague didn't know. She was just speculating," replied Michael.

"So, on the same day she took a day off, she ended up in the hospital, assaulted," said Preston. "There's something we are missing."

"Tell me about it," came Michael's response. Preston thought he sounded tired.

"We need to know where Gary found Diane when she was unresponsive. Which roadside was it?"

Michael couldn't recall Gary mentioning the location. "How can we find out?"

"Leave it to me," Preston assured him. He had an idea of where to begin. For now, he had to put Big Ted on hold. "Meanwhile, try to narrow down the search for the white van. Check CCTV footage for any leads."

A few minutes later, Preston got into his car and drove towards Nairobi Hospital. While driving, he retrieved his phone from his breast pocket and dialed Martin Otieno's number. Martin Otieno was a retired police officer who had previously worked on the case ten years ago.

When Preston brought up the investigation, Martin replied, "The Diane Rucho case? Of course, I remember that. Poor girl. I don't know if I should tell you this, but... never mind."

Preston pressed him, "What is it?"

Martin hesitated. There was some noise in the background. Preston figured he was searching for something.

Preston asked again, "What is it that you wanted to say?"

There was a long pause, followed by more silence.

Finally, Martin spoke, "There was something quite not right with the case. Felt Kafkaesque. Almost high jingo, if you know what I mean."

"Are you suggesting political meddling?"

"Not just that. I always suspected someone in the force had handsomely been pocketed to keep the case where it was."