February 16th

"The doctor said he'll contact us when the result is ready." Jamaal said when the car came to a stop at red light.

"It has been almost three weeks and we haven't gotten any news from the hospital. I can't just sit still." Detective Okoye said as he tapped the steering wheel. A few seconds later they were back on track and the big sign showing the name of the hospital was in view.

"I just hope we'll have good news." Jamaal added. Okoye drove into the compound and quickly parked his car. The two detectives marched up to the reception area not minding the weird stares they got from people around.

"We're from the Asaba district police station. We need to talk with Doctor Uzodimma." Jamaal said and the receptionist nodded quickly. She checked the computer and bit her lip nervously.

"He just completed his morning shift and signed out." She quietly spoke. Okoye felt his head filling up with frustration and anger. The doctor was the last string he was holding on to and he was already giving up.

"Rebecca I forgot my wallet upstairs. Can you ring Nurse Chichi and tell her to get it for me?" A voice spoke from behind the detectives. The receptionist looked at the man dressed in business attire in joy and she nodded.

"This is the doctor you are looking for." She said to the officers. The detectives almost got a whiplash as they turned to face the very man they came to look for.

"You're Doctor Uzodimma?" Okoye asked. The man, who looked like he was in his late forties, looked at them skeptically before nodding. He looked at Jamaal yet again and his eyes widened in familiarity.

"You're that detective that came weeks ago." He stated and Jamaal nodded in relief.

"Doctor it has been three weeks already." Okoye said skipping the introductory process.

"Ah.. I'm sorry about that. I had to send out the DNA samples to a more equipped hospital and the results just came in yesterday evening. I was going to call you but it slipped my mind." The doctor explained. He turned to the receptionist who was already about to call who she was asked to. "Tell her to also bring the file on my table. The one labelled 'Classified' " he said and she nodded.

"Let's wait for her here." The doctor added directing the detectives to the chairs in the reception.

A few minutes later, a plump nurse rushed to the reception looking around. The doctor waved her over and she handed him his wallet and the file. By then, the doctor had already briefed them on how he sent the samples to another hospital and what to expect.

"I took the baby's DNA sample while the girl was barely holding on to life. I thought it might be important. Turns out it was." He said taking out the paper in the file. He gave it to Okoye who began to read it from the last part. "It's a match. The male sample and the baby's." The doctor added.

"Thank God.." Okoye breathed.

"Do you think this is related to his death?" Jamaal asked his partner quietly.

"That's why we're investigating. We don't even have much leads so let's just focus on people around the girl who would've planned his murder." Okoye suggested. "Thank you doctor." He greeted the man who was still frozen in shock.

"Murder?" The doctor stuttered and the detectives nodded.

"We're still investigating so we'll be grateful if you don't spread the information." Okoye said. The doctor shook himself back to reality and nodded.

The detectives were about to leave when Okoye's phone rang. "Detective Okoye speaking." He said.

"We have an emergency sir"

"What's the location? Jamaal and I are on our way." He said hurriedly. Jamaal looked at him expectantly. His mind raced as he wondered what other case there was this time around.

"Willow Heights Academy."

***

Damien and Kelvin entered their half empty class room which was not much of a surprise. The whole school was in chaos so they didn't even expect anyone to be in class.

"How could you get the most gift yesterday? I thought the whole secret Valentine would make me get at least equal with you." Kelvin complained. The day after Valentine was when they decided to count the secret Valentine gifts and it was not much of a surprise to the classmates when Damien won without much opposition.

"I don't know Kelvin." Damien replied as they both took their seats.

"Brume, where are your friends?" Kelvin asked noticing the girl was sitting with someone else this time.

"In the hostel. I came to get Nini's nail polish I forgot in my locker yesterday. She is super mad at me right now." She replied waving the red bottled liquid at him.

"Omo I shock o." He said jokingly and the girl rolled her eyes. He looked around the classroom only to see Sam and Joy in a corner, passing a book back and forth. "Sam Sam." He called out and the class prefect looked up and laughed.

"It's just crossword puzzle. Abeg look away." He said and Kelvin raised his hands in surrender.

"I didn't even say anything."

Brume laughed at the two boys before turning back to the girl she was talking with.

"You know, I don't mean to be a sadist or anything but I'm kind of relieved with all these things happening." Ife said. She rested her head on her desk as she watched Brume nod slowly. "I mean apart from the fact that they're humans, those men has done so much to deserve death."

"I swear. The Dean's own worse pass. Rumor has it that his wife was once a student he impregnated. I don't know if she's from our school." Brume said with disgust written on her face.

"God forbid bad thing. The P.E teacher sef.. he is the reason the population of those in swimming class is mostly boys. I heard he walks in on the girls while changing." Ife said. Brume nodded in affirmative.

"Thank heavens our school started that swimming class after I entered senior class. I don't even know how I would have felt if that goat walked in on me." Her body shuddered at the thought.

"That's why I said that I don't even feel bad about what happened. Whoever it is that's punishing them should carry on the good work." Ife said with a small smile on her face.

Their conversation was cut short when Mike ran into the class. He looked around with pride when he realized that their attention was on him.

"I have big news guys!" He announced and Kelvin scoffed.

"I think we've already heard it." He said. Mike shook his head making Kelvin cock his head in confusion.

"Not that one." He said, "I overheard a bunch of junior students rejoicing about the death of the P.E teacher in their class. Like it was crazy. They were thanking God for it sef." He said. The students murmured amongst themselves as some of them wondered why while others knew why.

Brume smiled at Ife knowingly and the latter had the same smile on her face.

"Guys I have an idea." Brume spoke up gaining their attention. "I know this might sound weird but I'm in support of the Junior girls that are happy about it. I know I'm not the only one that has thought of the events of the last few weeks."

"Seriously she's right. The dead teachers are pedophiles and all of you know that." Ife added and some of the classmates agreed.

Damien looked at the two girls skeptically. He already had an idea of what the two girls were planning to do and he knew it'll be dangerous.

"You'll get into trouble." He plainly states and they nodded.

"We know." Brume said with a grin on her face. "Mike, do you know the girls that were celebrating in particular?" She asked the boy in front of the class.

"Their names and specific classes." He replied with a proud smile on his face.

"We need a name for whoever it is that's bringing justice to the school." Ife suggested. The rest of the classmates began to voice out their opinions but it all came out bad.

"What about Savage Savior? It's very catchy and explains the concept." Kelvin said but he got a smack at the back his head instead.

"Use your brain. Doesn't it sound dumb to you?" Damien asked dropping the book he smacked his friend with.

"Why don't you think of something wise sensei?" Kelvin mocked with a frown on his face. He rubbed the back of his head as he glared at his friend.

"Abi o. Damien please now. Just a name." Brume pleaded. It was no secret that Damien was all round smart so they all pleaded with him.

"Fine." He sighed. He was quiet for a while as he tapped his pen on his desk.. "What about Ultio? It's simple and short and it means vengeance." He said and his classmates stared at him in surprise. "Although the name is actually associated with an ancient Roman -"

"It's okay before you enter nerd mode." Kelvin shushed his friend.

"Ultio is perfect." Brume grinned as she felt the adrenaline pump in her veins.

"I'm still not in support of your plan." Damien added. Ife just shrugged.

"What's the plan first of all?" Kelvin asked looking at the girls and Damien in confusion.

"Shey the police is around?" Brume asked and Mike nodded.

"Including that detective that came last year." He added.

"We're giving honour to whom it's due." Brume smirked, "Let's thank the killer."

"And let EVERYBODY know what has been happening in Willow Heights." Ife added with a smile on her face.

***

"This is starting to look demonic. I'm not sure it's a human that's doing all these again." Jamaal said. His voice was barely above a whisper as he and his partner left the pool building of Willow Heights. The body that was found was very disgusting. The eyes of the teacher was stuffed into his mouth and he bled to death.

"Superstitions aside. I seriously doubt it was done by a student." Okoye said, "According to the foristics report, it's been about two days since the man was dead. Although the water made the body decompose quickly, the lady was sure of the date. What I'm trying to say is, the school had a valentine party on the day of the murder so I'm starting to doubt it's a student that's behind all these." Okoye explained. He had thought about it after the first case and it just wasn't adding up. Why would a student want to kill them? And the manner of death was gruesome and not something a teenager could handle.

As they reached the main compound, they saw a bunch of students chanting and dancing around and they wondered what was going on.

"Thank you Ultio!" A girl shouted.

"Justice at last!" Another yelled.

"What's happening? Who's Ultio?" Jamaal asked and Okoye shrugged. An officer rushed towards them with panic written on his face.

"The students are protesting. They're.. they're in support of the killer." He said, rendering the detectives speechless.

"What?" Jamaal manged to ask.

"According to what I picked up, the dead teachers were not so innocent. The Dean was a child molester, he threatened female students with the grades and other stuff. While the one that just died walked in on the girls when they were changing, purposely if I may add." He explained. He snapped his fingers in disgust at the end of his report.

"And why didn't they school report any of these things? They can't say they didn't know about it." Okoye spat angrily. The new information scattered his sense of reasoning as he wondered what exactly happened to students inside school.

"If this is true, then I don't blame them for celebrating. Whoever the killer is, is like a saviour to them now." Jamaal said as he pitifully glanced at the girls who were grinning in excitement.

Okoye almost laughed at the irony of the situation. He was once again trapped in a corner as he battled with his principles. Listen to the students or bring the murderer to justice?

*******

Detective Okoye is in a dead end. What do you think he should do?

Don't forget to vote, comment and share loves.

~Korisa🧡