The investigation

[Same night~Police/ FRSC impound lot / Secure Yard]

"Wow!" Maxwell exclaimed, seeing Tari's car that was pulled out of the ocean.

"With this kind of damage, there is no possible chance of survival" Stella spoke in disbelief, as she put on her gloves.

The car was damaged beyond repair; all the windows were shattered, the hood was compressed into the car. So with this kind of damage, there is no way Tari could have survived, but the question is where is her body?

"How bad can the water pressure be?" Maxwell asked.

"Extremely bad" Stella answered, touching the open windows. She walked to the front of the car, and touched one of the headlights.

"This damage here is definitely from when the other car hit hers" Stella added.

They were the two investigators, who had told Mitari about her sister's chances of survival and now they were handling the case.

"Hey, come check this out!" Maxwell called.

Stella stood up and walked to him. "What am I checking?" Stella questioned.

"The window." Maxwell answered, staring at the window on the driver’s seat side. The glass there was shattered all over the seat, unlike the other windows where the fragments from the glass were nowhere to be found.

Stella stared at the window for a long time. Then she took out her phone and snapped a photo of it, before turning to Maxwell.

"This looks suspicious. I think we should go to the crash scene instead. We might find a clue there." Stella suggested, removing her gloves.

"Even better" Maxwell replied. "Let's go" Stella added, before they walked out of the garage together.

[Same night~ Accident scene~ under bridge]

Mitari and Musa stood on the shoreline, watching the two divers they had hired descend into the water.

"Don't come back until you find her body. And if you run out of oxygen, come out, refill your tanks, then go back in." Mitari instructed.

"Even if you don't find her body, make sure you find a clue, or I will have your heads. Am I understood?" Musa ordered.

"Yes sir" The two divers chorused. They walked away from the shoreline into the water, proceeding until they were fully submerged.

Musa set his timer. "One hour before they need to come up to refill." Musa said. Mitari glanced at him.

She wore a scarf over her head, and a pair of glasses even in the dark of the night.

"The ocean bottom is cold and the pressure could kill them" Mitari spoke.

Musa spared her a glance. "They have decades of experience." Musa answered.

"Whatever you say. I just want to make sure that bitch is dead and gone. My heart won't be at peace if I don't confirm she is gone" Mitari complained.

"Be calm. There is no way Tari is surviving this." Musa said.

"Should we wait for them or just walk back to the car?" Mitari asked.

"We wait a little. The car is parked 15 minutes away to avoid suspicion...." Musa trailed off, staring around cautiously.

"What?" Mitari asked, glancing around with a raised eyebrow. Then Musa held up his hand to silence her.

"Someone is coming, quick let's hide." He pulled her with him. In the process, one of her earrings fell off. Her heels were sinking into the soft ground as they ran to hide behind one of the pillars.

"My earring!" Mitari shouted, but Musa’s hand slammed over her mouth, cutting her off.

"Did you hear that?" Maxwell asked, pointing his flashlight, with Stella walking beside him, shining her own flashlight.

"What sound?" Stella asked.

"I don't know, a scream?" Maxwell shrugged.

"Uhhhh... a ghost? Look." Stella said.

She pointed her torch at her face with a wide smile, giving off that creepy vibe. Maxwell let out a startled scream when he turned to her, and she burst into laughter.

"Shit! You scared me" Maxwell exhaled heavily.

"Chill, partner. It’s the dead of the night; nobody else would be coming here." Stella said, as they stood on the shoreline, pointing their flashlights out over the water.

"Sure we gonna find any clue here?" Maxwell asked. "Just look around." Stella replied, already moving to check another part of the shoreline.

Maxwell saw shoe trails on the shore and started following them, with a slight frown on his face.

Mitari’s eyes were shut tightly, with Musa's palm covering her mouth. Her back was pressed against the pillar and his body pressed close to hers.

Maxwell pointed his light toward the pillar. Mitari's eyes flew open, staring at Musa in panic, but he immediately gestured for her to keep quiet.

"Maxwell! Over here!" Stella called.

Mitari and Musa breathed out in relief.

"Coming" Maxwell replied and walked over to Stella.

"Look what I found." She said, showing him two different pairs of earrings. One was white sapphire with the letter T engraved on it. The other was exactly the same design, but set with a green gemstone instead.

"Two different earrings. These look expensive." Stella said, staring at the earrings resting in her palm.

"Let's take them to the station. It’s late, already past nine." Maxwell replied.

"Let's go." Stella pocketed the earrings.

Before they left, Maxwell pointed his flashlight toward the pillar where Mitari and Musa were hiding, but he didn't see anything unusual, so he just walked away with Stella.

Musa removed his palm from Mitari's mouth when he was sure they had gone.

"My earring! Musa, they found my earring!" Mitari panicked.

"Calm down." Musa put his hands in his pockets. "We will come up with an explanation, so don't panic, just relax." Musa said.

"My inhaler... I can't find it." Mitari frantically searched her bag. "I can't find it!" She panicked even more.

Musa casually brought one out from his pocket. Without a second thought, Mitari snatched it and dragged in air like her life depended on it — which it did.

"I carry one for you, in case of emergencies like this" Musa explained. Mitari smiled sweetly at him and pressed a quick kiss onto his lips.

"You are so thoughtful, I love you so much." Mitari praised. A grin appeared on Musa's lips but vanished the second it came.

"Let's go" Musa helped her climb down from the base of the pillar. While she stared dreamily at him with a foolish smile on her lips.

[Next day~ morning, Tonla hospital]

Malika walked out of the hospital, her hands folded across her chest. Two guards followed behind as she walked.

Her body was present but her mind wasn't. How could it be, when all these unfortunate things happened to her in the space of just one day?

First Tari's accident, then her father having an attack, then getting paralyzed afterwards. What a series of unfortunate events.

She had been at the hospital with Yokeme since three days ago, ever since she found him lying unconscious on the floor. The doctor said the attack was caused by extreme shock and a wave of overwhelming emotions. But how could she blame him? Everything was happening just too fast.

With dark circles under her eyes, and looking overall pale, she looked almost like a ghost.

She bumped into someone, but before she could fall, the person held her hand and pulled her back onto her feet.

The bodyguards rushed forward to help her up, but she was already standing steadily, so they just stood two feet away from her.

Malika looked up at her savior. "I am so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going... really sorry." Malika apologized.

"I understand, it's okay"

Malika glanced up at the voice. A slight frown appeared on her face as she tried to figure out where she had seen that face before.

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" Malika questioned.

"Yes. I'm Isaac" Isaac replied, his hand stretched out for a handshake.

The guards took a step forward, and he withdrew his hand immediately.

"Oh! You are one of the shareholders in my father's company, right? I met you once with my sister Tari." Malika said. Isaac nodded.

They stood in silence for a minute before Isaac broke it.

"Actually, I came to visit Chief Yokeme. And I'm sorry for your loss" Isaac said. Malika nodded slowly.

"Where is your mother?" He asked.

"I'm going to pick her up from the airfield, and get some things for my dad" Malika replied. Isaac nodded, and they parted ways.

[Same day~ morning mud house.]

Tari slept on her back, with her eyes tightly shut. Her wounds had been redressed with fresh bandages.

Ebiere had helped her clean the wounds, and gave her food last night, but Tari poured everything on the old woman's head because she wouldn't answer her questions.

Her lips were pale and dry, hands clutched tightly over her injured ribs.

Beads of sweat dotted her forehead, and she stayed up all night, wondering what would happen to her if she closed her eyes and slept.

Just before the sun rose, she dozed off.

A chilling sensation spread across her body, and she jerked up, soaking wet. Cold air hit her skin and she wrapped her hands around her body.

"The fuck!" She exclaimed.

"Morning to you too. Frost wants to see you" a girl announced, holding an empty bowl — the same one that had been filled with water only moments ago, now poured all over Tari.

Tari let out a gasp in disbelief.