The Crime Scene
A short story by Precious Akilapa
My God.
That was all Inspector Jimi could say as he took in the scene of the crime.
This was no usual scene. The level of gruesomeness was so extreme, even the seasoned law enforcer had to fight his stomach to keep its content from spilling out. The retching sound at the back of the room showed that while he might have succeeded in the endeavor, his assistant, Lanre, didn’t.
The inspector couldn’t blame him.
Walking through the crime scene, Jimi couldn’t help but wonder what drove men to commit such acts of complete wickedness, even the devil would stare in shock.
It was a murder scene, of course. Most of the worst crimes often involved some form of murder or the other. Jimi had seen a lot of murders in his day. But this…
This was one that even he found shockingly terrifying. He had always thought this job had made him cold. Unfeeling. Seeing the worst of humanity on a daily basis would do that to you. The revelation that there were still things out there that would make even his dead heart bleed left him with mixed feelings. He wasn’t sure what to feel; grateful that he still had a heart or terrified by the absolute evil the human soul was capable of.
He strongly suspected the second feeling would come out victorious.
Lanre was starting to compose himself. Jimi’s respect for the young man began to grow. For a rookie fresh out of the academy, the kid had some balls on him. He just hoped the poor kid wouldn’t be scarred for life after this. This line of work would do that to you. It sure did it to Jimi.
After a few minutes of investigating the gruesome site, the two officers left the scene. Walking out of the already evacuated building, the two took a few minutes to compose themselves.
Jimi couldn’t help but marvel at the scene outside. He saw hawkers peddling their wares and pedestrians going about their mundane tasks. Just some distance away, he could see a young man hitting on a rather beautiful young lady who was apparently enjoying the attention. It never ceased to amaze him how the world just kept on going even when terrible things like this happens.
It always made him, and the entire human race, seem small in the grand scheme of things.
“How… how could anyone do such a thing?” Lanre asked.
Jimi turned to look at the young man, he had learned to respect, both as an officer and as a man. The man was, quite frankly beautiful. Not for the first time, and probably not the last either, Jimi thought the young man really shouldn’t be here. He was a man made to be an actor or a model. Not a retched inspector.
“Do start asking those questions, Lanre,” Jimi responded. “Because asking them might mean you will one day find answers to them. And when that happens, what next? You will start understanding what drives them? Maybe even start thinking like them?” He left it at that, but they both knew the words he left unspoken.
Become like them?
They both spent some more time just standing out there, watching the world go by without even acknowledging the great evil they both just witnessed. Without even acknowledging their existence.
“I think I need a drink,” Lanre finally said. Jimi smiled at that.
“Yes. Yes, I think I need one too,” Jimi replied, and they both walked off, leaving the gruesome scene behind to the clean-up team; the only people Jimi knew who could look at the scene in there without batting an eye.
Sometimes, he feared those guys more than the demons who carried out these atrocities themselves.
A small distance away, the pretty lady from earlier laughs at some joke the young man trying to woo her told, her laugh coloring the air with mirth that had no business existing anywhere near the scene of such utter wickedness.
And so the world kept on going, just as it always did.
Precious Akilapa is a Jack of All Trades who hopes to one day become a Master of All. He probably never will, but he tries nonetheless. He writes everything from poetry to stories and essays. As a profession, Precious freelances as a content strategist and copywriter, and you can find him on both Freelancer and Upwork.
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