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CHAPTER ONE

The news on every television station had been the same for almost two weeks. The public was in awe. They didn't seem to trust each other. Every one thought the other was behind the murders. Husbands guarded their wives and children jealously. Mothers no longer trusted their neighbors to even have a few words of greeting to their children. The fear of the unknown was very evident once the sun started its rushed decent. It was very obvious that if one tried so hard you could not only feel it but also touch it. The wave of fear was so strong that the humble residents of the big estate were taking certain measures. German Sherpards were released as early as 5pm; a common breed that most of the residents seemed interested in keeping. Doors were locked with metallic chains and heavy padlocks. There was no curfew as far as the local police was concerned but every one was in their homes at exactly 8pm. Those that could afford it had gone a head and hired security personnel with guns to ensure that they felt safe. Murder had come once again to Bulenga Estate in Mukono, the seventh of its kind in the area.

The only time the residents of the estate felt safe was when the afternoon sun was out and blazing. That was when little children got out of the suffocating gates accompanied by adults to have a walk or buy small trinkets from near by shops. The neighborhood trust that the residents had built for a long time between each other had been broken in a short period of three months. This particular death had shaken the entire foundation of the community on which it had been built. The values of trust and faithfulness including the added advantage of security had been scrapped by this gruesome murder. These small benefits had for long been taken for granted till the murders began.

Some said there was a serial killer or two on the loose and their lives were at stake. The only difference was that this time the victim was male while initially only women between the ages of 24years to 40years were murdered. Most of the female victims were mothers and wives with prestigious jobs or businesses. One would say they were at the helm of the Bulenga community. Their heads were severed off and the killer took time to remove the eyeballs out of their sockets. The eyes were taken and every thing else was left behind including their valuables. According to the coroner the eyes had been removed after the head had been cut off the victim's body. A small mercy one might add. The same specialist said that the deceased were drugged before their heads were chopped off with what he suspected must have been a sharp machete. The cuts were made with precision and everything was done neatly an indication that the criminal was an expert in the art. He believed that the culprit could have been a butcher or someone that used such sharp instruments on a regular. According to the police the women were killed from another place and their bodies had been dropped off in the trading center for people to find. It could have been a message left by the murderer to the community. The community had been scared and been forced to protect their female members from this new evil.

Unfortunately, another murder had occurred on that July morning and this time it was different. Police spokesperson in Mukono assured the public that they were investigating the case; that everything was in control and that there was no need for panic. And called for calmness, patience and cooperation from the community.

The victim was male, aged 38, dark chocolate complexion, six foot two with broad shoulders. He was found dressed only in a pair of black slacks and no shirt. He was lying on the floor face down in a pool of blood. His eyes unlike the rest of the victims were intact in their socket but widely open. His body was battered giving an indication that he had been beaten to a pulp. Part of his skull had broken in and the brain was oozing out of its traditional place. He had been stubbed in the abdomen with what the coroner could have sworn was a sword. According to the coroner he had been dead for approximately 3 hours and most of his bones had been broken while the internal organs had been totally damaged. If one didn't know better they would have thought that the man had been attacked by a mob and had been killed in the process. The coroner an old man of 60years that had experience of more than twenty years too was in shock at the horrors that seemed to be sweeping the population of Bulenga Estate. The weapon used to stub him was not left at the scene of crime. According to his documents, which were found in his house by the police his name, was Elvis Odong. He was the head of IT at the Daily Tribunal, a prominent newspaper in the country. Elvis also owned an Internet café in the trading center in Mukono town. There were six houses on the small flat where the deceased's home was; so everyone seemed to know each other.