JIJI NDOGO: Death of Valentine: The double life clue

The source of our disagreement is the ongoing investigation into the death of a young man called Valentine. The apparent and popular cause of death is suicide, but I have a strong feeling there’s more to the case.

My opinion is unpopular for several reasons. One, the villagers prefer to romanticise the death as due to unrequited love, and to go ahead with a sympathetic burial.

Two, detective Gundua of the DCI, though deeply enamoured with Sophia, is still not too pleased to leave his cosy digs in Nairobi to investigate a suicide in lowly Jiji Ndogo. And three, and the most hurtful of all, comes from my work and life partner Sophia.

Although I believe she loves me dearly, she also thinks I’m as dumb as a rock. Unfortunately, she’s not very far from the truth, and neither have I done much to disprove her. Until now.

“I swear if I didn’t know you hate the idea of Gundua being around me,” she tells me, “I’d think you’re just trying to make yourself seem important.”

“Maybe I’m not as bad as you think,” I counter. “I got to be good for something, right?”

Running a finger down my chest, she says, “I know something you’ve become good at with practice.”

If I was light-skinned, I would blush. “Are you enjoying your bedroom experiences more, Mrs Makini?”

She shrinks away. “Ew! Mr Makini, don’t be gross in public. I’m talking about you making ugali.”

“Oh.”

“But seriously, Makini, you have to let this go. Even Gundua doesn’t seem to think there’s any meat in your murder claim.”

“Talk of the devil,” I say as Detective Gundua returns to the police post.

“Does anything in this little dump you call a village ever change?” he asks.

“Since you’ve been gone,” Sophia provides, “Mrs Kima’s dog gave birth to three puppies. Or were you referring to something specific?”

“Very funny, Sophia. Anyway, I was very sceptical when I got this case. I mean, Sgt Makini suspected foul play based on the fact that the deceased had done his laundry? Sounded quite farfetched.”

“What about the appointment in his diary?” I ask. “And his missing laptop.”

He raises a hand to stop me. “Like I said when I got here, you now leave the investigation to me. After conducting several inquiries, I have concluded that there might be something we’re missing here.

“Through advanced digital forensics, I have unearthed a second and completely different life for our victim. Here, in Jiji Ndogo, he was Valentine, but he had a completely different social media persona as Ivana Humpalot, a well-to-do gay socialite.”

Sophia puts a hand to her mouth. “What?”

“It might explain the reason why the supposed girlfriend he killed himself over said there wasn’t much to their relationship after all. The question is, if Valentine was a closeted gay man who made money on social media, and given the society’s view on such issues that made him only come out online, could this have led to his death?”

“Maybe someone he was involved with as Ivana?” I ask.

“Not sure, but the missing laptop would provide better clues. We’ve traced the appointment Valentine never attended to a number in Eldoret. We’ll shake that bush and see what comes out.”

Sophia slaps my arm. “Good job, Makini. You called it.”

“Don’t raise your hopes yet,” Gundua warns. “It’ll most likely come to nothing.”