It took the rest of the week for Issa and Lateef to find out who her employer had been. The first step had been to find out who would have wanted Mr. Rasheed dead at the time of the incident. Dredging up information from 5 years before was nearly impossible but through his many connections Issa had been able to figure out that at the time of the incident, Mr. Rasheed had been working to pass a bill. There were a couple people who would have been opposed to that bill. The second step had been to figure out, time-wise, if it made sense for Layla to reach his location and then get to Sais at the correct time. Finally, he'd had to get a confession directly from the man. Issa had visited the man's house. He lived right off the edge of town in a large home that consisted more of windows than of walls. The ground was paved with smooth, red tiles and there were even a few plants hanging around. Serapis Chuma had risen in the government even though the bill that was passed worked against him. He was in charge of handling finance for the army, which gave him a lot of control over the army itself. After a long time of asking politely, threatening, begging, cajoling, and arguing with him, Issa was able to get a confession.
"I did use the Angel of Darkness. She was very helpful and there was a low chance that she would die. I just needed her to get rid of a few people for me, nothing more. Please sir, don't take me to jail."
"My job isn't to get you in trouble. It's to find the Angel so tell me everything you know about her and I will have no reason to do anything to you."
"Yes, sir. I'll tell you all I know."
"That night, you sent her to Sais to get rid of Mr. Rasheed. You were going to pay her later, correct?"
"Yes, sir. I was going to pay her 1,200 yeli for his murder."
"And you sent her to the hotel."
"Yes, I did."
Issa bowed his head. This man probably didn't know any more than they did.
"Do you have any other assassins currently under your contract?"
"Ummm…"
"I will not arrest you and I can swear on my life that I will not let these assassins hurt you. My goal is only the Angel of Darkness. The others will not be arrested."
It took another ten minutes of prodding and poking before Mr. Chuma told him a list of people, their names, and descriptions.
"Thank you, Mr. Chuma. You have been most helpful. I bid you farewell."
Issa walked out of the house and took to memorizing the list of people. When he made it back to the office, Lateef was waiting for him.
"I have a list of people who were in the hotel that night. It's not complete, based completely on the old records taken by the manager and there are some gaps. I'm sorry. It's the best I could do."
"It's fine. I will read that list over. Could you please find the location of these people as soon as possible?" Issa asked handing, Lateef the list of names Mr. Chuma had given him.
"Certainly, sir."
Issa sat at his desk and calmly began to read through the profiles of the people on the list given to him by Lateef. Some he eliminated immediately because they had died. Others just by looking at their profiles, he knew that they couldn't be an assassin at Layla's level. Some were too fat, some were too old, and some were too young. Issa read through the others. He narrowed the list down to 15 and called Lateef back in.
"Please find out what each of these people was doing during the last few assassinations. I need to see which of these have iron-clad alibis."
Bowing Lateef retreated from the room.
Then Issa stood up and left for the day. It was still earlier than usual so he decided to visit Jamila on the way home. He knocked gently on her door and was quickly invited in.
"Hello, Issa. How have you been? You look tired. You're still just a kid, you know. You should calm down a little and lie back. That's what I do when I'm tired. Would you like some tea? I have lots of different flavors. You like tea of course. I'm sure Layla served it to you. She liked it a lot and would come to get some from me every so often."
Issa listened as Jamila rambled and allowed her to keep speaking while she led him into the spacious living room. Her father had bought her a nice house with carpets, wall-hangings and other things everywhere. Issa was sure to wipe his feet before stepping on the carpets. Jamila wandered off to get the tea, still speaking. Issa turned to sit down on one of the couches. Suddenly, he was met with a surprising sight. Sitting on the couch in front of him was a tall man with a goatee.
"Hello, sir. My name is Issa," he said bowing at the waist in the deferential way that was owed to all adults.
"Hello, Issa. It's nice to meet you. My name is Krato."
"I'm sorry for interrupting, sir. I can come back at another time. I just came for a friendly visit. Jamila is like an older sister to me."
"No, no, it's fine. Have a seat."
Krato was thin and wiry. He spoke with a soft voice, that would probably not be the first one heard in a crowded room. Issa wondered why he was there. Then, Jamila returned carrying two cups of tea and she handed them to the two men.
"Oh, right, I forgot to introduce you. This is Krato, my fiancee."
Issa was very close to spitting his tea out.
"What?" he asked after having recovered from the surprise.
"Yes, we are getting married," Jamila said.
Issa just stared at her and the guy as well because he did not seem like her kind of person at all. He was not strong, didn't seem to smart, though he was quiet and calm just as Kosey had been.
"Since when have you been dating?" Issa asked.
"Just a week, but when you know, you know. You know?" Jamila said, petting Krato on the head nicely.
"Uh, sure," Issa responded, not really understanding the situation.
"Anyway. We will be getting married at the end of the month. You're invited of course and…" Jamila trailed off for a second. "And Layla as well if she shows up."
Issa nodded. Layla wouldn't show up, he was almost sure of it but he didn't say so out loud. Out of everyone, Jamila was the one who hoped for Layla's return the most. She was still unable to believe, even after five years, that she was gone for good. In a way, Issa felt the same way but Knowing that she might be dead also kept him from hoping too much. He finished drinking his tea.
"Thank you for having me over, Jamila. It was nice to meet you Krato. Maybe I'll see you around some time soon. Goodbye both of you," he said.
"Goodbye Issa," they said and Issa let himself out. That afternoon he worked out for a lot longer than he normally would have. He could almost see Layla again as the clues began to line up again and he was itching to use everything that she had taught him for the first time ever. He practiced every attack and defense formation he knew, he ran for as long as he could, and then cooled down by doing push-ups and sit-ups. All the while, thinking,
"I will find her and save her, just like she saved me."
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