Maloma was just someone who followed his instincts and as long as he could remember, they had never let him down. If people decided that his style fit into their definition of good, then he might've been so. But whether good or otherwise, he was simply a cop who followed the law. At least the law was clear and could guide him.
Within an hour, more and more people poured into the stadium where the TNP party would be holding a rally. It was just a week to the Presidential elections and even though the candidates maintained a semblance of civility in public, Maloma understood just how politics worked in the background. Although he'd heard in some of the inner circles that the TNP candidate was really a good guy, one could not really tell with these political types.
The TNP candidate Kilala Yumi was rumored to be the favorite in most of the big cities, but like any sensible politician, you couldn't overlook your opponents stronghold. Which was why Maloma was standing under the hot sun in a small town stadium he'd never been to, bored out of his mind, but standing and monitoring all the same. He was in charge of the policing security of the day and they'd been tasked with coordinating with all other local law enforcement to make sure the rally was a success. At least security wise.
It would be a success, but for not for Maloma.
Everything had been perfectly set and all the checks showed every single detail had been checked and triple checked, and it was a go from all angles. The rally had begun and Maloma could remember thinking it was the first time he'd seen that many people gathered in one place. Perhaps it was the defeaning noise of the crowd, but no one would later claim to remember hearing anything. Ironic that with so many people around, no one had seen who'd taken the shot that brought down the TNP candidate Kilala Yumi.
Investigations were launched, which was equally one of the biggest scale he'd ever seen. But with nothing productive to show, the political elites had needed a scapegoat to placate the citizens and who better to take the fall than the officer in charge of security. The public opinion soon shifted from condemnation of the culprits, to condemning the security of the day whose head was none other than Maloma.
Kilala Yumi had survived and riding on a wave of public support after his attempted assassination, eventually won the election and became President. But something about that day continued to bother Maloma, it was perhaps the absolute lack of a trail or evidence to trace how the attack had been done. It was either the culprit was an extraordinary professional, or someone somewhere was hiding something.
'Chief, I think I've got the big one this time"
'You mean just like the last fifty eight times?. I don't even know why I still keep you around here" the man whom everyone referred to as boss replied.
Maloma wasn't quite sure how to take the reply, he'd been working tirelessly just to get this far. But his boss wasn't entirely wrong, he'd gotten some seriously hot leads in the past only to find out that they were false trails. No one took him serious anymore, he was simply regarded as a C-list reporter trying to play cop. Ironically the newspaper company was mostly described as a C-list organization. To be seen as low level even in a small time setup like this was a mighty low for him, but a man had to eat.
He most definitely missed the old days. The days where he'd been a well respected cop. Not greatly loved, but well respected and he hadn't realized how much of a reputation he had until it all came crashing down with that unfortunate presidential rally.
All of it had been a year ago, and he'd been with this newspaper outfit after loosing his job and career as a cop. No one had wanted to hire him in any investigative capacity, but luckily for him his present employer didn't care about anybody's opinion.
All his time as a journalist had been spent so far trying to unearth the mystery of the TNP rally shooting.
'Are you with me, young man?' the boss's voice brought Maloma out of his reverie.
Maloma smiled as he walked out of the office, fifty eight plus had to be his lucky break.
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, breaking news just reaching us .....................
The news would go on to reveal that President Kilala Yumi had been arrested and the Senate were proposing impeachment over allegations of intentionally orchestrating an assasination attempt on himself in order to sway public's opinion in his favour.
Tuned in like millions of others, but not showing the surprise that must've been spreading in the many homes receiving the evening news, Maloma watched with a smile on his face.
He had known something was fishy about the whole incident, but didn't realize foul play had been done by the so called victim. The evidence circulating around the nation had come to his desk as an anonymous package and after a series of checks, he'd confirmed that indeed it was the real deal. It wasn't quite easy, but he'd been able to covertly send copies to media houses around the nation, and simply waited for the bomb to drop.
For the first time since he got the job, Maloma didn't mind being an investigative journalist. He was perhaps a bad one by normal standards, but if he made it a habit of getting juicy anonymous packages like the last one, how difficult could it be become a successful journalist. It was a happy Maloma that went to bed that night.