Crime and Justice Lagos recap 1: “You might need to call your lawyer”

The first episode of Crime and Justice Lagos opens with a crime (a murder) and ends with justice.

An old man is deeply in the throes of pleasures with a young woman — sex and cocaine — later that morning, he is murdered in the same bed.

The old man is Austin Oredo, a wealthy businessman who is supposed to be in Abuja. The young lady, Veno, is a 23-year-old student of computer science being pimped by her boyfriend. Mr. Oredo, a married man, likes them young. Nineteen to twenty-five is his sweet spot. So, naturally, his wife, tired of his dabbling with younger girls, is a suspect. Maybe she killed him over jealousy.

Enter detective Danny and Kelechi, the lead investigators of the Serious and Special Crimes Unit, a unique police unit established to solve crime cases the main police can’t or won’t bother solving.

The detectives start their investigation with Veno, who received a curious fifty thousand naira from Mr. Oredo hours before his murder. Veno left Mr. Oredo before the murder, but she also left the door open. Why? It is not clear, but answers lurk in other places.

Attention to Mrs. Oredo, whom the detectives visit to deliver the bad news and she was shocked…or pretending to be because she knew. She had visited the scene early that morning after getting an anonymous call from someone.

When the detectives figure she was pretending earlier, they call her in for questioning. She arrives with Anthony Akpata, her friend who had woken up beside her earlier in the episode. She claims innocence and when asked who could have reasons to kill her husband, she points to the wife before her.

“Maybe his ex-wife, Kemi, crazy woman. She came at me with a knife one time I was pregnant for Austin.”

But Kemi couldn’t have done a thing. She is mentally ill and confined to a facility in Epe. She speaks gibberish primarily during her chat with the detectives but amidst the nonsense is a helpful clue: they all belong to a fraternity, the Prime Cult, from their days at Delta State University.

Another fraternity member pops up when the unit delves into the financial dealings of Mr Oredo. The aforementioned Anthony had sued him over a fourteen-billion-naira deal. Not only does he wake up in Mrs. Oredo’s bed, but he also has financial issues with her husband.

So, who killed Mr. Oredo? Tony, his wife, or his young mistress? The first two have motives
and are connected. But could it be the innocent-looking 23-year-old?

Find out in Crime and Justice Lagos, now showing on Showmax with new episodes available Thursdays.