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I finished the manifesto where I outlined how Patrick Bagosora had massacred everyone in my Rwandan village. I also provided graphic detail on how he murdered my family. The graphic detail was crucial to get noticed in the 21st-century attention-deficit-world, where mobile devices and social media affected the collective attention span.
I booked the train tickets for The Ghan for myself and Jakob in economy class, and Patrick Bagosora in first class as part of the “Tourism Australia ad campaign” murder plot. It annoyed me that I had to pay for such an expensive ticket for that bastard Patrick Bagosora. However, it was what we had agreed to when I signed him up for the non-existent ad campaign. In the end, it didn’t matter. Patrick Bagosora was destined to die on the first day of the trip, so he would have very limited use of his better cabin.
Jakob approached me as I was drinking a glass of red wine, while sitting on the couch in our Adelaide home. Jakob had agreed to come with me as a cameraman, but he didn’t know I was going to kill Patrick. I had told Jakob that we would interview Patrick on camera, but that wasn’t what I had planned. Instead, I had made an intricate plan where I could commit the murder and be charged with lesser crimes.
Jakob hugged me and spoke, “So, how do you feel about confronting the man who killed your family on camera?”
“I feel a bit tense. I have waited for this moment so long.” I replied.
“But what if he doesn’t admit to anything, and threatens to sue us for slander? You haven’t found any evidence proving that Laurence Juma and Patrick Bagosora is the same person.”
“It won’t come to that. Trust me, Patrick will swallow the bait.” I assured him.
“I wish we could travel without the need for this confrontation,” Jakob said.
“Don’t worry. We’ll enjoy the rest of the trip, after I have confronted Patrick.” I lied to him.
Jakob seemed content with my answer. He hugged me tight, and at this moment, I felt closer to him than I had felt for years.
***
WE MET WITH PATRICK Bagosora at the Adelaide train station the following day. Jakob filmed as I interviewed Patrick and made the whole scene to look like a travel promo video. We boarded the train together, and agreed to meet in the restaurant carriage for dinner a few hours later. As I entered my cabin, I started to understand what drove men like Patrick Bagosora. It was an incredible feeling of power to know that I had someone else’s life in my hand. I brushed off the thought. I was justified in what I planned to do, because Patrick Bagosora murdered my family and countless of my countrymen. Patrick on the other hand, was a psychopath who killed for the thrill of killing. There was a big difference.
“So, when do you want to do the confrontation scene with Patrick Bagosora?” Jakob asked me as the train started rolling.
“I don’t know. I’d rather lead the conversation towards subjects where I would lead him to reveal his true identity. Once we have ascertained our viewers that he is a fraud, we can swing the axe on him.” I explained.
“Okay, I hope you know what you are doing.” Jakob replied.
I nodded, and a terrible realisation hit me like a tsunami. If I were to kill Patrick on this trip, the police would charge Jakob as an accessory. Why would I risk my poor husband's wellbeing so I could get my revenge? For a moment, I considered scrapping my murderous plan. However, if I did, I would have rewarded my family’s murderer with a free weekend of luxury travel. I shook off the idea. I couldn’t back down now. I had already backed down from killing Patrick when I decided that I needed to write my manifesto first. My sudden concern for Jakob’s well-being was stopping me from doing what I had to do.
I closed my eyes, and I eerily recalled how I suffocated my mother with a pillow to end her suffering. The sadistic monster had left her to slowly bleed to death after raping her with a broken glass bottle, so I had to end her suffering. “Avenge your family, kill Patrick Bagosora.” My mother said in my vision.
I knew that my vision was my subconscious talking to me. My mother had never urged me to seek revenge, she had been passing in and out of consciousness and shaking in pain when I found her. Deep inside I knew that my mother, Junema, would never urge me to avenge her death. Junema was a good Christian woman who always spoke about the importance of setting a good example and forgiving one’s enemies. Yet I wasn’t Junema, and I doubted that God’s reason for keeping me alive was to be happy and forgive the past. Too many bad things had happened in my life for that to be achievable.
***
I FELT A SILENT EXHILARATION when I poisoned Patrick Bagosora. As a matter of fact, no-one in the restaurant carriage even knew that it happened. I had stirred down a teaspoon of arsenic in Patrick’s Margarita cocktail that he drank while I was interviewing him at the restaurant carriage.
When Jakob went to the bathroom, I leaned in and seduced Patrick. I said, “This has been a very interesting interview, Mr Juma. Would you mind showing me your first-class cabin over another cocktail?” Patrick smiled and replied: “I would love to, Ms Nyamwasa.”
As Patrick took my hand and led me to his cabin, I felt a sense of powerful energy. In just a few more minutes, my plan to murder Patrick would begin.
Patrick locked the door behind him as we entered his cabin. He got seated in a luxurious armchair and spoke. “I know who you are, Samantha. I have known since you came by my office.”
I tried to sound cool, but I was shaking on the inside as I replied: “Please enlighten me, Patrick.”
“Hah! I knew it. You are here because you believe me to be the Rwandan war criminal Patrick Bagosora, who disappeared 22 years ago.” Patrick exclaimed.
“Is that so?” I asked.
“Yes. I recognised your Kinyarwanda accent. You are a Tutsi speaker from the Gatsibo region of Rwanda. Your face reminds me of someone, did I meet your mother during the war?” Patrick taunted.
I lost my cool and shouted. “You raped and murdered my mother, along with the rest of my family, you monster!”
“Is that so? Is this silly charade your way of seeking admission of guilt from me? That’s never going to happen.” Patrick mocked.
“No. I came here to kill you.” I replied.
Hearing this, Patrick went into a roaring burst of laughter. Eventually, he spoke: “I am afraid you’ve trapped yourself, Samantha. I will kill you and leave your body to rot in here. I will get off this train in Alice Springs and fly out of the country. By the time the cleaners find your body as the train reaches Darwin, I will be long gone.”
“That’s a great plan, but there is a slight problem.” I said.
“And what is that?” Patrick mocked.
“I have already chastised you for what you have done to my family and my people. The poison from your cocktail should be in your bloodstream by now.” I revealed.
“You’re bluffing!” Patrick wheezed in fear.
“Then, try to kill me.” I replied.
Patrick tried to get up, but his legs couldn’t carry him, and he collapsed to the floor. As he shook in convulsions, I waited for him to suffocate till his last breath, then I put his dead body on the bed and covered his face with the blanket, as if he was merely sleeping. I took his keys, unlocked the door, and left the cabin quietly.
***
THE FOLLOWING DAY, I was drinking cocktails in the restaurant carriage when an alarm went off on my phone. It was time to set the next part of my plan in motion. I excused myself and went to my cabin to fetch my pistol and my phone, so I could livestream Patrick’s “murder”. I started my phone and I ranted about how Patrick was the incarnation of the devil and how he had murdered my family and my people in the name of satanic powers. I let my pent-up insanity all out. It would help my case later. After ranting for 20 minutes, I walked towards Patrick’s cabin. I opened the door, and I filmed myself shooting him with all the bullets in my pistol while he was in his sleep.
Jakob came running towards me and exclaimed: “Samantha, what have you done!?”
“I did it!” I replied coldly.
“You did what?” Jakob exclaimed.
“I killed Patrick Bagosora.” I replied.
“But why? Have you lost your mind?” Jakob asked in shock.
“No, he killed my family. I am infertile, and my family ends with me. This is my resolution.” I explained.
“So, what are we going to do now?” Jakob asked.
“I will do what Patrick should have done. I will own up to my crimes and accept my punishment.” I stated calmly.
I dropped my pistol to the ground, and I sat in silence as I waited for police officers to arrive. I felt at peace as they arrested me and brought me to police custody in Alice Springs. Everything was going according to my plan.