Tenant Vanishes Under Mysterious Circumstances !

In an effort to supplement their income after retirement from the Mines, a couple built two single bedroom flats on the plot of their house they have been living in for the past twenty years.

The flats were to be rented out to individuals who were in need of accommodation, which is in short supply in urban areas.

This accommodation was intended and suitable for single people who have just started work and have not yet got families to look after.

This is how two single ladies, who had recently been employed by one of the Banks, in one of the Copperbelt cities found their accommodation.

The two women had been schoolmates since their primary school days. They had been very close friends ever since. They have been like twin sisters who did a lot things together.

The two ladies had stayed at the rented flats for close to a year, when one of them was engaged and was married within six months.

This was a setback for the friend who had not yet got a proposal for matrimony.

Her friend had to join her husband who was working in Lusaka.

The lady who got married gave notice to the landlord to find another tenant three months before she vacated the house.

A young man who told them that he was a supplier of spares to the Mines, approached the retired couple to seek for accommodation. He was told that it will be available within three months.

When he was asked where he was currently staying, he told them that he was staying with his married elder brother in a nearby town. He told them that he wanted to shift to the city which was nearer to his customers.

He told them that once he shifts to the flat, he would come along with a lady who he was going to be cohabiting with until they officially got married.

The landlord had no objection to this announcement, though he was rather surprised at the "cohabiting before marriage" arrangement. Who was he to interfere with other people’s private affairs?

After the wedding of the outgoing tenant, the cohabiting couple moved into the flat.

When the new tenants moved in, the landlord noticed that most, if not all the furniture, kitchen utensils and bedding items were new. This did not worry him as he knew that the couple were planning to get married in due course.

The new tenant paid his rentals on time for the first six months without any problems.

The new tenant was not a very communicative individual. This was unlike the previous lady tenant who always engaged the landlord’s wife in conversation and kept referring to her as “aunt”!

The man was out of the residence most of the time and was only seen at times.
He would leave home in the morning and would not be back until late in the evening. At times he would not be at home for several days.

One evening , there was a news flash on Television that police have impounded a truck laden with copper which was believed to have been stolen from one of the Mines in the city. They had arrested the driver of the truck, who was assisting them with investigations.

Police believed that there was a syndicate of people, who were involved in copper thefts, which have been going on for sometime. The police public relations officer said that they have gathered enough information which would lead to the arrest of more suspects.

The following day the new tenant did not go out for his errands as usual. He came to see the landlord and told him that he will be leaving for further studies in South Africa in a week’s time. He told him that his fiancée would continue staying in the flat until the end of his studies.

He informed the landlord that he will make arrangements to pay for his fiancée’s accommodation whilst he was in South Africa.

He told the landlord that as he was going to be nearer the source of spares he sells to the Mines, he would be sending these to his business partner in Zambia to sell on his behalf. The partner would then pay the rental fee for the fiancée on his own behalf.

The following weekend the landlord and most of his family left for their farm, which is some thirty kilometres away from the city.

It was harvest time for the maize which was grown in the farm. The harvesting of the maize would take about ten days. The only members of the family of the landlord who were at home were three school-going children who had to remain behind as the schools they attended were open for classes.

Before going to South Africa, the tenant paid one month’s rental in advance for his fiancée.

After the harvest the landlord returned to his home. He found that the tenant has left for South Africa as told earlier.

The fiancée of the tenant was not at the home. On enquiry, the children who remained at home told their parents that they have not seen her from the time her fiancé left.

This did not worry the landlord as he presumed that maybe she has gone to visit some relatives in a nearby town.

At the month end, officials from a furnishing company in town came to look for the tenant who had just left for South Africa. He had not paid the hire purchase fee for the previous month.

They were told that only the fiancée was around but they had not seen her for two weeks now.

The lady was not seen at the flat when the next rental payment was due.

Since the landlord did not have the contact details of the man in South Africa and his fiancée, he got worried of what happened to the lady.

The children then disclosed to their parents that whilst they were at the farm, a three tonne truck came to take out some household goods from the flat. The fiancée was in the company of three men who came to take the items out of the flat.

This prompted the landlord to force open the front door of the flat to see what was left inside.

He was shocked to find that all the items, except for the curtains had been removed from the flat!

He later learnt that his tenant was part of the group of suspected copper thieves that were being sought to be interviewed by police.

He was quizzed by the police on why he kept someone whose credentials he did not verify when he posed as a tenant. He was told that he could be charged for harbouring a criminal.

The man is still at large and is on the police wanted list.

The question one should ask is, what precautions could the landlord have taken to avoid keeping a criminal unwittingly?