Chume.4

When last we left Dr. Crocker, he had inexplicably departed for Africa, presumably to meet the nefarious Usman Bello. Mr. James Chume could not stand being out of contact and so sent this largely incoherent e-mail to Dr. Crocker despite an automated reply telling him that Dr. Crocker would not be available until December 24:

Who knew? I mean, who knew Drinkwater Island had a Bureaux of Rivers, Streams, and Hydroelectric Plants? Now that is remarkable. It also has an airport large enough to land and accommodate aircraft as large as 767's. You should come for a visit sometime. Mr. Martin Chesire, always a capable and efficient functionary, now replies to Mr. Idris of the Central Bank of Nigeria:

Damn that Usman Bello! How does he always manage to beat these lads to the money? Bishop Chume must be fuming with great impaitence, for he writes another letter before December 24:

ARE YOU BACK FROM YOUR TRIP TO AFRICA AND HOW IS THE TRIP? I HOPE ALL IS FIND ITH YOU.
I WILL LIKE TO SPEAK WITH YOU. PLEASE LET ME HAVE YOUR DIRECT PHONE NUMBER.
LET ME ALSO KNOW HOW YOUR TRIP WENT.
GOD BLESS YOU.
YOUR BROTHER IN CHRIST.
BRO JAMES

Dr. Crocker finally returns and tells Bishop Chume what happened:

Dear Mr. Chume:

I have indeed returned from Africa. I got to meet the King of Nigeria, Mr. Iqbal Kwandalizi. We met in my hotel room in a secret meeting. I was taken to another room in the hotel and shown a box containing the money. The money was covered in a black substance. I had to pay $65,000 for a cleaning chemical and then $25,000 for more cleaning chemicals.

Then the police came and arrested the King of Nigeria and the other men. I got my money back from the police and then the police ordered me to get on the next plane and leave Nigeria and never come back. The police said the man was not the King of Nigeria but was instead a "419" scam artist working with his fellow con artists. Imagine that! And I thought they were all good Christian men. How could I have been so foolish?

What a long strange trip it has been.

I am back home and breathing the air of America once more. I do not know what this whole thing was about, but I am glad to be done with it.

I am going to have a cup of tea and then go shoot all of those damned squirrels that are scampering about my patio. These squirrels are pests and bring diseases. Once I had squirrel fever and nearly died of a nose bleed. Only an ancient Navajo cure saved me, but that is a story for another time.

Merry Christmas,

Dr. Calvin Crocker

Elated at another chance to get at Crocker's money, Chume replies:

MY DEAR BROTHER IN CHRIST DR. CALVIN,

SAY SEVEN HALLELUYAH, SINCE YOU LEFT FOR NIGERIA I HAVE BEEN ON FASTING AND PRAYERS.

I KEEP TELLING YOU THIS BUT THEY WILL NEVER LET YOU LISTEN TO ME.

IT GET TO A TIME I WAS AFRIAD TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THEM BECAUSE THEY WHERE TOTAL ON YOU.

I THANK MY GOD TODAY AND FOREVER THAT HE ALWAYS ANSWERS MY PRAYERS. THE BIBLE AND MILK IS ALL GONE I THANK GOD YOU CAN SEE THAT FOR YOURSELF.THEY ARE MUSLIMS AND NOT GOOD BELIEVER'S IN ISLAM EVEN.

THANK GOD THIS HAS COME TO AN END.

HAVE A REST. WE CAN TALK LATER.

YOU ARE A GOD FEARING MAN NOT EVIL WILL HAPPEN TO YOU.

WELCOME FROM A FAR DEADLY PLACE.

HAPPY XMAS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

PLEASE I WILL LIKE YOUR PHONE NUMBER.

YOUR BROTHER IN CHRIST.

BRO. JAMES

Bishop Chume (who still uses the name Khume) then sends Dr. Crocker an internet Christmas card that I could not open:

Dear Dr. Calvin,

James Khume (bis) [ jameschume@yahoo.com ] has sent you an e-card from 123Greetings.com.

123Greetings.com is all about touching lives, bridging distances, healing rifts and building bonds. We have a gallery of e-cards for almost every occasion of life. Express yourself to your friends and family by sending Free e-cards from our site with your choice of colors, words and music.

Your e-card will be available with us for the next 30 days. If you wish to keep the e-card longer, you may save it on your computer or take a print.

To view your e-card, choose from any of the following options...

Best wishes,

Postmaster,

123Greetings.com

*If you would like to send someone an e-card, you can do so at

http://www.123greetings.com

The stress of meeting the fake King of Nigeria has taken its toll on Dr. Crocker:

Dear Brother Chume:

Thank you so much for the wonderful card. My doctor has given me a nerve tonic and ordered me to bed.

I worry that my nephew Lionel is now mixed up in all of this somehow. I spoke briefly with him to tell him I was back from Africa and he is, I think, in Holland. I think Mr. Bello has criminal friends in Holland and I am trying to get hold of Lionel. He is, I think, in Paris or Rome, and is supposed to be in Holland soon with a lot of money. I have to stop him before he is set up by people with dirty black money as was I. The problem is that Lionel lost his cell phone in New York when transferring flights.

I can only reach him on his laptop and I am worried because he does not check e-mails very often.

Mr. Chume, who were these criminals I encountered in Lagos? And why was the money black? I cleaned some of the money off with a chemical. Why did they disguise the money? Also, the man who pretended to be the King of Nigeria was, I think, some sort of leader of these hoodlums. When the policemen burst into the hotel room with their guns drawn, they grabbed the man who was pretending to be the King of Nigeria and beat him with a cane.. The police then took their canes and beat the other men. Each man was beat fifty times with a cane before they were taken away. All of the men cried as they were beaten with canes.

I myself was taken to the airport where I met a famous lady singer from Ghana. I was able to eat lunch with her and I gave her the diamond ladies Rolex watch that I had brought as a gift for the Queen of Nigeria. As there is no Queen of Nigeria, the police let me keep the watch and so I gave it to her. She seemed pleased with the watch. It is a custom watch that cost $100,000. I am glad she liked it. Personally, I am trying to give away all of my money before I die so that my selfish relatives do not get a penny, except for nephew Lionel. I just gave $500,000 the a home for stray cats. There are many cats who do not have a home and I want to give these stray cats a nice home. I like cats and have 17 cats here at my house. I do not like squirrels however.

Mr. Chume, I should like to buy a zebra for the zoo in my home town. Can you arrange for me to purchase a zebra? Please investigate. Now that the singer Michael Jackson is on trial for molesting boys, he needs money. I just bought the five giraffes he keeps at his Neverland Ranch. I paid $50,000 for each giraffe and am having them shipped to my ostrich ranch in Comorra, Mexico. Please help me buy a zebra and, if you can find one, I would also like to buy an impala. I will not buy any animals illegally. Everything must be legal because we are both Christians and so must do things by the law and the Bible.

Regards,

Dr. Calvin Crocker

In the letter above mention is made of Lionel Drinkwater being the nephew of Dr. Calvin Crocker. At least now the lads know the family relationships. Later, Lionel may try to betray his Uncle Calvin for the money being offered by the lads. Perhaps Lionel may even push Uncle Calvin down the stairs. Who knows? You see, once all of this phony money is floating around we find that fictional characters get greedy just like real people with real money: Art imitates life. In Chume's reply, there is an hysterically funny line which was unintentional on his part. The line is italicized:

MY DEAR BROTHER IN CHRIST DR. CALVIN ,

THANKS FOR APPRECIATING MY CARDS THEY ARE POOR ONCE BUT TRUELY FROM MY HEART. YOU NEED REST SO HAVE IT. WELL I WANT TO BEG YOU FOR THIS FAVOUR, I PROMISED ALOT OF LOCAL CHURCH LEADERS THAT I WILL BE HAVING BIBLE AND POWDERED MILK FROM YOU SO ARRANGEMENTS HAVE BEEN CONCLUDED ON HOW TO SHARE IT AND NOW IT’S NOT COMING. I WAS TOLD THEY HAVE GIVEN MR. BELLO THE MONEY TO PROVIDE THEM SINCE I INSIST ON TALKING IT OVER WITH YOU.

WELL PLEASE ADVICE ME ON WHAT TO DO MANY HERE FEELS YOU HAVE SEND THE MONEY TO ME OR MY ASSISTANT AND WE HAVE USED THE MONEY FOR SOME OTHER PURPOSE.

PLEASE IF WE CAN STILL HAVE IT BEFORE NEW YEAR I WILL BE VERY GREATFUL.

MAY THE LORD BE WITH YOU.

I WILL TRY AND GET YOU A ZEBRA. JUST GIVE ME SOME LITTLE TIME AS THIS IS CHRISTMAS SEASON, I ALSO NEED SOME REST BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN ON DRY FASTING FOR YOU SINCE I HAD YOU TRAVEL TO LAGOS, YOU SEE I HAVE NOT TRUSTED THAT MR. BELLO FROM DAY ONE , THERE ARE ALOT OF MAFIAS IN NIGERIANS. I HOPE YOU RECOVERED ALL YOU PAID HIM.

WELL LET ME STOP AT THIS POINT I HAVE TO GO AND CELEBRATE THE XMAS MASS.

BYE FOR NOW PLEASE REACH ME WITH INFORMATIONS ON HOW WE WILL HANDLE THE BIBLE AND MILK ISSUE. IF YOU WILL STILL SEND THEM OR YOU WILL SEND MONEY FOR THERE LOCAL PURCHASE HERE OR WE SHOULD FORGET ABOUT IT FOR NOW.

TRY AND STOP YOUR NEPHEW FROM THOSE MAFIAS.

THE LORD JESUS WILL ALWAYS BLESS YOU.AMEN

BYE TILL I HEAR FROM YOU.

YOURS BROTHER IN CHRIST.

JAMES

"I WILL TRY AND GET YOU A ZEBRA. JUST GIVE ME SOME LITTLE TIME AS THIS IS CHRISTMAS SEASON...." Well of course I will give you some extra time; everyone knows how hard it is to get a zebra at Christmas time in Africa because people there buy them all up to give as gifts. Zebras at Christmas in Africa are as hard to find as are Buzz Lightyear's or X-Box's during Christmas in America. In any case, the pervert Michael Jackson won't need his zebra's when he does his dime in prison and so Dr. Crocker will just buy Jacko's zebras when the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department delivers Mr. Jackson to Lancaster, Tehachipi, Folsom, or one of California's other fine penal institutions.

In terms of the scambait, we see Chume's game. It looks like James Chume played the old "Powdered Milk and Bibles" against Crocker in an attempt to pry some money loose from the old man when he is emotionally vulnerable. Crocker is no fool and answers back:

Dear Bro. Chume:

Yes, let us proceed with sending powdered milk and Bible to the poor. How much money are you prepared to spend?

Our original agreement called for you to spend substantial amounts of your own money. You had some crook named

Barrister Williams working for you and I believe you fired him. He was supposed to draft an agreement and you were

to deposit cash in an escrow account. Please do not think that I will simply send you money and trust you. You must prove

your faith and trust by showing me evidence of your devotion to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You must place

monies into my bank account. I will then match your funds and we will allow a third party Christian organization to use the

money. I may be 93 years old, but I am not gullible.

I worry that Barrister Williams is somehow still lurking in the shadows. My nephew Lionel will arrive in Amsterdam sometime

today on Buzz Airlines with $50,000 in cash and I am worried about this as well. I think Usman Bello and Barrister Williams

are working together in a voodoo 419 cult of blood and money. If the police had not saved me from the false King of Nigeria,

I might now be dead in a slaughterhouse in Lagos. As it turns out, the angels of God were watching over me. However,

Usman Bello, or someone using his name, has bilked me of $25,000 all by using false promises. I will not be fooled again!

Sir, are you prepared to go forward in truth? No games, no lies, no deceptions. This is done for the sake of Jesus Christ

and you will be required to swear oaths to God in the name of Jesus which bind you to severe penalties if you do not keep these

oaths to God. Please advise and I will make arrangements for the Rev. Dr. Harald Porter to meet you at a time and place to be determined.

The Rev. Dr. Harald Porter is my personal emissary in charitable matters and has been so for 25 years.

Regards,

Dr. Calvin Crocker

Crocker's letter stings the deeply religious Mr. Chume:

MY DEAR BROTHER IN CHRIST DR. CALVIN,

WELL IF THOSE ARE YOUR WORD TO ME AFTER PRAYERS AND FASTING I DONE ON YOUR BEHALF. WELL I TOLD YOU I DO NOT KNOW THIS MAN I DO NOT INTRODUCED HIM TO YOU. HE CLIAMED HE KNOW ME BUT I KEEP TELLING YOU I DO NOT TRUST OF HIM. WELL AS FOR BARR. WILLIAMS HE WORKED FOR ME FOR SOME WHILE ON YOUR ADVICE I FIRED HIM WITHOUT PAYMENT.

YOU EVER REFUSE TO PAY HIM BUT I STOPED HIM FROM SEEING ME AND THAT ENDS WILLIAMS WITH ME. THE MONEY WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HAS NOT BEEN HERITED.

IT’S THERE IN THE BANK BUT THAT NOT WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT NOW. IF YOU WANT TO HELP MY PEOPLE AS YOU DID PROMISE OKAY IF YOU HAVE CHANGED YOUR MIND IT’S ALSO OKAY. THANK GOD YOU HAVE EVER GIVEN OR PAID ANY MONEY IN MY NAME.

I JUST THINK AS YOU HAVE COMMITTED ME TO PROMISE LOCAL CHURCH LEADERS ABOUT YOUR DONATIONS TOWARDS THE GROWTH OF CHRISTIANITY IN AFRICA.

WELL I DISCOVERED YOU DO NOT TRUST ME ANY MORE AFTER MY PRAYERS, MY FASTING AND EVEN CELEBRATED MASS FOR YOU.

NOW YOU ARE PASSING SUCH COMMENT ABOUT ME.

WE AS THE HERITANCE IT’S THERE IN THE BANK. YOU GO TO THE BANK HERE AND FINALISE PAPER WORKS AND THE MONEY WILL BE TRANSFERRED.

BUT THAT NOT WHAT I AM TALKING OF NOW. THERE IS AN AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT TODAY HERE IN COTONOU.

PLEASE I WILL WANT TO KNOW IF YOU ARE NOT READY TO PROVIDE THE BIBLE AND POWDER MILK OR YOU DO NOT WANT ME TO HELP IN THE DISTRIBUTION ?

MAY GOD BLESS YOUR SOUL.

YOURS IN CHRIST.

JAMES

And who should reappear next but that drag-ass Williams still looking for some cash! All this loser did was e-mail a phony death certificate and he expects a lot of money. It is an odd coincidence that Williams, whom Chume fired, knew that Dr. Crocker was back in town. Williams is going to get a "quit being a big baby" letter if he keeps it up:

Dear sir,

I hope you are back from your africa trip, how is the trip and your good friend mr. Bello. Well he told you a practice voodoo so i do not have tell you more about him because you will not listen. Till you find out for yourself. That man hacks people system pick informations and answer names to defraud people well continue with him till you can pay him no more.

But please i beg you in the name of God pay me off in have invested much in this i paid an internet wizard who give me some of the informations i passed to you in the pass but itâ€™s not important now that you and bishop James have turn your back to me.

You once promised me that you will pay later like mr. Bello produced an account which i do not confirm i gave my account then he advice you assist paying me for my services. I am not involve in any witchcraft with you just that my soul is not pleased for the way i was treated after doing my best. You can forget the wristwatch but the money i need it to pay off some of my debt.

Please i am on my kneels begging.

Thanks for your understanding. I hope the living God will touch your mnd and you pay me . God be with you.

BARR. WILLIAMS

PLEASE IF YOU WILL TAKE MY ADVICE LEAVE MR. BELLO AND HIS MAFIAN BUSINESS. I AM SURE HE DO NOT PAY YOU ANY THING ON FRIDAY AS HE PROMISED.

We will leave Barrister Williams begging on his kneels.

Exhausted, Dr. Crocker sends Chume a letter of apology before retiring for the evening:

Dear Mr. Chume:

Forgive me if I have acted suspiciously. You might have also acted suspiciously if a man you had thought was the King of Nigeria had violated you. I have not told you of all the shameful details of what happened in the hotel room in Lagos. I am ashamed and have no one to whom I can unburden my soul concerning the unspeakable act committed against my person.

I was brutalized and cannot even speak to my own pastor about what was done to me in private. I was humiliated in the most vile manner by criminals who made sport of me.

I must go now and take more nerve medicine. Tears fill my eyes.

In His Name,

Dr. Calvin Crocker

Hints of a prison-house rape on a 92 year old man? I fear that this escapade will continue to degrade into some sort of farce. Where is art?

Update: The Lads have forgiven Dr. Crocker of falling prey to the evil Usman Bello and now wish to start over after almost three months. Dr. Corcker responds to Barrister Williams. Herein is a trap, for Crocker uses the name of "Engineer Johnson Creek" rather than "Peter Smith" the original dead guy. I want to see if Williams plays along and ignores an obvious mistake.

Dear Barrister Williams:

You were right about Usman Bello being a voodoo man. I went to Lagos, Nigeria, to meet him and his associates. I thought I was going to get $45,000,000 stored in trunk boxes and I had $90,000 in cash with me. I was taken to a secret meeting where I was supposed to meet the King of Nigeria, Mr. Iqbal Kwandalizi. We met in my hotel room. I was then taken to another room in the hotel and shown a box containing the money. The money was covered in a black substance. I had to pay $65,000 for a cleaning chemical and then $25,000 for more cleaning chemicals.

Suddenly, undercover policemen burst into the room and arrested the King of Nigeria and the other men. I got my money back from the police and then the police ordered me to get on the next plane and leave Nigeria and never come back. The police said the man was not the King of Nigeria but was instead a "419" scam artist working with his fellow con artists. Imagine that! And I thought they were all good Christian men. How could I have been so foolish?

What a long strange trip it has been.

I am back home and breathing the air of America once more. I do not know what to think or who to trust anymore. My nephew Lionel is somewhere in Amsterdam with $50,000 and I cannot reach him.

Mr. Williams, I cannot trust anyone. You say you are a barrister. You say you spent money getting the death certificate for Engineer Johnson Creek. I have lost the death certificate when I accidentally erased it on my computer machine. Please re-send a copy of the death certificate for my records. Any money I pay you must be deducted as a business expense and I need your office address and phone number for my tax records. The American IRS will not allow me to deduct business expenses without a receipt and a record.

I am taking a nerve tonic after almost being butchered by the false King of Nigeria. Why did those people make the money black? It was the strangest thing I have ever seen in my 92 years of life.

Regards,

Dr. Calvin Crocker

However, Dr. Crocker is a hypocrite who turns around and stabs Williams in the back to Chume. Crocker is royally pissed-off that Chume would tell Barrister Williams that he, Crocker, is back in town:

Dear James:

How in God's name did that scoundrel Williams know I was back in town? I thought you fired him. I do not want to hear from Williams ever again and I will forsake you if you have congress with him or disclose to him my whereabouts. Please, I must sleep as I am exhausted.

Plus, my nether regions ache and throb from the torment I received at the hands of the false King of Nigeria and his henchmen!

Dear God, is there no decency in Nigeria? Why would men do that to a 92 year old man? They are of a reprobate mind and God will deliver them over to judgment. I am certain that Barrister Michael Williams was one of the men who had their filthy way with me. Tell me, Chume, is this Williams fellow a sodomite?

Regards,

Dr. C. Crocker

Your Friend in Christ

Although Williams and Chume are working together, Crocker is trying to drive a wedge between the two 419 gangsters -- who are in fact the same person. Although Williams knows Crocker despises and distrusts him, he is nonetheless quick to reply to Crocker with an "I told you so!" which demands money:

DEAR SIR,

I TOLD YOU OF HIM BUT YOU DO WILL NEVER LISTEN TO ME.

WELL I WAS SURPRISE THE WAY HE HAS ACCESS TO SOME INFORMATIONS THAT I KNOW HE SHOULD NOT KNOW ABOUT SO I EMPLOYED THE SERVICE OF AN INTERENT WIZARD WHO TOLD ME HE SCANER AND GIVE ME SOME PEOPLE IN HIS LIST I TRIED TO CONVINCE YOU NOT TO DEAL WITH HIM BUT YOU REFUSE. WELL IT’S BETTER NOW YOU DISCOVERED THE TRUTH YOURSELF.

I WILL SEND THE DEATH CERTIFICATE TO BUT THIS TIME WE HAVE TO HANDLE VERY THING OFFICIALLY. YOU HAVE TO PAY PART OF MY FEES BEFORE I CAN START WORK AGAIN THAT IS BEFORE I WILL SEND YOU THE CERTIFICATE. BEFORE NOW IT WAS A GENTLEMAN AGREEMENT BUT IT DO NOT PAY WELL AS I HAVE TO BEG TO BE PAID MY OFFICIAL FEES OR EVEN PAY OFF BUT TILL NOW I DID NOT GET IT.

I WILL GIVE YOU MY ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER.

HOUSE 9, CARRE 2

ZOGBO, COTONOU.

REPUBLIC OF BENIN.

TEL : 229082973

I WILL SEND YOU THE DEATH CERTIFICATE IF I RECEIVE MONEY IN MY ACCOUNT MANAGERS NAME

ONYEBUCHI LINUS OBIANO

COTONOU-BENIN REPUBLIC

SIR I WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT IMMEDIATELY I RECEIVE THROUGH WU FOR FASTER MEANS I WILL RESEND YOU THE CERTIFICATE.

I SWORE WITH THE HOLY BIBLE THAT I HAVE NOT INVOLVE IN VOODOO PRACTICE SINCE I WAS BORN AND I WILL NEVER BE INVOLVE IN IT, SO HELP ME GOD.

THANKS FOR THE UNDERSTANDING AND HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOONEST.

YOURS LOYAL SERVANT.

GOD BE WITH YOU.

BARR. WILLIAMS

Fearing that Williams' involvement may cost him money, Chume now tells Dr. Crocker that Williams has been fired. Chume is undoubtedly tired of waiting to get his money and will do whatever it takes to get money from the 92 year old Dr. Crocker:

MY DEAR BROTHER IN CHRIST DR. CALVIN,

I FORBID WILLIAMS FROM SEEING ME, WHAT DID HE SAYS HE WANT FROM YOU AGAIN.

I HAVE FIRED HIM. WELL I WILL PRAY OVER HIS MIND TO FORGET ABOUT YOU.

I UNDERSTAND YOUR FEELING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU IN NIGERIA BUT I WARNED YOU ABOUT MR. BELLO, NIGERIANS, I DO NOT TRUST THEM. HERE IN BENIN REPUBLIC WE HAVE A DIFFERENT CULTURE TO THAT OF NIGERIANS.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT WILLIAMS PROBLEMS ARE WITH YOU. HAVE YOU REACHED YOUR NEPHEW, TRY AND STOP HIM FROM THOSE MAFIANS FRIEND

OF MR. BELLO.

BYE TILL I HEAR FROM YOU.

HEAVENLY BLESSING TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

YOUR BROTHER IN CHRIST.

JAMES

Suddenly, the hacker Usman Bello makes an appearance using Dr. Crocker's mailbox. Bello writes to Williams:

Guy:

What the fuck are you doing? I have made money from this address.

Usman Bello

Barrister Williams, ever eager to ingratiate himself with Crocker, warns Crocker:

DEAR SIR,

READ THE EMAIL BELOW (Bello's e-mail is shown below in Williams's e-mail). IS IT FROM YOU? BUT IT HAS USMAN BELLO NAMES. YOU CAN SEE HE IS STILL HACKING YOUR SYSTEM. IT CAME WITH YOU EMAIL ADDRESS BUT WITH HIS NAME. I THINK YOU SHOULD CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS OR HE WILL STILL HAVE ACCESS TO

SOME INFORMATIONS FROM YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. WELL I WILL REACH YOU AGAIN AFTER THE NEW YEAR.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

BARR. WILLIAMS

Croker wants to know what the hell is up and replies to Williams:

Sir,

Just who is this cad Usman Bello? I have called him and his cell phone no longer works. He has disappeared

with $25,000 of my money and is now taunting me on my own e-mail. When I was in Africa I met a man named

Usman Bello, but the police arrested him. His real name is Jamal Ibrahim and he is in custody. The real

Usman Bello is somebody else and this is not his real name. Also, the police in Africa said that someone

turned in Jamal Ibrahim to the police. Did whomever turn in the false Usman Bello to the police work for the real Usman Bello?

Please advise,

Dr. Calvin Crocker

Crocker then fires off a gloomy Christmas-day missive to James Chume. I had to take a short break from the festivities to help make lad gloomy on Christmas:

Dear Mr. Chume,

It appears we are back where we started. Usman Bello -- or whatever his real name was -- has disappeared along with $25,000 of my money, which money I have written off as a loss. I now have a new computer machine with an anti-virus software so that I will not be hacked by people such as Usman Bello. Fortunately, I was able to reach my nephew Lionel in Amsterdam and warn him not to meet Usman Bello's representatives in Holland. Lionel left Amsterdam and is headed home. I think none of this would have happened if I would have had anti-virus software on my computer machine. I had a young man come over to my house and explain computers, e-mail, and viruses to me and now I understand all of this much better.

I guess the $40,000,000 is gone. I reasoned that you had to find a better business partner than me. I am sorry for the trouble I caused by doubting you and wish you success in all of your future endeavors. What I still don't understand is the role of Barrister Williams in this affair. Usman Bello told me that Williams worked for him. Williams told me Bello was a liar. Well, I don't who to believe.

Regards and Happy New Year,

Dr. Calvin Crocker

There is a lull on sides for the Christmas holidays. Williams reappears on January 2, 2004 with this note:

Dear Sir,

Sorry for the delay in my reply, it’s the new break. Well sir I will advice you to change your mail address. Mr. Usman Bello will not be able to hack that the new one. Well I will send you a copy of my international passport. With that you will know me better. Sir, when will you pay me for my services so far? Please let me know I will also send you the other documents you asked for.

Thanks and bye till I hear from you.

Barr. Williams

MY DEAR BROTHER IN CHRIST DR. CALVIN,

HOW WAS YOUR NEW YEAR? I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT SERVICE FOR THE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION. IT’S SOME TIME NOW I SEND YOU MAIL. WE HAD A LONG CRUSADE WE JUST CONCLUDED ON SUNDAY, YESTERDAY. HOW ARE YOU DOING? I HOPE ALL IS WELL WITH YOU AFTER THE LONG TRIP FROM LAGOS.

I SAW YOUR LAST EMAIL YOU SAID IT’S LIKE YOU CAN NOT CONTINUE WITH THE BUSINESS BECAUSE PARTLY YOU BELIEVE THAT BARR. WILLIAMS AND MR. BELLO ARE PARTNERS OR SO. BUT FOR THAT IT’S NOT TRUE MR. BELLO IS A NIGERIAN AND DO NOT LIVE IN COTONOU BUT WILLIAMS LIVE IN COTONOU.

AS YOU SAID MR. USMAN BELLO AS I BELIEVE HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR EMAIL MAYBE THROUGH HACKING OR SO THEN HE USES THE INFORMATION THERE FOR HIS ATTIVITIES.

I TRIED THEN TO MAKE YOU SEE IT BUT YOU WILL NOT LISTEN TO ME. WELL I HOPE AND BELIEVE YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME THIS TIME. IT WILL BE WELL FOR ALL OF US.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND BE WITH YOU.

YOUR BROTHER IN CHRIST JAMES

ACT V -- THE SCREW TURNS!

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