Chapter 1054: Conclusion After Summarizing the Clues (Patreon)

There are many varieties of bananas in Africa. Some can be eaten raw, while others—like plantains—must be fried, boiled, or roasted first, tasting somewhat like sweet potatoes.

Bananas are a major caloric source for locals, and due to their high yield, surplus bananas are often used to brew a type of banana beer.

Since bananas are rich in pectin, they easily produce methanol during fermentation. Fortunately, local distillation techniques are crude enough that even drinking to excess rarely causes methanol poisoning.

Foreign tourists generally avoid this so-called banana beer. Unlike the picturesque image of European wines being pressed by beautiful women’s feet, here, it’s often hefty African men or women stomping the bananas.

On the highway Jack and Hannah had traveled, about a hundred banana haulers sped by each day on rugged steel-frame bicycles.

Each bike typically carried nearly 400 pounds of bananas, plus the rider’s weight, totaling over 500 pounds.

Tanzania isn't as mountainous as Burundi, so the riders didn't enjoy long downhill glides. But because the economy here was slightly better, despite daily round trips nearing 200 kilometers, a good day's haul could earn the equivalent of $10–15—a decent living.

Most banana haulers were around twenty years old, their earnings enough to support entire families, though most scrimped and saved, hoping to someday buy a secondhand motorcycle.

Today, the local banana market was doomed to run short, thanks to an American tycoon who offered $50 per head to gather all the haulers riding this stretch of highway.

Not only did those just starting their routes show up, but even ones halfway to town turned back to join the excitement.

Old Muto and his militiamen kept good order at the impromptu gathering. Overall, the sweat-glistening, dark-skinned young men were surprisingly disciplined.

After "spreading the wealth," Jack got what he wanted: confirmation that a group of dusty, weary foreigners in matching red T-shirts—along with a white child around seven or eight—had boarded a large yellow "long-nose" bus two days earlier.

The banana haulers couldn’t count well but, after some rough gesturing, Jack understood the bus could seat at least 30 passengers.

Ironically, Tanzania’s poor infrastructure helped here—there were only a few good roads.

Unless the bus could drive cross-country like a jeep, Jack could roughly predict their route based on the last sighting: they were heading toward Lake Victoria.

"Are they planning to escape by water?" Jack frowned at the map.

Tanzania controls about half of Lake Victoria; the rest belongs to Kenya and Uganda.

"Either way, it’s good news," Old Muto said. "You’d better report it quickly. I hear someone higher up is itching to send in troops and special forces for a full-scale search."

While Jack and Hannah debated whether to continue tracking along the confirmed route, Jubal called via satellite phone.

He and Detective Paulino had captured Tumaini Makani at a small village and completed a preliminary interrogation.

Strictly speaking, Makani was more cult leader than real pastor. His "title" was self-declared—he belonged to neither Catholicism nor Protestantism.

Tanzania is religiously diverse. Outside of Zanzibar’s Muslim majority, mainland areas mainly follow Christianity or traditional animist beliefs.

Over time, new hybrid faiths have emerged, some radical enough to be considered extreme—effectively cults.

Makani was a typical example. A skilled charmer fluent in several languages, he played both sides.

To foreign donors, he appeared as a respected, beloved pastor with many followers—trustworthy enough to receive aid shipments.

In reality, he sold off most donated supplies for cash, using the money to arm his followers. The remaining scraps went toward winning over impoverished villagers and indoctrinating them with his fabricated dogma.

Had he been given more time, he might well have built a full-blown religious militia.

But recently, Makani had suffered a major setback. His dream of a "heaven on earth" had collapsed spectacularly.

He had indeed received supplies from Jacob Bruce but, before he could consolidate his new "kingdom," most of his followers deserted him—taking much of the supplies with them.

Thus, when Detective Paulino and the team came knocking, Makani offered only token resistance before he and his two remaining loyalists were captured.

Makani was temporarily ruled out as the mastermind behind the kidnappings. However, Tanzanian authorities would undoubtedly prosecute him as a con artist and cult leader.

Attention now shifted to his vanished followers.

Jubal speculated that Makani had been outmaneuvered by a far more sophisticated player.

Meanwhile, back in New York, Rossi and JJ also uncovered crucial findings.

JJ, after interviewing all ten families of the missing women, found a pattern: every woman had previously been a domestic violence victim and later turned to religion for solace.

Rossi met with Sarah Bruce, Jacob Bruce’s estranged wife.

They weren’t just separated—their divorce paperwork had been sitting unsigned for over a year.

Jacob had refused to sign, citing his wedding vows before God as sacred and unbreakable.

When Rossi inquired about the Brunswick Missionary Church, Sarah’s behavior grew increasingly uneasy, especially when Elijah Ward’s name came up.

After some coaxing, she revealed the truth: Jacob Bruce and Elijah Ward were not equals but master and servant.

Jacob privately revered Elijah as a kind of prophet, calling him "the loyal executor."

"So they weren’t partners at all. Elijah was the real leader. We need to focus on him," Rossi concluded.

Pulling together the New York and African findings, Jack quickly reached a conclusion.

"We got it wrong. For the women, it was a kidnapping. But for the men, it was a premeditated extremist operation."

"All the men were collaborators—that’s why they had little luggage and no social media presence," Hannah realized.

"Elijah took over Makani’s followers, turned them into his own African force, staged a fake kidnapping aboard the train.

With the men complicit, the women had no choice but to obey—classic compliance testing, a common cult tactic."