Timi Bakare drove his Toyota car behind Louris' police car. His first day at work wasn't as glamorous as he had fantasised about since he got the appointment call from the P.C. He hadn't imagined a big reception with flowers, a cake and a few bottles of beer. But at least a nice welcome from his team would have met his expectations. To be fair, everyone seemed alright. All apart from Louris Mayne.
She was too uptight for him. Too controlling. Too unreceptive to change. And unwilling to accept the upper hand. He had only spent five minutes with her and she had attracted him like a mountain on fire. Something buzzed from within her and he was desperate, willing and seeking to find out.
For now though, his main priority was the case at hand. Something he was prepared to face as he drove into the large school parking lot.
"Please be nice Lou." Tola said getting down from the car and unto the neatly paved car park. They had been talking about Detective Timi all the way from Ajah down to Lekki . Louris wasn't in the mood for him that morning. There was something about the new C.D that irritated her. But then again, that was how she felt when she met every single member of The Lasgidi Team.
She still didn't like him and she felt he had to earn her trust just like the others. Stupid but true.
They walked away from the car just as Timi walked out of his too. They began approaching the school building when Tola opened his mouth to speak.
"There are awfully a lot of cars here. One would think that the students are allowed to bring cars to school too."
" Oh, you didn't know? " Timi replied giving him a have you been living under olumo rock look.
Tola only shook his head. He took a mental note of the cars parked there. That was his thing after all. He was the mental piece of the puzzle. He noted a certain G-wagon that wasn't as fresh or clean as the others. Instead it had mud prints all over its tyres and splashes along its doors.
Tola stopped moving. The others did too puzzled as to why the one leading their steps had stopped.
" Tola , this is not the time to be car hunting. Make a move on it. "
Tola didn't move for her. Instead, He went to the jeep to take a closer look as he took his fingers and smeared it across one of the tyres. He then took the now muddy fingers, sniffed them and licked them.
"Tola, are you crazy boy?!" Louris shouted again at the lunatic with the mind of a genius.
"Why am I even asking?" She thought out loud. "Typical illiterate who happens to have two PHD's in courses I can't pronounce."
Timi didn't do anything at that moment but watch the two. As the new team captain, he believed his first objective was to observe his flock, get into their minds and understand their thinking. It was stupid to him, but true.
Tola licked his fingers before mumbling the chemical components of the soil to himself. He Brought out his tablet from his 'man sack' and started going through a few pictures he took at the crime scene.
If you can't beat them, join them.
So, Louris joined him and realised the method to his madness. She didn't understand why out of all the muddy cars he chose that one. She did understand of course, when she saw the muddy tracks in one of the pictures which she assumed matched the tyre trails on tyres of the G-Wagon. She still didn't understand why he had to lick the mud off his fingers so she slapped his head with the back of her palm.
"Do you intend to die of cholera today young man?" She asked. With that she carried on walking into the building.
Timi was sleechless. Tola was too involved in his own world to care about what just happened.
