Further.

Lagos State Police Department Building, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos.

Lex walked into the LSPD building tired, exhausted. He needed a bath. His body oozed of sweat.

"Welcome. I've gotten all the information I could get on the Late Ayodele," Bob was already talking before he got to where Lex stood. He too smelt like he hasn't taken a bath.

God. Lex held his breath, and I thought I reeked.

"Turns out," Bob continued. "Ayodele's got a criminal record, says our secret archives. He was arrested for robbery at age 19, caught with cocaine by 25, but he later gave his life to Christ and went back to school and completed his higher education. Bagging a degree and masters with honours from the University of Ibadan and University of Lagos respectively."

That's not the information I need.

"You said he turned a new leaf, right? - The church. Tell me about his connection with the church."

Lex didn't seem to be impressed with what Bob dug-up, Bob could sense it.

Bob hesitated for a moment. Then he stole a look around, and said.

"Come with me." he strode towards his office, and Lex followed.

* * *

Bob closed the door behind them, and drew the curtains down. Turning to Lex, Bob's eyes shone in the dimly lit room.

"You won't believe what I dug-up, Lex." Excited, he handed Lex a brown envelope. Lex took snatched it from him and tore it open. The contents fell on the floor. Squatting to pick them up, his eyes fell on the picture before him.

Blast.

"My God!" He he mouthed. This can't be what I think it is.

"It sure is." Bob said. Reading Lex's thoughts.a. He got a call from one of his officers over at Ikoyi who was observing the other family's house. He  sent him the pictures on WhatsApp. He too could not believe his eyes when he saw it at first.

He had been right.

"I told you Lex, it's the same killer." Lex didn't say a word. He wasn't worried if it was the same killer.

He knew that already.

It was the accuracy of the message. Exactly like the one at the Ayodele's. Lex thought. Like the killer was trying to pass a message across to someone.

But who?

"Did you type this blood?"

"Yep." Bob was grinning.

"And I'm guessing it was the male's blood that was used. Am I right?" Lex was still studying the pictures before him. He didn't look up.

"How did you know that?" 

Lex ignored the question. Bob had lost his touch. It was so obvious. For a moment Lex felt like he understood the Ayodele's. Like he was family. 

Reshuffling the prints, he put them on Lex's desk, sat down, and laced his fingers together in a thinking position.

"Well," Bob Began. Taking a seat opposite his favourite detective cum best friend. "Turns out, Godwin has built numerous Catholic Churches. And holds a respectable place in St. Dominic Catholic Church, at Yaba. He probably uses them for electoral purposes. Very smart move."

"Did he have any connection with any foreign church, anything at all?"

Bob's arched an eyebrow in confusion. "Well, Yes. He did. And you won't believe where."

"Rome."

"You've got to stop doing that!" Bob spat. 

"Doing what, Bob."

"That," he paused. How do I put this in a nice, polite way? "You keep reading my mind, and I don't like it."

Lex smiled.

"What's funny?"

The smile on Lex's face graduated into a chuckle. He stopped. And looked pointedly at the man opposite him. The man who he thought was his best friend. The man he used to love, look up to. A sudden wave of disgust filled his stomach.

"You've lost it, Bob. You seem to have gotten used to people doing the dirty work for you that you can't even read between the lines anymore."

Bob was furious.

"I won't blame you much," Lex continued. "You don't read. You now find joy in beer joints and the local harem. But that's none of my business."

Lex got up. Arranged his already damp shirt, and walked towards the door. Hold the door knob, he looked back at Bob.

"I'm going to my hotel room to get a shower. I stink. You need a shower too, you know. You seem to be in a more terrible state than I am." Trying to clear the way.

It didn't work. 

Lex stepped out of the office, as he was about to close the door behind him, Bob called him.

"Yes?" he looked back.

"There's one more thing you need to know about Godwin Ayodele."

Lex waited.

"He is part of a Secret Society called the Sons of Hades."

Lex could hear a key unlock in his mind. The puzzles seem to arrange themselves within. All the pieces were finally in place for the next course of action.

He thanked Bob and left the building.  As he walked down the driveway, his car in sight, all his doubts cleared, his next destination was Ikoyi.

He exeeded the speed limit as the music blared from the car's speakers. The chilled air purged his lungs, and little tears clung on his eye bags, begging to be freed.

But he was not crying, It was the air that got into his eyes, producing this salty water. He did not clean his eyes. He liked the fact that he was visibly crying. Even though these tears were not real, were not the result of heated emotions. He never cried. All his life..

He came into this world smiling. The doctors feared him, his mother was puzzled by his being. His father loved him. He told them all that he had the heart of a warrior. That he was going to turn out to be a very brave lad. Too bad his father was never fortunate to lay his brown eyes on his greatest specimen.

How right was his words!

This baby. This boy. Became one of the most unfathomable thing. An enigma. He was different. He knew that. He saw things that kids of his age group never saw, never dreamt of seeing... And understanding.

Yes, he could understand them. He was never puzzled. Confusion and uncertainty were feelings alien to him. He felt pre-programmed to these things. Like the knowledge came with him, from birth.

He never questioned his knowledge. It never freaked him out. For with Jupiter and Venus, he knew he was different. 

* * * 

Lex  sped on, overtaking other cars. He was a great driver. He knew he had exceeded the speedlimit, but he didn't care. He wasn't going to die, that he was certain.

The pieces were finally together, the missing pieces to his little puzzle. Now, he is heading to the next murder scene. From his calculations, the killer will strike soon. The two families were killed two weeks apart and it's already over a week since the Ayodele's murder. Lex could still taste the water he had taken at the Ayodeles',  everything seemed blurry to him now. His time at the Ayodele's, his encounter with the blood inscription.

Music blared from his car radio. The cool, soothing tunes of Halsey could be heard. Her song: Now or Never was played. Lex liked the song. Very alternative. Unscrewing Lex's nuts, filling him with nostalgia,  giving him gooseflesh,

he sped on.