Chapter 25 - Ogun

Amanda strolled towards Daniel, who opened the door and followed her outside the morgue.
The two walked for a bit and came to a stop in front of an office door.
Just then, Amanda obtained a folder from a young man in uniform before entering the room.
This was her office.
By the corner was a shelf filled with books and several figurines. There were also a few unusual items placed strategically in the room.
Like a large drum next to the shelf, two shekere's hanging on the wall, palm fronds decorating the window, and a miniature statue of the Yoruba god of iron.
Ogun.
The walls were painted a light shade of green, a different colour from the rest of the station, and next to the door, were three connected chairs meant for guests.
"Well?" Amanda moved to sit behind her desk, then dropped the folder before looking at Daniel.
Her hair was woven in the form of a basket. It was longer at the back and formed a fringe on her forehead.
The plaits were also decorated with colourful beads and cowries that rattled as she moved.
"What have you discovered from the bodies we found? Those belonging to the Erujeje members." Daniel handed her a bottle of water after taking a sit.
She thanked him and took a sip, while Daniel picked up the documents after seeing Amanda hint with her eyes.
He took the report and began to read through it, while Amanda dropped the bottle and began to speak.
"What you're reading is the autopsy report of the bodies found at the private estate in Tega area. Well, what was left of them."
Daniel listened to her and read through the report. In the meanwhile, Amanda leaned on her chair and continued.
"We arrived at the scene of the crime in the early hours of Wednesday after receiving a call from a civilian who noticed smoke coming from the estate.
There we discovered a total of thirty-one bodies. All of which we confirmed to belong to the Erujeje group.
The report you're holding, however, only contains information on six people who had more authority in the group."
"Yeah, I noticed." Daniel closed the folder and faced Amanda, who also looked at him. Then, with furrowed brows, he continued.
"I know that already. I've read this report ten times already."
"And you've made me repeat myself ten times already." She stressed through gritted teeth, obviously annoyed.
"Even if we have this conversation a few more times, it won't change the fact that we hit another dead-end regarding the punisher. Their methods were too clean. I'm impressed."
Bang!
"It's not possible for a person to leave no trace on a murder scene. When they're not a spirit. There should be clues and fingerprints at the very least." Daniel slammed his palms on the table and ran a hand through his short hair before getting up, and placing his hands on his waist.
His emotions were all over the place.
"We've hit a dead end " –Oh, how he hated those words.
Murders in the region have become more frequent in the past two months. Every law enforcement agency was in on its heads in crime.
Recently, the punisher had been very active in committing felonies. In this short time, the punisher had murdered nothing less than sixty people.
Not apprehending them put a stain on the force and on Daniel's perfect record. It was a strenuous problem that was causing him to lose sleep and neglect other matters.
"Don't yell at a hungry woman."
"Sorry." Daniel responded and calmed himself down, feeling a little guilty after receiving Amanda's glare.
Amanda rested her arms on the desk and spoke.
"I know you're frustrated. We all are. But what can we do when we're not even sure of what we're looking for?
Sigh… those men were killed by two people from the nature of their wounds. One of them is a very violent and excitable individual, while the other is a more straightforward and decisive fellow."
"Then we should be on the lookout for two people. An average person would not be able to take out so many people as effortlessly as the punisher, even if there were two of them."
"Hmm, you're right. They had external help, but not enough to immobilize the victims. Along with the weapons and illegal items we found in the underground warehouse, we also found this…" Amanda took out a transparent bag from her desk.
Inside was a small item that had a bottle-like shape. Its appearance was dark and charred, with all its previous markings destroyed.
"The only odd thing we found is this smoke bomb. I couldn't recover much from it, as apart from the shape, everything else was destroyed. However, I can tell you that this item is not from around here. No. It's not made by any registered company in Nigeria or abroad."
"So there's an illegal front?" Daniel questioned with a raised brow.
"Yes. Or it could be handmade, but I doubt that. The materials needed to make such an exquisite bomb that is even resistant to fire are hard to come by. I couldn't even recognize some structural elements. They most likely have access to some unknown metals that remain a mystery to the rest of the world… The point is, to pull this off, a person would need to have some serious connections."
"Are you trying to say they have a powerful partner or that the punisher is not a single individual, but an organization? That makes sense. No normal person can evade detection for so long without adequate backing." Daniel rubbed the middle of his forehead as he spoke.
He felt tired after working for days without rest, and even his vision was starting to blur.
But he couldn't stop now. Not until he found something that pointed him in the right direction.
Amanda looked at the tired man and sighed to herself. She saw Daniel as an honest and hard-working man with a lot of talent.
He was handsome with all the right features too. Tall, dark and with a sharp jaw. He had almost every woman in the station crushing on him.
Generally, he was a great catch. Romantically and professionally speaking. He had this kind of persistent-stubbornness that was expected from a policeman, but most times Daniel was just plainly rigid and bull-headed.
If there was a matter he couldn't resolve, he would keep at it until he could. Usually sacrificing the necessary things, like sleep and food.
Thinking up to here, Amanda scrunched her face in annoyance. She was beginning to feel the hunger pangs in her stomach, and her frustration was already driving her to the limits of her patience.
"Yes and no. At this point, we can't say for certain whether the punisher belongs to an organization or not. However, after comprehensive analysis and comparison between all cases pertaining to the vigilante, I have few indications of the kind of person you should be looking out for." Amanda stood up amidst Daniel's penetrating gaze and hinted for him to do the same.
The duo walked to the door after Amanda grabbed a few things in her hands.
She could no longer endure the urge to eat, so she grabbed her handbag and fixed her skirt before following Daniel out.
While they walked, she continued speaking to Daniel, who listened with rapt attention.
"This, and I'm saying based on my personal assumption, this person should be of average height with a fit and agile figure. They've never used guns in their operations, so be on the lookout for a person with skilled hands. They're also extremely cautious and mission-oriented to take out criminals. So maybe there's a past grudge or something."
The duo stopped in their tracks and a young woman came and whispered in Amanda's ear.
"That's super helpful." Daniel began sarcastically.
"You just described half the people in Lagos and people in professions that require knives. What? Should I arrest all the doctors and chefs in the city?" Daniel mumbled and looked away.
'This is so tiring…' He thought
Amanda sent the woman off and looked at the sleep-deprived man. She removed a strand of her beaded-hair from her face, and patted Daniel on his shoulder before speaking.
"I know. They're just wild guesses, but I'm sure of one thing."
"What?"
"The punisher, among the two people from Wednesday, one of them was a woman." Saying this, Amanda's eyes narrowed slightly, and her lips hooked up at the corners. Her expression was one of curious excitement as she looked at Daniel.
"How would you know that?" Daniel asked, perplexed. How did she come to such a judgment?
"You might not believe me, but…" Amanda drew closer to Daniel.
"…it's intuition."