Take Me Back To Paddington (SERIES)

Chapter 1

"Isaac!" Nick Baxter called for his friend who wore the same badge as his. "Are you leaving?"

He slowed down his run, walking next to the light ash blonde woman.

"Yes, it's already 5p.m. Why?" She answered in hurry, walking out from the police station.

"Something is not right with Mr. Clark's alibi" He stated what he had in his mind, trying to catch up with Lisa's legs as she went faster. "I doubt his friend's statement that he was at the bar that night"

Lisa shrugged. "We can't prove it's a lie either, Nick. The bar doesn't have CCTV"

He still chased her even though he knew she was leaving, putting his concern away when he should've considered about his friend's urgency.

"He chooses the right bar then," Nick tried to point his judgement out. "He knows how to play this game"

Isaac finally stopped her walk, turning her body slightly to face him. "He's probably good at this" She commented. "But we are better"

"We have no clue on our side, Lisa" Nick protested. "Those CCTV footage near the crime scene aren't even helping"

Lisa turned, starting to walk again and he didn't follow her this time. He stayed at where he was standing.

"Spread the radius then," She suggested with a louder voice since she was getting farther away from her duty partner. "Don't focus only at nearby restaurants. Go 5 or 6 blocks away, you may find him in the footage walking on one of the streets!"

Heading to Victoria underground station, Lisa sprinted and met other people who were just in the same situation as her; rushing back home after a 9-5 job on Friday.

She stuffed herself into the crowded tube since she didn't want to wait for another one. That would cost her 10 minutes more and she wasn't a fan of that idea. She already wasted her time with Nick before.

Lisa Isaac wasn't just well known for her achievements; solving murder cases faster than other detectives in the Murder Investigation Team (MIT), which made her the favourite one among Detective Chief Inspectors to have in a team. She was also popular for being someone who was really strict in terms of timing and being punctual was one of her traits.

She was strict and firmed, especially to herself. She was told by the people she professionally worked with that most of the time, she overworked; being too hard on herself.

And stubborn was in the traits list as well.

She kept checking the time around her wrist, tapping her leg on the tube's floor as the people, odours, and limited space had started to suffocate her. The longer she spent her presence there, the harder it was for her to breathe.

But she didn't have any choice. She had to spend more than 20 minutes in total, changing tube to a different line since there wasn't any direct trip from Victoria Station to the one she intended to go, just for the sake of her favourite stir fried yakisoba.

Lisa wasn't keen to street food. She doubted about hygiene a lot that she classified it as her weakness. And being diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) made it even harder for her. She would always prefer to buy food from restaurants. Nevertheless, no other places in London sold stir fried yakisoba that tasted like heaven than the one she was going to; Tsukiko Food Stall in Camden Lock.

She exited Camden Town station with another 15 minutes left before 6p.m. and she rushed to the market that was so diverse in street food choices; Mexican, Thai's, Malaysian, American, Japanese and more of the same. Yet, it came with a price too. Lisa called it tourist price.