"We're sure she left the building?"
Asami nodded. "My receptionist saw her leave."
"And you said she never made it home, so that eliminates both places"
"Unless the receptionist is lying or mistaken."
Mako turned to look at Taimu. "Are your contributions going to be limited to criticism?"
"Only the ones that aren't important."
"Why did you bring him, anyway?" Asami asked.
"I thought he might be able to help us find Korra."
Taimu smirked. "Which is why you keep disparaging my comments."
Mako closed his eyes for a moment in frustration. "Look, if you have an idea, let's hear it. Without the snide comments."
Taimu shrugged. "As you wish. Korra could be in the building, but it's unlikely, and this is a terrible venue to hide her in or kidnap her from. Korra doesn't drive, so her walking home, alone, is makes a perfect target. Asami, would you kindly take us home? Mako, are you a detective or not? This was obvious."
Mako and Asami were stunned by the speed at which Taimu had delivered his reply, and it took them a moment to find their voices. "That's...actually not a bad idea. Asami, would you mind walking us to your apartment?"
A few minutes later the trio were walking down the street outside Future Industries tower, Taimu humming under his breath and chuckling periodically.
Finally, the antics got on Mako's nerves. "Taimu, I know you don't care much about Korra, but we do. Please take this seriously."
Taimu chuckled. "Mako, I'm over 10,000 years old. You wouldn't like me when I'm...serious..."
Taimu's voice trailed off, and the humor drained from his face.
Without warning Taimu darted across the street. Mako and Asami exchanged glances and followed him.
Taimu knelt down on the sidewalk, examining a scuffed section of pavement.
"What is it?" Asami asked as she and Mako reached him.
"This scuff pattern. It's indicative of a patch job. Someone pulled a chunk of the sidewalk up, and it got put back in a hurry."
Mako's brow furrowed. "That doesn't necessarily mean it had anything to do with Korra."
Taimu stood up. "No, but it does make me curious about the dumpster in that alley."
Mako looked at the alley Taimu was pointing at. Someone had pushed the dumpster into a slant, blocking the alley entrance.
The three hurried over to the alley, Taimu immediately throwing his shoulder against the dumpster.
After a moment later Mako arrived, and the two of them pushed the dumpster back into place against the wall, and stepped past it.
On the ground a short way down the alley was a moderate sized pool of blood.
The three stared in shock for a moment.
Taimu recovered first, crouching down by the pool and dipping his fingers in. He sniffed the liquid, then whipped his hands on his pants and stood back up.
"Is it...?" Asami couldn't get the words out.
Taimu nodded. "It's Raava's, judging by the energy. No-one else has that much raw power in their blood."
Mako stepped forward to examine the scene himself, while Asami tried organize her thoughts and Taimu examined something on the ground.
Abruptly, Taimu chuckled.
Mako glanced at him. "What's so funny?"
Taimu smiled, but there was no humor in it. "It looks like I'm actually going to earn that favor after all. Tick tock."
He vanished.