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The Lunatic Cafe :: Гамильтон Лорел
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"If you saw the shifter face-to-face could you tell what kind they were?"
"What animal?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"Nope."
"Could you tell if they'd been cursed or if it was a disease?"
"Nope."
He just looked at me. "You're usually better than this."
"I'm better with the dead, Dolph. Give me a vamp or a zombie and I'll tell you their Social Security number. Some of that is natural talent, but a lot of it is practice. I haven't had as much experience with shapeshifters."
"What questions can you answer?"
"Ask and find out," I said.
"You think this is a brand-new shapeshifter?" Dolph asked.
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"The first time you change on the night of the full moon. It's too early for a brand-new shifter. But it could be a second, or third month, but…"
"But what?"
"If this is still a lycanthrope that can't control itself, that kills indiscriminately, it should still be here. Hunting us."
Dolph glanced out into the darkness. He held his notebook and pen in one hand, right hand free for his gun. The movement was automatic.
"Don't sweat it, Dolph. If it was going to eat more people, it would have taken Williams or the deputies."
His gaze searched the darkness, then came back to me. "So the shapeshifter could control itself?"
"I think so."
"Then why kill the man?"
I shrugged. "Why does anyone kill? Lust, greed, rage."
"The animal form used as a murder weapon then," Dolph said.
"Yeah."
"Is it still in animal form?"
"This was done by a half-and-half form, sort of a wolfman."
"A werewolf."
I shook my head. "I can't tell what sort of animal it is. The wolfman was just an example. It could be any sort of mammal."
"Just a mammal?"
"These wounds, yeah. I know there are avian weres, but they don't do this sort of damage."
"So werebirds?"
"Yeah, but that's not what did this."
"Any guesses?"
I squatted beside the body, stared at it. Willed it to tell me its secrets. Three nights from hence, when the soul had finally flown far away, I might have tried to raise the man and ask what did this. But his throat was gone. Even the dead can't talk without the proper equipment.
"Why did Titus think it was a bear kill?" I asked.
Dolph thought about that for a minute. "I don't know."
"Let's ask him."
Dolph nodded. "Be my guest." He sounded just a wee bit sarcastic.
"If you saw the shifter face-to-face could you tell what kind they were?"
"What animal?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"Nope."
"Could you tell if they'd been cursed or if it was a disease?"
"Nope."
He just looked at me. "You're usually better than this."
"I'm better with the dead, Dolph. Give me a vamp or a zombie and I'll tell you their Social Security number. Some of that is natural talent, but a lot of it is practice. I haven't had as much experience with shapeshifters."
"What questions can you answer?"
"Ask and find out," I said.
"You think this is a brand-new shapeshifter?" Dolph asked.
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"The first time you change on the night of the full moon. It's too early for a brand-new shifter. But it could be a second, or third month, but…"
"But what?"
"If this is still a lycanthrope that can't control itself, that kills indiscriminately, it should still be here. Hunting us."
Dolph glanced out into the darkness. He held his notebook and pen in one hand, right hand free for his gun. The movement was automatic.
"Don't sweat it, Dolph. If it was going to eat more people, it would have taken Williams or the deputies."
His gaze searched the darkness, then came back to me. "So the shapeshifter could control itself?"
"I think so."
"Then why kill the man?"
I shrugged. "Why does anyone kill? Lust, greed, rage."
"The animal form used as a murder weapon then," Dolph said.
"Yeah."
"Is it still in animal form?"
"This was done by a half-and-half form, sort of a wolfman."
"A werewolf."
I shook my head. "I can't tell what sort of animal it is. The wolfman was just an example. It could be any sort of mammal."
"Just a mammal?"
"These wounds, yeah. I know there are avian weres, but they don't do this sort of damage."
"So werebirds?"
"Yeah, but that's not what did this."
"Any guesses?"
I squatted beside the body, stared at it. Willed it to tell me its secrets. Three nights from hence, when the soul had finally flown far away, I might have tried to raise the man and ask what did this. But his throat was gone. Even the dead can't talk without the proper equipment.
"Why did Titus think it was a bear kill?" I asked.
Dolph thought about that for a minute. "I don't know."
"Let's ask him."
Dolph nodded. "Be my guest." He sounded just a wee bit sarcastic.