Chapter 10
“About half a month ago, in the neighborhood where I often stayed, a strange man came. Boots, formal wear, cowboy hat… His dress style was not consistent.”
Louise began to narrate what she knew.
“Because I had never seen the man before, so my friends and I, a total of three people companioned him together.”
1
Just like what everyone thought, ‘single women”s occupation didn’t have any security, they must learn to look after each other and protect themselves.
“Everything was normal at first, he didn’t mind that we had three people. But when we went to his residence with him, I started to feel that something wasn’t right. Because his residence, I have been there before.” Louise took a glance at Zach.
“I remember the owner there was a divorced man living alone in his fifties. But I found that all the photos had been taken down, and even the pet owned by the original owner also disappeared. I tried to get some information from him indirectly, but his answers were all lies.”
The breakfast prepared by Alice was actually only for Benjamin. The banshee could predict death, not the future, which was very different. So Benjamin stared at the sandwich in Jim’s hand, “Do you want to eat it?”
Jim finally came into himself. He was listening to Louise’s story very carefully just now. This man, who was still unidentified, was assessing [Grande Funeral Home]. The funeral business was an excuse. He wanted to find out what these two people really do, and the woman, who was telling her story, may give him some clue.
Now his impression of Barton City has been completely changed. So believe me, he needed such an assessment.
Jim shook his head, placed the untouched sandwich back on the plate, handed over to Benjamin, and said to Louise, “Did you not call the police?”
Louise looked back at Jim and shook her head, “No police will believe a prostitute’s word. Unless a body is found.”
Zach believed her. This missing people case only caught the attention of the police and media after the discovery of a half female corpse that went missing four days ago.
Of course, the people, who really belonged to Barton’s upper class, would not care about this. After they learned that the woman, who died was a prostitute, they lost their interests. They paid more attention to the visit of the two senators.
Louise continued, “I was worried, so I made an excuse to distract the man, and explained to my friends that we needed to get out.”
“Then you got out?” Zach asked.
“Yes, I left with one of the friends, and the one who stayed there never appeared again.” Louise’s eyes were a little gloomy.
“You should call the police.” No one knew why, this guy kept mentioning that she should call the police, “This is already an illegal home invasion, and a potential kidnapping case!”
Zach looked at Jim, whose face was covered with seriousness and asked, “How long have you been in that woods?”
“Roughly a week, what’s wrong?”
Zach stood up, walked to the hanger, and pulled out a rolled newspaper in the hung coat pocket. That’s right, it was the Barton Daily newspaper he bought last night. Zach opened the newspaper, and placed it in front of Jim, “You can read it yourself.”
The first thing that came into view was the scary photo of a corpse! Jim instantly felt sick for a while. Fortunately, he hadn’t eaten anything!
Benjamin, who put down the coffee cup, glanced at the photo, “Where did this happen? Northern District?”
“Yes.” Zach returned to his seat. “What do you think?”
Benjamin ignored Jim, who was holding the newspaper trying to read it, snatched the newspaper, and looked closely at the photo, “not a werewolf, we are only interested in internal organs. This guy does not seem to be picky. Nor is it a vampire, this scattered blood is a waste to a vampire like you.”
The expressions of Jim and Louise were very interesting. In this room, where only two of them were humans, when their eyes met, they saw the same fear from each other’s eyes.
Knowing the scientific name of a creature was one thing, hearing the creature’s judgment on its food was another thing. Please understand this subtle psychological change.
“Hmm…” Benjamin pondered for a moment. “It should be Shapeshifters. I can’t think of anything messier than them. This is very similar to their style.”
“Shape… Shapeshifters? What is the shapeshifter! “Jim suppressed the sickness, and immediately asked.
Benjamin lost his interest in the photo and threw it back to Jim, “Each creature has its own form, some creatures have two kinds, such as me and Zach, and some have countless kinds, such as shapeshifters, they can be transformed into various forms.”
Hearing Benjamin’s explanation, Louise couldn’t hold back the curiosity of guessing what Benjamin’s other form would look like, and said with an expression as if she finally understood something, “Then, everything can be explained.”
Zach looked back at Louise. It seemed that the story was not over.
“After my friend disappeared, I became even more cautious. About ten days ago, another man appeared, but I had seen that face before. He was my other friend’s regular customer. But what’s strange was that he seemed to have no interest in my friend, but came and talked to me.”
It was indeed very strange. The friendship and competition between peers were just dangling between a thin line…
“I don’t want to take his business, but he is very persistent. In the end, I had no choice but to bring my friend.”
“Let me guess the ending of the story.” Zach said with a smile, “You escaped again, but your friend was not so lucky.”
Louise was silent for a while. The sadness on her face was not fake. You have to know that in this type of business, it was not easy to get friends. She nodded, recovering from her short sorrow, and continued seriously, “But I also noticed something…”
“Why don’t you go to the police!” All the eyes instantly gathered on the person who suddenly interrupted Louise. Without a doubt, it was Jim again. “You should go to the police station!”
Louise’s expression was a bit stiff. All three men here were very good looking, but after knowing that the humorous gentleman Zach was a vampire, and the tall and muscular Benjamin was a werewolf, the man, who seemed to be a human, was the only person that had a good impression in her mind. However, at the moment, this good impression almost vanished.
Zach stroked his chin, and said, “Jim, are you a policeman?”
“I… am not! I’m Jim Grande.” Being watched by others, Jim felt a little uncomfortable, “I just think that this should at least be reported to the police. She should try to get help from a proper channel. This is a citizen’s right, not a bad thing!”
It suddenly became silent.
This silence was not a mockery to the Barton Police. On the contrary, the Barton Police Department has done a very good job. At least, Louise relied on two police detectives to track her, so she dared to leave with Zach and went to a hotel. This silence was just everyone feeling speechless that even after commenting on the food preference of werewolves and vampires, and after revealing the ‘not picky shapeshifter’, this man named Jim’s only thought was to report to the police.
If Louise did this, perhaps the person in the photo in the newspaper would be a man in a police uniform.
“Okay, Louise, please continue. What did you notice?” Zach turned back to Louise and asked.
“Body temperature, he, the man’s body is very cold.” Louise looked into Zach’s eyes, “Even in hot water, his body is still cold.”
There was a sudden realization in Zach’s eyes.
Louise was already alert when she went to the hotel with Zach, so she reminded Zach deliberately that there were police behind him, and used “hot water” to test Zach’s reaction when going up the stairs. A bathrobe allowed Zach to enter the bathroom naturally, so she could confirm whether Zach’s temperature was normal in hot water…
Different from what Coulson thought was, which was to “show and shake her money tree”, the exposed dress Louise had was just an excuse, an introduction to “I need a warm place” to do business. If Zach did not mention it, she would mention it herself. She must protect her safety and guide the other party step by step so that she could confirm that the other party had a normal man’s body temperature!
Zach’s lips curled up. Leaning against the back of the chair, he applauded, “Miss Louise, I am officially your fan.” Zach’s expression became serious after smiling, “However, I still have to tell you bad news. Actually, Benjamin, you can explain it.”
The werewolf’s thick and long fingers tapped on the wooden table, and his dark brown eyebrows puckered up, “The low temperature is one of the characteristics of shapeshifters. Similarly, once they targeted their prey, they would not give up until they killed it, which is another characteristic of them.” Benjamin made an unfortunate expression, “Miss Louise, I am very sorry to tell you that you have been treated as his prey.” Benjamin pointed to the photo in the newspapers, “If there are no accidents, that is how you are going to die.”
Zach stood up and walked to Louise, whose face went completely pale, patted her shoulder, “Don’t worry, we are your ‘accidents.”