CHAPTER 3 : THE CASE

" We will get back to you , if we find anything , ma'am ".

The officer spoke as he shook my hand , apparently the police got a CCTV camera footage of how Mr. Hayes was murdered . Who ever was working on the murder , forgot to hack the nearby store's camera.

I walked through the lonely looking hallway , my mind filled up with thoughts , while the officer followed me . I had visited the station for the interrogation and thankfully it went smoothly. The officer had shown me a picture they had of the murderer.

The man was wearing a black masquerade mask covering his entire face , his black hair combed properly , a Rolex watch was on his left hand which perfectly topped off his black suit .

" Do you have any idea of how he reached to the place , maybe a vehicle he used ? " I asked the officer .

" Unfortunately no , " he spoke , face filled with dismay .

" When did you start working for the force ? " He asked curiousness present on his face.

"I started three years ago , but became a senior five months ago . " I replied .

" Senior officer Judy had called us today ." He spoke .

" I know , she told me she would . " I replied. Senior officer Judy was one of the higher ups ,

feeling the same doubts as a lot of others , she had called me to ask me what I had witnessed personally and I had told her what I saw as it is and had told her some of the doubts I had about the murder . She said that there would be a search about this case soon starting and since I was ithe one who found the note as well as the dead body ( along with the boy ) she thought it was best to add me along as well .

" What makes you think this is related to werewolves , ma'am ? " The short officer questioned .

" Everything ." I replied .

" What were you doing again when Mr . Hayes was with his friend ? " He asked again .

A chuckle left my mouth as I stopped midway and stared at him , a laugh that clearly screamed sarcasm .

" I knew it . I knew you were trying to question me ? "

Feeling called out the man just stared at the floor .

" You shouldn't just directly ask someone like that , be much more subtle ." I spoke again.

" Yes ma'am . I will do that next time " . He spoke , his cheeks red with embarrassment .

" And to answer your question , I believe I was eating nuggets . "

Reaching outside the building , I once again looked at the short man. " What was your name again ?" I asked , I had asked him the same question maybe hardly an hour ago , but guess who forgot .

"Rick , ma'am . Are you interrogating me too? " He asked me.

" Nope. " I answered , a genuine laugh leaving my mouth.

" I was about to ask you your number , so I obviously need a name to save it , unless you wanted me to save it as ' short stick ' . I happen to forget names easily . " I spoke as I gave a wink .

" Sure " , he spoke as he gave me his phone number.

" I will call you if I get any information ," I said as I walked towards my car . ' Ava must be awake by now . ' I thought as I entered my car .

~

Just like I had thought Ava was awake when I reached home , her hands on her head as she sat on one of the chairs in the dining hall . She sat there , just looking at me , her messy hair covering almost both her eyes .

" Headache ? " I asked as she groaned nodding her head .

" Where you at the station ? "

" Yeah , I was " . I answered as I made my way to the bedroom , with Ava trailing behind me .

" How did it go ? " She asked again , now taking a comb from my bedside table drawer .

" It went fine . Judy ma'am called in the morning and asked me to join in a new case group . There will be a search group , everyone back in the office thinks it's a werewolf case , frankly speaking I think it is too . This is either a werewolf case , or someone's trying to make it look like a werewolf , trust me . I have been thinking about this case last night . "

" Or it could be someone who randomly thought of making a claw mark , so that it looked I don't know maybe , interesting . " She said as she kept the comb back in my drawer .

" Am I added to this group ? " Ava asked as she walked towards the kitchen now grabbing a glass of water for herself .

" No . But I heard her saying that you would be added to another group , you know the one leaving for Lydan . "

" Yeah , I don't want to go there . The last time I went there , the 'talk' didn't go well . "

" You came home with a bruised eye ." I smiled as I remember the past moment .

" What do you think it is this time ? " She asked as she took a sip of the water.

" Most probably about the attack cases at the border . " I replied .

" Did you hear about the attack cases at Sirit . Someone straight up attacked werewolves . "

" Yeah , I read about that . " I replied .

" What do you think the media is going to put out about Mr. Hayes's murder ?"

" Nothing about werewolves anyway . " I answered now walking towards Ava . The whole topic of werewolves have been kept hidden as to not arise panic among citizens and also to keep werewolf murder rate low . Maybe if the people get to know about it , many of them might even start hunting werewolves and then major wars would occur .

As a matter of fact , in many places , werewolf skin is actually sold . The sellers and the buyers do try to stay low , but who are they playing with , it is one of our jobs to catch people like these . Most of the people who get murdered by werewolves are them and they kind of deserve it .

Thinking back to the case , I asked Ava , " Do you happen to know who Mr. Hayes's best friend is ?"

" Nope " . She replied as she washed her glass. " Do you want me to look into it though ? " She asked .

" No , you take rest . " I answered as I sat onto the kitchen counter .

"If I need rest , you need it too . Two more days you go without sleeping properly , you and the panda we saw last day on the tv are going to look like twins ", she spoke as I kept a hand on my face . She was not lying though , the dark circles around my eyes have started resembling pandas , but the sleep I had yesterday was pretty good , one of the best ones I have had this month .

"You know I was thinking about digging into Mr. Hayes's past , I mean none of the force officers know anything about him . " I asked Ava who now sat on the counter as well .

" Go for it , try contacting his wife that is if she woke up and is ready to talk ." Nodding at her answer , we sat there , chatting . There were a lot of things to catch up on .

~

He stood there watching her chat with her friend , a smirk present on his face .

" I like her , it's a shame she is not going to live for long ."