Chapter 85 Case files
Clio
"How did you find me?" I asked Harou as we arrived at the hospital. I had injuries that needed to be tended to but luckily nothing was life threatening or severe.
"I just followed Matthew," He replied as he helped me to the general ward bed.
I frowned, "And well how did he know when or how to find me?"
"Because he's not human."
"..." I lowered my gaze, "Yea I saw that..."
"You know it's just not my place to tell you all about them."
"Them?" He sat me down on the bed.
"The werewolves,"
"There more of them?!"
He let out a chuckle, "There is a whole community of them,"
My mouth hung open, "What...?" I shook my head, "Oh! Wait, Is that what he meant by a pack?" I looked at him with eyes wide open, "Is that what a pack is?"
"Yea," He answered, "Werewolves have packs, the packs are usually located away from human territories."
"Wait, what was that about Chris not being able to shift while Matthew can?"
"It's because both of them are halves."
"Halves?"
"To be exact, bastard children of wolves that were conceived between a werewolf and a human. Most of these children can't shift."
"Why not?"
"It depends on their wolves. Matthew's wolf awakened and he developed into a full werewolf. For Chris, that never happened."
My brain was frying and he noticed that.
"All you need to know is Matthew can tell when you're in trouble." He looked around to see if a doctor was coming to check me, "And that's why I had to keep an eye on him. I had to follow him to make the killer's arrest."
....
I thought about his words.
"Wait, did you know Chris was the killer?"
"I was ninety percent sure,"
!!?
"How?" I shook my head at him. My mind was so full of questions, I was barely focusing on the pain in my leg, "Chris said Matthew was the one who put Rameen's head on her desk."
"She's right. It was him."
!!!
"But he didn't kill her. I'm sure he found the head in the house when he went looking for Rameen." He continued, "Rameen wasn't picking up her phone. I saw her phone's call log and there were many missed calls from Matthew. So he must have gone in the house to make sure she was there before he went to the gathering."
"Oh..." I got the gist of it, "But he found the head there..."
"Yes," He nodded, "And chose to put it in a place that would cause public uproar."
"Why not inform the police of the crime right away?"
"Because there was no proof Chris did it then. No evidence. She could have acted the victim then too, just like how she acted when the head was found on her desk."
"So, you're saying he staged all that to get concrete proof?" I frowned, "Wouldn't that all get him in trouble?"
He let out a snicker, "I originally thought he might be the killer, except that his alibi checked out for most of the cases." He waved at a nurse and pointed at me, telling her to get me a doctor, "But I was sure he was the person who put the head in the office since he was the last one who made it to the gathering and everyone else was there." He looked at me, "But since things were adding up, I knew there was more to this." He shook his head softly, "The Head Hunter had never been caught on camera after all, and this person in the office made a show of it."
I blinked, trying to add all the information in my brain, "Okay..." I nodded slowly, "But why put the head in the office?"
"Rameen was already dead when he found her, he made a rational decision. He made a show of it, to get the original killer mad."
"Get her mad?"
"Psychopaths hate it when people steal their trophies. For Chris, her trophies were the heads she kept in her house."
It dawned upon me.
"And Matthew messed with her reward."
"And once she knew for sure it was him. She had to get back at him."
....
Wait a minute...
"Is that why you exposed my secret in front of her?!?!?" I looked at him in bafflement. Because when my gender was exposed, I was the perfect victim that fit in the Head Hunter's list."
He shrugged.
"So you chose me as bait," I looked at him with astonishment.
"You were perfect for it," Harou's face was still bandaged, "I will apologize for putting you in danger though,"
"Why?" I shook my head, "What if I got killed?"
"You already saw the werewolf."
"...."
"He would have saved you no matter what, that's why."
"You knew?" I was surprised, "That he's a wolf?"
"Yes," He smirked, "I work to handle non-human stuff as well."
"How will you explain it in your report?"
"You don't need to worry about that, that's my job. I've been doing it for a while." He shrugged, "I can simply write that a big stray dog came in to help you."
"Why would anyone believe that?"
"You're a reporter Clio, make your story believable."
!!!
OH! Right!
"The story hadn't made its way to the public yet...
"Detective," I had an idea. It was such a bad situation I got out of yet my mind was running towards my job as a reporter.
"Hm?"
"I have a favor to ask."
Harou and I stood in the room where we could see Chris being questioned through the one way mirror.
"Why do you think she did it?" I wasn't allowed to record in the police station, but the detective allowed me to watch as the interrogation took place.
The officers were speaking with her but she remained silent most of the time.
Harou went ahead and pressed the communication button, "Why did she do it?" He repeated my question and Chris turned her head to look at the mirror.
She couldn't see her, but she still passed us a smirk.
It sent a shiver down my spine.
"She was jealous," Harou said, "Jealous of the young girls giving everything they had to try and make the lives of their mothers easier."
!!!
Another thing added up. When I originally thought about Rameen's case, one sole difference was that Rameen wasn't doing anything to support her mother like the rest of her victims.
So that's what it was...
"Am I wrong?"
"You're not," She replied calmly. She had been given basic first aid to stop her bleeding and her injury was tended to, "I always found taking care of Rameen troublesome, but I thought she'd change as she'd grow older."
"But she didn't," Harou replied,
"No," There was no look of remorse on her face, "Instead she got worse."
"That was your fault." Harou sighed, "It's because she knew her mother was a killer." He paused, "Maybe she wasn't sure. But she sure as hell knew there was something wrong with you. That's exactly why she kept running away from home and hated going back."
I recalled the time she joined our team dinner...
She said she didn't want to go home, but everyone just blew up her protests as teenage rebellion.
"Well, she could have done better," Chris replied and I honestly couldn't listen to this. There was no remorse in her eyes, no expressions.
She really was only pretending to be like the rest of us.
I looked at her through the glass. Her lenses were still there, and along with it, the deranged gaze of a psychopath.
"Tell me where you put the heads of the other victims," The police officer who was in the room with her asked.
But Chris refused to answer.
Harou let go of the comm and stepped back.
"We still don't know where the heads are," I looked at Harou, "Doesn't that mean we're still losing?"
Harou smirked, "I went to her place for a reason." He looked at me, "You should start working too, little reporter." He stepped back towards the door, "We're going to leave."
"Go where?" I asked as I followed him
"To get our evidence."