Chapter 89
He also thoroughly examined it and even sniffed it. He noticed that the foot of that heel had some white clay stuck on it – the same type of clay that was found around the damaged trees. He confirmed that the blood on it was from an animal and not from a human or a vampire.
And he noticed one major thing.
He looked at Jasper and said to him, “It looks like it’s from the shoes of a woman. I’m not sure if the owner of this thing is the real culprit. But there’s a high probability that she knows something even if she isn’t the one we’re looking for.”
Jasper gave a nod and then looked at his boys. And he immediately ordered them, “You all heard him. We’re looking for a woman who might be missing a heel of her shoes. The humans must already be inside their houses. Search each and every corner for that shoes. If you find such shoes in anyone’s house, capture the owner of that shoes.”
Zenon also added to what Jasper had just said, “And if any woman looks nervous or scared upon seeing you all...”
He frowned upon realizing something and mumbled to himself, “They always look nervous and scared when they see us... especially when we knock on their doors at night.”
Zenon looked back at the soldiers again and continued, “Well if they look unusually terrified or show any hostility, then you might want to bring her to me. Keep in mind that if that same woman is the culprit then she will have super strength. She might be a werewolf, so you all should be careful when handling her. And try not to get bitten.”
As most of the vampires present here were only a century old or less, they had never encountered a werewolf in their lives.
.....
Some of the vampires looked a bit nervous when they were reminded about the werewolf again. The others were curious to see what a werewolf looked like and how strong they were.
Zenon then turned to look at Jasper and said to him, “I will also be looking around in Silver Keep. She must be hiding there somewhere if she hasn’t already returned to where she came from.”
“Yes, Milord. I hope we will be successful in capturing her this time,” Jasper said with a huge smile on his face. He was the most excited about this ‘werewolf hunt’.
With that, everyone present there dispersed in several directions so that they could cover all parts of the town within no time.
Jasper went after the soldiers while Zenon went along with the Royal Guards who had tagged along with him since the morning.
The Royal Guards knocked on the doors of the humans one by one. They looked around the houses for anything suspicious, they interrogated the women in the house. And they were especially interested in the shoe racks while doing the search.
Zenon was disappointed every time the guards came outside and told him that they didn’t find anything in the houses they checked.
He sighed when one more house was in the clear. And he thought to himself, ‘I hope that culprit is still hiding here somewhere. If the culprit is indeed a werewolf then we shouldn’t let them escape and go back to Xanmar before we interrogate them. Who knows what secret they are going to take back with them?’
Zenon thought for a while and asked himself, ‘Should I deploy some more soldiers?’
While he was lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize that Vincent was approaching him from the back.
Zenon almost punched Vincent on his throat when Vincent quietly placed his hand on Zenon’s shoulder.
“Hey! Relax buddy, it’s me,” Vincent raised his hands in the air in surrender and said while laughing.
Zenon frowned and asked harshly, “What the hell are you doing here? Don’t you have anything else to do that you even followed me here?”
Vincent scoffed and replied with the same bitterness as Zenon, “Don’t think so highly of yourself. I didn’t even know you were here, nor do I know what you’re doing here. I couldn’t care less.”
“Then why are you here, if not to torture me and follow me around like a puppy?” Zenon rolled his eyes at Vincent because he didn’t believe that Vincent was there for some other purpose.
Vincent folded his arms and angrily shouted after being insulted like that, “I used to tag along with you thinking that you were my friend. But okay... if you get that agitated by my presence then I won’t ever show my face to you.”
“Whatever,” Zenon couldn’t care less about Vincent’s tantrum right now because he had some bigger issues to solve.
Vincent had thought that Zenon would apologize to him. But he looked even angrier. So he pouted and shouted before stomping away, “And for your kind information, I have some unfinished business here. I met a very interesting woman today.”
Zenon’s attention suddenly peaked when he heard Vincent saying that he met an interesting woman. He zoomed and stood while blocking Vincent’s path.
And he asked, “What woman? Where did you meet her? Was there something peculiar about her?”
Vincent folded his arms and smirked. He was happy that Zenon was giving him attention. But he wanted to make Zenon guilty for his burst out earlier.
So he mockingly asked, “Why do you care? Why are you suddenly interested in the woman I am going to see? Didn’t you say that you didn’t want to see my face again?”
“I never said that!” Vincent was already on edge so he blurted out his situation, “I am also looking for a woman right now. To be more precise, I am looking for someone who might be a merciless murderer. That’s why I wanted to know why you thought that woman was interesting. You never find anyone interesting unless they are psychopaths or murderers.”
“Ouch!” Vincent slammed his palm on his chest and said in a monotone, “That’s one way of asking for someone’s help.”
“Please! I am really desperate. His Majesty might get furious at me if I don’t find that woman by midnight,” Zenon pleaded as though his life depended on Vincent’s answer.
Vincent was now a little serious after seeing Zenon panicking like that. He was a cool-headed one among the three of them. And to see him this restless was something worrying.
Vincent patted Zenon on the shoulder and tried to calm him down first, “I don’t know why you think Caspian will get angry at you. But I bet that he won’t even remember whatever it is that he ordered you to do. The Queen is sick and he was still with her when I exited the castle.”
“The Queen is sick?” Zenon asked in surprise. “What happened to her?”
“She has a fever. But she will be fine, Caspian is taking good care of her.” Vincent pulled Zenon to the side and asked in a serious tone, “Anyway, tell me more about this woman you are searching for.”
Zenon briefly explained all the events that led to the situation he was currently in. And he concluded, “So I wanted to know if you found her interesting because she was showing some traits like violence and super strength, or if she did anything peculiar that caught your eyes.”
Vincent pondered upon it for a while. He was simply intrigued by her because she was desperately trying to hide her face from him. “I met her in Carl’s clinic this morning. I wanted to see her again because I felt like I had seen her somewhere before.”
Zenon’s eyes instantly lit up when he heard that she was in the clinic in the morning. They had found the dead dog early in the morning today.
So he thought that if this woman that Vincent met was the same woman that everyone was looking for, maybe she was in the clinic after being attacked by that poor dog before it died.
He hastily asked Vincent to confirm the same, “Was she hurt somewhere? Maybe there were scratch marks on her that she got from a dog’s claws? Or maybe there were bite marks on her?”
Something suddenly clicked in Vincent’s mind when Zenon asked if she had bite marks on her.
He looked at Zenon with wide eyes and replied, “Yes! That’s it! I saw her in the same clinic a few days ago! And she had a huge bite mark on her stomach that day!”