He snorts. “So, Mission Creepily Stalking Elliot Because I’m a Suspicious Bastard is now Mission Sleeping With Elliot Because I’m a Suspicious Bastard?”
I grin at him. “Couldn’t have explained it better myself.”
“As long as—”
“Hey, do you need any help with these?” Dominic’s voice makes us turn.
Looking at the mess we’ve made on the kitchen counter, we definitely need help. But I’m hesitant to ask him to do anything because I don’t want to create the impression that he needs to be my junior, or my lackey, as Serena calls him, here too.
Luckily, Sloan and Bree fix that problem when they saunter in after him.
Meena arrives once the food has been distributed and the couch has been moved. I stand in front of the Human Murder Board..
“So we found Tyler Robertson and Nathaniel Rambert at their homes last month. Both humans. Both tortured before being killed. There’s a good reason to believe it’s the same perpetrator. The way their bodies were staged, it’d be too big a coincidence to be two different killers.
“The human police have been trying to find a connection between them for a long time, but the only one I could see is that they were both close to werewolves. Until I found this,” I point at the printout of theWhack-A-Wolficon on the board.
“What the fuck is that?” Matt asks with disgust.
I one hundred percent agree with the sentiment. “Oh, it’sas fucked up as it sounds. It’s a stupid game, where the task is, you guessed it, whacking werewolves.”
“And Nate played it?” Cami asks, anger coating her words.
“Yup, and you were right to warn your sister off him. The guy was bad news,” I tell her. “But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, or a cover to be more precise. The open chat between players is the app's main purpose. It’s a bunch of people openly being hateful towards werewolves. The messages range from death threats to brags about conquests.”
“So, the killer found them on the chat? Can we get their information from here?” Marcus asks.
Meena joins me near the boards. “We tried to hack the game servers and got some data. It wasn’t all that secure, and the reason is clear. Almost everyone used a first name to register, and there’s no way to guarantee that they are real. There are no paywalls that would require any significant information,” she says.
“So how did the killer find Nathaniel and Tyler?” Sloan asks.
“I’ve been going through the chats the entire week, and I could identify a few details that might have given away their identities to the killer,” I explain. With Nathaniel, it would have been easy because the dumbass uploaded Isabel’s picture on the chat. But with Tyler, they weren’t significant. But if you were intent on finding him, you could.
“So, we think the killer is targeting people from the game?” Matt asks.
I point at him. “I thought that too. But then I thought,why? The game is silly, and most of the conversation on there is stupid too, except for the few ones that aren’t. Particularly one where users discussed realistic ways of getting rid of werewolves. And guess who had the most helpful suggestions?”
“No,” Cami whispers dangerously. “If that son of a bitch were still alive, I would have murdered him myself,” she says, her face promising retribution to Nate in hell.
If only she knew how much worse the guy was. But I’llsave her the anger. “And he would have deserved it. So Tyler and Nathaniel suggested the same variation of carefully killing them with chemicals instead of a direct attack. Sounds familiar?”
Bree gasps. “They were the Vigilante Wolf Hunter? Wait, no, that doesn’t make sense,” she backtracks quickly.
“Exactly. It doesn’t in hindsight. Because we know the Vigilante Wolf Hunter struck again after Tyler and Nathaniel were murdered,” I say gleefully. This is the best lead we’ve found in both cases. And the first clue that they’ll intersect at some point.
“Oh no,” Sloan gasps.
“Oh no, indeed. We might not be the only ones hunting the Vigilante Wolf Hunter. Still hate the name, by the way, but it opens up tons of opportunities for dramatic statements,” I say.
“Nicholas,” Meena warns.
“Alright, let’s keep it Vigilante Wolf Hunter.Tentatively,” I throw my hands in surrender. “Here’s what I need help with. Sloan, Matt, I want you guys to download the app and comb through the messages again. There are a lot, and they are horrible, so be warned. But see if we can identify anybody else.”
“Do Ireallyhave to add that filth to my digital footprint?” Sloan blanches.
“If I had to do it, you’ll have to do it too. Now, suck it up and get to work. Bree, I need you to find close relatives and significant others of all the werewolf victims. Use everything, social media, police records,everything. Tyler and Nate’s murders seem personal. The killer must have lost someone close to them to want to kill this way.”
Bree nods.
