Page 30 of Hextreme Measures

“Banshee attacks?” Ofelia sat straighter. “Are more people infected?”

“Not those sorts of attacks.” He shook his head. “I don’t believe there are more people turning into banshees out there, although I am trying to track missing person reports because I believe that’s where I would find that information. I’m talking about male victims.”

“Oh.” Ofelia paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. “Did they die?”

“Yup.”

“How many of them?”

“Three that I’ve found so far.”

“Over how long a period?”

“About a month. I’m going back further to see if I can find any more of them.”

“How can you be certain that they were killed by banshees?”

“Because they had claw marks on them, and their murders are still unsolved. It’s possible that they weren’t killed by banshees, of course. It feels right to me, though.”

“Do you have photos?” Ofelia asked.

“Do you want to see them when you’re eating?”

“Yup.” Ofelia was grim. “We don’t have time to waste.”

Sully handed over his phone. Ofelia was surreptitious when looking at the photos. She didn’t want anybody to see what she was looking at and lose their minds. When she was done, she handed back the phone without saying anything.

“Thoughts?” Sully prodded.

“Men,” Ofelia replied, her mind churning. “None of these are women whom they tried to change and failed.”

“Do you think that’s important?”

She lifted one shoulder. “I find it interesting. That’s the best I can say.”

“So, how do you think it works?”

“Ellen said she was angry. She was angry at her husband for embarrassing her publicly, and the banshee tried to use that. I believe the reason Ellen managed to fight it so easily — or relatively easily, I guess — is because she wasn’t really angry at her husband.”

“She wasn’t?”

Ofelia shook her head. “No, she wasn’t. She was angry at her father for forcing her into a marriage that she didn’t want in the first place. She didn’t like her husband. She didn’t want to be embarrassed. He wasn’t breaking her heart or anything. Her father is the one who broke her heart.”

Sully considered it. “So, are you saying it’s only romantic anger that fuels a banshee?”

“No, but I think it’s a stronger type of anger. When there’s heartbreak involved, that’s the ultimate anger, right?”

Sully finished chewing a bite of his food before answering. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been angry enough with you to test that theory.”

“Oh, so cute.” Ofelia rolled her eyes, causing him to laugh. “It makes sense to me, although I’m still figuring it out.”

“Okay, what do you think our options are?”

“Well, I want to chase the deaths,” he replied. “I want to talk to the families of our victims.”

“What are you looking for?”

“Banshees kill unfaithful men, right?”