And when you're gone, who remembers your name?

Who keeps your flame? Who tells your story?

~ ‘Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?’, Hamilton

“That was mighty weird,” Rex said as Wulfric dashed out of the morgue. “Any idea what that was about?” As he asked this, he looked at Angelique, then Brynn.

Angelique shook her head. “I have absolutely no idea. He gets fidgety whenever people speculate about things like this.”

Brynn put a hand to her chin. “He seemed to be fine while we were talking on the phone while coming down here. In fact, he seemed confident that we could solve the murders.”

Rex smirked at the observations his partner made. “Easy now, Brynn. There ain’t no reason to make leaps like this. I will admit, though, that the pattern is strange.”

Brynn just looked at her partner in shock. “What the hell are we doing here then, Rex?”

Rex just sighed. “Ya make a good point, but think about it; there couldn’t really be anything else going on, could there?”

Brynn shook her head. “Well, you’re the death expert, Rex. You and Angelique can handle this, right?” She made a move towards the door.

Angelique stepped closer to Brynn and put a hand on her shoulder. “I understand completely, mademoiselle. It is hard to fit in with us who are so used to crouching over the dead day in and day out.” She gave a chuckle to try to lighten the mood, to which Brynn joined in.

Brynn smiled at Angelique and muttered a thank-you before standing next to Rex, looking at the body. “On second thought, I’ll stay,” she said.

Rex moved down Elias’ torso and took one of his hands, examining the fingertips, which had turned a light shade of blue. “Well, I think it goes without saying that this ain’t exactly frostbite. When I first looked at the body, I estimated that he was 36 hours postmortem. Lookin’ at it now, I can definitely say we’re out of the woods on even a six-hour estimate.”

Brynn just shook her head. “Out of the woods; really, Rex?” She rolled her eyes in amusement at the comment.

Rex smiled the goofy smile he’d given her back at his own morgue. “Well, it’s true, and that is where we found him.”

Angelique looked at Rex. “In the woods? That’s odd. Elias didn’t really seem like the outdoorsy type.” She looked at Elias’ gaunt figure. “Perhaps Wulfric will look for a new mechanic. That’s the type of person he is after all. He likes to get things done.”

Brynn nodded. “Uh-huh… I could see that with how he dashed out of here so quickly. That was more than a little suspicious if you ask me.” She cast her gaze on Elias’ corpse, then up at Rex. “We need to look into this town more closely. I’m getting the feeling that nothing makes sense, and yet some things do as well.”

Rex nodded, looking up at Angelique from where he was examining the body. “You guys have a library or Hall of Records or something of the like around here?”

The petite woman nodded. “Yes, the library is by the local diner here. After we finish up here, I can lock poor Elias away in a cabinet and show you. And if you’d like, we can even get something to eat after.” She looked at Brynn. “All three of us, of course; I’m not jumping right into asking for a date, especially when we just met each other.”

Rex chucked. “Oh, no worries, I understand.” He then thought for a moment. “I think after what we’ve already gone through - even though we only basically just got here - we could use a bite to eat. We’d better get our unfortunate friend here looked after first, though.”

Angelique nodded. “Let’s get him locked away before we do anything.” With Rex’s help, she got the corpse locked away in a cabinet, writing his name on the accompanying card. She then looked at the pair. “I’m so used to dolling up people who have died naturally but this is just… this is not normal for such a hidden town as this. ” She put a hand on her hip. “Oh, Elias… what did you do to get yourself into this mess, my friend?”

Brynn, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for the past few moments, piped up once again. “Well, obviously he got in a scrap with some oversized mutt or like - we said while Wulfric was here - a human-wolf hybrid. I hate to say it, lest I prove Harding right, but I think a werewolf did this.”

Angelique raised a brow. “Harding? Who is that?”

Rex sighed. “A pain in the ass that works with us, to put it simply. You could also refer to him as the king of the Neanderthals and that would still be accurate.”

Angelique nodded. “Thankfully, I do not know anyone like that, perhaps except for this man named Aries Fitzgerald. He is quite possibly the most irritating man I have ever known. Some days he will come in here and pester me just for the sake of disturbing me during my workday.”

Brynn smirked. “Leave it to men like those two to be belligerent assholes at the worst times, right?” she asked, laughing.

Angelique just smiled and laughed. “Absolutely. You're lucky to have an amazing friend in this one,” she said, pointing to Rex, who just blushed.

Brynn smiled and giggled at Rex. “That I am,” she agreed.

At this point, nothing else needed to be done, so Angelique just locked the cabinet that her unfortunate friend was now in, turning back to the pair. “Now,” she said, “shall we go? I do not know about you, but I feel hungry.”

Rex and Brynn nodded in unison, the latter responding. “I know we just ate lunch not long ago, but it would be nice to get a tour of the town and check out the Hall of Records if possible. Maybe that’ll give us some clues as to what is going on here. I have the feeling that we aren’t being told everything we need to know.”

Ten minutes later, they’d piled into Rex’s truck and driven to the diner Angelique mentioned. Getting out of the car, they walked into the diner. It gave off a 50s vibe as soon as they walked in the door, which made Rex smile. He wasn’t just a lover of all things macabre, but of things that were vintage as well.

Brynn smiled and bumped his shoulder in a playful manner. “Looks like we’ve been transported back in time, eh Rex?” she asked her friend.

Rex nodded as he smiled as well. “Yeah, it kind of does. I love the fifties vibe,” he replied, following Angelique to a table. He sat comfortably, Brynn sliding in next to him and Angelique settling in across from them. “Got any recommendations? Either on how to proceed or with food.”

Angelique chuckled. “I’d start at the Hall of Records. That may offer some answers as to the history of this town if anything. I can keep looking at the body while you do that if you like.” She then thought for a moment. “As for food, the omelets are to die for. The chef is French and went to cooking school before coming here.”

Brynn nodded. “That sounds delicious! Rex can help with the body if that makes things easier. On any normal basis, I would be fine with looking at dead bodies, but this case has me on edge and, to say the least, sickened.”

Angelique nodded in acknowledgment and closed the menu she had been looking at. Not that she needed to look, as she already knew what she was getting.

A moment later, the chef came out from the kitchen to take their order personally. He smiled and took out a pen and notepad.

Rex and Brynn closed their menus as he approached the table, both ordering the same food item - omelets, of course, since Angelique had recommended them.

The chef, named Emil, smiled as he took down their orders and Angelique’s. “Mon Dieu! I heard we had some visitors from out of town, but I did not expect to meet you so soon! To be honest, I expected you to be run ragged with everything that is going on.”

Brynn just looked at him, confused. “I understand that there have been several murders, but it seems like there’s more to it than we are being told.”

Emil nodded and put the menus to one side of his face so as to whisper to them without being heard. “I have this theory that werewolves are behind this. Call me crazy, but nothing else could have made such marks.” He looked at the group seated around the table. “Your order will be ready shortly,” he said before rushing off to the kitchen.

Brynn looked between Rex and Angelique. “Is it just my detective’s instinct, or was that really weird?”

Rex nodded. “That was really odd. Then again, he’s not the first person to act sketchy as hell.” He looked Brynn in the eye. “Wulfric acted really weird earlier, too. It could just be my own instincts telling me something, but I think we need to get ourselves to the Hall of Records as soon as possible.”

Angelique nodded. “I agree. He has never acted so shifty before. This case coming to light seems to have brought out a whole different side of him.”

Brynn sighed, shaking her head. “This just gets weirder and weirder. Part of me regrets taking this on but the other part doesn’t somehow.”

Rex cocked his head, paying close attention to his friend’s body language. He knew when she was uneasy and, this being the peculiar case that it was, her reaction was entirely understandable. “I, for one, am having a great time, but I understand where you’re coming from.”

Another half-hour passed, and the trio was headed to the Hall of Records at last - after paying the bill, of course. Angelique led her newfound companions towards it, the building looming over them. Rex half-expected a bolt of lightning to crack across the sky. They entered the building and Brynn jumped as the doors slammed closed behind them.

“So what are we looking for, to begin with?” Brynn asked.

Angelique was already looking around, moving books off of shelves, and putting them back in frustration. “We’re looking for information on the town, anything that would help you find out what you need to know. I’ve been here since I was a little girl, and I still sometimes feel as if I don’t know everything.”Brynn smiled and nodded in acknowledgment once more. “That’s definitely understandable. I’ve known Rex for something close to ten, maybe fifteen years and I still feel like I don’t know everything about him.”

Rex chuckled as he, too, began to look for answers. He climbed the nearest ladder and looked at the shelves for even the slightest hint of suspicious activity. “Find anything yet?” He called down to the two women searching the various books scattered around the various desks.

“In all honesty, not as much as I’d like,” Brynn responded. “Let’s keep looking, maybe we’ll find something-”

She was abruptly cut off by Angelique yelling “Eureka!”

“Find something useful?” Rex asked the coroner. He climbed down the ladder and walked over to Brynn and Angelique. Soon all three were bent over a dusty book, one that looked to be nearly ancient.

“This may help us in our search for answers to the secrets this town holds,” Angelique spoke while blowing on the book to loosen some dust on the pages and showing Rex and Brynn the date on the spine. “It’s a record book from 1854. I was looking through all the books this town has by year and I found that there is definitely something odd, as we all suspected.” She carefully turned the book’s pages. “I thought I was seeing things, but… look!” She pointed to a picture on one of the pages. Though covered in a thin layer of dust, the figures in the photo were easily recognized by the trio.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Brynn said, shocked at what she was seeing.