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Trinity
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Some of the most recent murders had happened where they all started at. That led me to believe that they might be following a pattern for the order in which they were killing these people in. The very first murders happened in France followed by Ireland, China and Austria. At least that was what our data was showing us. Then again, I am very sure that there are some murders that just haven't been reported to us or the other authorities yet. There is an incomplete pattern with the murders. Some of the countries seemed to have been skipped over in the pattern.
I mean, I guess I could be wrong about the whole pattern thing. There was no reason for me to think that they killed in a specific order just because some of the locations seemed to come in a specific order. That could have just been one of these specific killers. Maybe he thrived on routine more than the others did.
Anyway, among those killed this time around, the locations included Wales, France, China, and Laos. Wales had come up before, but not until the twentieth of July. That was on what should have been the third cycle of murders. And France was one of the countries that seemed to repeat way more than any of the others. And that led me to suspect that there was a killer that was working almost exclusively within that country.
With the possibilities that so many of these people were killing and the only guidelines that they were following were for the method of the killing and the frequency of it, there was no way for us to pinpoint anything specific to these people. There was no narrowing down their gender, species, race, or anything at all. We didn't even know if these killers personally knew all of their victims or if they chose them at random.
.....
For now though, the group and I were travelling, magically of course, to Wales to see the site of one of the most recent murders, as well as the site of two previous murders. The first stop was the small village of Clannorenn. What was odd, is that most of these murders, aside from the ones in London and Paris, all happened in small villages or on the outskirts of medium sized villages.
It was possible that the killers were targeting these smaller villages because they knew that most packs, clans and covens tended to stay away from the larger groups of people. Aside from us oddballs in the United States, they were more shy and reserved. Then again. We just didn't have that luxury where I was from. There were small towns, but the big cities were never far away.
The door that we walked through, the one that I had made to magically appear in the local Alpha's home, appeared in the morning back in Colorado, but now that we were in Wales it was approaching late afternoon. We had left around nine in the morning, but it was four in the afternoon when we walked through the door.
“Queen Trinity, King Reece, thank you for coming.” The Alpha, who was looking at the door with shock and awe, was greeting us like he was being saved from some deadly fate. In truth, he might see it that way. With how his people were being killed around here and all of that not so good stuff.
“It is our pleasure.” I nodded my head at the man who had literally fallen to his knees before me, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.
“We are happy to help, Cadwal. Please, sit with us and tell us everything that you know.” Reece, wanting to move things forward, urged the man to rise from the floor and explain things to us.
This Alpha, Cadwal of the Northern Wales Pack, was the Alpha for two of the three victims that were killed in this small country. Fun fact, this entire country could fit inside of my home state of Colorado thirteen times. They were so small compared to Colorado that they only had three different packs in the entire country. Whereas we had dozens in Colorado alone. It was a real eye opener when you compare things like this.
“Yes, thank you. I will explain everything that I know right away.” Thankfully, Cadwal's genuflecting and over the top attitude was put to rest and he started to explain things to us.
Reece and I sat facing him, while the others stood behind us. Vincent and Gabriel were taking notes on everything, writing it all down for later reflection. The reason two of them did this was because they might have different interpretations of what was being said.
Together, we all listened to him explain who found the two bodies that were in his territory and what the state the bodies were in when they were found. He explained as much as he could. He also went into detail often so that he could describe it all accurately.
“Thank you, Cadwal. We would like to see where the last body was found. I would like to see what it was that happened to them and decide for myself if there is any more information to be gathered in the area. I will also do the same at the other murder sites.”
“Yes, Queen Trinity, I will take you there right away.” Cadwal stood and was already rushing for the door before I had the time to stop him.
“Wait a minute.” I called out. “How long of a drive is it? How long will it take us? Since I have never been there, I might make things worse trying to travel there. You sent a photo of your office to me and that made it easier, but this is somewhere that I can't fully visualize at the moment. Also, what time is the sunset going to be? How much time will we have to investigate before we begin to lose the light of day. We are able to see at night, but the clarity is not ideal for searching for clues. Personally, I want to make sure that we have enough light to see by. So, you tell me Cadwal, do we have the time to get all of this done tonight? Or should we wait for the morning?”
“Ah, well, now that you mention it, tomorrow would most likely be best. Sunset will be around twenty thirty, give or take a little, and it is currently seventeen fifty-three. With the time needed to get to the site, we should likely wait until tomorrow.” I could tell that Cadwal was feeling defeated. He wanted to get this done and over with sooner. I guess we should have planned better, but I wanted to see the kids in the morning before we left. We did, however, stay up through the night so that we would be a little more on the local schedule than if we had slept through the night.
“Do not worry about it too much, Cadwal.” Vincent called out to the man as he seemed to deflate. “It is as Queen Trinity said, we want to give this our all. We need the conditions to be right. Because of that, we will take the time tonight to settle in and interview some people that knew the victims. If you could have them summoned and ready within a few hours. We will take the king and queen to their room and settle them first.”
“Yes, I will do just that.” Cadwal, glad that we were not leaving things as they were for the night, immediately perked up.
This man, Cadwal, was a young Alpha. He was maybe twenty-five years old and had taken over for his father not that long ago. His father had, apparently, wanted to step down and allow his son the time to lead their people. He was still around though, and he would be a useful man to talk to. If I remember correctly, his name was Aberforth.
Vincent and Gabriel took the lead as they led us all out of the room. When we were in the hall outside of the office, we were greeted by a young woman that was maybe sixteen. She was pretty, had brown hair, and reminded me of Talia quite a bit. The smile and curiosity was what made them look alike.
“Good afternoon, Queen Trinity. My name is Telyn, if you would allow me to do so, I will be the one taking care of you while you are here.”
Before I answered the girl, I turned to look at Vincent and Gabriel. They would be able to read her and her intentions. They were going to be so useful with this investigation. I saw that they both gave a barely perceptible smile and slight nod. They were telling me that she could be trusted.
“Thank you, Telyn. I would appreciate that. If you would be so kind as to show me to my room.”
“Yes, of course my queen. Please, allow me to take your luggage and follow me.”
“We have her luggage, Telyn, there is no need. Please, just lead the way.” Shawn spoke softly to the girl. I wonder if she reminded him of his daughters as well. He had another back home that was almost this age as well as one younger and the two that were in college with mine.
“Yes, of course.” She bowed a little and started to lead the way up the large staircase for us to follow her. She really did seem sweet, just like my Talia.
I missed the kids already.
