Chapter 2: Chapter 2 Hollyhill Town

Winter was over but the air in the mountains was still cold. Thankfully Collins had taken his warmer jacket along. He walked along the paved road towards the town centre. When they said this was a small town they hadn’t been joking. The area in Blue city where he lived was twice as big as this town and it was just a small corner of the city. He could see some people walking around but to him it felt like he had entered a ghost town. 

   The buildings were no taller than three stories high and seemed to need desperate repair. Despite that, the town looked clean; no trash on streets, no rats running around. All places had their perks, it seemed. 

As the sun began to set and darkness fell, one singular street lamp lit up next to a community well. Collins walked up to it and noticed a sign pointing towards west: ”Town hall”. He walked to the direction the sign was pointing and soon found himself in front of a slightly bigger building. There was light coming through the windows so there was no need to hesitate before knocking. 

  The door opened in a flash and a scared and frail old man peeked from behind it. His eyes widened at the sight of Collins and he flung the door ajar and grasped the detective's hands in a firm hold.

”Oh heavens! You have arrived!” the man exclaimed as he pulled Collins inside and shut the door in a haste. Inside the building appeared much more kept than the outside had; the wooden floor was partly covered by an expensive looking rug and the walls were decorated with all sorts of artworks in golden frames. It seemed that the Mayor had a budget for his own pleasure but less so to help the village. 

”You must be Mayor Donovan?” Collins asked, slightly baffled by the way he had just been pushed around. 

”I am, yes! And you are Detective Collins, I am sure!”, the Mayor said as he pulled Collins to sit down on a chair next to the fireplace, ”Oh, how glad I am that you are here! I have been barrigating in this office for a week now! The killer is still out there and our mere two police officers haven’t gotten around to doing much..” 

Collins watched as the old man nervously scrambled to pour tea, he had ready made on the side table. Shaky hands managed to pour the liquid into the cup with difficulty and the tea was placed into Collin’s hands. It was a nice and warm welcome after arriving in the cold mountain village. 

”So, Mayor Donovan, sir, what can you tell me about this case?” There was no point in prolonging the investigation. Collins was never one for too much small talk after all. The Mayor seemed uncomfortable but nodded his head as he too sat down. 

”The uh….the victim….the body was…burned to a crisp” The Mayor sounded very on edge. It was a miracle that the old man managed to get all of his words out despite it. 

”A crisp?” Collins repeated. The Mayor moved nervously in his chair before explaining:

”Y-yes, um, the town doctor examined the body and told us that the victim was unidentifiable because the body had been set on fire and it was also impossible to know how the victim died” The words came out more easily now, the more he spoke. 

”So they didn’t die by the fire?” Collins took a sip of his tea as he racked his brain. 

”No, the doctor stated that the victim had already been deceased when they had been set on fire. Possibly to remove evidence” 

Collins took out his notebook from his pocket and wrote down the information he found crucial, ”Hmm, I see..”, he mumbled as he scribbled on the page. 

The Mayor hesitantly peaked over at his writing before continuing, ”And uh, although we do not know who the victim is by looking at the body, we can guess since this is a small village and everyone knows each other”

Collins looked up from his notebook, ”So who’s missing?”

”Sherry Lamb”, the Mayor nodded, ”She went missing around the same time of the murder”

Why didn’t he tell me that sooner, Collins thought angrily. ”And what can you tell me about Ms. Sherry?”, he asked, trying his hardest not to sound annoyed. Thankfully the Mayor didn’t seem to notice his frustration.

”Mrs. Sherry, actually”, he corrected, ”She was married to James Lamb, our local shopkeeper. They had only been married for a year”

Collins took a breath to calm his mind, ”What about Mr. James?”

The Mayor thought for a moment, ”James is… very distraught right now, obviously. And he is not a suspect because he has a very clear alibi as he was still working during the time of the murder. He has multiple witnesses”

So the spouse was in the clear it seemed. 

”Is there anyone suspicious?”, Collins asked.

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”The village is a very tight community. We have all always been very friendly towards each other. There is no one, that I or anyone else could guess would do such a horrendous thing” The Mayor lifted his teacup with shaky hands and was able to take a sip. 

Of course. In a small village no one suspected each other. In the city, everyone would have started to blame one another, but in Hollyhill town it seemed to be the opposite. Next thing this Mayor was probably going to tell Collins is that every suspect he would find is the ”pillar of the community”.

”So, do you think this was done by an outsider then?” Collins inquired. He didn’t think this was probable but he needed to hear the locals' opinions.

”As much as I would like to believe that, there were no tourists here at the time and the Hemmingway family would have noticed if someone had been running in their woods” 

Collins took a moment to process the Mayor’s words, ”The Hemmingway family? What do you mean by that?”

There was a short silence where the two men stared at each other in confusion. As the fireplace crackled, the Mayor snapped out of it and began to nod his head repeatedly, ”What do I mean? Uh well just that the Hemmingway family protects the village, especially from outsiders. That is why it’s very unlikely that a stranger could have sneaked in”

Collins stared at him. Were the Hemmingways some sort of local mafia gang? 

”I must admit sir, you’ve lost me a little”, he said with some awkward laughter under his breath.

The Mayor appeared to get more uncomfortable by the second. He placed the teacup he was holding down on the table and swallowed visibly, ”I would explain it but….no one believes unless they witness the strange and supernatural with their own eyes”

”Excuse me?”Collins hadn’t wanted to believe the rumors about this village but it seemed that at least the Mayor was a little off in head. 

”You will not believe me but I shall tell you”, the Mayor chuckled nervously, ”The Hemmingway family are the children of the Great Wolf. They are, to some extent, the Great Wolf itself. And they hold the characteristics of the wolf despite having human forms”

”Huh?” This was all Collins could muster up after such an outrageous statement. 

The Mayor sighed, ”They are, what some might refer to as werewolves, detective”

Those words truly left this man’s mouth. In complete seriousness. Collins wanted to go back home. Truly the world was testing his patience. He schooled his expression as he put away his notebook and leaned forward towards the Mayor. 

”Werewolves?” he asked.

”Told you you wouldn’t believe me”, the Mayor leaned forward as well, raising his eyebrows at Detective Collins. They both leaned back in their chairs and a long silence filled the city hall. Wind began to howl outside, creating an ominous whistling sound. Although the fire was warm, Collins felt a chill run through him. 

   The Mayor cleared his throat, ”If you desire proof of this, the easiest way is for you to go see for yourself”, he got up from his chair to pour more tea. 

”And where could I find this ’Hemmingway’ residence?” Collins inquired as he got up to place his cup down for a refill.

The Mayor seemed to hesitate. He glanced at the clock on the wall; it was 12am on a Monday. The old man seemed to ponder for a while before something brightened his expression but quickly darkened it again, ”It’s very late tonight. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to head off to the Hemmingway manor. However, I would bet quite a lot of money that the youngest son, Elliot, might still be out and about at this time”

”Out and about where exactly?”Collins drank his second cup of tea in a haste, ready to leave any time. He wasn’t too keen on being in the presence of this crazy person a second longer.

The Mayor nodded, ”Well, the local bar I presume”

Who goes out drinking on a Monday, Collins wondered in his head. He asked for the bar’s location and intended to head off immediately, but before he could step out the door the Mayor called out to him.

”Wait, Detective, I have rented you a room from our local inn. There aren’t any tourists here this time of year so it’s pretty much empty. You can stay as long as you need for the investigation. The innkeeper is aware of this and will show you to your room when you go there”, he quickly scribbled an address onto a note and handed it over. Collins thanked him before heading out back into the cold night air. 

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