Chapter 6: Chapter 6 Shop and stop

There wasn’t much to deduct from the little information they had found. Only that the Hemmingway family was the most suspicious. There were still a few people Collins needed to talk to before he could begin gathering up all of his thoughts. 

   Dr. Everly Gibson was the only medical practitioner in Hollyhill town and she had been the town doctor for the past 30 years. This was something the Mayor had told him when they had last spoken. 

   Apparently, Dr. Gibson was also the one who had examined the body of Sherry. Usually, such a job would be left to the mortician but the mortician in question was not educated on such matters and would have ruined evidence had they found any. Thus, the job landed on the town doctor, who, at least according to Officer Wilson Jr., had done a very professional analysis. 

Collins poured the last drops of his coffee into his cup and drank it in utter silence. He had always lived alone, so this was nothing new to him. Though these past few days, he had been surrounded by a lot of different people and his moments of solitude now felt a little more empty than they did before. 

   He quickly shook the thought out of his head and drank his coffee in a haste. He got up and put on his heavy jacket before marching out the door. 

   To his surprise, he was greeted by a wolf-eared man instead of the empty street. Elliot looked like he had a terrible hangover. So he had gone to the bar, Collins thought. 

”I knew you would wake up this early” Elliot yawned as he stretched his hands up in the air, his tail wagging slowly behind him. 

Collins should have known his alone time would be so soon interrupted, ”You sure complain a lot for someone, who is here out of his own volition” 

Elliot looked a bit taken aback by his comment but laughed in the end. 

As they walked across the town, Collins kept quiet and ignored the nonsensical rambling that came out of Elliot’s mouth. It was too early for Collins to try and make sense of him. 

   It was a surprisingly nice day even with the cold air seeping through the gaps in Collins’ clothes. 

   It seemed that the cold didn’t bother Elliot as much. He was only wearing a loose white button-up under his suspenders. Even so, he didn’t show any signs of feeling cold. If anything, Collins felt like a bit of heat was radiating off of him as they walked side by side. Maybe it was a wolf thing. 

   A wolf thing. Collins had already given up trying to make sense of it all. He was also someone who very rarely showed their shock outwardly. He reacted to things slower than other people, but it worked in his favor as he could relive the moments later as he processed them. This helped him remember things others might have forgotten more easily. 

   And with this whole wolf thing, he could act shocked but he had had all the information beforehand, he had just refused to believe in it like many others. Now he felt strangely calm about it. Maybe he would end up freaking out about it in his head later. Maybe only after he had solved this case and returned to Blue City. 

His thoughts were interrupted when they reached the clinic on the other side of town. The building was small and painted green many years ago. Now, the paint was flaking off because of a lack of restoration. 

   Inside could be heard the crying of a baby and a faint light emitted through the fogged-up window. 

   Collins knocked on the door. Three thumps echoed in the otherwise empty street and some odd-sounding footsteps could be heard getting closer to the door. 

   When the door opened and Dr. Gibson showed her face, the reason for the odd sounds became clear. She had a wooden peg leg, appearing to be made out of a stool. Recycle, reuse, Collins thought. 

”Yes? Did you have an appointment?”, she asked with a croaky voice. She seemed rather old; her hair was getting gray and her face had seen many years. 

   Collins cleared his throat, ”Ah no ma’am, I’m Detective Collins, here to investigate the possible murder of Sherry Lamb. I’d like to ask you a few questions if you have time”

”Time? Hah! Good joke, I haven’t had time since I was kicked out of my house at thirteen!”, she laughed mockingly before glancing at Elliot and squinting her eyes at him, “Go wait in my office, I have a patient now, shouldn't take too long”

She walked back inside with an uneven step and entered what seemed to be an examination room for patients. Inside Collins got a glimpse of a young woman, trying to calm down her anxious baby. 

   The door was closed and Collins turned to Elliot, “She didn't tell us where her office is”

“It's here,” Elliot said, already walking up to another room and opening the door without hesitation. Collins followed behind him and watched as the audacious man sat down on the doctor's office chair and began wheeling around the room. Truly this man was always surprising him with his bizarre behavior.

“Could you at least pretend to act like you’re not here just to pass time? I’d like to keep an image of professionalism” Collins sat down on a seat across the room. 

The office smelled heavily like medicine and coffee. Elliot scrunched his nose before rolling his eyes towards the detective, “You’re so unfun. I think I should do something else to pass the time~”

“Please do,” Collins said, completely unbothered as he flipped through the pages of his notebook. 

Elliot stopped his rolling and looked at him with a pout, “No, the more you seem reluctant about this the more fun it is for me”

“So you’re a brat,” Collins remarked without looking at him.

Elliot burst out laughing, “Hahaha! Maybe, or maybe I just like it when you look angry~” He resumed his rolling around the room as carefree as the wind. 

It wasn't like Collins needed Elliot for this investigation. But if he turned out to be the killer, wouldn't it be a genius move to side with the detective to appear less suspicious? Though this idiot didn't seem like a genius, “seemed like“ and “was not” were two different things. It was better to keep him close and watch him. 

After a while, the door opened and Dr. Gibson entered. She saw Elliot spinning around in her chair and decided to only sigh as she leaned against her office table. 

   Collins got up from his seat to offer it to the doctor but she refused and shook her head,” Don’t be too polite, people here will take advantage of that pretty quickly”

“I don't think being decent and polite are the same thing,” Collins said while refusing to sit back down.

“I’m fine, I sit most of the day but I can still use some exercise by standing around”, she waved her hand at him dismissively. “And you,” she pointed at Elliot who stopped in his tracks as soon as he was spoken to,” stop spinning in my chair and get yourself a cup of tea from the kitchen, it's chamomile”

“Why?”Elliot inquired while covering his mouth after the feeling of nausea and vertigo reached him. 

“To cure your stupidity-”, she joked but then added, “To help with your hangover”

Elliot nodded meekly and shuffled into the kitchen, his tail wagging behind him as he went. 

   Collins turned to Dr. Gibson,” you seem to know how to handle him”

“I’ve been a doctor here for a long time, I’ve seen him grow up so, of course, I’d know,” she said indignantly, as though Collins should have known this information.

 

After a moment Elliot came back with a teacup in his palms. He sat back down on the chair and sipped it quietly. Suddenly he had been tamed into a mannered dog by this old woman. 

   Collins shook his head at him before he began asking Dr. Gibson some questions. She didn't have a lot of new information, but Collins kept his pen on the paper nonetheless. 

“There's not much I can tell you, Detective. She was burnt by flames for a long enough time that there wasn’t anything but charred remains to be seen. I did perform an autopsy but I didn't find any signs of internal bleeding or anything such. She seemed healthy and her posture showed that she had died before she was lit on fire. I just couldn't figure out how”, the doctor took a cigarette from her desk drawer but didn’t light it, only held it in her mouth. She sounded tired and stressed as she spoke. 

“Can I see the body?” Collins asked, catching how the doctor’s eye twitched momentarily. She walked across the room to watch out the window. 

“Unfortunately, the body is no longer here, it's at the morgue,” she stated.

Collins looked up from his notebook, confusion written all over his face, “But the investigation is still going on, surely they're not planning on burying the body while the case is still open?”

“Her husband was very adamant that the body would be returned as soon as possible” Dr. Gibson began tapping her finger against the windowsill. She seemed to talk while getting more and more deeper into her thoughts. The way her sentences trailed off, she didn't appear very focused on the topic. 

Collins shook his head, “But still, it shouldn't be his call in this case”

Dr. Gibson came back to reality and she turned her piercing gaze towards the detective, “Well, you can go tell him that. Though I must say he is in mourning and speaks about things irrationally. So you should take the things he says with a grain of salt”

Something wasn’t right here. It might've just been intuition but something was telling Collins that he should be vary. 

   He got up from his chair and offered to shake Dr. Gibson’s hand, “Thank you, doctor. We’ve taken up enough of your time”

“You sure have!” the doctor joked before taking the hand offered to her and squeezing it as a friendly greeting. She turned to the strangely quiet man, still sipping his tea, “Elliot, stop drinking so much alcohol, I know you don't eat enough to counter the balance” 

“Agh, no don't lecture me”, Elliot groaned as he set down his empty cup and got up to leave. He began making an escape but Dr. Gibson stepped in front of the doorway.

“When was the last time you ate?”, she sounded like a worried mother nagging her son. 

Elliot shifted his weight from one foot to another in discomfort, “The…other day”

It was clear that the doctor could figure out something else from his words because she took a newspaper from a nearby desk and slapped him in the arm.

“Don’t! I uh…”, Elliot said, raising his hands in a defensive position, “I’ll eat tonight ok?”

With those words, the doctor breathed out a laugh as she stepped aside to let the two men pass through. Elliot didn't take even a single moment to linger and he dashed out the door, his ears glued to his head. 

   After exchanging a few words of formalities, Collins followed out the door and back into the empty alley. 

“Shit, I always forget how scary she can be”, Elliot said as soon as they were out of earshot. 

Collins had a hard time holding back his laughter but he somehow managed to keep his calm. He felt a sudden urge to pat Elliot’s head, which was weird so he shut down that thought very quickly. 

“I guess we should go talk to James Lamb then”, he said, distracting himself with a new topic. 

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Elliot pondered for a moment, “He works in the shop down the street, we could go and see if he’s there?”

“Let's go”, Collins said and they went on to walk the stony path. 

   Their visit to the clinic had taken some time so it was now noon and though the sun had shone in the morning, it was now covered by gloomy clouds. 

   There wasn’t gloominess in the air though when Elliot had begun talking once again and kept babbling on and on about irrelevant things. He talked in a way that was more like he was talking to himself, not expecting the detective to take part in the conversation. So he didn't and just let the idiot ramble on. 

At the end of the street appeared a small shop with a handwritten sign: “Lamb’s shop and stop”

“Shop and stop?” Collins questioned out loud. 

Elliot shrugged his shoulders, “You come to shop and you stop to eat” 

So it was a restaurant as well? Collins walked over to the shop window and saw a few people inside. Two we're sitting at a table and eating what appeared to be some sort of savory pie. The shop was filled with products and clearly trying to make up for the small space, the shelves were placed like a labyrinth.

   They entered the building followed by the chimes of a doorbell and the two enjoying their meal glanced at them curiously. Collins ignored their stares as he walked up to the front desk, where a young-looking girl was sitting and chewing on some jerky. She appeared to be bored out of her mind and laid her head on her hands. 

“Can I help you?”, she asked in a whiny voice accompanied by the sound of her chewing. 

“I’m looking for James Lamb,” Collins said, actively trying not to get annoyed by the sounds the girl was making. 

   She raised her eyebrows, “Oh? Uncle J. went on a business trip to the next town over. He’s not going to be back until next week”

So he would have to wait before getting new leads. Guess even though James’ wife had died a few weeks ago, he still had to keep working. He might even be trying to distract himself by it. Collins knew what that felt like. 

   He sighed but showed a subtle smile to the girl, “I see, thank you, miss”

“I’m Lisa by the way,” she said, finally swallowing the piece of jerky in her mouth, “and this isn’t child labour, I work only part-time” 

Collins hadn't really thought about it but it was strange that such a young girl was working the register. She seemed capable enough so he didn't question it, though she seemed to have wanted to clear any misunderstandings before they even happened. 

Collins couldn't help the small huff of laughter he let out before shaking the girl’s hand, “Nice to meet you, Lisa, I’m detective Collins”

“I know, I know everyone in town so you have to be the one everyone is talking about”, she said, suddenly looking like she had more life inside her. 

After a moment Collins pondered, “you know everyone in town?”

Lisa raised her head excitedly, “Everyone! I got a whole folder in my room with everyone’s names and what they do and all that” She seemed very enthusiastic about the topic, almost ready to start listing out every name and occupation from her memory. 

“Is there a reason you have such a folder?”, Collins inquired.

“I just like gathering information.”, she said and played with the end of her long braid. 

Elliot came to the register with a haul of different snacks. He turned to Collins and tried to sneak his hand into the detective’s pocket to steal his money bag. Collins slapped the thief on his hand and pulled out his money on the counter without moving his expression. Elliot, despite holding his hand as if it was actually hurt, smiled happily and wagged his tail. 

As Lisa was packing the mountain of snacks, Elliot leaned in on the counter, “You got any juicy rumors~?”, he asked with a wiggle of his brow.

“Well…”, Lisa giggled before pulling out a notebook from her bag, “I might have some but it comes with a price! Who would you like information on?”

Asking about the Hemmingway family members would feel weird when one was standing right there. Asking about James might be futile since he had an alibi and they would get to speak with him later. Who should he ask about then? The Mayor? No, he didn't seem suspicious really. 

“I’d like to know about Dr. Gibson”, Collins finally decided. Elliot gave him a surprised look but didn't question him. 

Lisa opened her notebook very secretively and flipped through the pages that appeared to be in alphabetical order. She finally got to the letter G and smiled ominously, “I got some interesting things here for you; On May 9th, late in the evening, Isaac Hemmingway went over to Dr. Gibson’s clinic. I heard arguing from the inside but couldn’t understand the words through the door”

“Why were you out spying on them?” Elliot asked her suspiciously.

“I wasn’t spying, I was gathering information! I do that every Monday!” she said as though this was an obvious fact they should have known. 

   

May 9th? Collins took out his notebook and drew a calendar with scary precision, ”That’s two days after Sherry Lamb had died”, he mumbled as he scribbled in thought. 

   Elliot glanced over his shoulder at what he was doing. The events until now were put into a timeline, giving them a better understanding of what had happened. 

”Do you have anything else? Did Isaac Hemmingway meet anyone else between May 7th and now?” Collins asked in a serious tone. 

Lisa smiled as she flipped through the pages of her notes, ”I do, but remember, there’s a price at the end of your questions”

”Yeah yeah, c’mon tell us what you know” Elliot interrupted impatiently. Collins sighed and only hoped the girl wasn’t going to scam him in the end. 

Flipping to the letter H, Lisa stopped and continued, ”On May 10th I saw the Mayor hysterically grabbing onto Isaac Hemmingway’s shirt and crying ugly tears. He said something about needing outside help before Isaac dragged him inside the town hall” She closed the notebook and put it back into her bag. 

   Collins was writing things down but he wasn’t sure he had figured out anything yet. He looked up after a while of pondering and locked gazes with Lisa, who had been waiting to gain his attention. The girl smiled deviously and tapped her fingers against each other like an evil villain. 

”So, I gave you information, two things to be exact, and it is only right that I get information in return”

Collins was surprised, ”You want information? Not money?”

”Psssh, money is money,” Lisa laughed, ”but information is always new. Tell me, Detective Hal Collins, what is your birthday and then something you haven’t told anyone here yet”

He should have been less alarmed that she knew his full name but this girl was giving him the shivers. Collins laughed nervously, ”Well, I was born March 25th”

”That’s one”, she said, expecting him to continue. 

There was a high chance that this girl wouldn’t accept boring information such as his favourite colour, so he would need to tell her something more interesting. If rumors were a topic, Collins had those surrounding him left and right. It appeared that those rumors had been left in Blue City, so people here didn't know of his bad reputation. He wouldn't want to tell them of his embarrassing past but maybe he didn't have to tell the whole story. 

”Uh, before I was a private detective, I worked in the police force”, he said truthfully. She didn't need to know what happened to have him quit. 

Lisa nodded, ”Good enough for now.” she then turned to Elliot ”Don't think this only applied to the Detective wolfboy”

Elliot clicked his tongue, ”Tsk, should've known this was your plan all along” 

”Well?”, she leaned forward over the counter. 

Elliot looked to be thinking hard as his tail swished from side to side. He hummed in contemplation before making up his mind, ”Ok then, one; there are hidden doors in my family’s manor, two; Barry has a secret room in his house where he does woodwork but it’s super shitty and doesn't look like anything he tries to make”

”Oooh~ that’s some good stuff right there!” Lisa exclaimed enthusiastically. 

”Is Barry your friend from the bar?”Collins inquired Elliot, who looked proud of himself for sharing someone else's private information. 

”Hmm? Yeah, Barry was the one I threw up on when you first came here”, he said as though this wasn't an embarrassing thing to admit. As he was speaking, Lisa sneakily wrote down a few things on a piece of paper. 

Though Collins had regarded this ”Barry” as a bad friend the first night in Hollyhill town, he now had to admit that Elliot was just as horrible if not worse than him. 

Since they had to wait until James Lamb would return in a week, Collins decided he would take this time to figure Elliot out. The more time he’d spent with him the more the story seemed to unfold, so Elliot might be holding onto more answers than he let on. 

They left the store with a bag of food Elliot had managed to get Collins to buy for him. He hadn’t bought much else but canned meat and jerky but Collins still had some other ingredients in his temporary room. The first thing he needed to do was to lower Elliot’s guard, and what more of an easy way to do so than with food? 

He took the bag of food from the hungry wolf but before he could complain Collins showed a subtle smile, ”I’d like to offer you dinner”

And the starry eyes that were then directed at him were confirmation enough that Elliot was not reluctant to this idea.

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