Chapter 7: Chapter 7 Dinner turned cold

This time, Collins made sure not to include onions. He also asked if there was anything else Elliot couldn’t eat so he wouldn't accidentally poison him.

   Because he had lived alone for a long time, Collins was quite skilled in cooking. In the city, it was easy to buy premade meals but because he had been used to his mother’s home cooked meals, he had to learn to make them for himself. 

Elliot, on the other hand, was watching in awe, because the young master had never once in his life touched a cooking utensil. 

”How do you chop so fast with that knife?”, he asked while leaning over Collins’ shoulder. 

”Go sit down, I don't enjoy you breathing into my neck”, Collins said, while ignoring his question. 

   Elliot sighed in disappointment as he went to sit at the kitchen table. This was his second time in the detective’s room but last time he had been too hungover to be curious. Now, he looked here and there trying to see something interesting. Everything was too neat and tidy, there was nothing lying around or on the floor. It was almost as if no one lived in the room at all. 

   Elliot moved his eyes to the detective’s back. Collins wasn’t wearing his huge coat anymore so he did not appear as intimidating anymore.  He almost radiated a domestic aura as he prepared the food in silence. 

   

It wasn’t long before the food was ready and served for two. Collins sat down opposite Elliot after presenting him with his meal. 

   Elliot took a small bite and his tail began to wag from side to side. Collins felt proud of himself despite his restraint. 

”So what made you want to offer me dinner so suddenly?” Elliot inquired whilst finishing his dinner, ”Is it because you finally see my charm? Are you coming onto me? Wait- Is this a date??” his questions became more absurd as he kept talking. 

Collins sighed, ”No, you looked shrivelled and malnourished so I took pity on you” he was joking but his tone of voice was very monotone and dry. 

”I can't tell if you're joking or not”, Elliot said, his ears turning back. 

Collins smiled and let out a quiet laugh. That seemed to answer Elliot’s question as the wolf breathed out in relief. His ears flipped back up. Collins couldn’t help but stare at them for a moment. He had tried to ignore them in the beginning but now, as he slowly got used to such things existing, he got more curious. 

   Elliot noticed his stare and smirked as if having figured something out. Collins was sure that whatever it was, it was a definitive misunderstanding. However, it might be good to play along for now. 

Elliot leaned his elbows on the table as his tail swished behind him from side to side. His eyes seemed to gleam in a predatory way. Something had clearly gotten his interest, though Collins wasn’t sure what that could have possibly been. 

”Have you finally taken interest in my irresistible features? If you want to pet my ears you can just ask~” 

Ah, so there definitely was a misunderstanding. 

”That was not my intention,” Collins sighed, ”But since we’re on the topic, is there anything else I should know about you?”

Elliot tilted his head to the side, ”You mean; do I have any other useful abilities aside from my sense of smell and how can you use them to your advantage?”

Now that just made it sound like Collins was taking advantage of him. He never needed Elliot to help him in the first place yet he had twisted the story so that Collins now appeared as the bad guy. 

   He cleared his throat in annoyance, ”I meant; if we are going to be working together on this case I’d like to know beforehand so I can make sure nothing goes wrong”

”What could go wrong?” Elliot asked as though such a thing was unheard of. Maybe the young master hadn’t had enough challenges in his life or maybe he was just an idiot like Collins had first assumed.

”For example,” Collins said, his tone calm as though explaining to a child, ”if you have better hearing than me, and I were to shoot with my pistol near you, I could really hurt you”

”Oh…”, Elliot paused. He seemed taken aback by the detective's words. ”Well, I can hear pretty far, but if I see you take your gun out I can get further away I guess…wait- You have a pistol???”

He had first sounded uncharacteristically meek but then had burst out in excitement as he leaned over the table. His tail was wagging at an exceeding rate after gaining this new bit of information. 

Collins covered his forehead with his palm, ”Of course I do, I’m a detective. I rarely have to use it thankfully” He was already regretting everything from this conversation. 

”Can I see it?”, Elliot asked excitedly. 

Collins should have known this was where the conversation would end up going. He shook his head firmly,

”No”

”Aww, I just wanna see it, I won’t touch it I promise~” Elliot gazed at him through his lashes making the most pitiful pleading face he could. 

You are reading story The Great Wolf Sleeps at novel35.com

   Normally, such a thing wouldn’t work on the detective. But somehow this time he sighed before reaching inside of his jacket and pulling out a pistol. He slapped the hand away that was already reaching for it before emptying the gun from its bullets. He then placed it on the table and gestured to Elliot to go ahead. 

”So cautious,” Elliot murmured before taking the gun in his hands and admiring it from different angles. 

   It was an older pistol, something like a family heirloom to Collins. It did its job well enough and he had only had to use it twice in his life. Thankfully, those two times didn’t end in tragedy, only in minor injuries. 

Elliot seemed to go into thought as he turned the gun around in his hands before gently placing it back on the table. Collins would have figured he’d just throw it on there but for some reason he seemed to be acting a lot more polite than usual. 

”I’ve never held a gun before. My father owns a few hunting rifles but I never wanted to learn how to use them” His mood seemed to have shifted slightly to a more somber one. 

”Why not?” Collins asked after placing the pistol back into its place. 

Elliot looked troubled, ”Hunting is…not my thing really”

There was something more behind those words, Collins was sure. With the way Elliot was talking more quietly than before and seemed to go into deep thought.

Collins leaned back in his chair as he studied the expressions on Elliot’s face, ”What is your thing then?”

The question surprised Elliot, who snapped back to reality from his thoughts, ”I…I don’t really know,” he said, uncertain. 

Maybe it was too much of a difficult question to answer. If someone had asked the same thing from Collins he was sure he would have answered the same way. Somehow the air had turned heavier in the room. To clear the tension, Collins changed the subject.

”So, secret doors?”, he referred to the information Elliot had given Lisa earlier that day. Though this changing of subject seemed to have now made the room even more tense as Elliot began tapping his finger against the table nervously. 

”Don’t all big mansions have secret doors?” He said hiding behind uncomfortable laughter. 

Collins tried his best to sound more light-hearted when he spoke, ”I wouldn’t know, I’ve only visited a few”

Elliot seemed to eye him for a moment as though trying to figure out what the detective’s intentions were to suddenly start asking about this. He masked his caution under a smile, ”It’s an old house. It's been renovated many times so there are doors that used to lead somewhere but now there's just a brick wall. Nothing major”

”I see…” Collins knew the conversation was beginning to go downhill. He racked his brain trying his hardest to think of a way to keep Elliot’s guard down. 

They had a moment of silence, which was rare when it came to Elliot. Things hadn’t felt this awkward before this moment. Now it was like trying to tiptoe around glass.

”If you're interested,” Elliot suddenly spoke, ”I can come show you another time, though maybe when my father isn't there”

Thinking back to their visit to the Hemmingway manor, Collins thought out loud, ”Last time you told me you might end up arguing but neither of you spoke a word to each other”

The topic was definitely not something Elliot looked too happy about. ”Yeah well, I assume that he didn't want to show you his bad side, which is why he ignored me completely”

”And what's his bad side like?” Collins already regretted asking that question as soon as it left his mouth. He hastily tried to come up with something to make it sound less invasive, ”I don't know anything about him, so it would be helpful if you told me everything you know”

It was clear that had been the wrong thing to ask. Elliot was looking at the table with his eyebrows knitted together. He was gripping onto the wooden edge like a lifeline. 

”You know what uh….I think it's time I took my leave” he said his voice shaking slightly. He got up the next moment and walked over to the door. 

Collins got up and quickly apologized, ”I am sorry, I didn't mean to cross a line”

Elliot didn't turn to look at him, ”Thanks for the food, I’ll see you another day” he rushed out of the room. 

   Collins could hear him running through the hallway and down the stairs. 

The room felty very empty. Collins stared at the door. He sighed and scratched his head while a flood of insults towards himself flooded his brain. 

At least there was no question as to what kind of person Isaac Hemmingway was. If his son was acting this way and running away from such questions, it was clear that he was not a very good father. It was likely he was abusive towards Elliot, if not now then when he had been younger. The thought alone made Collins’ blood boil in anger. 

   He shouldn't let his personal feelings take over. Not yet at least, when he hadn’t cleared out Elliot of suspicion yet. He couldn't help but hope that whatever hunch he had of Elliot's involvement in this would turn out to be incorrect. 

You can find story with these keywords: The Great Wolf Sleeps, Read The Great Wolf Sleeps, The Great Wolf Sleeps novel, The Great Wolf Sleeps book, The Great Wolf Sleeps story, The Great Wolf Sleeps full, The Great Wolf Sleeps Latest Chapter