That would have ended horribly for everyone involved. Marc might have superior speed compared to a werewolf, but only for limited amounts of time. It would have run me down eventually and used me as a chew toy.

“You know, Sir,” Murphy said. “You’re the only commander I served under that seems to genuinely care about his men.”

That was quite a compliment, but Marc still had to tread lightly.

“Why—(was it out there?)”

“I have no idea,” Marc said. “We typically avoid the wilds, especially at full moon.”

“You fear them?” Murphy asked.

The way the question seemed to imply that Murphy was confirming the impossible.

“Had it been fear,” Marc began. “I would have cut and run, leaving you and the men to handle it.”

The next series of back and forth revolved around confirming the details. How many bodies Marc left behind and others to confirm Murphy’s suspicions on how this event unfolded.

This granted him a great deal of insight on Murphy and the meticulous mind behind the man. On the outside his second appeared calm, cool, and collected but his restless legs and fast speech implied a high degree of anxiety. He’s also dancing around the subject.

“What was that thing?” Murphy finally asked.

The next series of questions were obvious but he knew this had to play out. Marc might have hoped to make this quick, but it was hard to explain away the two additional vampires… or that werewolf.

“Why were you there?” Murphy asked.

“I wanted to see if the first encounter with a vampire was purely by chance.”

“That would have been too easy,” Murphy stated.

“How true.”

“You weren’t waiting long, Warrant?” Marc said as he stepped into his office.

Without waiting for a reply he removed his sword belt before swapping coats with one of the appropriate rank. It did much to improve his overall appearance as the replacement was clean and not riddled with bullet holes and blood.

“…about ten minutes,” Murphy said.

Marc sat on his stool and turned around. His second was still dressed as he was during the operation. He must have come here.

“Someone put you through the wringer,” Murphy said.

While already not forward to it, the fact that Murphy was in his office was more concerning. It did not take much detective work to figure out where Marc was last night. Even Lestrade would have found his man by now.

“How long has the Warrant been waiting?” Marc asked.

Lewis furrowed his brow before tilting his head to the side. Marc maintained a warm smile waiting for a reply. He knew that despite knowing what he was, a lot more about his nature had just come to light.

“Not long, Sir,” Heart said. “He arrived just as I finished my radio check.”

“Thank you,” Marc said. “Be sure to get some rest.”

“Yes, Sir,” They said in unison as Marc walked on through leaving the head in place.

He handed the pliers back and said, “Anything to report?”

“Just an increase in radio traffic from the German lines,” Heart said. “Headquarters have the area on alert just in case.”

That in itself was telling and a reasonable precaution. While he could instruct Heart to ignore the increased activity, Marc wanted his involvement to remain a secret. I’m sure French intelligence will catch wind of it and they’ll send Aelred for a visit.

While already not forward to it, the fact that Murphy was in his office was more concerning. It did not take much detective work to figure out where Marc was last night. Even Lestrade would have found his man by now.

As signaller, Heart often carried pliers and a knife to fix the leads to the field phones, or the wireless. On cue the man pulled out a pair of pliers from his pockets and handed it to him. I’m surprised he didn’t make a joke about officers and tools.

He used the pliers to remove the topmost fangs and dropped them into the jam jar. Even among all those fangs these stuck amongst the others. It’s about the size of my index finger.

He handed the pliers back and said, “Anything to report?”

Heart looked at the grisly trophy before taking a deep breath. Lewis was more focused on Marc, and with those eyes showing a degree of concern.