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.

Both of the men took in a sharp breath. They had seen him return with a handful of vampire fangs. In those situations he did little more than brush some dust off his shoulders. In this case Marc appeared to have been on the losing end of a fight with a pitbull.

“What—(is that?)” Heart asked.

“The stuff of nightmares and I’ll leave it at that,” Marc said. “Do you have a pair of pliers?”

“That’s not a wolf,”  Heart replied, the way his voice trailed off certainly implied he had an idea on how big wolves actually get.

“The Signaller is correct,” Marc replied.

“What is it then?” Lewis asked.

“A reminder that man is not at the top of the food chain…” Marc began. “…nor am I.”

“I was certainly in someone’s sights,” Marc replied before adding a pause to mimic Lewis. “Private.”

Marc stopped a couple of paces away and placed the werewolf’s head on a stack of crates. They used them to distribute rations to the soldiers along the line. The head was almost too big to stay on the crate without rolling off.

“A wolf?” Lewis asked.

“That’s not a wolf,”  Heart replied, the way his voice trailed off certainly implied he had an idea on how big wolves actually get.

The look on Lewis’ face changed in slow motion until it fell in line with his fellow soldier. Marc was nearly always impeccable in dress, even when he ventured out into No Man’s Land on the hunt. Tonight his uniform was covered in mud and blood, with various holes to indicate gunfire and knife wounds. Just wait until they get a look at my back.

“You look like one of the targets at the range,” Lewis said. “Sir.”

The delay in adding the ‘Sir’ was likely accidental, because everyone who saw him was taken aback. However, it also cut through the tension and as long as Marc played his role as Le Marquis right, this would hopefully be a short exchange.