“This doesn’t add up”, remarked Oswin, and leaned backwards in an exasperated motion while ruffling his dark hair. “If the murderer is a cursed Selkie, then why do they use a knife to carve the heart out?”

  “Perhaps he just hurts them bad enough to incapacitate them and finishes them off with a knife once he returns to his senses?”, suggested Sifilo with a thoughtful frown, darkening his green eyes. “As a matter to end their suffering.”

  “Or perhaps it’s a form of a ritual”, said Vitigis, and crossed his arms. “Collect enough Selkies hearts and receive some price.”

  “Then what’s the price?”, asked Oswin intrigued. “Perhaps a sealskin?”

  “Would make sense”, agreed Sifilo. “A sound motivation.”

  “But this doesn’t work with what the Selkie-girl has told Rosomil”, interjected Vitigis and slightly glared at Oswin. “She mentioned some sort of seal-like monster, which would rule out the sealskin business.”

  “Can we be certain the Selkie-girl has told you the truth, Rosomil?”, asked Oswin and turned to the head of the bed, where Rosomil sat deep in thought.

  Since Aila had shown her true self, Rosomil and his companions met in secret inside the largest bedroom given to them. While Aswald had shown no sign of interfering in accordance to his role during this investigation, he had grown visibly suspicious of them. While Rosomil doubted that he would make note of this in his final report, he was well aware of what his mentor knew about his beliefs. There wasn’t much thought need to come to the conclusion that he helped the Selkies.

  “I do believe her”, he answered the question. “Besides, I’ve seen her in her seal form. She’s too small. Her teeth aren’t massive enough to have caused the bite marks on the newest corpse, and I doubt they would fit the others as well. If she were a werebear, well, then I think her teeth could fit, but this is impossible. Selkies, just like any other shapeshifter, can’t be afflicted with a skin-changing curse.”

  “What about her fiancé?”, asked Oswin, and ran a hand in a tense motion through his short brown hair. “Is he even her fiancé?”

  “Your last question is unimportant and, no, he’s of Selkie-descend but not a pureblood Selkie”, Rosomil explained and leaned back against the rough wall by his bed. “He doesn’t appear to even own a skin.”

  “He could be lying”, Sifilo suggested with a piercing glance towards him. “She could be lying too. Both of them aren’t human. Perhaps they work even together. Kill a few Selkies and use their hearts to become a full Selkie yourself.”

  “They don’t appear like murderers to me.”

  “And she got attacked the night of the last murder”, commented Lodwin, pensive.

  “Could be a ruse”, Vitigis countered, playing with one of his thin auburn braids. “Rosomil, I respect you as our leader and a friend, but you've got a tendency to trust those nonhumans without probable cause. Many if not all drive joy from fooling humans.”

  “Humans lie about as much”, he replied sullen. “Besides, why should she protect him? Her cousin was among the victims.”

  “Problems within the family?”, asked Oswin.

  “I asked around the families of the victims”, answered Lodwin, bored. “They all told me that there were only minor squabbles among them. Stuff you expect within families but nothing warranting murder.”

  “And you think they told you the truth?”, asked Vitigis probing and slightly tilted his head. “All of them are Selkies, are they not?”

  “They didn’t appear to be lying and were, in fact, greatly concerned to finding the murder”, he replied, mimicking his movement, which made Vitigis let out a sharp hiss.

  “Thinking about it, the thing with someone being a bearer of the Curse of Sedna does sound plausible”, said Sifilo, slow and pensive. “Imagine you lose yourself every seven weeks to such a curse and when you wake up, and you find someone badly hurt beside you. You know only you could’ve done it. Shame and guilt mix, and the only way you can apologize is by ending your unfortunate victim’s suffering. An act of mercy, if you will. And you take the heart to make it appear like some strange ritual is going on, to spread some falls leads.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Perhaps, but this doesn’t exactly tell us who did it”, said Sifilo.

  “It also doesn’t make sense timeline wise”, remarked Rosomil. “The murders happen every new moon and not every seven weeks.”

  “Nor does it explain why the heart was taken”, Oswin added.

  “I would suspect it to be because of some ritual”, suggested Vitigis somber. “Rosomil, did you read about anything pertaining to Selkie-hearts being used in some rituals?”

  “I don’t know of any such ritual”, he answered, deep in thought. “And I doubt the Selkies will be forthcoming with information when I ask.”

  Everybody nodded in agreement. While the others continued their conversation, Rosomil thought about Aila’s story of what happened last night. She had bitten the one who tried to harm her. While she had been unable to tell him where exactly she had bitten her attacker, he couldn’t help but wonder…

  “I suspect the priests”, he said and caused everyone to fall silent.

  “Rosomil, you can be happy Aswald didn’t hear you”, Oswin said deadpan after a few moments.

  “Yeah, he would scold you to hell and back again”, Vitigis agreed. “And pull us back into the headquarters by our ears.”

  “Just because they’re with the church doesn’t mean they’re innocent”, said Lodwin, and straightened his back to tower above the others.

  “Do you have any evidence?”, asked Sifilo with a frown.

  “Nothing concrete but circumstantial evidence”, he answered. “Remember how I was called to treat both of them for wounds they said to have received during the storm? Beyond minor scratches and bruises, they both had deep laceration and bruising on their sides. While they told me that a window of their home broke and caused the injuries, their wounds didn’t exactly look like they originated from a few sharp shards.”

  “You did mention that there was no debris in their wounds”, Lodwin recalled with interest.

  “Yes. And the arrangement of the wounds was also peculiar. They were more along the lines of animal bites.”

  “Still, it doesn’t mean anything”, Vitigis remarked with a scowl. “Especially since both of them were hurt. Rosomil, you can’t just go and accuse members of the church like this.”

  “No matter who has committed a crime, punishment is needed”, Rosomil replied, commanding. “I don’t care if they’re Selkies, humans, priests or even if one of them were the pope. I’ll only seek the truth.”

  “While commendable, this attitude well get you killed one day”, said Vitigis, unimpressed. “Or even worse.”

  “We shouldn’t ignore them as possible suspects because they’re priests”, argued Oswin. “Perhaps they've got something to hide.”

  “We need to find real evidence”, said Lodwin and stood up while stifling a yawn. “Perhaps they hide something nasty in their house. Didn’t they just let you into the kitchen, Rosomil?”

  “Yes…”, he replied deep in thought and didn’t elaborate.

  While the other continued, he thought about his examination of the brothers. It hadn’t been surprising to find them somewhat disheveled, the smell of this so-called herbal remedy and the salt crusts left on Hamish had been uncalled-for. Had he been in the sea during the storm? If so, then why? How were their wounds inflicted upon them? And why had Hamish appeared as if drugged?

  “The first murder happened before they had arrived here”, Oswin said, concerned, and made Rosomil’s mind return to the present.

  “Perhaps they did show themselves afterward to gain an alibi”, Lodwin suggested.

  “And where would they’ve stuck around for the month?”, countered Vitigis. “They don’t look like they thrive in the wilderness.”

  “Further questioning will be necessary”, said Oswin with a smirk.

  “I say we search their belongings”, said Rosomil, calculating. “And question them further.”

  “Is that an order, Captain?”, asked Lodwin eager.

  “Indeed it is”, Rosomil said, confident. “I want you to look for anything suspicious and improper within the priests’ home and even the church. No matter what you find, you’ll confiscate it immediately and bring it here to analyze and safeguard.”

  “Good, I can’t wait to see their stupid faces when we ransack the place”, said Oswin amused.

  “I just want to say that I think we don’t have enough evidence to make a reasonable assumption of their guilt”, remarked Sifilo, tired. “They’re members of the clergy and not one of those random fishermen. Still, I trust you.”

  “I’ll take full responsibility and mark your concerns”, replied Rosomil stern. “What about you Vitigis? Do you have any?”

  “I share Sifilo’s opinion”, he answered and yawned, while Rosomil nodded. “And I’ll follow your orders as well.”

  “But before we do so, we should go to sleep”, remarked Lodwin and yawned himself, while everybody agreed with him

  Even Rosomil nodded along, while he still thought about the wounds of Father Iain and Father Hamish. He would need to examine them again in more detail, but it was questionable that they would even let him that close once more. After all, he had asked some uncomfortable questions during his visit. Questions especially Iain hadn’t been too keen on answering.

  Rosomil also had some questions for Aila, considering the true nature of Selkies. While he doubted to get much out of her since he had read about her kind and now knew first hand that they were notoriously unforthcoming considering their nature, he still thought it worth a try. But for now, all of this had to wait.