The scientist removed the baggy from the envelope, barely checking the false signatures and times Adelmo had scrawled on the outside. Apparently, the Devereaux case was pretty exciting to the lab, something Adelmo had been counting on.

He placed the hair under the microscope.

Adelmo waited as he examined it.

“Could be a dog hair.”

“Oh,” Adelmo replied, disappointed.

“Or wolf.”

“Wolf?”

“This was at the crime scene?” the scientist asked, suddenly very curious.

Adelmo realized his mistake, and immediately toned down his attitude. The last thing he needed was anyone in the lab getting excited and drawing attention.

“It was outside. They don’t know if it has anything to do with the murders.”

The scientist looked annoyed, but he didn't say anything. Adelmo quickly added, “Nik was also wondering about the blood drop.”

“Now that's more interesting,” the scientist said. Any annoyance or suspicion was gone. How could Adelmo have known about that piece of evidence unless he was supposed to?

“That's why the hair is interesting. But the blood sample on the blade was possibly contaminated.”

“Possibly?” Adelmo asked.

“Well, it had traces of human DNA mixed in. Probably during collection.”

“With what?”

“That’s what's strange. Usually the contamination is skin cells or sweat, maybe even saliva. Common with sloppy collection.”

“So what was the contamination?” Adelmo asked, already fearing the answer.

“Human blood. Mixed with canis lupus. Wolf blood."

Adelmo went back to the bookshop. He wanted to do a little more research before he left on his trip. 

Lana greeted him with surprise and pleasure. She didn't think she was going to see him before he left on his trip.

Adelmo asked her how business was going and if there were any messages.

“You’ll never believe it,” she replied.

“What?”

“You remember the wolf man?”

Adelmo froze. 

She saw his confused look, and said, “You know that crazy guy who bit you.”

“Oh, right. Why do call him the Wolfman?” Adelmo asked.

“Well, that's what he was yelling, wasn't it? Something about lupu, or lupus?” she asked, innocently.

Adelmo looked at Lana with wonder, and not for the first time. He had been getting the feeling lately that she knew more than she let on.

“What about him?”

“He came by this morning.”

“What?” Adelmo nearly shouted. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, it was fine. He was all cleaned up. Very peaceful. He wanted to see you.”

“What? Why?”

“To apologize. He wanted to see you in person, but I told him you were out of town. Not sure if he believed me.”

“Is that all you told him?” Adelmo asked.

“That's it,” she said.

“You didn't tell him where I went?”

“Adelmo. Of course not.” Lana looked disappointed.

Adelmo thought it was strange the man whom he'd ripped apart in his dreams had come back to the shop, and he suspected the man might have wanted more than just to apologize.

Lana could see the worried look on his face.

“Is everything all right?” she asked.

Adelmo quickly snapped out of it and covered his obvious consternation. It wouldn't do to worry Lana. She always hovered when she was worried, and she almost seemed to have a sixth sense about those things sometimes when it came to Adelmo. If he didn't know better, he would almost think she had feelings for him.

“No. I mean, yes, yes, everything's fine. Just thinking about that crazy guy,” Adelmo said, the image of the man’s disemboweled remains flashing briefly before his eyes.

“Did you catch a name or a way to get a hold of him?” 

She replied, “No, but he said he’d come back.” 

“Oh. Good. Well, if I miss him, get a name and number, okay?”

Lana looked at Adelmo curiously. He had been white as a sheet for the briefest moment when she first mentioned the guy had come back, as if he was the last person Adelmo wanted to have anything to do with, and now he wants to contact the guy?

But Lana smiled and said, “Sure thing.”

It was obvious to Lana that Adelmo was hiding something, but she didn't want to press him on it. She had a gut feeling about those things, especially when it came to Adelmo.

“Oh, and Nik called. He wants you to call him. He said you weren't picking up your cell.”

“I'll call him from the office. Thanks.”

Adelmo hadn't seen his cell since the night Nik had found him unconscious at the grocer's. He'd been so caught up in everything he’d completely forgotten. He needed to cancel the service and get another phone. Maybe he’d get an international plan for his trip.

Adelmo went into the office. He really hoped Nik hadn't found out about his ruse so quickly. He was going to stop by and try to replace the key card that afternoon.

“On second thought, if he knew he wouldn't call, he’d just come by and arrest my ass,” Adelmo said, half smiling.

“Did you say something?” Lana called from the front.

“Nothing! Just...talking to myself,” Adelmo yelled. Damn, she had good ears.

He retrieved the old book about wolves from under the desk and looked up the section on legends and myths.

Adelmo finalized his travel arrangements and went home without calling Nik. He was really hoping to leave town without getting into any more trouble. Plus, what he'd read in the ancient book had scared him. A lot of the things he’d seen over the last couple of days seemed to fit with some of the stories he’d read about in the book.

The crazy "Wolfman‟ was a messenger, just like in the book. Someone whom werewolves used as a kind of servant to do their bidding during the times they were in hiding. At least, that’s what Adelmo thought. Some of the words were hard to decipher. It had been so long since he’d read or spoken Romanian.

He left the book store and went home to relax and think about things. When he arrived at his house, the front door was ajar.