He had short, almost shaved, dark hair, with brown eyes, and a strong jaw. He appeared to have a typical shifter build from what Aaron could see. Only his shoulders and chest were visible, but his shoulders were broad, bulky, and the green T-shirt he wore stretched across his chest like it was in danger of ripping.
“That’s Dale Wilson, a soon-to-be beta in the Clumber Park pack.”
“Soon-to-be?” Aaron blurted out without thinking, then immediately shrank into his seat as all eyes turned to him. “Sorry for interrupting.”
Much to his surprise, Alpha Wallace’s smile was warm and genuine. “Not at all, Mr Harper. I encourage you to voice any questions you have.” Aaron released the death grip he had on the side of his chair. “Mr Wilson was chosen as pack beta but has yet to go through the beta ceremony itself. He had the status, but not the added strength that comes with the position.”
“Thank you for clarifying.”
She shot him another smile and carried on. “According to Alpha Yates, Mr Wilson came to London on Saturday, March fourth, met with friends from the Regent’s Hill pack, and went to a concert with them. He left them the next day to go visit his sister in Brighton—she joined a pack down there to be with her husband—and that was the last time Wilson was seen.”
Michael had his pad out, scribbling notes again. “Alpha Wallace, do you know why his sister didn’t contact his pack when her brother failed to show up?”
She glanced at Alpha Jones and he passed her a black file which she set on the table. “At Detective Chief Inspector Arlington’s request, I’ve been in touch with Wilson’s alpha and his sister. They both received text messages from him. His sister believed he was staying longer in London, and his alpha assumed he was with his sister in Brighton.”
“And then the texts stopped and they came to you for help?”
“Yes.” Alpha Wallace sighed. “Alpha Yates sent members of his pack to look for Wilson here, but they found nothing to indicate where he might be now.”
Aaron wondered what they had found. Did Wilson’s scent lead to where any of the three bodies had been found? Were Wilson’s pack aware humans had been killed here and that a shifter was the prime suspect? He wanted to ask, but—ah fuck it, Alpha Wallace had already said she didn’t mind. And if she was here working with the police, then she obviously had her concerns too. He wasn’t saying anything they weren’t all thinking.
So he asked.
“Did they find any trace of Wilson’s scent?”
She eyed him as though she knew exactly what he was thinking. “Alpha Yates only said that they couldn’t locate him. I don’t believe they know much about the three murders and probably not where the bodies were found. Nor do I, so asking him for further details seemed pointless.” She turned to Arlington. “Detective Chief Inspector, if you’re willing to give Alpha Jones and me more information on the location of your crime scenes and anything else you consider pertinent, then I’ll gladly have another chat with Alpha Yates.”
“Of course,” Arlington replied. “I don’t suppose you’d consider allowing us to accompany you for that chat?”
She smiled at him, but it wasn’t the warm one she’d given Aaron. “Not this time. But if he has anything to add that you feel is relevant to your case, then I’ll arrange for you to talk to him.”
“Thank you.”
The relationship between the alpha council and the police was one Aaron didn’t fully understand. As long as no humans were involved, the police were content to let the council handle anything shifter related. If, however, the crimes involved humans, then the police, specifically the SCTF, took over. But they still worked with the council.
From where Aaron was sitting, it seemed like even then, the council had a lot of say in what went on.
“I don’t want to make assumptions here, but I do want to lay the facts out as we know them.” Arlington stood to face the whiteboard fixed to the wall. Grabbing a pen off the tray at the bottom, he started to write.
“Wilson came to London on March fourth and supposedly left for Brighton the next day. He definitely didn’t arrive in Brighton, so, for now, we’ll assume he never left. The first murder was committed on March twelfth—eight days after Wilson arrived. He was still sending texts at this point but they stopped sometime after the second murder, which occurred on March seventeenth, but before the third on the twenty-fifth.”
“So, wait.” Michael opened the brown folder in front of him. “Were the shifters from Nottinghamshire—the ones sent to look for Wilson—in London at the time of the third murder?”
“Alpha Wallace?” Arlington asked, pen poised in mid-air.
She frowned at the implication but nodded. “I believe Alpha Yates sent them on the twenty-third, so yes, they were searching for Mr Wilson when the third body was found. But I’d like to say, I find it highly unlikely they had anything to do with it.”
“I agree.” Arlington added notes to the board as he spoke. “All I’m doing is writing down what we know so far.”
“Fair enough.”
No one had mentioned his and Harry’s involvement in all of this, and Aaron wondered why Alpha Wallace hadn’t asked. She must be curious why the Clapham Common pack alpha was there along with three of his pack.
Unless she already knew?
The not knowing was awful, and Aaron found himself stealing glances at Michael, debating the risks of mouthing a question to him without anyone else noticing.
As it turned out, Arlington did it for him.
