Jack flinched and then slowly shifted his gaze to the sack in his hand before uttering anything.
"Oh, this?" He replied, then stopped for a second; his voice was filled with signs of uncertainty for a moment.
"It's nothing, just some meat I went and copped at the bazaar." He stopped again, looking at the two detectives when he noted that Declan was looking at him with suspicion in his eyes.
Then he shifted his coat backwards for a second, as if preparing to pull out another cigarette in his pocket, but even he knew that this wasn't the time for a smoke. "Bazaar?" He breathed, a grave look still on his expression.
"Is there one around here?" He asked.
"Yes,"
Nowa's eyes slightly furrowed because he wasn't expecting Jack to reply to the detective's question that swiftly, which meant one thing to him: Jack was lying about the area containing a bazaar.
"Is that so?" Declan spoke softly.
Jack didn't say anything after that; all he could do was observe the detectives in front and wonder what they were really up to. And if they were there for him or Dolly, he had to make sure not to say anything that would put him at a disadvantage.
Nowa stepped closer to Declan, noticing every movement in Jack's posture.
"Sir." He whispered, standing next to Declan.
Declan shifted his gaze to him, noting the suspicion written all over Nowa's expression, and he knew exactly why Nowa had that look.
Then nodded, "I know."
Meanwhile, at the point where Jack was standing, he was busy eyeing the building's entrance, noticing details that weren't there when he left.
Looking at the floor, he saw crimson footprints coming and going inside the building, and those prints were from none other than his sister, and it only meant one thing. The establishment was a mess, tattered with blood.
Even so, he didn't panic; he stayed as calm as he arrived.
Suddenly, Declan pronounced politely. "Can I take a look to confirm what kind of meat you copped up?"
Busy assessing the building, he swiftly rolled his gaze, focusing his attention on the two.
"...Oh sure, let me just unwrap it first." He said.
He immediately set the bag on the ground and then lowered himself onto one knee. A heartbeat later, his hand moved to his waist, reaching for a small kitchen knife that he kept there, sharp enough to slice through steel or any hard metal.
He carefully wrapped his fingers around the knife and then didn't waste any time on wondering if he'd hold the blade right.
A few moments later, he unwrapped the bag. At first glance, everything seemed unusual about it, but peering inside, one could clearly see what filled it.
A wild boar head that was perfectly wrapped with a string to keep it from falling apart, because beneath it were other parts of it, like its limbs and other parts like liver, heart, etc. However, those parts weren't wrapped with anything.
Jack paused for a second, then tilted his head slightly, facing the two detectives as they approached him.
He tilted his grip on the knife as Declan stepped even closer to him and the bag, but then, he slightly loosened his hand again, setting the knife on the ground.
Declan only blinked as he had no idea what Jack was up to, cause his purpose now was to figure out what was in the bag and what the crimson liquid he saw earlier when they were talking to the lass.
The moment he and young Nowa picked into the bag, they were to the contents in it.
"Wow, that's a lot?" Nowa uttered as his jaw slightly dropped.
His right, but how in the world did he manage to get that much meat? Declan wondered.
In all his years living in the city, he'd never seen anyone buy the kind of meat Jack carried. As far as he knew, wild boar was the hardest creature to track in the forests surrounding the Fenn, and for someone to have this much was downright suspicious.
After a quick moment of eyeing the meat, Jack asked politely. "Can I get going now?"
Declan replied softly with a question. "Why the sudden rush? We aren't done here yet."
"Uh...?" Nowa looked at Declan with confusion.
"Yeah, about that..." Jack uttered softly, then paused for a second as Declan stared at him.
"I need to get going before the meat loses its quality, and I noticed something on the floor of the door. I think it's the wine I was keeping to season this meat with, so I'd better be going to confirm." Jack continued.
He started to seal the bag again, ready to move on, as the two detectives looked at him speechless. Declan's gaze flicked between Jack and the small knife on the ground. He knew something was off, but couldn't put a finger on it.
He tried gluing all the pieces they had gathered, but found nothing.
What am I missing...? Can it be that I overlooked something?
He shifted his head, facing the entrance of the building. Then, a few seconds later, he sighed, putting his hand in his coat to grab a cigarette, because this case was too much for even someone like him, and he needed to calm himself down, and taking a smoke was just the right fuel to calm him down.
"Come on." He then uttered, looking at Nowa. "Let's just go back in town." He said, walking towards the road, he suddenly stopped, and then sharply turned back, glancing at Jack, who was facing the opposite direction.
"We'll be back if we find anything else about the person we were looking for. But as for the time being, we hope you'll stay well." He said, turning back and facing the road as Nowa followed by his side.
"Tch." Jack clicked his tongue, feigning disgust at the detective's words. In truth, it wasn't what they said that bothered him, but their very presence. From the moment he caught them questioning his sister, he'd wanted them gone.
Nowa turned, glancing back for a moment.
What he said about them just moving in was a lie. He thought, easing his shoulders back, and picked up his pace to match Declan's.
But knowing Declan, Nowa assumed he'd already pieced it together as well. What he didn't realize was that Declan hadn't even considered it; he was more focused on the crimson stain on he floor and the strange-looking siblings.
They walked a great distance heading north of the city, and all Nowa could do was follow at the moment, since he had never been in Fenn before. His eyes wandered far and wide, trying to figure out where they were headed.
Declan was walking in front of him with a straight face while glancing around him to see who was able to recognize him from the time he was in Fenn.
Nowa coughed, grabbing Declan's attention for a second.
"Where are we headed, sir?"
"Oh, I didn't tell you right." He said, easing his steps to match Nowa's. "We're heading to the bazaar to find the person who sold that boar meat to that man."
"Oh, right? That never even crossed my mind. I was more focused on how we dealt with that man. I think we let him off easy?" Nowa stated with a serious expression, holding onto his coat collar.
"Waste of time," Declan uttered with a grave expression.
Nowa was taken aback by what the detective had just said. "What do you mean, sir?"
"That man was useless. For now, what matters is figuring out who sold him that boar, and what happened to the guard who lived in that place." He paused, his gaze briefly tracking a few people passing by.
"Because here's the thing—I didn't believe a single word that man said about buying that meat at the bazaar. And if you didn't notice, that building reeked of blood. We need to get to the bottom of that… but remember, our job is to find whoever killed the mayor. Everything else is outside our case." He stopped, gathering his thoughts, then turned back toward the road ahead.
Nowa blinked, momentarily speechless. He knew that Declan was right, but was it truly right to walk away from a crime, even one he wasn't involved in?
"Come on, let's keep moving before we find the seller on his break. It's already noon." Declan added, stepping forward on the stony trail.