Nick waited outside the bar for nearly an hour before he saw the two brothers emerge with their arms around each other's shoulders.
As they approached, he realized in astonishment that they were actually using that pose to take turns inhaling hard from a small bottle.
"What happened? What are you doing?" Nick asked in confusion.
"These are smelling salts. We got too close back there and nearly fell for it." Dean, the older brother, looked a little flushed. He took several deep breaths before recovering.
Smelling salts were ammonium carbonate mixed with various fragrances, such as peppermint essential oil. The ammonia they released could act on the brain instantly to produce an alerting effect.
"That was unbelievable. I nearly went up and offered to buy that guy a drink." Sam, the younger brother, also looked shaken.
"Uh... thanks for your efforts."
Nick had not expected the brothers to fare even worse than Hancock, an ordinary human. This also showed that the little toad Billy Capra had swallowed alive before entering the bar really did enhance his ability to charm people.
"First, tell me what he did inside."
"He was picking up women. He completely captivated a beautiful lady and gave her a business card at the end." Dean continued speculating, "That must be how he picked his previous victims?"
Nick nodded in agreement. Everything fit. Renard had previously given him files on three missing-person cases, with victims from Los Angeles, Seattle, and Eugene, respectively. Yet Faith Collins, who had died on the Iron Bridge, was a local.
But a look at the location of the Blue Moon Bar explained it. It stood on the edge of the city, and the famous Multnomah Falls were less than half an hour east of town.
The area around this fairly busy shopping