On the trail

Nick felt that the "Wolf Wesen" before him was practically overflowing with goofiness, which considerably softened the shock of suddenly learning that a supernatural side to this world actually existed.

"Since you watch the news on TV, you should know why I'm here. I came for that little girl."

Ever since getting up, Eddie Monroe had been pacing around the living room. He happened to reach the window just then and glanced outside with an air of nonchalance. "So you still haven't found her?"

"Of course not." Nick raised his voice slightly.

"Well, that really is terrible." Eddie Monroe looked up at Nick guiltily. Finding Nick staring intently at him, he hurriedly averted his eyes again.

"I swear, this really has nothing to do with me. I reformed ages ago. I don't eat people anymore. Uh! No! I've never eaten anyone, let alone a little girl."

Seeing him raise both hands, looking desperate to stay alive, Nick let out a cold laugh.

"Do you take me for an idiot? Sure, Aunt Mary never showed me that 'book' you mentioned, but I have heard the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.

"Both victims were wearing red coats. The first was torn to pieces, and the second went missing. Then you said earlier that you'd smelled one of your own kind."

"Oh, come on. Don't make it sound like I'm trying to cover for my own kind. We don't get along nearly as well as you think. Every time we get together, something tragic happens, especially when we see red."

After muttering this, Eddie Monroe began complaining loudly again. "I told you, I turned over a new leaf ages ago. I'm a gentleman with a legitimate profession now, an excellent clockmaker, not some big bad wolf who goes around abducting little girls."

"Maybe. But you must know who did it. I saw what you were doing by the fence earlier. Wolves and dogs both do that. It means there's another one of your kind nearby."

Nick put away his gun and stood as he spoke, then continued in a tone that brooked no argument. "Take me to him. If you really are as good as you say, you wouldn't want to see more innocent people get hurt, would you?"

"Generally speaking, I don't go looking for trouble with other Wolf Wesen. In return, they choose to ignore an oddball like me..."

Before Eddie Monroe could finish, something blurred before his eyes. A second later, he was pinned firmly against the wall.

"Perhaps you should thank my Aunt Mary. She never taught me how to be a 'Grimm,' but that doesn't mean I'm easy to deal with.

"I still think of myself as a police officer. A police officer's job is to save innocent citizens and arrest criminals, not deal with some shapeshifting creatures called 'Wesen.'"

Nick took out a photograph of Robin, the missing little girl, and held it in front of Eddie Monroe's eyes. "This poor little girl may already have died at the hands of one of your kind. If you won't help me carry out my duties as a police officer, I don't mind exercising my duties as a 'Grimm.'"

Pinned against the wall, Eddie Monroe's eyes had already begun to glow red. At the sight of the little girl's photograph, the red glow flickered and vanished. Then he swallowed and forced a smile.

"If I said I thought this little girl probably hadn't come to any harm yet, could you let go of me first?"

"Generally speaking, once he's finished a hunt, he won't eat anyone else for the next week-or at least ten days. He abducts people because he wants to use that time to fatten up his prey."

As Eddie Monroe said this, he was driving with his head sticking out the window, constantly twitching his nose at the air.

The little Beetle lurched through the woods. Although it wasn't going fast, Nick still had to grip the grab handle tightly, thinking that if they hit a tree, he could jump out immediately.

"So you really can find that guy by scent alone?" Seeing how confident the guy looked actually made him a little doubtful.

After all, as far as Nick knew, wolves were pack animals. Yet this guy claimed that his earlier habit of peeing everywhere was to mark his territory and warn others of his kind to stay away. That was clearly the behavior of tigers or lions.

But whether he was marking his territory by scent or trying to contact his own kind, the Beetle, slow as it was, had already been driving through Forest Park for nearly an hour. Over such a distance, wasn't a Blutbad's nose a little too good?

"That idiot spent ages circling the surrounding area after leaving Berkeley Park. He must have been avoiding your police search. There's no mistake..."

As he spoke, Eddie Monroe suddenly seemed to make some startling discovery. He perked up, then pulled his head back inside the car. "I found him. He's just ahead, not far from us now."

Five minutes later, the Beetle passed down an unnamed woodland trail and stopped in front of a crude little wooden bridge.

"All right, we can't drive any farther. Our hearing isn't much worse than our sense of smell."

Muttering, Eddie Monroe parked, switched off the engine, opened the door, and walked onto the bridge.

Nick followed his gaze. Through the half-hidden branches and leaves of the shrubs, he could indeed make out a faint light.

But when he turned back, he saw Eddie Monroe take a packet of something out of his pocket and rub its contents onto his clothes.

"What's that?" Nick asked curiously.

"Wolfsbane. It masks our body odor." Eddie Monroe gestured for him to note the wind direction. They were currently upwind. "Trust me, even if you're a Grimm, you don't want to face a prepared Blutbad in the woods."

The English word "wolfsbane" literally meant "wolf poison," but it was neither the wolf poison found in northern Cyrus nor the "wolf poison herb" found in the south, the latter also known as "heartbreak grass" or Gelsemium.

"Wolfsbane" was another name for European aconite, also known in Asia as fuzi. Legend had it that the berserkers of ancient Germanic tribes would turn into "Wolf Wesen" after taking it, which was also where the word came from.

So it wasn't that humans turned into Wolf Wesen after eating this "Wolfsbane," but that Wolf Wesen liked using it to mask their scent and ambush their own kind?

Nick obligingly rubbed some dried aconite onto himself and even lowered his head to sniff it, but he couldn't detect any particular smell.

After that, rather than use the perfectly serviceable wooden bridge, the two waded through the icy stream beneath it and took a wide detour. But just as a small cabin hidden in the woods came into view, Eddie Monroe's eyes turned red.

"Huff! Huff! Huff!"

Seeing him struggle for breath for a while and shift back and forth several times between human and Wolf Wesen form, Nick had no choice but to draw his pistol and stand on guard.

Looking as though he had only just managed to hold on to his human form, Eddie Monroe panted, "Sorry, I think this is as far as I can go with you.

"If I take a few more steps, I can't guarantee what I'll do."