Chapter VII
As Edward and Carlisle made their way out of the woods, Carlisle thought about how odd this death appeared. At this point, he felt as though he had been led in a circle. Now he was back to where he had started. Victoria was dead, so that could mean she had nothing to do with Jasper. A dreadful thought presented its self in Carlisle's mind. Could Jasper be dead? What if this mysterious vampire killer, who managed to leave no scent, had already killed Jasper? The thought was horrid.
When Edward and Carlisle emerged from the woods, they met up with their family, and recalled to them the events that had taken place in the woods. Both women were astounded.
"Why?" Esme said in a confused and concerned manner, obviously fearing the same thing abut Jasper that Carlisle had.
"We don't know for sure." Carlisle said. "Though, I think I've got a close idea." As he spoke, the sound of a car coming down the road caused the small party to quickly assemble. The car came into view and then stopped next to them. The familiar and friendly figure of Jack Moreau stepped out. He seemed concerned. "I apologize for interrupting, but I assume that you sensed something odd this morning." He said to Carlisle who was still standing outside the car. "Yes, in fact, I have reason to believe that there is something going on in our small town that could put us at risk. I can't really explain, but I advise you to be careful."
"What happened?" Jack asked.
"We found a vampire dead, and in a very suspicious manner." Carlisle replied, being careful not to reveal too much information.
"Was it that red-haired one?" He asked. Carlisle raised his eyebrow. "How did you know that?" He noticed that jack's eyes portrayed genuine concern and his suspicious were temporarily arrested.
"I saw her earlier this morning, I was out…." He stopped and looked at Alice for a second, then continued. "I saw her, I had been sensing something, and I matched that scent with her. I didn't pay much attention to her, until now…"
"I see." Carlisle replied, scanning Jack's composure, and searching for signs of deception. It seemed clear, he appeared perfectly honest.
"You knew she was here?" Edward said a tad bit more harshly than Carlisle approved of.
"Well, yes, but I wasn't aware that she was important to you, I assumed you were expecting her, because I wasn't." Jack said. He was then interrupted by Alice.
"We were expecting her. I believe I had already seen her by that point." Her tone was almost defensive. This struck Carlisle as odd. It seemed as though the two were more acquainted than he had thought.
"Anyway, I only wanted to see if you noticed anything….I wanted to see if everything was alright."
"We are all very well, and we appreciate your concern." Carlisle said. "If you notice anything odd, make sure to tell us."
"I will." He replied. "If you have any more important information that might be to my benefit, let me know."
"We will." Alice said assuring. Carlisle looked to Alice as the concerned blue-eyed vampire got into his car and drove off.
"Alice, we probably shouldn't give information to him if we don't know for sure that he is on our side." Carlisle cautioned.
"He is on our side, I'm sure. Didn't you say that it was a human who is responsible for this? I think he should be as well informed as we are." Alice said, holding a calm composure.
"It appears as though the two of you have been acquainted, you seem very sure." Carlisle said.
"We've talked; I met him on accident as I was hunting, the day after he interviewed you. We went together, and I had the chance to get to know him a little better. It's nice to meet someone kind, especially in a time like this." Alice replied, fully confident of her previous affaires with this mysterious blue-eyed vampire.
"I see. I think he is an agreeable chap, but there are some things about him that I don't understand." Carlisle said.
"Like what?" Alice replied.
"I can barely sense him, and his eyes…what a strange presentation. It is only a suspicion, I have others. I only choose not to leave any liable suspects out of the full view." Carlisle said. Alice nodded. "I understand, but I trust him."
The Cullen party of four returned to the house and Carlisle left for work. His thoughts were actively processing the events that had taken place that morning.
"It seems rather odd, that Jack Moreau would appear so suddenly, after Victoria's death..." Carlisle thought. He took the situation into neutral speculation. Jack was a vampire, so perhaps he feels endangered by the death of another vampire. Perhaps his abilities allowed him to sense distress, he appeared very honest. The other option was that it was he who commented the crime. This idea seemed a little hard for Carlisle to believe himself. However, there was hardly a scent at the crime scene, making it almost impossible to select the best choice.
When Carlisle arrived at the hospital, it was exactly five o'clock in the morning. He headed inside to his pathology lab beneath the hospital and began to examine a small drop of liquid that was left inside the syringe needle. This both enlightened him and surprised him. Under the microscope, the liquid appeared to be venom like substance. Its viscosity, however, was higher than that of any venom he had seen before. Despite its slight viscous structure, it remained in the general form of a liquid. It was strange. The substance seemed man made, yet there was one thing about it that puzzled him. The venom had a slightly vampire scent. Carlisle was able to pick this up while he was alone in the lab, which was slathered in disinfectants daily. The clean, empty room allowed him to find the scent he had overlooked earlier. The second thing he noticed was a very small piece of bacteria that was unfortunately familiar to him. A trace of the very same bacterial meningitis that had plagued the lives of two of his patients sat right before him. Who ever had made the concoction was carrying bacterial meningitis. Either they were acquainted with one of the two infected patients, or they worked with in the hospital. A random appearance of the same strain was almost impossible.
Carlisle sat back in his chair for a moment to link all of the new information together. He had a few reasons why he thought the person who had formed this substance was human, despite the slightly vampire scent. Someone may have found a way to kill a vampire, possibly by modifying snake venom to resemble that of a vampire. It sounded absurd, but the evidence provided him with reason to believe it was true. Everything that was happening around him was no coincidence. Jasper was missing for a reason, the recently deceased girl, Joanna Cartlette was dead for a reason, Victoria was dead for a reason, the werewolves were angry for a reason, and the reason seemed to be related. The newly found evidence gave Carlisle a seemingly clear idea of who was responsible for Victoria's death. The reason and the motive though, were unclear to him. His logical guess was someone close to him, who had access to the very lab he sat in. The question was, why.
Carlisle looked up at the clock, it was now seven. He had spent two hours running tests over his newly found evidence. In this time, he had formed a theory that his intern was a liable suspect responsible for Victoria's death. The evidence proved this theory to be true. Gregory had access to the pathology lab, for it was part of his internship. He must have taken the sterile needle for a reason. The same thing still remained unanswered, why did he do it?
Carlisle left the pathology lab and headed upstairs to his office, where he would meet his intern. He would interrogate the possible suspect in casual conversation. As Gregory Lawrence entered the office, Carlisle sat collected at his desk. He took a quick observation of his intern, looking for any sign that could back up his theory. At first he seemed very normal, but Carlisle noticed that Gregory was drinking a larger cup of coffee than usual. This could mean a number of things, but the first thing that Carlisle thought of was that if a human was walking in the woods before dawn, most likely, they would be tired. He kept this thought in mind, but was sure not to overlook any other possibilities. The second thing that caught his eye was that there was a very small hole on the pocket of his lab coat. Any human would have overlooked this small detail, but it seemed to be the same diameter as the point of the needle. These observations pointed very strongly towards Carlisle's assumptions.
"Good morning Mr. Lawrence." Carlisle said smoothly.
"Good morning." Gregory replied.
"I just have one question before we get started today." Carlisle said, pulling out a file folder full of patient records.
"Alright."
"Were you by any chance in the pathology lab last night, I seem to have left my favorite pen in there, and I couldn't find it this morning. It's odd how such miniscule changes can affect someone." Carlisle said casually, hoping that his intern would fall into his freshly thought up trap.
"I didn't see it." He responded quite automatically. Carlisle could detect a sign of regret in Gregory's face after he admitted to his entry in the lab. He was clever, and knew that he had given away an important piece of information.
"That's too bad, none of my other pens write as smoothly." Dr. Cullen replied as he stood up and made his way to the door.
"To let you know, I will be leaving early today. It's my son's graduation. I think you will be able to manage." Carlisle said to the intern.
"Alright." Gregory replied. He seemed tired, usually he was energetic. This only complimented Carlisle's theory more clearly.
"I think I've got my man, but does he connect with anything else besides Victoria?" Carlisle thought as he led his suspect down the hall to his first patient of the day. Another thought crossed his mind. "If it was indeed Gregory who was responsible for the strange concoction, then it is likely that he is carrying bacterial meningitis."
Author's note: I will be on holiday for the next two weeks, so I will not be able to put up another chapter until then. Please continue reading when I get back! Thank you!
