"A... what?" Horatio said. "I don't believe I heard you correctly."
"My name is Zylphia," replied the woman, "and my husband and I, we are werewolves."
"You are in shock," Thaddeus stated bluntly.
"Tactful, Thaddeus. Ma'am," Horatio said gently, "I believe you may be in shock. You just told me you are a werewolf."
"Your partner is made of metal. Is it so hard to believe I might be different as well?"
"Fine," Horatio said after a pause. "We'll come back to that. What were these other killings you mentioned?"
"You may have noticed, but this neighborhood is a bit... different. Most of your neighbors are zombies, werewolves, vampires, a few ghosts, a witch, and others. The past two days, a zombie and a vampire have been destroyed."
"You are in shock," repeated Thaddeus.
"Thaddeus, do shut up. So, Zylphia, was it? How did these murders stay covered up?"
"Our people don't want to be discovered. We are all very peaceful, but that would be a hard thing to maintain if our true natures were to be brought to light. We had no choice but to hide the bodies and tell no one."
"Interesting," murmured Horatio.
"You are in shock," Thaddeus said once more.
"Dammit, Thaddeus!" Horatio smacked the robot's chest to fix his voice pipes. "Better?"
"I wasn't malfunctioning, sir," Thaddeus said, unfazed. "But if you insist on taking on this case, I suggest taking a blood sample from the victim to verify her outlandish story."
"Good thinking. Would you object, ma'am?" asked Horatio.
"No, not at all, whatever helps."
Horatio took a needle and drew a vial of blood from the body. He the placed the sample back in his bag. He instructed Zylphia to hide the body and told her that they would be in touch. He and Thaddeus then returned to the house and climbed the stairs to Horatio's study. Horatio removed the blood sample from his bag and put a few drops onto a glass slide. He placed the slide under his microscope and examined it for a long while.
"There's certainly something wrong with it, Thaddeus," Horatio said without looking up from the lens. "However, it isn't necessarily a werewolf."
"How do we confirm her story then?" asked Thaddeus, who was carrying armfuls of books back and forth across the room in an attempt to organize them.
"We can't unless we catch a live one. And, assuming they're real, we'd have to wait for the next full-moon. No, we just have to go on the assumption that she was telling the truth, and focus on trying to find the killer. Either way, we know a man was murdered, and that's all that matters."
"So I suppose then that our next order of business is to find the maker of that silver bullet?" asked Thaddeus.
"I will take care of that. I need you to go back to the crime scene and go over it more carefully for evidence. And pay a visit to the mourning wife to see if you can examine the body for further information. Holmes won't be getting this one, Thaddeus."
"Very well s--" Thaddeus was interrupted by a crash from the ground floor, followed by rapid foot steps pounding up the stairs.
"Bolt the door!" barked Horatio. Thaddeus rushed to wooden door, but was knocked backwards as it flew off of its hinges. Three creatures walked into the room. They were all well over seven feet tall, and covered in brown or gray fur. Their faces were long canine-esque snouts with prominent and razor-sharp teeth. They had long claws, tails, and wore tattered human clothing.
Werewolves. They growled and stepped over Thaddeus, and moved quickly towards Horatio.
"Shit."
To be continued...
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