Wenclair One-Shots

Viper's Hardest Question

Summary:

Enid reads a new chapter of Wednesday's book. Then reads it again to get the point.

(EnidStoleMyWig's Comment - Hello roomies, this one is unbelievably good. It's a story within a story and a mystery for Enid to solve. To explain, every paragraphs first letter spells something out for enid as she reads it! I'll let you know it in full at the end!! ENJOY!)

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"Can you please just get to the point?" Viper's voice was harsh as she leaned back in her chair and glared at the older man before her. She didn't have time for some old fool telling her about his life story right now. Not when she had so much to deal with already. A man stealing flowers, poisoned cakes and every venue she went to burning down were all on her mind and she needed to start getting answers as to why.

"Ah, my apologies miss. You must understand that I get fairly nostalgic sometimes. Ever since my wife passed, I haven't had anyone to tell my stories to." He shut his eyes as he chuckled. The laugh was surprisingly warm but Viper knew better than to trust that. The man's pain from his wife's passing was obviously something he wasn't over. It wasn't her problem to deal with of course. Not when she risked having other wives killed long before their time if she didn't get a move on.

Rightfully too. While many hadn't seen anything other than arson and petty theft in the crimes going around town, Viper's diligence had caused issues for the cops and crime bosses alike. After all, those burned down venues? Pyres. Pyres for those the villain at large had slaughtered. Worse yet, they had been butchered and ripped apart so that they could take souvenirs and put them in wedding cakes.

All signs pointed to whoever was doing this had some sort of problem with marriage, to put it mildly. Maybe romance in general even. Viper couldn't entirely understand such vitriol for the concept herself. One had to be able to be romantic to hate it after all and she'd always considered herself spared from such temptations. It did make putting herself in the killer's mindset a particularly difficult task this time though.

Maybe the old man could help her with that? He was a new informant to her. One she hadn't used before but had recommended to her by a friend. So far, half an hour into questioning, she wasn't impressed. He had a tendency to ramble, looked ready to keel over at any moment and now this. If she gave him all the details of the case, he'd likely become overly emotional. Overly attached. Reminded her of her mother honestly. Still, her other informants had failed her and she needed something. Anything at this point.

"I do hope you're not too upset. Even when I was a young matchmaker, many who came through my doors would be upset with my tendency to ramble. Of course," he said as he scratched his beard, "I wouldn't always do it on accident. Like with you just now, it lets me know what type of person you are. Twenty three minutes. That's how long you let me ramble for. A bit longer than most honestly which is quite encouraging."

Amicable was his tone but his words... His words made Viper narrow her eyes as she laced her fingers together in her lap. "You know there's a killer on the loose and instead you waste your time testing me? For what? The chance of finding me a girlfriend or something because I have bad news for you then."

"Young one, you must learn not to find such anger everywhere you look. Sometimes one does it for joy. Sometimes one does it because they miss the old days. And sometimes," he said as he lit a pipe, "they do it because they have important enough information that they must be certain their client's character is good enough for it."

Only after he had taken a puff from his pipe did Viper speak. Her tone was low and cold but the teenager was not immune to his words. His challenge. His game. And she wanted to know if she'd won. "What do you think of it then from having me sit and listen to your stories?"