Slime-Cycle (Humble Beginnings)

24. The Conspiracist

"We didn't know what was going on, we just wanted to make sure he was alright." The lady spoke. She wore a large puffy jacket and sailing attire. Her messy hair pulled up in a bun.

Jotting down some notes, Mat Pat looked back to the woman as he asked another question.

"When you went out to help them, did you know who it was you were bringing onto your boat?" He asked.

The woman shook her head, leaning against the boathouse wall as people continued to work around them. "No. All we knew was that someone had fallen, at least hundreds of feet into he river and needed help." She spoke.

Mat hummed, looking down at his notes as he thought.

He had come to the docks to interview the sailors that had rescued Slimecicle from the river. Talking to the captian of that sailboat, there were still some things he wanted to ask.

Tapping his pencil against his notepad, he bit his lip. "Alright, well.. when you got him on your boat, what was he like? Any noticeable speech patterns? Or, maybe a certian attitude?" He asked.

The woman seemed to perk up, scratching her chin for a moment as she stood up straighter. "Well, at first he seemed pretty normal. Scared, tired. He just seemed happy to be on something stable and dry." She began. "He wasnt very responsive either, though I can't really blame 'em.. I'd be shocked if I fell from that height too!" She half laughed.

The woman slowed down, a somewhat contemplative look on her face. "Then, he just fell onto the deck, exhausted. Started mumbling to himself for a second, then he, transformed!" She made a wide hand movement. "Like, slime, wrapped around him. 'e didnt seem to like it either. But once the slime fully took him, that's when he actually looked like Slimecicle."

Mat listened intently, waiting for her to continue.

"The creepy thing was, as soon as the slime appeared, it was like he turned into a different person." She spoke, leaning in slightly closer as she had a slightly more serious tone. "Like 'e forgot who was a second ago, and just stood up and smiled."

Mat stood there, completely silent. His eyes stood still, but his mind was all over the place.

The two looked at each other for a moment before Mat finally snapped out of it, clearing his throat quickly before jotting some notes down.

"Eh, thank you, uh...?" He paused, looking at the lady for a moment, trying to remember her name.

The woman smiled. "Mary. The names Mary." She spoke, holding out a hand as Mat quickly shook it.

"Thank you Mary, this has been incredibly helpful." He spoke. He let go and turned to leave, catching a final glance at the boat house before walking out of the large open door.

Walking out into the open night air, he sighed, walking down the stone road towards a parked van at the end. He opened his notepad, flipping through the pages as he went over what he had.

Him and Steph had split up to gather more information. Mat did the interviews, and steph explored the area for anything of interest. When Mat had gathered all the info he could, he went back to the van, meeting his wife there.

He couldnt help but wonder if there was anything he missed. Someone with more information, maybe a phone dropped by his very suspect. He always gets a feeling that there's this big, case solving clue that he's always missing, in every case he does. He knows it's irrational but he always just thinks, 'what if'.

Mat shook his head, brushing the thought away as he reached the car. He grabbed the handle to the passenger side door and opened it, seeing Steph across from him in the driver's seat.