Curse of the Werebottom

Chapter 17

Larry's phone beeped to alert him of an incoming text just as Eddie shared his moment of realisation to him. "That man called his van by a name," Eddie explained, "He said that 'Vanna' would never let him down! Perhaps the police misunderstood exactly what Mrs Miggles was trying to tell them. She said there was a strange reg and the police assumed it belonged to the car that must have smashed down the doors to the restaurant. Maybe, it wasn't a registration number. Maybe there wasn't even a car. Maybe the strange reg was actually Mrs Miggles telling us that there was a strange person in that room last night. Someone called Reg?"

Larry listened very carefully to Eddies reasoning. After a couple of seconds he realised that it made sense. He realised it made more sense than searching for a number plate for a vehicle that could at best be described as strange. If they considered Reg to be a name of someone or something, it should, if anything, be even easier to locate!

"Well done, good bud!" Larry congratulated Eddie, "The apprentice becomes the master. That's pretty impressive deducting and detective work," Larry said appreciatively. "From now on, you can be the detective in charge!"

He paused, still chuckling to himself while Eddie beamed and enjoyed both the praise and his own success. Larry pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the newly received text, and immediately stopped laughing. "Unbelievable!" He said, "I'm losing my touch! Not only have you found a fresh lead that even the police missed, but Max has struck gold! She has figured out what the monster is!" His thumb moved so quickly as he texted back that it was just a blur passing over his phone. He texted Max their location and that they would wait for her there.

Eddie slipped both his hands in his jeans pockets and rocked back and forth on the heels of his trainers. "She's a good addition to our little team," he agreed. "Max is one in a million, and definitely not strange. If she has figured this out without my extraordinary powers of deduction, then she's simply incredible!"

Larry and Eddie continued to congratulate themselves, whilst gently ribbing and joking with each other, until Max arrived on her bike. She cycled right up to them both and leapt of the bike without allowing it to come to a complete stop, such was her eagerness to share her discovery with them.

"Guys, the information that we needed was staring us in the face all along. We just didn't read the facts the right way! Let me get it all in order so that you can understand where I am coming from, because let me tell you, it's pretty unbelievable!"

Max forced herself to calm down and to slow down. She allowed her breathing to become regular after the cycle ride and the exhilaration of her understanding and began to clarify her thoughts to both of the very expectant boys.

"Firstly, we have to go back to the very first attack and what Larry discovered in the field." "The tracks in the ground?" questioned Eddie. "That's right, said Max, "Claw marks, made when a beast charged through a crowded area that happened to be host to campers. Campers who all would have been hungry and therefore who had more than likely spent the afternoon and evening cooking and barbecuing delicious foods. I have no doubt that the delicious smells of tasty hot dogs and burgers soaked the whole area with delicious smells, which were far too irresistible for this beast to ignore!"

"So how come it disappeared into thin air?" Larry asked. "I'm not sure that it did." Max replied. "The same principle applies to the restaurant. How could something that causes so much destruction simply disappear without a trace? And again, why would it even be there in the first place?"

"Food," chipped in Eddie, "That's the common theme. It was hungry."

Max grinned from ear to ear, "Yes! That's the motive! But the question remains, how does it make its escape? The answer is simple. It doesn't!"

"It doesn't escape?" Larry asked incredulously. "Then why haven't we, or anyone else found it or any traces of it?"

"Because it transforms," she responded gravely. "It changes its shape! It starts out as one thing, transforms into a monster and then changes back when it has done whatever it is that it needs to do. In this case, feast!" The final proof I needed was when I checked the weather reports on the internet for the last couple of nights and, as I expected, we are in a lunar cycle of a full moon."

"Wait now," interrupted Eddie, "Are you seriously saying what I think you are trying to say?"

"Hear all the evidence before you dismiss anything as nonsense Eddie," Max reasoned. "A shoe print won't make indentations on solid ground, but a claw can and it did. The attacks only happen when the moon is full. The attacks have both happened where there is food in abundance. The police think a car broke down the fire doors at the restaurant, but no one saw it approach or leave. There are no tyre tracks on the ground or no scrapes with car paint that they mentioned while speaking to Larry's dad. If anything, there is a massive lack of evidence that a vehicle was involved at all. Those doors were kicked through by something that was incredibly strong. Something exceptionally and unbelievably strong. Not of this world strong. The solution came to me when my mum told me to stop 'wolfing' my food so quickly."

"Max," Larry asked slowly and deliberately. "Are you suggesting that there is a werewolf on the prowl in Diddlesbury?"

"Not at all," answered Max defiantly as she pulled a drawing out of her pocket that she had completed earlier. "We know what the monster looks like because we have separate eye-witness accounts that verify each other. What we also have to consider are the factors that don't make any sense whatsoever. The trumping and fart like noises, the disgusting smells that are so unbearable they turn human skin bright green. I think what we've got on our hands is a never before documented monster! What I believe we are looking for is this."

She spread out the paper and showed it to both Larry and Eddie to explain her point further. Upon it she had drawn a sketch along with short explanations such as, 'incredibly strong arms and legs' and 'semi-human form'.

The boys both lookedupon Max's picture and frowned. 

There it is boys, the facts speak for themselves. It's a werebottom!"