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The doctor appeared deep in thought, as if he ht have an answer to that excellent question if he could only think about it long enough Then he gave himself a little shake

"If you&039;ll excuse et down to business"

Since his business involved knives, saws, and the removal of various body parts and fluids, I ed behind "You&039;re sure he was killed by a canine, not a bear or a big cat?"

"I did sonition of various ani for a GP," Grace observed

"At one ti a job at Yellowstone But the wife didn&039;t want to leave Georgia Now she&039;s gone and I&039;s you to the conclusion that this is a canine kill?" Grace asked

"Cats use their claws to hold victims steady Think of a domestic cat with a mouse"

"They play with them," I murmured from my position near the door Oprah did it all the tireed "Which means a victim would not only have his throat torn but also exhibit scratches, serious ones if we&039;re talking cougar and the like"

I glanced at Grace, suddenly understanding where she was headed with this line of questioning Malachi&039;s cougar, or even his grizzly, ht have been used to kill Josh; then Malachi could have dumped the body in the ravine

"And bears?" Grace pressed

"Will swipe at their prey"

"I can see why you don&039;t think this is a bear or cat kill, but what leaves the impression that it&039;s canine?"

"The round and rip out their throats"

Lovely

"I&039;m certain when I examine the body I&039;ll find fur consistent with my theory Has there been any hint of rabies in the area?"

Grace glanced quickly at me, then back at Doc "Why would you think that?"

"Cats have been known to attack hurabbed a wo ago that aher child from a bear at Yellowstone Those animals weren&039;t sick We don&039;t knohat set them off But canines don&039;t co one way or another about what type of canine we&039;re dealing with here?" Grace asked

Doc Bill chewed on his lip as he stared at the corpse "I&039;d be inclined to say &039;wolf,&039; except there hasn&039;t been one in these ed," Grace said "We had a tourist attacked by what he swears was a wolf"

"Really?" Though the older ot the impression he was suddenly very interested "I&039;d like to take a look at this tourist"

Grace winced Doc noticed "He died?"

"Not exactly"

"What exactly?"

"He - uh - got up and left the hospital in the ht, and he hasn&039;t been seen since"

I expected a shocked reaction fronaw on his lip and stare at dead Josh

"What about his wounds?"

"Sir?" Grace asked

"Had they healed?"

Grace and I exchanged glances again

"It appeared that way on the security tape," Grace said, "but they&039;re notoriously fuzzy"

"Da about" Grace spread her hands "Whatever this is"

"I haven&039;t seen anything like it since I was in Germany"

"When were you in Germany?" I asked

"Nineteen forty-four, forty-five"

"You were in the war?" He didn&039;t look that old

"Lied aboutI ever did"

"What happened?" Grace asked

"We won," the doctor answered drily

Grace&039;s mouth curved; she always appreciated well-timed sarcasm "I meant, what did you see there that reuely in the direction of the body

"It was so long ago, soined it"

He paused, rubbing between his eyes as if a headache pounded I didn&039;t think ere going to like what he had to say, but then, I hadn&039;t liked much of what anyone had said lately

Doc dropped his hand "I was a paratrooper"

"Like Band of Brothers?"

"Pretty much They dumped us behind the lines in France while the others came in from the sea I wouldn&039;t have wanted to have been theunfire wasn&039;t exactly ood time"

"I bet not"

"Once we landed, ere supposed totowns as ent I&039; it took or how round, but eventually we crossed into Gers started to happen There olves everywhere Hundreds of them"

"Why is that so weird?" I asked "Isn&039;t the Black Forest - home of Grimms&039; fairy tales and a whole lot of wolves - in Germany?"

"Problem is, eren&039;t in the Black Forest and these wolves weren&039;t exactly wolves"

"How can wolves not be wolves?"

"These were se beast They herded us, stalked us, followed us forto do, as if they&039;d been listening to our conversations and understanding them And when they killed us solanced at Josh, then quickly away "You kno crazy that sounds?"

"Why do you think I never told anyone about it before?"

"When you say they didn&039;t stay dead" I began

"They were attacked, throats ripped out, and then they healed all their wounds and walked away"

That sounded far too faain?" I asked