Beastly Winter — Chapter 19

“Dr. Jacoby,” Will said into the phone. “This is Sheriff Harris from Westhaven.”

“Yes, Sheriff Harris, I’m Dr. Jacoby. What’s up?”

“Chief Prescott from over Somerville sent your report to me about whatever killed a man here named Struthers.”

“Yes, Sheriff Harris.”

“Call me Will.”

“Okay. I’m Bob.”

“Listen, Bob. Some of what you say in here seems a little far-fetched.”

Jacoby chuckled. “You mean the part where nothing like them actually exists?”

“Well, yeah. How could some new species spring up here? Scientists would say that’s the result of evolution, and that takes time, right?”

“You’re right, and I’m sure that’s the case with these, too.”

“But wouldn’t people have spotted them long ago?”

“You’d think so, but there has to be an explanation. There’s a lot of caves and abandoned mines around here. Nobody’s explored them all. Maybe they developed down there.”

Will thought about that. It made some sense but still seemed unlikely. Living in caves for decades, even centuries, then one day just deciding to come outside?

“You say in your report they’re like weasels.”