NovelEnglish
qWhen Charlotte heard their words, her mind wandered to Danrique. He, too, enjoyed keeping beasts as pets. No
wonder he and Francesco are on such good terms.
“What else is there?” she asked.
“That's all we have.” Hayley shook her head earnestly. “Actually, Bruce asked the same questions when he called. I
didn't remember these two points despite racking my brains back then.”
“It's fine. I'll let him know.”
With that, Charlotte quickly shared the new information with Bruce before continuing her search in Dr. Felch's study.
Suddenly, she stumbled upon an old photo. In it was a figure kneeling beside a young wounded wolf.
It was a photo taken from the side, and the photographer seemed to be standing quite far away. Also, it had turned
yellow as if it had been submerged in water before. Hence, the already blurry figure was harder to discern.
In spite of that, one could still make out the slender figure in it. He seemed to be a short-haired youth in his teenage
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtyears, wearing a pair of pants with camouflage prints, a green t-shirt, black rubber shoes, and a straw hat.
“Who is this?” Charlotte asked Hayley hurriedly.
“That's Francesco,” the latter answered in delight. “Charlotte, where did you find this?”
“That's Francesco?” Charlotte put the photo underneath the light to get a better look. Nonetheless, it was simply
too blurry to make anything out of it. Other than the slender figure, nothing else could be seen.
“Yes.” Hayley nodded. “When I first came here, the photo was here in the study. However, it went missing after
some books and medications were moved. How did you find it?”
“Are there any other photos?”
Feeling excited, Charlotte took a picture of the photo and sent it to Ben and Bruce so that they could run
investigations according to the lead.
“No, that's the only one.” Hayley was sure of it. “Dr. Felch said that some university students took this photo by
accident. After that, they sent the picture over to him. In fact, he mentioned that Francesco didn't like taking
photos.”
“Why do you address Francesco by his name instead of his title? Isn't he a senior to you?” Charlotte asked while
sending Bruce the information.
“Dr. Felch forbade us from doing so,” Hayley explained. “He was upset when Francesco left this place to learn
modern medicine because he thought traditional medicine was all that was needed. When Francesco disobeyed
him, their relationship soured.”
“That's right. Later on, Dr. Felch refused to acknowledge him as an apprentice anymore,” Sam chimed in as he
picked something up. “In recent years, Dr. Felch never mentioned him again. If it wasn't for Mr. Nacht—”
He held his tongue at mid-sentence, worried that he would spill something.
Knowing that they were still trying to hide the truth from her on behalf of Zachary, Charlotte sighed. “Considering
that I'm here looking for Francesco, don't you think I already know?”
“Uh, that's true.”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmHayley and Sam exchanged glances the moment the realization dawned on them.
Since both of them were not exposed to the outside world, their thought processes were relatively simple. Hence,
they were less able to connect the dots on many issues.
“By the way,” Charlotte asked, changing the topic, “what are your plans going forward?”
“We don't have any plans at the moment. All we want to do is repair this house,” Sam replied. “It leaks when it
rains. Thus, I'm worried that Dr. Felch's books will get wet.”
“I hope you can go back with me,” Charlotte requested grimly. “Zachary's condition is worsening. Since we have yet
to find Francesco, I'm worried that—”
“Charlotte, we would definitely help since you need us,” he quickly replied. “Anyhow, I still hope to repair the house
before leaving. It may take a couple of days. Is that all right?”
“Yes, of course.” She nodded at once. “In that case, I'll send someone to pick you two up then. As for today, I'll take
some of these books and the photo back with me.”
“No problem!”
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