Louis felt the grip of fear during the first attack, compulsively biting into his own arm. He saw La'an's body, both as it was left and the examination afterward. He listened to Goodsir talk about cardiac arrest and Damian propose chemical testing as the body was cut up.

Tonight, while cowering in that uncontrollable fear, his fang slipped and broke the skin on his lip. The angry red welt, iced down as well as possible, glares on his face now. Louis shivers even in his wool overcoat, but otherwise keeps his face as impassive as he can make it. A crease appears between his brows.

Louis did not have the thought the first time, but he has it now: What if the howls of the monster and the screams of the woman were from the same creature? His own daughter is a devourer with the sweet face of a girl. Perhaps that influences his thinking.

"Two different points in town have been hit, to our knowledge. It comes from the east. Has anyone started markin' the path? If you draw this one and the previous one on a map, the lines may cross... eventually."

There are two things that Louis is not: good at math and willing to trek long distances while surveying. But he remembers, vaguely, doing numbers and plotting curves in school.