Discovered

by Chant, Daniel Marc

“I doubt it,” Devon said with a shake of her head. “I looked at the first body. The wounds were definitely made by a blade of some sort. The second one… I’d have to get a closer look but I bet the wounds are similar if not the same.”

  “Aye, I’d believe that,” Arthur said. “I’ve lived here my whole life, my family’s lived here for generations. No matter what people say around here, that creature has never attacked any one, no matter what. Even when the loch was filled with boats she never hurt a fly. Hell, the otters did more damage to people than she ever has.”

  “I’ll bear that in mind…” Devon said absently.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  For the next three days, more and more news crews appeared in the small town by Loch Ness. Every time Devon went down to the bar for something to eat or drink it was teeming with camera crews and reporters. It didn’t take long for them to realise who she was and what she was there for. The moment she set foot in the bar they would clamour around her, calling out to her and asking questions. Camera flashes would go off in her face, microphones would be shoved under her nose. The questions never stopped and she found it harder and harder to go anywhere without attracting crowds of news crews asking for answers. She wasn’t even left alone on the water when she was doing her sonar sweeps.

  The local boatmen were happy for the surge in business and every time she went out on the loch in Arthur’s little boat it was only a matter of minutes before boats would appear around her and the questions would begin. The shadows of the boats on the sonar and radar played havoc with her readings and she eventually gave up with an apology to Arthur. He was very understanding of course.

  “Are you sure there’s nothing else we can do lassie?” he asked her after her apology. “I’m sure there’s got to be something.”

  “We can’t stop the press,” Devon said with a heavy sigh. “It’s a hazard of living in a free country. I’ll just stay up in my room and dig into the previous sightings or something. I’d feel better about saying that whatever killed those men wasn’t Nessie if I had historical proof that she’s never attacked someone.”

  “Och, I can help with that,” Arthur said quickly. She looked at him. “Aye! There’s dozens of people round here who’ve seen her, especially the older folks. They don’t talk about it much but if you can get rid of these cameras by proving it wasn’t Nessie that killed those men, I’m sure that they’ll talk to you.”

  “Really?!” Devon said. “That would be amazing! No one wants to talk to me so far. They all think I’m just going to do whatever McCallum wants me to.”

  “Well we’re all starting to see you’re not,” Arthur said. “You’re doing your job and that’s all. I think most of ‘em are just glad you’re insisting it wasn’t Nessie. They don’t like the idea of our beloved monster being a killer and you saying she isn’t has definitely won you points.”

  “That’s good to know,” Devon said with a smile. “When do you think I’ll be able to talk to them?”

  “Give me a few days,” Arthur said. “I’ll have to make some visits and get them to come around.”

  “Ok,” Devon said. “I can do that.”

  She headed back to her room with a spring in her step. As she walked into the hotel she could hear the shouting in the bar of dozens of news crews talking over each other. She peeked around the corner and saw that they were all looking in the opposite direction or wrapped up in their own conversations. She darted across the open lobby and up the stairs. On the first floor landing she gave a sigh of relief when she realised she’d got away clean. Then she continued up the stairs.

  The moment she booted her laptop up in her room the instant messenger programme she used started to ring. She hit the answer button and was met with Danny’s face.

  “Hey boss lady,” the girl said happily. “How are things up there? Still crazy?!”

  “Like you wouldn’t believe,” Devon said. She smiled though, her anxiety easing as she saw a familiar face she knew was on her side. “What’s up?”

  “Same as always,” Danny said with a heavy sigh. “I hate to break it to you but I don’t think this thing’s going to die down any time soon. I’ve been looking around the internet, me and your minions and there’s just so many stories. It’s all over mainstream media too.”

  “Shit,” Devon said. “How’s McCallum taking it?”

  “He’s milking it up,” Danny said, a sneer on her face. “Yesterday his company released a statement about increased security at the resort that’s not even finished and how they’re going to be offering packages for people to try and see the monster of the loch. It’s ridiculous.”

  “Of course it is,” Devon said. “I’ve said every time one of those people appeared that it wasn’t an animal that did this. Have they even published that?”

  “Yup,” Danny said. “You’re not going to like it but they’re saying you’re a fraud and a phony. At least the indie networks are. They’re focused on how you only seem to ever prove monsters wrong, that that’s how you make your money so you’re going to say there’s no such thing. The bigger networks… they’re a little more forgiving and they’ve got other experts in who agree with what you said. The men weren’t killed by animals. I managed to get hold of the autopsy reports, the formal ones, and I’ve sent them over to you already.”

  “Thanks,” Devon said. “I’m not surprised about all this. I bet McCallum’s having a field day.”

  “Oh he’s loving it,” Danny said. “I checked the stocks for his company and for the hotel up there… they’ve tripled in the last twenty four hours alone.”

  Devon whistled.

  “Listen,” Danny said, leaning in closely. “I’ve been scouring the net and searching through old newspaper archives. I have a friend up in Scotland who works at their national archives too. He’s transferred everything he could find to do with Loch Ness and monsters on to the computer and he’s sending them to me. I’m doing the same here. I know you can’t keep going on the water, not with that circus going on. At least with what you’ve got to read through you might be able to make some headway.”

  “I hope so,” Devon said. She sighed. “I just want to keep looking though. I’ve got this feeling that there’s something going on here, more than a couple of murdered men and a media circus. Did you have a chance to get the sonar readings from the other day analysed?”

  “I sent the recordings over to the marine biology department,” Danny said. She frowned. “They didn’t recognise those shapes at all. They’re unlike anything they’ve ever seen before. I’ve sent them out further afield, hopefully we’ll hear something back. I did get them authenticated though by the IT department and I’ve put the back-ups in place.”

  “You’re a star,” Devon said. “Right, I’ll let you get on with your own stuff now, that dissertation won’t write itself.”

  Danny groaned and hung her head down. She let it thump on to the table. Devon laughed at her and closed the messenger program down. Time to get looking into those reports.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The reports all read the same way. Written by different people, at different times in history they all had a common theme. The creature, whatever it was, seemed to be completely passive. All of the descriptions talked about the creature trying to hide, being scared and trying to get away as fast as it could. Devon looked at her notes and frowned. None of it made any sense. The creature was shy and scared, more prone to getting away from humans. So why would it attack? Why would it kill? Why would it savage a human being to the point of almost unrecognisability? She groaned with annoyance and went back to reading the articles and diary entries. There were dozens. A letter in particular kept gripping her attention.

  Clara, I swear to you what I am about to write seems impossible, implausible, unreal. But I assure you, from the very depths of my heart, that it is all very real. If I had not experienced this myself I would not have believed it either. But I did, I was there and I saw everything. It is real. The creature in the loc
h is real, just as Uncle said it was.

  We were out on the water in his boat when it happened. Edgar wanted to go fishing and he insisted that the shores of the loch were too shallow. He wanted to catch a large fish, you know how he is, and he claimed that the only way to do so was to sail out into the centre of the lake, where the water was deepest. I accompanied them because I enjoy being on the water. It was a wonderful chance to do some sketching, the landscape here is truly the most beautiful that I have ever seen.

  We must have been out there for a good many hours, the sun was beginning to set. I admit that I had dozed off for a short while but I awakened when Edgar began to call out in excitement. I turned to see him struggling with his fishing pole. He was almost pulled in! But he kept attempting to reel in his catch when suddenly the line changed direction and charged straight at the boat. What happened next was both terrifying and awe-inspiring. It is the single most miraculous experience that I have ever had.

  Edgar’s catch came careening towards us. The water was breaking over its fin on the back. Then it went under the boat. It slammed into it and sent the boat rocking. I wasn’t prepared for it, I was on my feet, watching Edgar wrestle with the beast when it struck the boat. I was thrown into the water. I began to sink. I cannot swim, as you well know, and my clothes quickly became heavy with the water. I sank faster and faster. I cannot describe how it felt to have those icy waters closing in over my head.

  I was sure that I would drown, convinced and I began to pray. Then something, I’m still not sure what, knocked against me, again and again. I looked around but the waters are so dark, so murky, I could not make out a single clear shape, only shadows. I felt something at my feet though, pressing against the soles of my shoes. I realised at that moment that I was getting closer to the surface. It was raising me up!

  My head broke the surface of the loch and Edgar instantly grabbed hold of my hair and began to pull. I had come up right beside the boat and in no time at all he had pulled me from the water and into the boat. I coughed up a lot of water but I was alive and I did not care. I looked around for the creature who saved me but I could only see a small shape in the distance. I hope it was the creature for that shape was so very elegant. I have attached a sketch for you to see.

  So you see, my dearest Clara, I was saved by the very creature that Uncle called a monster. It is not a monster. It is a kind creature who I believe wants only to be left alone.

  Devon picked up the copy of the sketch which had come with the letter. The artist had been truly skilled, the lake was drawn so well that it almost seemed like a photograph. She would have sworn that it was in fact a photograph if it weren’t for the fact that she could see the marks of the pencil on the paper. It depicted the shore of the loch, probably drawn from the boat mentioned in the letter. In the very centre a slim shaded shape emerged, a long neck with a small, narrow head on the top. There were more sketches as well, showing a reptilian creature with wide eyes and large nostrils, sharp pointed teeth poking out from the sides of its long snout. Despite the sketched creature’s apparent ferocious appearance the artist had somehow gotten in the feeling of shyness and fear, a kindness in the eyes that Devon hadn’t realised was even possible for hand drawings.

  She reached for the phone beside her bed.

  “Hello, it’s Dr. Childs,” she said once the front desk picked up. “I was wondering if you could get me some string and some tacks? I need to stick things to the walls.”

  “You ain’t sticking no pins in my walls!” the desk clerk cried out. “I’ll get you a whiteboard from the school. They’re on wheels and two of the lads will bring it up. It’ll get them to stop staring at the journos for a while.”

  “Oh…” Devon said. “Could I have some dry erase markers as well then?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  An hour later and a gasping Callum and Jack left her room. They’d heaved the white board up all three flights of stairs and it wasn’t a small board. It took up almost all of the free space in the room and when they’d first arrived with it, Devon had wondered whether she should ask to be moved. The stern and slightly angry mutterings of the landlady had changed her mind though. She’d ranted about how busy they were and how all of the ‘city folk’ were demanding obscure drinks and fancy food.

  The fact that the landlady had also brought up an entire box of notecards, paper, pens, markers, string, sticky tape and some old newspaper clipping about the monster in the loch had also made her reluctant to request a move. The woman’s parting words, in her thick Scottish accent had sealed Devon’s decision to get to the bottom of everything.

  “You see that you do right by us girly,” she’d said. “You prove that there’s no monster or that it’s not dangerous and I’ll be happy. These journalists might be good for business but they’re ruining the town I love and I won’t have it.”

  The woman had stared at Devon for a long moment, looking into her eyes and then had nodded before leaving the room. She’d slammed the door behind her as though sealing her words. Devon immediately got to work sticking all of her notes on the white board. She connected the similar events together with string and scribbled notes on the board beside each stickered note.

  When she was done the board was a mess of paper and pictures. String crisscrossed the surface and any bare space was filled with her scribblings. It looked like a mess but in Devon’s eyes it all made sense.

  The monster was not aggressive. In the entire history of sightings it had never once actively attacked any one. Boats had been tipped, people had been shoved but never had it killed anyone.

  “Danni,” Devon said when she called her assistant. “I think there’s more going on than we thought.”

  “I think you’re right boss lady,” Danni said. She looked tired, exhausted and her hair, normally buoyant and crazy, was flat and limp. “McCallum’s stock has tripled in the last few hours. There are live feeds of the loch on his website and several of the news networks are using them for live video. You should see the number of boats out there.”

  Devon glanced out of the window and saw that Danni was right. The entire surface of the lake was filled with boats bobbing and bumping into each other.

  “It’s insane here,” she said, turning back to her computer. “I don’t even dare leave my room.”

  “I cannot blame you for that,” Danni said. “Your name’s everywhere. People know you’re up there and you’re trying to prove the monster doesn’t exist.”

  “Great,” Devon drawled. “Just what I need. As if the locals didn’t hate me enough.”

  “Actually from the quotes they seem to like you,” Danni said. “Listen ‘That girl (Dr. Childs) is only trying to prove the monster didn’t kill anyone. We all know it here and she’s the one who says it wasn’t Nessie that tore those men up. We believe her and we’re glad she’s here’ then it goes on to talk about your history of proving the existence of monsters isn’t true. They all say pretty much the same thing but all the locals seem to be on your side.”

  “Well that’s something,” Devon said. “I suppose they’d rather it was a person killing people than the monster. At least a person can be tried and sent to jail. If it was the monster then it would have to be killed. Bang goes their business.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Danni said. She rubbed at her eyes. “It isn’t the monster though. Is it?”

  “Definitely not,” Devon said firmly. “I saw the bodies with my own eyes. No animal, alive or dead, attacks like that. The wounds were too clean, too precise. It was methodical and exact, like a person did it to cause the quickest death. The rest was just added in afterwards.”

  Danni nodded and flicked through some more papers.

  “Besides,” Devon continued. “The monster attacking like this doesn’t fit with its behaviour in the past.”

  “What do you mean?” Danni asked, returning her attention to the conversation.

  “Well all my research says it’s shy and fearful,” Devon said. She
turned the screen around to show the board. “I’m copying everything and sending it over to you. You can recreate the board and see for yourself. But I’m sure that this isn’t the monster. It never gets aggressive. It only attacks when it feels threatened and never in a lethal manner. It tips boats, knocks people in the water and shoves them away but it doesn’t kill people or even break the skin. In the entire history of the Loch Ness Monster sightings there has never once been a serious injury or death from this creature…”

  “Wow,” Danni said. “Not a single one? That definitely doesn’t fit with what’s going on. From the way you’ve described it…”

  “It’s gentle and afraid,” Devon said. “I know. It sounds like a goat or a cow. Only attacking when it has to and then fleeing as quickly as it can. It doesn’t want to be seen or caught or even touched. It shoves and runs. That’s it. It’s the most passive creature I’ve ever heard of. So why would it attack now?”

  “That’s the question isn’t it?” Danni said. “We’ve got a few more files to send to you. Ajay’s copying them on to the computer and we’re emailing them to you. Hard copies are being sent in snail mail. Honestly though…. It sounds kind of like you’re buying into the whole Loch Ness Monster is real thing.”

  “I could be,” Devon said with a laugh. “It’s the first cryptid I’ve come across that isn’t associated with death and disaster. It’d be nice if this one were real.”

  “It would…” Danni said. “Doc… don’t go native on me.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Devon said.

  They spent a few more minutes chatting idly while Devon cleared her head. Their conversation finally ended with an order by Devon for Danni to get some sleep and Danni recommending the same thing to her. She was smiling as the conversation ended but when she turned and looked back at the board her smile fell away.

  The creature was afraid and passive and shy. So why was it attacking? And why now?