Long into the night, the Alchemist studies the bodies of all the deceased. Carefully taking samples of blood, skin and teeth, he performs tests on them all. The first bodies of the dead, that of the Mayor and of the Gunsmith, nothing abnormal is found. The two upstanding members of the town who were killed by werewolves were perfectly human. The only wolfish things found were bits of inhuman skin and hair under the Mayor’s fingernails, apparently from when he did his best to fight off the attack and on the Gunsmith, who was slashed from behind when going for his gun, had a broken claw fragment embedded in his shoulder.

Then, he moved onto the body of the Actuary, hung by the vengeful townfolk of Zanhdorf who wanted blood spilt to avenge the death of the Mayor and the Gunsmith. The alchemist took the blood sample and sprinkled bits of silver into it. If the late Bucky was a werewolf, it would boil and bubble. He took some skin samples and rubbed a mixture of crushed wolfbane and a gel base over it. It would turn red if it was the skin of a werewolf. The alchemist watches the results, then leaps back in horror, then runs into the street, shouting about what he has found.

Bucky was human! Bucky wasn’t a werewolf at all! Bucky was a human! You’ve killed an innocent man!

His shouts pierce the night sharply, though deadened from echo by the snow fall. Bucky the Actuary was human after all.