"I guess that's... better than the alternative...?" He was going to ask about the murder investigation but honestly this seems a lot more important.

"It's better than being feral, isn't it? ...Can wild cats do this? Are there lions or panthers or such running about that can talk to their domestic kin?"

"Good question, and I suppose if I ever meet a lion we'll find out."

"I mean. There's a zoo in town." He tugs at his hair nervously.

"Oh, poor lion at the zoo. If it can talk it's certainly not having a better time than it would on the savannah."

...yeah she should. Probably check on that. It is not great that she hasn't.

"Are we going to go on more outings together? Down to the zoo to talk to the lions? Up to Clare Melford for pagan rites?"

"I think we sort of have to check out Clare Melford, since that's actually, you know, relevant. What with the strange deaths."

Terrence thinks nervously for a few moments, then bursts out laughing. "I don't, uh, I came in this expecting a murder investigation and here I am considering the logistics of harboring a fugitive lion. We can add the zoo to the list, I suppose. Going to Clare Melford seems sensible too, though. ...Inaaya, I don't suppose you could, say, touch Roby, and see if he did commit the murders or not? That would make things easier if you could."

"A fugitive? What laws has the lion broken!" She's laughing a little too, but quickly sobers up. "Do you think they'd let her touch Roby? Or Valentine?"

"I don't think they'd let me but I'm not sure they could stop me. --I don't know if I'd be able to tell if he committed the murders even if I did manage. I don't tend to get useful information from people's hands, I've caught a few cases of cancer early but that's kind of it..."

"Damn. ... What about their heads? I'm just exploring ideas, mind you."

"Even less likely unless they somehow committed murder with their hair."

That doesn't totally make sense, but - well, hey, Terrence just learned about touch-telepathy today, he has no idea how it works, fair enough. "I suppose we could plan an excursion to Clare Melford, then."

"--I hope nobody dies there when we go."

"I should... get your reads on the situation first, I suppose. I'm rather revisiting a lot of things. Inaaya, Sal, do you believe this - meteorite whistle is connected to some distinctly inhuman force which is performing the, the strange murders?"

"It sounds bizarre and not like anything else that's happened and I can't see how it would enter into things but multiple people have mentioned it. I think there might be something going on involving the whistle."

"I think that the meteorite whistle is connected to the strange murders, and I suspect the murders are being committed in some way not conventionally held to be possible. I'm more sure of the first than the second but I'm not entirely sure of either."

"Okay. Alright. Just wanted to make sure I'm on the right track here." He's wide-eyed and blinking fast but mostly doing okay on getting a handle on it. For now. "So, um. What now, ought we just to - take a trip to a possible ritual site? Because I'm up for it."

"Let's pick a day."

"If we want to do this before the weekend I can get the day off work," says Sal.

"Friday?" Terrence shrugs. "That way we could stay overnight if it turns out that, I don't know, we need gaze upon the altar in the dead of moonlight or what have you."

"I usually work on weekends but being a consulting bohemian is more money than my usual job and w-- I've got some leeway, Friday works."

"Do we want to revisit anything before Friday? Is there anything you've looked into that ought to be examined from a new angle, Terrence?" He's thinking about Ben Best but that doesn't have to be the project Terrence re-examines.

(His favorite book. His favorite book should be re-examined from the angle that it's super cursed.)

Terrence thinks about it. He knows what the question is, and he probably can find an answer, but he remembers something and gulps, and - "I think someone's trying to stop me from investigating this and willing to kill me if need be," is what comes out.