A Picture Of Francesco
When 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 years, 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.”
Hayley 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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