The blizzard finally subsided, thankfully. None of the stars had sickness either.
And so, the Red Riding Hood cast went on to do a bit of promotion before they perform at Royal Alexandra Theatre. Also just know as 'Royal Alex'.
It was a very tedious affair, this promotion. As the 'personal detective and bodyguard', Leon was pulled along to follow Wolfe beside his other bodyguards and ushers.
"Ahhhhh! Wolfe Fang, wolf me up!"
"Someone help me! Mon Dieu, I'm going to die! There's too much hotness everywhere and it's melting the snow!"
"Wolfe Fang, all I want for Christmas is you!"
Wolfe responded like the suave hotshot he was to all these thirsty shouts, waving and winking like no tomorrow. Leon could not deal with his egotistic, self-absorbed looks, and went to take a cig.
As he did, another person also went to smoke.
"Hey, you're Wolfe's boyfriend, right? What's your name again..... Sorry, I'm bad with names outside my character's names."
"Leon."
"Ah, Leon! Yeah, I remember now... You have a lighter? Mine's run out of fluid."
It was Taji Zahavi. Their primary suspect in the cast.
Leon had studied this guy a bit.
He was a bright type of guy, had ENFJ on his Instagram bio. A proud extrovert. His other hobbies besides theater acting were playing tennis and donating at animal adoption centers.
His name was Taji because his mother was Japanese, while his father was Hebrew. It was likely that his blonde hair was dyed, and his blue eyes were contacts.
But they still fit him, as his featured took more of the Western side of the gene pool. He liked wearing a grunge type of get-up: dark checkered jackets, jeans, and beanies or casual hats.
Leon pulled out his lighter. "Sure. Where's your girlfriend?"
"Ah, Cherith's had to meet up with some people." He said. "She left since most of the fans are just here for Wolfe."
"Without you?" He hand over his lighter so Taji can light up his cigarette.
"Yeah..... Well, she's like that. Always out with others all the time." Taji said. "Not so different with your Wolfe."
"Mn. You sure don't like my boyfriend very much, huh?"
Taji blew out a whiff of smoke. "Nah, I used to not like him. He had this vibe of being nice to you when he needs you then acting like a stranger once he doesn't anymore."
Leon chuckled bitterly. "Quite a specific vibe."
"Haha, I just encountered a lot of people like that in my life. You know how the industry can be." Taji leaned on a nearby ticketing machine.
"I thought he was going to be another Leslie." He sighed.
"Another Leslie?"
Taji went closer. "Between the two of us.... I didn't like Leslie much either. I did, but the longer I worked with him, I saw his true colors."
"But I'm not saying he's a bad guy. Far from that. Wolfe was like that too, they just get.... lost."
"Lost?" Leon threw his cigarette butt straight into a trashcan 10 meters away.
"The spotlights can blind you sometimes. I have done my best not to be blinded." Taji said. "And when you go blind, you sometimes veer into the wrong path.
"You start to see your worth to be based on what others gave you, not yourself."
"Leslie lost his way. And look where that took him." Taji said. "I'm not saying this to be some nosy, gossiping douche. I'm saying this as a warning."
"Wolfe's improving thanks to you. He's not as blind as before." The blond guy patted his back.
"But you still have to watch over him. Don't let him go astray. Talk to him, try to see if there's anything that's bothering him. Understand him."
Leon felt these words were too heavy. "You sound like his dad."
"Haha, well, I am called the dad of the group sometimes. Cherith's the cool mom, I'm the worrywart."
He tipped his hat. "Well, I gotta go back and check if some fans are looking for me. Thanks for the lighter."
He tossed it to Leon, and somehow, the policeman felt in his gut that this man was not as suspicious as they thought.
He was still not ruling out the possibility that it was all a 'nice guy' act, though. These were actors after all.
But his intuition was pushing him to look at another direction. Taji was not it.
And his words also gave him a bit of introspection. He had always tried to understand this new Wolfe too, it's not like he never tried.
But every time he would bring up his worries about his career, he can feel the shiftiness and awkwardness. Leslie's death was too much of a sore topic.
Leon treaded it carefully.... but he really need to know more details now.
What exactly motivated it? How was the one to witness the body that night, what was he doing in his apartment?
He doesn't want to invade Wolfe's personal bubble.... But can he ever say that he's at least someone Wolfe trusted if he would not let him inside a little?
As the event was over, and Wolfe was only signing autographs now to people on the streets, handing out posters....
Leon saw a little puppy went over to him. It was a tiny Siberian Husky.
"Hello there, tiny fella. Where's your owner?" Leon asked.
"Arf! Arf!" It responded, looking very agitated.
Leon's stomach dropped, sensing something immediately. The little puppy had a name tag, it was called Little John.
A rich middle-aged woman wearing many pearls went over to him, shouting at the poor dog. "Ah, you again! Shoo! Away, you wretch!"
Leon took the puppy before she could kick it. "What's wrong, Madam? Why hurt an innocent dog?"
"That's no 'innocent dog'! That's an accomplice to a thief!" She yelled.
"I just came to pick him up from having his little paw stuck in the muck earlier. The owner then made a punter out of me by going 'Oh, thank you for saving my little pup? How can I repay you?'"
"Of course, I declined any offer to repay my help as I am simply a good soul. He took the dog from me, but that's not the only thing he took with him! He took my gold bracelet as well! And my purse as he waved goodbye!"
Leon frowned at this story. "Where is he now then, if he's planning to con me?"
He then noticed something at the back of the dog.
It was blood.
Wolfe waved at him and shouted loudly for the fans to hear. "Hey, Leon Mo! Is that puppy for me!?? I love huskies!"
WHIZZZZ!!!
As he ran towards Leon, an arrow then whizzed from a house nearby, going straight for Wolfe Fang!