Ch.21Chupacabra! (2)

# 021

“Chupacabra? Agent Jimena, did you really believe in that?”

Dexter snickered.

The chupacabra, a creature or alien believed to inhabit the Americas, is known for attacking livestock and draining all their blood.

With a hideous appearance resembling a deep-sea monster, it looks threatening to humans, but in reality, it’s known as a creature that harms livestock but not people.

There have been instances where coyote or feral dog carcasses were mistakenly identified as chupacabras, and even now, third-rate news occasionally reports supposed chupacabra carcass discoveries.

It’s literally an outdated cryptid.

“W-what I meant was that it looks like something a chupacabra would do. That’s all. Would it make sense for aliens to come all the way to Earth just to drink cow blood?”

“It could be good for virility.”

“Who on earth would stick a straw into any animal and drink its blood for virility?”

Dexter shrugged.

“That’s because Agent Jimena hasn’t seen people who ruthlessly take care of their health.”

“That’s different.”

“How is it different? People drink bear gallbladder juice because it’s supposedly good for them.”

Dexter leaned against the pickup truck as he spoke.

“Even ancient Chinese emperors drank mercury for longevity.”

“Are you saying cow blood is a symbol of longevity for aliens?”

“No, I’m saying it could be. Let’s think with an open mind. Open thinking.”

Agent Jimena gave Dexter a dubious look at his bizarre statement.

“Should I just go home then? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because you’re saying strange things!”

“Well, this strange-talking person will be heading home now.”

When Dexter actually tried to open the pickup truck door to leave, Agent Jimena grabbed his hand.

“Okay, okay! But please stop joking around. I’m really in a hurry.”

Seeing Agent Jimena’s sulky expression, Dexter opened and closed his hand as he spoke.

“First of all, why do you think aliens are behind this?”

“Because no human would do something like this.”

“That seems like a hasty conclusion.”

Dexter continued.

“You know, there used to be a disease like that. Vampire syndrome or something? I think I read about it in a book when I was young.”

“Porphyria?”

Agent Jimena shook her head.

Porphyria, a genetic disease that even affected British royalty, causes problems with one of the components of hemoglobin in the body, requiring normal hemoglobin transfusions.

In times when medical knowledge was limited, it was sometimes treated by drinking actual human blood, which contributed to the spread of vampire legends.

“That’s absurd. If someone had porphyria, they’d go to a hospital, not drink perfectly good cow blood. Especially from someone else’s farm.”

“I feel like we’re going in circles. So again, why would aliens come all the way to Earth to drink cow blood?”

“Because humans have no reason to drink cow blood either.”

Back to square one.

Dexter scratched his head vigorously.

‘She’s surprisingly stubborn.’

“Fine, whatever. Let’s assume there’s a reason aliens have to consume cow blood.”

“Good, that’s what I wanted.”

Dexter recalled the unusual incidents allegedly caused by aliens that he had seen and heard about.

“First possibility: academic research.”

“You’re saying an alien scholar did this?”

“We’d have to verify that. Just as a botanist collects plant specimens, an alien zoologist might be studying Earth’s animals.”

“And the second?”

“The second would be nutrient intake.”

“Couldn’t they get nutrients from eating food?”

“Humans absorb nutrients through the process of digestion when eating food. The aliens who sucked the cow’s blood might find this process difficult or impossible.”

“And the third?”

“A meaningless act. Mischief or for fun.”

“You’re saying there’s such a lunatic on Earth?”

Agent Jimena was frowning deeply, as if horrified.

“The universe is vast, and there are plenty of lunatics.”

Dexter spoke as if it were no big deal.

Though he presented three hypotheses, Dexter had already ruled out the first one.

‘It would be much easier and more convenient for the OSA to provide information in the first place.’

So it was really just the second or third possibility.

“Have you been to the scene?”

“I was at the scene when I called you earlier.”

It’s impossible to notice just by looking at photos of the scene.

“But wait, I remember you’re from the Residency Management Division? Shouldn’t another division be investigating this?”

“……”

Agent Jimena was silent again.

“Please don’t tell me you took on work you didn’t need to do just because of pride.”

“But… those damn bastards…”

Agent Jimena protested in a small voice, but it didn’t particularly resonate with Dexter.

“Who adds more work when they should be reducing it? Especially work that doesn’t need to be done.”

“Yes… I’m sorry…”

“You should be apologizing to Steve, not me. He’s probably grinding his teeth right now.”

Dexter felt a bit sorry for his boss, Steve.

“Is the crime scene far?”

“No, it’s close, in southern Las Vegas. A place called Raztek Ranch, near Blue Diamond.”

Blue Diamond is a small town in southern Las Vegas.

Beyond Blue Diamond, the area becomes mostly barren wasteland, with ranches scattered here and there.

“So, you’ll come with me, right?”

Dexter found it difficult to refuse Agent Jimena, who was looking at him with bright, expectant eyes. He scratched his head and nodded.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Yes! Great, should we go separately? Or together?”

“Since I need to take the road by the prison to get home anyway, I’ll ride in your car.”

“This way!”

Dexter smiled as he watched Agent Jimena walk to her car with flashy steps, but his smile vanished as soon as he saw the inside of her vehicle.

“Is this… the state of a car belonging to an agent of a national secret department?”

“What? It’s clean enough.”

Agent Jimena’s personal car, a black Chevrolet Cruze, didn’t look bad on the outside except for a thin layer of dust.

Dexter knew well that cars in Nevada get dusty quickly due to sand blowing in from the desert, even with frequent washing.

The problem was the inside.

“Did the definition of ‘clean’ change during my 15 years in space? How is this clean in any way?”

Sandwich wrappers, snack crumbs, milkshake cups rolling around on the floor… there was trash everywhere, too much to list.

“I’ve never been so reluctant to get into a car before.”

“…I’ll clean it later, just get in for now!”

Agent Jimena’s face had turned bright red.

“Doesn’t it bother you? Driving such a messy car to work every day.”

“I don’t have time to clean it.”

“I don’t think that’s it.”

Dexter said, looking around the car interior.

At least the seats weren’t sticky, and there wasn’t a terrible smell.

“When exactly did this incident occur?”

“This morning. The cow carcass has been collected and is being examined in the lab, and the scene investigation was only briefly conducted.”

“What did they find at the scene?”

“They found some human footprints, but nothing distinctive about them. They were plain footprints, and if there was any characteristic, it would be that they were about women’s shoe size.”

“How many people?”

“Two were identified.”

So apparently two people presumed to be human came and only extracted cow blood.

“Hmm, I think we’ll need to see the scene to know more.”

There were too many variables for Dexter to do anything without seeing it firsthand.

“Thank you. For helping me like this.”

“You should be thanking Steve for allowing an external resource to cooperate on official business.”

Dexter meant it as a joke, but Agent Jimena didn’t respond.

“Uh, well… about that.”

Dexter was dumbfounded by Agent Jimena’s reaction.

“No way? You just asked me directly without requesting official cooperation?”

“You were the only one I could think of, and preparing cooperation request documents would take too much time, so I just…”

“You’d better pray to the heavens that Steve doesn’t find out, seriously.”

He’d never met someone who acted so recklessly.

“Well, at least you’re passionate.”

“Heh, people in my department say I work hard…”

“Working hard but poorly is the biggest headache.”

“Tch.”

Agent Jimena pouted and fell silent, pushing out her lips in obvious displeasure.

After a somewhat boring drive, the two arrived at the dark Raztek Ranch. They got out of the car, and Agent Jimena took a blue coat from the trunk.

They headed toward the only place with a porch light on, and Dexter pointed to the illuminated area.

“Is that where the ranch owner lives?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m going to tell them we need to reinvestigate.”

Dexter nodded at Agent Jimena’s answer and asked:

“So what did you tell the ranch owner about who you are?”

“For something like this, FBI would be appropriate, right?”

Agent Jimena said, putting on the blue coat she had taken from the trunk.

The coat had “FBI” written on it in yellow letters.

“You’re quite thorough in that regard.”

“It’s basic, you know?”

“I wish you’d apply those basics to me too.”

“…Shh.”

Agent Jimena rang the doorbell next to the door, and shortly after, an elderly woman greeted the two.

“Ah, you’re the FBI agent from earlier?”

“Sorry for the late hour. We think we might have missed something, so we’d like to take another look at the scene, if that’s alright?”

The elderly woman readily agreed.

“Of course, feel free to investigate again. And the gentleman on your right is…?”

“Correctional Officer Hughes from Honeygood Prison. One of the pieces of evidence at the scene bears similarities to a crime committed by an inmate at our facility, so I’m accompanying the FBI agent.”

Agent Jimena’s eyes widened at Dexter’s smooth lie, delivered without missing a beat.

“I see. Thank you for your hard work, especially at this late hour.”

The elderly woman smiled gently at Dexter.

“We’ll be brief. Thank you for your cooperation.”

After Agent Jimena’s polite words, the elderly woman went back inside, and Agent Jimena stuck her tongue out at Dexter.

“Wow, how can you lie like that?”

“It’s not lying. It’s the best response to avoid a potentially compromising situation.”

“But that’s a lie!”

“Would you prefer I honestly say, ‘This is Agent Jimena from the government’s secret Space Security Agency, and I’m Dexter, who just returned from 15 years in space and is here to cover for Agent Jimena’s mistake’?”

“…Let’s call it the best response, shall we.”

As the two headed to the pasture where the incident occurred, there was nothing inside the fence—the cows had apparently been moved elsewhere.

It was nearly evening, and the pasture was measured in acres, making it the worst combination for finding anything.

“I wonder if we can even find anything.”

“We have to try our best!”

Agent Jimena took out two LED flashlights from her pocket and handed one to Dexter.

“Flashlights? Will these be enough?”

“The investigation team already checked once, but they didn’t think it was important, so they did a cursory job. If we look carefully, we might find some evidence.”

Dexter slowly nodded at Agent Jimena’s confident words.

“Alright, I’m not sure how well this will go, but let’s look.”

Dexter was quite unenthusiastic, but since his help was needed, he reluctantly began examining the surroundings.

‘The footprints or the cow carcass would have the most information, but other evidence…’

Even Dexter didn’t have a brilliant solution.

He could advise on existing evidence, but starting from scratch to find evidence was daunting in many ways.

‘Where should I even start looking?’