"That Means That We're Back to the Classics: Motive, Means, and Opportunity"

IF Charles Dickens could people his Christmas Carol with a bunch of out-of-this world manifestations—you know, ghosts and spirits—then why couldn't a latter-day fantasist 

do a Yuletide yarn with . . . wait for it . . . werewolves?

"Bait and Switch."

By Ryk E. Spoor (born 1962; Wikipedia HERE; the ISFDb HERE; and the SFE HERE).

Part of the Digital Knight Universe (ISFDb HERE).

First appearance: The Baen Free Library, 2014.

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Novelette (17 pages as a PDF).

Online at The Baen Free Library (HERE; click Next to get to the Table of Contents).

Chapter 1: Decked in the Halls

Chapter 2: Scene of a Crime

Chapter 3: Images of Fear

Chapter 4: Almost Answers

Chapter 5: Family and Friends

Chapter 6: Night Before Christmas

Chapter 7: Denouement

Chapter 8: Season's Greetings.

   "Splashes of crimson and red-brown sprayed high and wide all around the formerly white and aqua-painted room, radiating out from and pointing towards the grotesque figure sprawled in a huge office chair."

TWO individuals die, apparently trying to kill each other. Notice that we say "apparently," because even though the whole thing is on videotape, a sharp police consultant doubts, in this case, that seeing is believing. And there are larger ramifications for an uneasy peace between humans and . . . let's call them nonhumans . . . which justifies our sleuth's premonition: "This was a trainwreck any way I look at it, and it'll be worse by the time it's over, I think."

Main characters:

~ Syl, Jason Wood (the narrator), Jeri Winthrope, Hansen Guildermere, Cheney Lugosi, Vernon Guildermere, Meredith Guildermere, Adam Brown, Felicia Santos, Dan Mason, Peri Crane, Verne, Morgan, Camillus, and Virigar.

References:

- "Werewolf":

  "In folklore, a werewolf (from Old English werwulf 'man-wolf'), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος 'wolf-human'), is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf or therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either voluntarily or involuntarily due to a curse or other affliction." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Pressurized liquid with silver suspension":

  "Werewolves are often depicted as immune to damage caused by ordinary weapons, being vulnerable only to silver objects, such as a silver-tipped cane, bullet or blade; this attribute was first adopted cinematically in The Wolf Man. This negative reaction to silver is sometimes so strong that the mere touch of the metal on a werewolf's skin will cause burns. Current-day werewolf fiction almost exclusively involves lycanthropy being either a hereditary condition or transmitted like an infectious disease by the bite of another werewolf." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Cheney [sic] Lugosi":

  Two world-famous horror actors in one.

  "Chaney Jr. was then given the title role in The Wolf Man (1941) for Universal, a role which, much like Karloff's Frankenstein monster, would largely typecast Chaney as a horror film actor for the rest of his life." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  "Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (1882–1956), better known by the stage name Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian–American actor. He was best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the horror film classic Dracula (1931), Ygor in Son of Frankenstein (1939) and his roles in many other horror films from 1931 through 1956." (Wikipedia HERE.)

Photograph by Eliot Porter

- "a small Ichabod Crane":

  "Ichabod Crane is a fictional character and the protagonist in Washington Irving's short story 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.' Crane is portrayed in the original work, and in most adaptations, as a tall, lanky individual. He is the local schoolmaster, and strongly believes in all things supernatural, including the legend of the Headless Horseman." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "the CFO":

  "A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.e.: financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financial reporting, and, increasingly, the analysis of data. The CFO thus has ultimate authority over the finance unit and is the chief financial spokesperson for the organization." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "a nonprofit institution":

  "A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization (NFPO), or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental legal entity that operates for a collective, public, or social benefit, rather than to generate profit for private owners. Nonprofit organisations are subject to a non-distribution constraint, meaning that any revenue exceeding expenses must be used to further the organization’s purpose" (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "what was it Sherlock Holmes said? A few suggestive facts, but nothing conclusive":

  If he did say it, we'd like to know where.

- "Most people don't lucid dream at all":

  "In the psychology subfield of oneirology, a lucid dream is a type of dream wherein the dreamer realizes that they are dreaming during their dream. The capacity to have and sustain lucid dreams is a trainable cognitive skill. During a lucid dream, the dreamer may gain some amount of volitional control over the dream characters, narrative, or environment, although this control of dream content is not the salient feature of lucid dreaming." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "anaphylactic shock":

  "Anaphylaxis is a serious, potentially fatal allergic reaction and medical emergency that is rapid in onset and requires immediate medical attention regardless of the availability of on-site treatments while not under medical care." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "The purloined letter principle":

  "Dupin is not a professional detective. In 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue,' Dupin takes the case for amusement and refuses a financial reward. In 'The Purloined Letter,' however, Dupin undertakes the case for financial gain and personal revenge. He is not motivated by pursuing truth, emphasized by the lack of information about the contents of the purloined letter. Dupin's innovative method to solve the mystery is by trying to identify with the criminal. The minister and Dupin have equally matched minds, combining skills of mathematician and poet, and their battle of wits is threatened to end in stalemate. Dupin wins because of his moral strength: the minister is 'unprincipled,' a blackmailer who obtains power by exploiting the weakness of others." (WARNING! SPOILERS! Wikipedia HERE.)

Resources:

- Here, so far, is Ryk E. Spoor's Digital Knight Universe:

  Digital Knight, 2003 (novel; online HERE)

  "Bait and Switch", 2014 (novelette; above)

  Paradigms Lost, 2014 (novel; described HERE)

  Legend, 2019 (novel; listed HERE).

The author also has at least one Sherlock Holmes story to his credit:

  "The Adventure of the Reluctant Detective," 2017 (novelette; listed HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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