Of course, William Sterling noticed this immediately. He considered the possibility that David might be lying to him, but then his thoughts diverted. He wanted to get information about his friends, not David.
It didn't even happen to cross his mind that his thoughts had stopped following his usual logic.
"Can you tell us a bit more about Miss Maria and Mr. Settler? Maybe we'll have to get you to recognize their bodies, if Mr. Smith doesn't feel uncomfortable doing that?"
David knew the guy in front of him knew he lied. It appeared painfully obvious when he crossed his arms before his chest, and that guy's gaze grew more skeptical. David felt like something was leaving him; it was probably his hope of ever becoming a good actor.
'I am not particularly proficient at creating alibis.' David accepted with some annoyance in his mind.
"Miss Maria wore a green dress that day and had eye-catching red hair. Mr. Settler wears glasses and looks extremely scholarly. He just wore a white shirt and black pants yesterday. They weren't my friends for a very long time."
William Sterling almost couldn't stop himself from lampooning David, still trying to keep up the facade of being friends with them.
'Not friends for a very long time? Sounds believable.'
"Mister Smith, are you able to specify for how long someone has to be with you to be considered a friend?"
"Well, normally longer than one day."
"..."
"..."
'What an absolute dumbass,' William Sterling thought.
"I understand. Let's go to the bar now, we don't have endless time."
David couldn't help but blame himself for such ridiculousness. He had ruined his image. As William and he walked into the bar, David vividly remembered how it formerly looked. Not that destroyed, not so bloody, and livelier.
'It didn't seem like much survived what happened here,' he looked around.
In the middle of the bar sat a man on a chair, wearing the same uniform as the curly-haired friend beside David. The man, sitting on the chair, had one mechanical arm, which left David in a stupor. His mechanical arm replaced his right arm.
The metal glimmered slightly when he moved his arm. The arm looked like it was built with the newest technology, definitely out of place in this age of time.
'I don't remember. People in the Victorian era were wearing prosthetics? Well, the only thing in that direction of science was an iron hook instead of a hand, which was commonly used in pirate movies. Could it be that all that Beyonder stuff influenced the entire world?'
The stench of dry blood somehow ended up in his nose, and he shook his head quickly to get rid of it, but it was rather ineffective because of the sheer amount of blood sticking to the ground. David sneered in disgust.
Many chairs, tables, and drinks lay destroyed, and their contents were everywhere on the ground. But there were no bodies anymore.
Maybe already been brought away, or some may have been eaten, but that wouldn't make much sense, considering the officer asked him to look at them.
"Where are the bodies?" David questioned William Sterling, who deadpanned when he saw his captain, Max Livermore, sit on the ground in the middle of the bar and do nothing.
"They are in the carriage. Please wait for some time until I finish talking to my boss."
William Sterling stopped David with his left hand from walking any further into the destroyed, bloody mess, which was once a bar. He also didn't want him walking randomly around.
'This area still isn't exactly safe. Better not to risk anything.'
David was visibly annoyed by William's gesture because he didn't understand why he was supposed to wait, but then decided to leave it be. Anger is rarely a viable solution in such situations.
"Boss, you seem to have worked hard. We have someone who could be a friend of one of the victims. Do you want to partake or will you continue sitting there?"
William called over to his boss, in a slightly pissed off tone of voice, who quickly turned to them and stood up. A gentle smile played on Max Livermore's face.
'Maybe it could also be just his smile, which makes that impression?'
David consciously stopped that train of thought and also put a smile on his own face.
"Don't be so hard on me, William."
'So, he's called William,' David sighed silently.
David finally came to know the first name of the guy he's been talking to for a considerable amount of time now.
'By the way, that sounded kinda not straight. Is that boss of his ticking that way? Or is that my mind?'
David, unable to keep control of his thoughts, started to contemplate that silently.
However, Max Livermore wasn't aware of their thoughts and also didn't manage to notice anything in their expressions. Instead, he turned to David and quickly scrutinized him.
"What is your name, young man? My name is Max Livermore, but I am also the boss of William Sterling, who probably immediately interrogated you without telling his full name."
Hearing these words, William Sterling stepped some steps back, turned around, and went to the carriage in the middle of the street.
"He is fleeing. We should give him some time. He is socially awkward."
Max Livermore smiled in William's direction, whose fist suddenly clenched for no apparent reason. It was as if he heard those words.
David coughed. Normally, he isn't the type of person to bring the topic back on track, but this time he was."My name is David Emerick Smith, and like Mr. Sterling already mentioned. I am here for Miss Maria and Mr. Settler. What happened here?"
"Let's first go to the carriage with me and then ask some questions."
Said and done. Without any communication within, they arrived at the wooden carriage. The carriage smelled badly. Not as badly as after his arrival in this strange world, but still...extremely unpleasant.
"Firstly, have you ever seen dead people, Mister Smith?"
'Technically no...I guess.'
David hesitated for one second before answering.
"It won't bother me if I see them. No need to worry about my mental stability. Though I thank you for your care."
William Sterling, who was waiting for them, raised his right eyebrow and looked at David. He didn't believe him, but decided it was smarter to keep his mouth shut.