Page 61 of Wild Wolf

“What do you think of the costumes here tonight?”

He made a disappointed face. “Meh. They’re okay. I mean, that one is good,” he said, pointing at the one that was sure to take the prize. “But he could have done better.”

“How so?”

“It just seems a little stiff. And I don’t know how that guy can see out of that thing. It looks like the animatronics are on some kind of loop that does the same thing over and over again. So, he’s really not controlling anything.”

“Why didn’t you compete?”

He laughed. “Do you know how long it takes to put together a suit like that? Source all the materials, build the armature, wire all the electronics. I built one for a client recently. Guyhad a lot of money. But how often can you prance around in a werewolf suit?”

“Pretty much once a year.”

“There’s always a horror convention somewhere,” he said.

“Out of curiosity, who was the client?”

Oren shifted uncomfortably. “I can’t really divulge client information.”

“I understand.” After a brief pause, I said. “This suit you built for your client. How realistic was it?”

“Of course, I’m going to tell you it looked great. Better than anything here. It could totally be a hero prop in a movie.”

“I’d like to see pictures.”

“I wish I had some. It was some of my best work. But my client wanted complete confidentiality.”

“Surely you took a few for yourself.”

He looked offended. “I take my work and my commitments seriously.”

“Of course.”

“Do you think this suit you built could?—“

“Have been used by the killer?” He frowned and shook his head. “No. It was just a prop. No real claws. Painted acrylic teeth. Nothing that could do what’s been done to the victims.”

“I’d love to see your work sometime,“ I said with a disarming smile.

Jack returned with our drinks and passed them out.

I introduced him to Oren.

The two shook hands.

I continued with my line of questioning. “If you were going to design a functional suit, how would you do it?”

Oren shook his head. “I don’t know if it’s possible. It would have to be a pretty damn good suit. Made of lightweight composite materials. Titanium claws. Razor sharp. You’d need to maintain agility and great visibility. You could make teeth with zirconia, fixed with titanium posts and abutments. A hydraulic jaw. I’d put cameras in the eyes and feed them through goggles to the user inside. Keep it agile with aerospace-grade blade running prosthetics. The spring action would enhance each step?”

“Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.” In a casual tone, I asked, “Could you build something like that?”

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Oren thought about it for a moment. He knew exactly why I was asking. “I like to think I’m pretty good, but that’s probably beyond my skill level.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. You gotta be good to work in Hollywood.”

“I mean, I guess I could do it if I had the budget. Titanium and composite materials are expensive. It would take a lot of testing and countless failed attempts.”