Read Online Case File 13 #3 by J. Scott Savage - Free Book Online

to folklore, homunculi are closely related to small, beardless, humanlike beings called mandragora , or, as the Germans call them, alreona .”
    â€œMandragora, I think I’ve heard of those,” Nick said. “Don’t they come from plants or something?”
    â€œMandrake plants, to be precise,” Angelo said. He pointed to a picture of a flat plant with thick, dark green leaves. “They grow a long, wrinkled root that can look nearly human. Supposedly, if you pick them at the right time they form actual little people. You have to cover your ears to protect yourself from their screams or they can kill you.”
    â€œAnd these mandrake plants grow here?” Nick asked.
    â€œNot usually. The plants are native to western Europe. But from everything I’ve read, if you have the right soil and the right temperature, they can grow here. Or this one could come from some other kind of plant.”
    That made sense. The guy who’d kicked them off his property seemed much more like an angry farmer who’d found someone trespassing in his garden than like a mad scientist. But there was still the part that had bothered him ever since the drive home. “Ifthat guy is growing homunculi, why would he let them roam free? Couldn’t they end up wandering onto the highway and getting hit by a car?”
    â€œMaybe not,” Angelo said. “This is just a hunch. But if they are related to the mandragoras, it’s entirely possible that they can’t survive long away from where they were originally grown.”
    â€œOh, no,” a voice said.
    Nick and Angelo turned to see Carter standing by the kitchen door. Neither of them had heard him come in. He clutched his backpack to his chest and something moved inside it.
    Nick put his hand to his mouth. “Tell me that isn’t what I think it is in there.”
    Carter bit his lip and looked away. “Guys, we might have a little problem.”

“How could you do it?” Angelo demanded, his eyes blazing behind his thick glasses. “We specifically told you to leave the homunculus in the woods. Don’t you realize you could make it sick or even kill it by taking it out of its natural habitat?”
    Carter scratched at the white stripe down the middle of his hair and hung his head. “I was planning to let him go. Really. But then he looked up at me with those sad little eyes of mine—I mean his—and I thought, what if by feeding him we made it so he can’t survive on his own? How would I feel if I did something to hurt the little guy?”
    Nick was so mad he could feel his pulse pounding in his head. “So you thought you’d just bring it home and what? Make a pet out of it? Where did you think you were going to keep it, a hamster cage?”
    â€œI didn’t think about any of that!” Carter shouted. “I just opened my pack and he climbed in.”
    Mom stuck her head into the kitchen. “Everything okay in here?”
    â€œWe’re fine,” Nick said, shooting Carter a dark look. “Carter was just telling us about a movie where a dumb kid brings home a wild animal and learns what a bad idea that is.”
    â€œWell, you better get out the door or you’re going to be late.”
    Glaring at one another, the three boys walked out the door and started toward school. As soon as they were out of sight of the house, Carter turned to Nick. “I’m planning on taking Carter Junior back, okay? I knew it was a bad idea to take him as soon as I got to the campsite. But by then that guy was screaming at us and I was afraid to let him see what I’d done.” He looked down at the backpack, which was wriggling more and more. “The thing is, I think there’s something wrong with him.”
    Angelo stepped forward. “What do you mean? Is it sick?”
    Carter’s pack shook and a little voice called out, “Is it sick?”
    Nick stared at