"The books and instructors say it is."
"It's true of the newly infected shapeshifters. They can wake as ravening beasts and have complete blackouts as people for the first few full moons, but after that almost all of them regain themselves. They just happen to turn furry once a month, but they become the people they were."
He shook his head, frowning and so serious. "Not what we saw on the films."
"I'll bet money they were newbies, the newly turned lycanthropes. They can be just animals."
"You're telling me that what I saw in class isn't what they are, that they're more people than monsters?"
"Newman, I live with two shapeshifters. Do you really think I could do that if they tried to kill me every time they changed form?"
He frowned harder. "So that rumor is true?"
"Some of the rumors are true, most aren't, but that's true. Trust me, the men that I love have never tried to hurt me in any form."
"So this shapeshifter from last night should be like a person in a fur suit," he said.
I shook my head. "Not what I said."
"You're saying on one hand they're just furry people and on the other that the dogs are so afraid of them they won't track them. You can't have it both ways, Marshal Blake; either they're monsters or they're people."
"Tell that to the BTK killer," I said. "He was a churchgoer, raised two kids, married, and resisted the urge to kill for decades. He was a person, but he was a monster, too."
"But dogs will track a serial killer," Newman said.
Edward tried. "Newman, it's a good idea, but if he was even partially shapeshifted, and he had to be to hurt Marshal Karlton, then the dogs will be too afraid to track him. Did you ask for dogs trained on tracking shapeshifters?"
"I asked for the best dog we had nearby."