Part 13 (2/2)
”I see,” he said neutrally.
She turned back to me. ”Jack, would you be able to confide in me?”
I started to act puzzled, but she waved me down with a gentle gesture.
”It's all right. I think you know I've already guessed. It was from the first... you have the same look about you as Jonathan; it's some quality that I've never been able to define.”
”I do?”
”Perhaps you are yet unaware of it. How long have you- ”Just after I moved here,” I said quickly. It was d.a.m.n hard for me to acknowledge the truth to myself, much less a near-stranger.
”You poor man, was it an accident?”
”No, I was-” But I couldn't tell her. It was an ugly story and I couldn't tell her the truth of how I'd died.
Escott broke in. ”Jack doesn't like to speak about it, it was rather unpleasant at the time. The doctors diagnosed it as food poisoning. He remembers being ill, pa.s.sing out, and then waking up in the hospital morgue. It was quite sudden.”
I gave him a quick, grateful glance. He looked concerned, but with a touch of blandness. He was an excellent liar.
”It must have been horrible for you.”
”Not really, just a surprise.” It had indeed been a surprise, so I wasn't exactly lying. ”Maureen told me pretty much what to expect and what to do if it happened.”
”And your family?”
”They know nothing about this. They think I'm still alive- in the conventional sense.”
”Yes, that's good. At least you're not completely cut off as Maureen was; you can still visit them. It may be hard for you in the future when they begin to notice you don't age.”
”I'll let the future take care of itself.”
She turned her eye on Escott. ”And you, Charles, how did you come to know about Jack?”
”I happened to notice that he did not reflect in polished surfaces and became curious to make his acquaintance.”
”But you don't care what he is?”
”Not really. I find the condition of vampirism to be a fascinating study, but not something to fear. Knowledge is an excellent cure for fear. On the other hand. Jack is the only vampire I know. If this genus of the human race is at all representative of the majority, then there might well be a few of whom we should be wary.”
”You sound like a very exceptional individual.”
He made a depreciative little shrug.
”Gaylen, I asked Charles along to meet you because he wants to help us find Maureen.”
”After all this time?” She was very doubtful.
”I can make no promises, ma'am, but if you could provide me with enough solid facts about Maureen and perhaps the loan of this photograph- ”But I don't understand. How can you?”
”1 am a private agent, an investigator. I shall be leaving for New York tomorrow on business, and as long as I'm there I'm going to look into the matter of her disappearance.”
”To New York? Tomorrow? You mean you're all prepared?”
”Yes, I've planned on this for some lime. In fact, I was to leave today, but decided to stay to meet you. Your notice appearing when it did was very fortunate. Any information you give me about Maureen could be helpful.”
”I don't see how. After all this time do you really think there's any hope?”
”We shan't know until I try.”
”When do you plan to return?”
”In two or three days, sooner if I should be lucky.”
”That seems a very short time.”
”Not when one is digging through official records and doc.u.ments.”
”He knows his job,” I added.
She took her eyes from Escott, visibly changing mental gears. ”Of course I'll help in any way I can.”
”For a start, what do you know about a man named Braxton?” he asked.
”Who?”
”James Braxton.” he repeated. ”He owns a bookstore in Manhattan.”
”I've never heard of him.”
A stray thought occurred to me. ”You said you had some crank calls; could you tell us about them?”
”Why do you want to know?”
”Just tell us.”
My insistence was not what she wanted to hear, and I felt frozen out for a moment. There was also a quality about her. a kind of authority that made me very much aware of our age difference. She swallowed it and decided to answer.
”The first call was a girl. She said she was Maureen and she didn't like people talking about her, then she giggled and hung up. The second was from some man who wanted to know more about the notice. He called yesterday with a lot of questions that were not his business, and I finally told him as much. He never said who he was and I didn't want someone like that bothering me.”
”Maybe that was him,” I said to Escott.
”It would seem likely,” he agreed.
”Who? Are you talking about this Braxton?” she asked.
”Yes.””Who is he?”
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