Serafina and the Silent Vampire Read Online Free Page B

sleep at night?” he snarled. “Ripping folk off when they’re down, playing on their grief like a vulture. You people make me sick.”
    An automatic retort sprang to Sera’s lips, but she never made it. She waited silently, staring at his name badge—PC Alex McGowan—until he released her, then walked away in search of her henchmen. Right now, she made herself sick.
    ****
    It was as they were being allowed to leave at last that Sera finally found her moment to ask Ferdy about his mysterious guest. He came up to her as she made her way to the front door with Jilly and earnestly asked her to visit him tomorrow morning.
    “Of course,” Sera said at once. “Mr. Bell… Did you invite anyone called Blair to your party?”
    “Jane Blair? Our neighbor? Retired school teacher from Mary Erskine’s?”
    “Definitely not! Tall young man, dark or auburn hair, wearing a kilt? Might be an actor or another investigator? Like us?”
    Ferdy shook his head. “Doesn’t ring any bells. And I didn’t hire another investigator. Why?”
    “I’ll explain tomorrow,” she said hurriedly. Plainclothes police were arriving, and this time they’d brought all the suited-up forensics people she expected. She didn’t watch Taggart and CSI for nothing. They were piling into the house with their equipment and climbing the stairs after PC McGowan, who didn’t like Sera, and everyone else was waiting to speak to Ferdy.
    It was pandemonium, and yet as Sera muttered sympathy and farewell and reached for the door handle, the policeman’s exclamation cut through the din like an axe.
    “What! Where the hell’s the body?”
    ****
    Sera’s Citroën screeched to a halt outside Jack’s modern block of luxury flats overlooking Haymarket, just as Jack inserted his key in the door. He glanced over his shoulder without surprise as Sera unwound the window. “Get in,” she called.
    He didn’t even attempt to remonstrate, just took his key out of the door, walked back down the steps, and climbed into the backseat of Sera’s car.
    “Nice one, Doc,” Jilly flung at him from the front passenger seat. “Your dead man walked.”
    Jack sighed. “I know. But be fair. He fooled an actual doctor too. What is it with these people? What are he and old Ferdy up to?”
    “Fuck knows,” said Jilly baldly.
    In the rearview mirror, Sera saw Jack blink. He still hadn’t got used to the shock of such foul language emanating from the angelic-looking Jilly, whose halo of shining golden hair and frail, perfect beauty belied her much earthier character.
    “Where are we going?” Jack asked.
    “Tam’s,” Sera said.
    “He won’t be in,” said Jilly, who was Tam’s cousin and knew his habits pretty well. “He’ll be in Spier’s Bar.”
    Sera nodded and kept driving.
    “Have they found him?” Jack asked.
    “Jason? No. Not yet.”
    “Wouldn’t we be better looking for him than for Tam?”
    “I need Tam to tell me who this Blair character is. I found him wrestling with Tam in the trees, as if they were playing out some vampire scene of their own. Tam was cagey about the whole thing.”
    “Probably thought it was funny till you showed up, then crapped his pants,” Jilly offered. “Tam likes a laugh, but he’s always been scared shitless of you.”
    “Not as scared as he’s going to be,” Sera promised.
    Jilly glanced at her. “It wasn’t his fault, you know.”
    “No,” Sera agreed. “It was mine.”
    “Don’t beat yourself up, Sera. At least Jason isn’t dead.”
    “Thing is,” Sera said, gazing fixedly at the headlights in front, “I’m pretty sure he is.”
    Jilly’s fair head swiveled to stare. “You mean someone stole the body? Who the hell could have done that with the house full of police? Dead bodies are heavy. You can’t just stuff them under your coat and swan off with them unnoticed!”
    “There were only two policemen when the body disappeared, and they were both downstairs taking names. I’ll bet there’s another