Page 59 of Whispers at Dusk
Robertson was with them by then. “Aye, we’ll get it to the lab, but my money is with you. That’s blood. Della?”
“He left us a message,” she said.
Edmund Taylor and Lapierre had joined them as well. Lapierre stared at the baggie Della raised and read aloud. “‘So as the Stones stand for millennium do I, for blood is the life.’”
“No one can really be this stupid,” Edmund said, shaking his head. “It’s just a tease to us, a come-on. He’s having a hell of a time taunting us all.”
“That may well be true,” Robertson agreed, but he offered them all a rueful smile. “Then again, in the past years, I believe divisions in all our countries have been so deep and social media has been so crazy, people believe just about anything.”
They were all silent for a minute. “All right, this is my theory which could be proven wrong. I don’t think ourheadvampire believes any of it for a second. But! I do believe he convinces his sub-killers, followers, whatever you want to call them, that every word he says is true.”
“He’s studied legends,” Della said. “That’s it—that’s how he’s choosing his places.”
“And there you are. The Orkneys by their very essence are filled with legend. From the Picts to the Gaels to Celts and on to the Norse. Gods and goddesses and demons.” He looked over at Della, shaking his head. “That stone...a stone against what were religious stones to our Neolithic ancestors.” He sighed. “I’d like to get us back to Kirkwall and get a forensic team back out here, widening the field. But I’d also like to get your finds to the lab. A long shot, but we could get DNA or fingerprints that could speed us along.”
“Good. And we’ll need a plan for tonight,” Mason said. “And we’ll catch up with our home office again. If our main vampire isn’t an American, he’s been in America. And I’m also hoping another insight into this matter will be through discovering how the killers wound up with the saliva of dead men.”
“I’ll drop you at the hotel,” Robertson said, nodding to them all, “get to the lab, and be back. We’ll meet at the hotel before deciding on our next steps.”
“What will you need?” Della asked him. “An hour...an hour or two?”
“Two hours. I’ll see what my people have discovered, get the lab to move quickly, and grab a bite. The hotel has fine room service, and there are a dozen eateries nearby...excellent fish—you can see the fleet from the hotel and the street.”
“We’ll find food and meet in two hours after drop-off,” Mason said.
Robertson nodded grimly.
They were quiet as they drove back to Kirkwall. Della thought they were all reflective. And she knew Lapierre and Edmund remained worried.
They’d caught the killers in Norway.
But the killer responsible for the deaths in London and Paris was still at large. Now that they knew there was more than one “vampire,” they feared other deaths might occur on their own turf.
They were all disturbed, wondering if the main killer truly saw himself as above all others, and if he might be a man who really believed drinking human blood could give him eternal life.
Robertson dropped them off. Lapierre and Edmund almost spoke over each other, excusing themselves to go to their rooms alone to work with their people. Bisset remained with Della and Mason for a minute, then shrugged and asked if they minded if he took a nap.
“Please!” Della said. “Yes, yes, go get some sleep.”
“Hey, they even speak English here,” Mason said.
“Well, something like it,” Bisset said. He winced. “In truth, the Scottish use of the language is quite beautiful. I must acclimate myself each time to the pirateR’s!”
When he headed for the elevator, Della turned to Mason. “I’d very much like to head over to St. Magnus,” she told him.
He frowned, curious, but didn’t seem against the idea.
“Well, praying we find this bastard couldn’t hurt,” he said.
“We can certainly say a few prayers. But, Mason, the cathedral is truly part of the heart of the Orkneys. It was begun in 1137 in honor of Magnus Erlendsson and the man is considered a saint by many and a martyr by others.”
“And you think he might still be hanging around?”
“The churchyard is old and... Well, someone helpful could be there!”
He smiled and nodded. “I love the story of Magnus, how he refused to partake in a raid in Wales, how his goodness and gentleness made him seem to many of his fellows. He ruled with his cousin Haakon amicably enough until—”
“Until his cousin decided to execute him!” Della said.
