inherit the earth

by Hunter

  “Wonderful, “ sighed Van Wyk, suddenly feeling lost and overwhelmed. He wasn’t going to solve the mystery. No one could solve it, not with the supernatural involved. There were too many imponderables. Even if he somehow did, the vampires would almost certainly kill him anyway. And his escape plan was a joke.

  “You okay? ” Marvin asked.

  “Yes. Yes, of course. ” He sat up straighter and did his best to push defeatism out of his head. While he still had a chance, however slim, he mustn’t give way to despair.

  “Hello again, ” said Rand from the doorway. “How’s it going? ”

  “I’m making progress, I think, ” Van Wyk replied, trying to present a confident facade.

  “I hope so, for your sake. Time is slipping away. ” Rand seated himself on the couch, then produced a silver cigarette case from inside his double-breasted jacket. “Would you like one? ” “No, thank you, ” said Van Wyk. “I would like to know where you were between sunset and the moment when Mr. Wilson made contact with you. ”

  “In my room alone, ” said Rand, striking a teardrop of blue and yellow flame from his lighter, “pondering what my faction ought to say to Polly’s in the negotiations. So I suppose I have no alibi. I also have no motive. ”

  “I’ve been told that many vampires hunger for power. Perhaps you wanted to eliminate Saraceno in order to rule his principality yourself. ”

  Rand exhaled a breath of pungent, sinuous blue smoke. “I admit that like most ‘Executives, ’ I’m a political animal. My ambition is to rise as high as possible. But I was nowhere near ready to move against Anthony. I also have no vampiric power which would have enabled me to get at him when he was protected as he was. ”

  “So I understand. But if there is a secret way in here, you, as Mr. Saraceno’s lieutenant, are the one most likely to know about it. ”

  “You’ve already searched the suite once, Doctor. Go over it again if you like. If you find a secret door, it will be news to me. ”

  “Would any of the other Executives want to kill Mr. Saraceno? ”

  “It’s possible that someone was harboring some sort of grudge. But like me, he couldn’t have gotten in. ”

  “How difficult would it be for someone unaffiliated with either your faction or Polly’s to infiltrate the hotel? ”

  “Very difficult. We have sentries and security systems covering the approaches. That’s how we spotted you. ”

  Van Wyk frowned as he strained to think of a new question, something that could cast a ray of light into what seemed an impenetrable darkness. “You’re stumped, aren’t your said Rand. “No, I simply haven’t hit on the answer yet. “ “Don’t bother trying, ” the handsome vampire said. “I knew you wouldn’t get anywhere. I only agreed to let you try because it bought me time to figure a way out of this mess. And I have. I’ve worked out a solution that will help you and me both. ”

  “Go on. ”

  “If you pin the murder on Polly or one of her people, it will probably cause a war between our two factions. If you don’t accuse anyone, my associates will simply assume that the someone on the other side was responsible, and we’ll still have to fight. And I don’t want that, not at the very beginning of my reign. I have other matters to attend to. I have to consolidate my position with the members of my family and also the elders of my kind.

  “So here’s the answer. Pin the murder on Wilson and let Polly’s crowd off the hook. He’s just a human flunky, so no one will care if he takes the fall. If you’re as slick an investigator as you say, I’m sure you can work out a convincing way to frame him. And if you convince everyone, I’ll make sure you walk out of this place alive. I’ll have to, won’t I? I can’t let anyone molest you for fear that you’ll shout out the truth about our arrangement. ”

  You could try to have me attacked so suddenly and viciously that I wouldn’t have time to shout, Van Wyk thought. Still, the scheme seemed to offer genuine hope of survival, far better hope than he’d had before. He sat silently for several seconds, thinking it over. At last he said, “I’m sorry. It’s an interesting proposition, but I must decline. ” Rand stared Van Wyk in the eyes. “You should reconsider. Otherwise you won’t live out the night. ” Van Wyk felt dazed. Woozy. He gave his head a vigorous shake and his thoughts snapped back into focus. Rand blinked in surprise.

  “As I told Polly earlier, ” the doctor said, “some of your vampire powers don’t work on me. Including your mesmerism, evidently. I believe we’re done for now. Please send up Jonathan and his young lady. ”

  “Think about my offer, ” growled Rand, his fangs extended. He stalked out.

  Marvin shook his head. “He throws you a lifeline, you throw it back. ”

  “With great reluctance. But I believe in seeking the truth, and in keeping faith with the truth by acting justly. ”

  “Even when it’s only justice for a creep who works for vampires? A guy you might wind up killing yourself for, some other night? ”

  “Even then. ”

  “Weird. ”

  A male and female vampire appeared in the doorway. Jonathan Billings was tall, with close-cropped, receding ginger hair, shrewd green eyes, and a deep cleft in his chin. Elaine was sharp-featured and petite, with a fondness for gold jewelry than shone vividly against her olive skin. Both were as expensively and conservatively dressed as the other Executives. When Van Wyk ushered them to the couch, they sat close together and held hands.

  “I haven’t seen either of you before, ” said Van Wyk.

  “No, ” Billings replied. “When we arrived at the hotel, Polly advised us to stay in our room until someone sent for us. She was afraid that if we ran into Rand or some of his followers, there might be some sort of altercation that would make the negotiations even more difficult. ” “Was anyone with you? ” asked Van Wyk. “No, ” Billings replied. “But I swear, we didn’t sneak out and kill Anthony. Surely you understand that we couldn’t. ”

  “Why do you say that? Has someone informed you of the circumstances of his death T

  “No. But with vampires, the offspring is always weaker than the sire. ” Yet another nugget of information; Van Wyk tucked it away. “Anthony was my sire, I’m Elaine’s sire, so there you are. ” He spread his soft-looking, manicured hands.

  “You will at least concede that you had reason to kill Mr. Saraceno. ”

  “Not really. Even if he was dead, Polly might still have turned us over to his successor, depending on how the discussions went. ”

  “But it was Mr. Saraceno you defied, ” said Van Wyk, “and not Mr. Rand. Perhaps you expected the latter to be less angry, and thus more lenient with regard to your punishment. ”

  Billings smiled mirthlessly. “Evidently you don’t know Rand very well. ”

  “Perhaps not, ” the doctor said. “Still, you must have resented Mr. Saraceno. Killing him would have brought you a certain satisfaction, even if nothing more. ”

  “Or course I resented him, ” Billings said. “Before he gave me the gift, he said he wanted me for my legal acumen. I was supposed to rise high in the councils of our kind and become a major player. But after the change, he treated me like an infant! He tried to control and restrict me in all sorts of ways, including forbidding me to make another vampire. He said I didn’t know how to survive as a nightwalker myself yet, and certainly wasn’t ready to be responsible for another one; ask again in a century or so. Well, Elaine didn’t have a hundred years! ”

  “So you transformed her, and the two of you fled his retribution. I’m surprised you didn’t run farther. ” “I wanted to, ” said Elaine in a flat little voice. “But Jonathan hoped that if we stuck around,

  eventually he could find a way to worm his way back into the prince’s good graces. Mr. Operator. He thinks he can wheel and deal his way out of anything, and he wasn’t willing to give us his chance to be a big shot. Thanks to that, we’re probably going to die. ”

  Billings looked shocked. “That wasn’t the reason! ” he proteste
d. “It would have been hard and dangerous on our own. ”

  “Yeah, well, ” she said, pulling her hand from his grasp and shifting away from him, “thank God we avoided any danger. ”

  Van Wyk asked the pair a few more questions, failed to uncover any indication that either was capable of bypassing the late prince’s security, and finally sent them on their way.

  He turned to Marvin. “Are those two really too weak to have posed a threat to Mr. Saraceno. 7”

  The caitiff shrugged. “What they said was right as far as it goes, but even so, plenty of vampires have taken down their sires. You build up your power until you’re a match for the old bastard, or else you outsmart him somehow. But it would be very unusual for two kids as young and clueless as that pair to pull it off. ”

  “Previously, you mentioned that vampires lack any propensity for erotic love. Mr. Billings’s devotion to Elaine would seem to contradict you. ” “Sometimes the young ones hang on to old, outdated habits for a while. Eventually, assuming the family doesn’t kill them, those two will either develop a different kind of love, one that’s got nothing to do with screwing, or else wind up hating each other’s guts. In this case, I’d bet on hate.

  “So, boss, what now? ”

  Van Wyk looked at his watch and was dismayed to see that it was already twelve forty-five. “I’m going to question you. ” Marvin looked surprised, then grinned. “After that, I’ll see everyone else, one at a time, beginning with Polly’s followers. ”

  Thus began a series of interviews no more illuminating than the ones that had gone before. Some of the vampires were arrogant, some, amused, and some, matter of fact. Some spoke freely, and some, evidently mindful of the law that forbade them to tell their secrets to humans, were closemouthed. Some eyed Van Wyk with ill-concealed bloodthirst, the tips of their fangs indenting their lower lips. None gave him any reason to believe that he or she was the regicide.

  By the time he finished with them and their human servants as well, it was three thirty, long hours past an old man’s accustomed bedtime. His back ached, and his eyes burned. He took off his glasses to rub them.

  “What now? ” Marvin asked.

  “I’m going to sit and think. And would you please go downstairs to the kitchen and get me some hot coffee? I really need it. ”

  The caitiff rose and ambled toward the door. Van Wyk held his breath, for this was his grand escape attempt, such as it was. For the last few hours, he had cultivated Marvin. Treated the vampire as a confidant and collaborator. Done his best to immerse him in the investigation, get him wrapped up in the puzzle it presented. The idea was to make the blooddrinker lose sight of their essential roles as prisoner and guard. To make him willing to leave his charge alone. Whereupon Van Wyk would make a break for the elevators or the service stairs, and, if he was very, very lucky, slip past all the guards and alarms and out of the building.

  Marvin walked out into the hall. Van shivered with excitement. He’d thought it such a long shot, a ludicrous plan, even if it was the only one he could think of, but it was working! Then the vampire spun around, bared his fangs, and charged the human in the chair. Van Wyk barely had time to invoke his blue aura. The caitiff slammed into the light and rebounded in a shower of sparks. Snarling, he pulled his revolver out of the waistband of his jeans.

  “You can’t shoot me! ” cried Van Wyk. “Rand told you to guard me, not kill me. ”

  “I’m not stupid! ” Marvin screamed. “I may be a shitty little caitiff, but I’m not fucking stupid! ”

  “I know that, ” said Van Wyk, as soothingly as possible. “But I had to try to trick you. In my place, you would have done the same thing, wouldn’t you? ”

  Marvin hesitated, then said, “Turn off the force field. ”

  Van Wyk complied. “Done. ”

  Marvin groped warily in the air, confirming that the energy had disappeared, then slapped the human in the face. “Don’t try to get away again. ”

  “I won’t. ” His face stinging, his heart leaden with disappointment, Van Wyk shifted his glasses back into the proper position. “I really do need that coffee. Perhaps you could phone downstairs and have someone send some up. ”

  With his one chance at escape gone, Van Wyk saw no alternative but to do his utmost to try to solve the mystery of Saraceno’s murder and hope that, despite all indications to the contrary, the vampires would keep their promise and release him. Although probably, it would never come to that, for he had no confidence in his ability in his ability to unravel the mystery.

  But against all rational expectation, an answer came to him at twenty past four. It was based on far too many probabilities and not nearly enough certainties, a product of induction rather than deduction, but it was better than nothing.

  “Get Polly, Mr. Rand, and anyone else who cares to join us, ” he said.

  Marvin, who had been watching television with the sound off, jerked around. “Do you know who did it? ”

  “I believe so. Make the call. ”

  As it turned out, all the vampires and most of their human agents crowded into the sitting room of the suite. Van Wyk abandoned his chair and moved back to the window to place his entire audience in front of him.

  “Good evening again, everyone, ” the investigator said. “Several hours ago, you gave me a commission. I am now ready to discharge it. ”

  “You actually know who did it? ” asked one of the Executives skeptically.

  “I believe so. ”

  “So spill it, ” said one of the Blue Collars, a bare-chested vampire with pierced nipples and a tattooed face, demanded.

  “I’d prefer to review the evidence and my reasoning before stating a conclusion, so you’ll know I’m not just guessing. ”

  “That’s the way Sherlock always operated, ” said Polly. “Do it your way, Doc. And make it good. ” “Thank you, ” said Van Wyk. “By now, you all know the essential facts. Someone decapitated Mr. Saraceno in this suite, where he was seemingly protected both by a sentry’s vigilance and by a locked door and windows which could only be opened from the inside.

  “It occurred to me early on that Mr. Wilson, who was himself standing guard and who kicked down the door before anyone else knew that the prince had come to grief, might be the killer. If so, there would be no need to explain his failure to spot an intruder, or the curious fact that all the interior locks are still engaged. ”

  Wilson’s mouth fell open in horror. Rand smiled. Other vampires clamored in agreement, or pivoted toward the human with their fangs bared.

  Van Wyk raised his hand to bring the assemblage back to order. “Please, you’re anticipating me, and erroneously so. Even though he in some respects seems the most plausible suspect, I’m satisfied that Mr. Wilson is innocent. He was subject to a form of psychological conditioning which rendered him incapable of harming his employer, and he would be disinclined to do so in any case, given that Mr. Saraceno was the source of his longevity. ” Wilson slumped with relief. Rand frowned. “Now, ” Van Wyk continued, “many of the rest of you did have strong motives to eliminate the prince. Resentment, fear, and ambition, primarily. However, neither the Executives, the Blue Collars, nor their human agents would have been able to pass in and out of the door or a window without disturbing the locks. I’m told there’s no secret entrance to the suite, and I certainly haven’t been able to find one. I’ve also been assured that no vampire from another bloodline, with a different set of powers, could have slipped into the hotel tonight. So where does that leave us? ”

  He paused to take a breath. “I’ll tell you. Mr. Saraceno killed himself. ”

  For a moment, his audience stared at him in silence. Then they began to laugh and jeer.

  “I know it sounds unlikely, ” said Van Wyk, raising his voice to make himself heard, “but it explains why your prince was killed with such a peculiar and unwieldy weapon: to disguise the nature of what occurred. When we saw his headless body lying with its gashed hands gripping the blade, our mi
nds immediately conjured up a picture of someone looming over him, kneeling on his chest perhaps, and pushing the blade down while he struggled and failed to fend it off. That’s what we were supposed to think. In reality, Mr.

  Saraceno simply lay down and pulled the weapon through his neck with one strong jerk. An awkward maneuver, admittedly, but entirely possible with a blade as sharp as that one. This hypothesis also tells us why the killer abandoned a magical and hence valuable artifact at the crime scene. ” “So Saraceno not only committed suicide, ” said Polly, her voice dripping disbelief, “he went to the trouble to make his death look like murder. “

  “Yes. Otherwise, he could have killed himself more simply and less messily. By leaving his bedroom curtains open to the morning sun, for instance. It occurred to me that he might not want to be thought a suicide because of some obscure point of pride. But I think it more likely that someone else with mental powers programmed him to destroy himself in this particular way, perhaps to divert suspicion from those possessed of hypnotic abilities onto those accustomed to work mischief with their hands. ”

  “So what it comes down to is, you’re accusing my people, ” said Rand, glowering.

  “No, ” Van Wyk replied. “It could have been a true suicide. Or, perhaps the compulsion to kill himself at this particular time and in this particular manner was implanted in his mind some time ago, by who knows who. ”

  Looking regretful, Polly shook her head. “I’m sorry, Doc, especially since your theory lets my gang off the hook, but it won’t wash. Saraceno wasn’t the suicidal type. He was also too psychically powerful and too well protected for anybody to mess with his mind to the degree you’re suggesting. What’s more, I don’t think that any vampire, even the dumb bruiser type like my breed, would be so weak-willed that he could be mind-fucked into destroying himself. ”

  She sighed. “It’s too bad. I kind of thought you had a chance of figuring it out. ”

  The vampires bared their fangs and glided toward him.