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She adProvidence has a way of arranging these things, Miss Reed&039;

&039;Call me Kate,&039; she said

&039;Thank you, Kate You may call me Father Merrin&039;

She wasn&039;t sure whether that was a joke

From the reviews of his book, she couldn&039;t remember which side of the vampire debate Father Merrin took It would be rude to co with a soul or not

&039;Marcello was on the point of politely accusing ainst your kind, Miss Reed&039;

Marcello shrugged and tried to wave away the suggestion

&039;Everyone in Rome believes in secret crusades,&039; Merrin continued &039;If the Vatican isn&039;t behind it, then it must be the mafia, or the Coenes Club, or the Illuminati&039;

&039;Do you believe that, Father?&039;

&039;Belief is relative Roarette in his estures

The late Pope Pius XII - the second co on whom you talked with - had issued a bull reaffir the Vatican&039;s traditional position on vampirism Upon death, the soul fled to its reward and the remains should be decently buried Vampires were untenanted corpses, demonic imitations of those ere forested treath strictly there shouldn&039;t be a need for the measure, to turn was to invoke auto Coularly took a quarter of the popular vote in Italian elections

Many vampires were extremely devout Catholics Ironically, they tended to be the breed who blistered when splashed with holy water, choked bloodily on con of the cross In the last hundred years or so, theologians had struggled with the vaht considered that the undead were indeed possessed of their original souls and thus should be reclaimed for the Church It was rumoured that the newly elevated John XXIII wished tovampire priests, but had been until now dissuaded fronor Tardini

&039;What&039;s this I hear about the Crihilterra?&039; she ventured

Marcello raised an impressed eyebrow Her random shot convinced him she had well-informed sources

&039;So the front of the hotel Like a big red spider&039;

&039;And has any cried &039;Hard to tell There was trouble in the roo more than a drunken liaison A ht have been spectacular, and not so pretty There was blood, a gunshot This Britisher is a vampire Oh, and everyone knows he is one of your spies His automobile is far too ostentatious for a sailor&039;

&039;Not one of ain, which lasses

&039;Was an elder involved?&039;

&039;That is a question One of the hotel&039;s guests has vanished as if into sned a false name, but was clearly Lady Anibas Vajda A relation of Princess Asa, the Royal Fiancee A vauely heard of the woood

&039;She hasn&039;t turned up murdered?&039;

&039;Not yet But there are whispers The very old ones sometimes do not leave remains to speak of Coroners resent that&039;

&039;I understand Inspector Silvestri was called in&039;

Marcello nodded &039;He is the latest in charge of the Crimson Executioner case Three other detectives have been reassigned or reduced in rank for their failures Silvestri must be wary Last year, an inspector of the Surete who has soreat explosion of publicity He vowed in a bizarre accent that the felon would be apprehended within the month, then fell flat on his face several times and was, I understand, demoted to traffic duty in an undesirable quarter of Paris&039;

&039;This is fascinating,&039; Father Merrin said, standing, &039;but Ipeople now I a and thrilling conclusion After all, the answers to such mysteries are very often found under the soles of our shoes&039;

Marcello and Kate stood, out of respect, and the priest left, vesth the crowds, a lone ascetic aic ht But he&039;d cleverly dodged the question about secret crusades

She sat down and, after a moment&039;s hesitation, so did Marcello He was still uncomfortable with her Was it because he&039;d seen her crouched by the corpses of Kernassy and Malenka? Or had he been reserved before that? He ith vampires at the airport, so he could hardly have a phobia about her kind

No, she realised, it was her usual curse Whenever sheaway at once She broadcast sonal that made the object of her interest privy to her hopes and desires and, at the same time, rendered her faintly repulsive to hi clever, and being blatant No approach modified the first impression

She scared thelasses, she couldn&039;t tell what Marcello was thinking Genevieve would&039;ve seen through the black lenses and read his shrinking soul Kate worried that he was trying to think of an excuse to escape from her

&039;Have you written up the etic turn of the head, he admitted he&039;d passed on the bare details to several editors She couldn&039;t believe he was as bored as he affected to be No newspaperman could walk into the scene of a double murder and fail to smell a by-line and a paycheque And he&039;d taken the trouble to consult Father Merrin He was posing, pretending a profound disinterest he couldn&039;t possibly feel

&039;I&039;ve been thinking of doing an article on the Crimson Executioner,&039; she said &039;He&039;s unknown in Britain By chance, I&039;m in the middle of the news But I need round, and I need to stay on the story We should work together&039;

That was too blunt He&039;d run screaet to him ahead of Silvestri,&039; she ventured

Marcello&039;s htful line Brows knit above the rilasses He let out a plume of smoke

&039;Perhaps,&039; he said

Perhaps That was alood as ayes Better than a ested, offering her hand

He stubbed out his cigarette, lit another one, sucked in smoke, let out s, not shaking

&039;Partners,&039; she confirmed