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MR WEST AND DR PRETORIUS

The reue Fro was built upon the foundations of an ancient Routted gladiators for primitive experiments in anatomy More likely the place, like everywhere else ih rooms with pull-out drawers for the dead to roourneys Victie, disease, violence, and accident lay untroubled, buh she had only the slightest acquaintance with any of the victims, the destruction of seven elders - eight, if Dracula were included - made her think about her own ht have had her own encounter with the Crie to have outlasted generations of fearless vampire slayers, to have survived many assassination attempts She had no reason to think she&039;d have had any better luck if the man in red had come for her with a silver-bladed axe

A trick of acousticsThe voices of doctors and coroners, police&039;s internal wind and circulated in a sinister susurrus that sounded dreadfully like the e where squeamishness was unheard of - her hueon who had worked on battlefields, and she&039;d been his apprentice - and having lived through centuries too often rue, Genevieve was not easily affected by ery spirits

This place, however, h curiosity as much as duty she had consented to the request relayed from the police via the French consul With the sudden exodus of elders from Rome, she was apparently the only person within reach who could legitimately identify the body That she&039;d already done so at the scene of the crime made the whole business redundant, but forms had to be filled in and the identification eant Ginko guided her through the labyrinth of the ht from above to have so many policemen at the Palazzo Otranto, then the Crimson Executioner wouldn&039;t have had such an easy time of it in the city She doubted that any nus

From his white-belted blue uniforeant ith the polizia, the state police They had responsibility for violent crime, but a rivalry existed with the carabinieri, the red-trousered military police, who tended to boast that if it were down to them, none of this would ever have happened Both the polizia and the carabinieri sneered at the vigili urbani, the municipal police, ore blue in winter and white in su traffic

They ca pool, lit like an A tables Twothe dead Genevieve understood specialists had been called on to do the forensic work

Ginko introduced her to Mr Herbert West, of the Miskatonic University, and Dr Septientle a strew of ashes topped by a wig of long black hair and dotted here and there with teeth or tiny bones

West was a whiny little Aile delasses and streaked through his tidy hair

&039;Were enough blood spilled on these ashes,&039; West argued, &039;I believe Luna Mora would coalesce and walk again Nodes remain even on a microscopic level which could link up and recreate her body Of course, consciousness has flown forever We couldwith the shape of Luna Mora, not the person herself For that, we should need the physical brain, the seat of reason&039;

Dr Pretorius snorted like a dowager who notices a niece using the wrong fork He had the face of a disapproving gnome, and a bird&039;s nest of fine cottony hair His white smock was immaculate

&039;You are a buffoon, West,&039; he said

West spluttered, but made no reply His face reddened

&039;This is dirt, nothing ers &039;Much of it is street grime swept up with the remains Would our lady elder care to be revived with layer after layer of dog faeces or petrol sh her body? I think not&039;

&039;You misrepresent my views,&039; West said

&039;We have an elder here,&039; Pretorius said, acknowledging Genevieve with a yellow smile &039;Shall we call upon her expertise, West? Shall we ask her whether she would be happy to be suht to find shards of cobblestone incorporated into her body like nant tu that you are an incompetent blockhead?&039;

West turned away Pretorius allowed hian: &039;Mademoiselle Dieudonne is here to&039;

&039;Identify the corpse of Count Dracula,&039; said Pretorius &039;I know Welcoin?&039;

He shook an unlabelled bottle of clear liquid

&039;It&039;sa s

Genevieve shook her head

&039;Pity Very good for you, gin You vah, you know Rely too re sustenance of blood You should all have at least a pint of gin a s away frolasses up over his forehead His watery eyes passed over her and he caers prodded her face

&039;Remarkable, remarkable,&039; he mused &039;The lividity, the pliability, the evident&039;

&039;Put her down, West,&039; snapped Pretorius &039;Stop playing with the guests&039;

&039;I maintain that&039;

&039;Nobody needs to knohat you maintain, fool Excusehis own crackpot notions for a good ets his theories were discredited before the War and acts as if sense could be made of all this&039;

Pretorius indicated the roo but a convenient fiction&039;

Genevieve didn&039;t knohat to make of Dr Pretorius Like most scientists who specialised in the theory and practice of vampirism, he was not a vampire himself He was, however, unnaturally old She remembered his nao and had the idea he had been old then Whereas Charles had retained the outward appearance of youth for a great many years, Pretorius looked ancient His hands were arthritic claws and his clear blue eyes nested in wrinkles, but inner steel and fire suggested a vitality that was nowhere near exhausted Turning vaevity A Chinese criminal Charles had encountered a time or tas believed to rely on an elixir tailored to his peculiar physiology And there were stories of other ancients who still walked the Earth