Declan Macray had worked at the London Sanctuary for years, eventually rising to become its head after the death of James Watson. James had helped Scotland Yard so many times they had no compunction about accepting Declan's help on their current case, especially since the less responsible London papers were printing headlines such as "Dracula in London!" and "Vampire Stalks the Night!"

Detective Sergeant Walpole was more than happy to let Declan examine the victim, a twenty-seven year old male. Declan noted the man had been very fit, but there were no defensive wounds at all. Whatever had happened, he had had no chance to fight back or even try to protect himself. The Sanctuary representative carefully measured the distance between the two marks on the throat of the corpse, noting the shape, size and depth of the penetrations.

The ear removals were extraordinary. Walpole said that the medical examiner was sure they had been done after death just because the cuts were so clean and precise. Declan took close-ups of both the neck and the sides of the head to send back to the Sanctuary. Tesla should be able to tell if the cuts could have been done with vampire claws and the neck wounds with vampire teeth.

The scene of the crime was not very informative either. It had rained since the incident and there wasn't much to look at, just an empty alley that would have been dark at night. Walpole told Declan there had been scuff marks at the entrance and Scotland Yard believed the man had been grabbed and dragged into the alley by his attacker.

But the security footage from the nearby cameras wasn't much help. Declan was shown the street, the victim walking down it, and then a blur and the man was gone. He got an electronic copy and sent it back to the Sanctuary too; maybe Henry could slow it down, clean it up, and find some way to get an image of the attacker out of it. No one in London had been able to get more than a frame-by-frame look which just showed a dark shadow for a couple of frames, one where it was coming out of the alley and the second going back in dragging the victim with it. Then nothing, just the empty street.

Will got both more and less in New York. The credentials the Sanctuary sent got him cooperation, but there was no film of the crime. The victim in this case was a young female who had gone jogging in the early hours of the morning. She had been on a path in Central Park and there had been other joggers as well. She had passed one middle-aged man, gotten a hundred feet ahead, and disappeared around a bend. That was the last time she was seen alive.

She'd been found by a man walking his dog a couple of hours later hidden in some bushes not far from the path. The good news was she had martial arts training and fought her attacker. There were patterns of bruises on her arms and skin under her fingernails, so more evidence. But she hadn't screamed, and the consensus around the squad room was that she thought she was going to win the fight, or that it was so quick she hadn't had time to realize she was going to lose, or both. But it must have been over very quickly because the jogger that had been behind her didn't notice anything other than she wasn't ahead of him anymore; he thought she had speeded up and left him behind.

Will got the lab analysis on the skin samples from under her nails, but couldn't get the samples themselves. Unfortunately the lab analysis just said mostly "unknown" which didn't help at all. Maybe Magnus had the pull to get the actual skin, but Will didn't; he sent her a text asking her to try.

The thumbs had been removed by ragged cuts through the joints. Will took the same kind of measurements and photos Declan was doing in London on the neck wounds and the thumbs, and sent everything he had back to the Sanctuary as well.

There wasn't much to see at the location where the body had been found; scuff marks and broken twigs on bushes. The only odd thing was the absence of blood stains; the victim must have been drained before the thumbs were removed.

Kate found the victim in Rio was a young male, only seventeen. He had been going home late with some friends, and they had left him less than a block from his front door. But the youth hadn't made it home. His body was found on the roof of an apartment building across the street. To the local police that was a puzzle; to Kate, it screamed Abnormal.

Like the kill in London, this one had been simple and clean. There was no evidence the victim had tried to fight. A round patch of his dark hair the size of a large coin had been clipped off at the skin in the center above his forehead. The lab tech said the cut was clean, no frayed ends on the stubble, just like someone had used a razor. Kate gathered what information she could and relayed it back to the Sanctuary too, along with a tiny hair sample for comparison.

Henry had gone to his conference, so Nikola took over the technical aspects of the investigation while Helen tried to make sense of the crimes as a whole. He was able to get more out of the London film- a figure dressed in a dark coat with a hat pulled low, the brim blocking most of the face. But the mouth of the attacker was visible, and there were many sharp teeth in it.

Nikola sat back in his chair and contemplated his screen while Helen came over and leaned over his shoulder.

She said "Looks like a vampire to me, but you're the expert."

"The teeth look right and the measurements Declan sent fit. Do you realize what this means?"

"Yes, we have blood-thirsty vampires loose among the human population."

"Worse. One of their science wonks apparently replicated my gate controller. Dammit, now the vampire scientists suddenly wake up and get something right. I guess I'm headed back to talk to Ana."

"And prevent this from happening again, Nikola. If the vampires can do it, there are human scientists out there that could too."

"Yeah, I'll need to put a locking mechanism on the gates somehow so that only an authorized programmed remote can activate them."

"Can you do that?"

"Of course, genius, remember? And meanwhile . . ." he gestured at the screen in disgust.

She patted him on the shoulder. "Not your fault, Nikola. Go see Ana, show her the evidence we have, and get her help."

"I'm still the king."

"Fine, then go order a search for the rogues. Two or three do you think?"

Nikola considered. "I'd say two. The New York vampire was just incompetent and should be easy to find. I think the roof aspect of Rio shows learning; the London vampire realized he might not be undisturbed in an alley, it's not a very secure place, and the roof was more private."

"You could be right, or it may just be two different styles."

Nikola checked his pocket watch. "Possible. I'd better go see Ana now, it's getting late for her."

He changed into one of his nice vampire suits and made sure his hair was in place before he gated to Queen Ana's home. She always liked it when he was well-groomed so he made a good impression on the lower ranks.

Iris was at her desk and gave him a small smile and nodded at the door to Ana's chambers. Nikola went in and found the queen engaged with one of her subjects who was kneeling before her.

The king waited patiently until Ana was finished excoriating the young vampire, for what Nikola didn't know and didn't care. When she finished and the youth slunk out, Nikola pulled up a chair for himself and greeted her.

"Good evening, I trust my timing is better today."

Ana gave him a small smile and said "Yes, a little. Good evening King Teslat, what can I do for you?"

Nikola handed her a blown up photo of the London attack, and a summary of everything known about all three attacks.

"You can make this stop, Queen Ana" he said very seriously.

She scanned the information but took a long look at the photo. "I see. How did they reach these cities?"

"I believe through my gate in your house. How many?"

"Two I believe. The head of Lab 2 and his assistant both failed to report to work and could not be found. They are of the 'human blood only' faction."

"You should have notified me."

Ana handed him back the data and sighed. "I expected they would be easy to locate; I thought they left through the tunnels you see, I did not consider that your device would be so easy for anyone to access."

"Neither did I. I will correct that of course, meanwhile a physical guard may be needed."

Ana inclined her head a little in agreement. "I doubt any others have the skill to create a means of controlling your mechanism, but it will be watched."

"There's a tall red-haired human male that hired thirty or forty guards; they disobeyed him briefly so you may have a recent complaint from him. I want to know everything you can tell me about him."

"Yes, I know who you mean, we gave him a small- very small credit for the momentary failure, although in truth the guards were there for his protection and he was not harmed so any credit was generous. He has bought out of his contract so we have lost his future business; but from what was reported to me of his doings, I am not sorry. Iris will give you a copy of the contract and photocopies of his checks on your way out, that is all we know of him."

"And the other collectors that employ vampire guards?"

"As long as they are merely using our people as bodyguards, I am content to accept their money. But it would be preferable that you not give contradictory orders while our people are doing their jobs, my king."

"I'll try to keep that to a minimum, my daughter queen, and you should keep a closer eye on your human blood drinkers."

They looked at each other with amusement for a few seconds knowing they would both do exactly as they pleased, and then Ana offered "I am going to have a snack, would you care to join me?"

Nikola replied "I would like that", interested to see what he would get. Iris came in shortly with two small sealed bags. They weren't plastic, but something like sausage casing. Iris smiled when she gave him his, and just said "llama and basil."

Basil? Herbs didn't do well in blood but when Nikola put his mouth on the bag he discovered the basil was on the bag, not in the blood. The llama was better than he had remembered, probably because of the complementary flavor of the herb.

When they had finished, Nikola said "These bags . . ."

"Entrails, very clean and sanitized of course. Treated, they take the spice well" Ana said. "If you wish, Iris can provide some when you leave."

Nikola did wish, and they chatted for a few minutes about internal vampire politics so he was up-to-date on the more powerful players. When Nikola was ready to leave he said "Queen Ana, you will find the two vampires who are attacking humans and ensure they never do it again?"

"It will be as you wish, King Teslat. But as long as they can use your device it will be difficult; we will search for them but it may take some time."

"I'll shut down their use of my gates as soon as I can." Nikola took the data on the red-haired man and a dozen empty blood sacks for him to fill and flavor as he wished, and returned to the Sanctuary.

Helen wasn't there. Will and Declan were back, and Will informed him she was attending a small gathering that Eric Griswold was hosting to spread the word about all he had seen at the Sanctuary to other donors.

Nikola left the papers on her desk, changed into every-day clothes and went to Bhalasaam. He had work to do.

Helen was enjoying herself immensely. Eric's enthusiasm was infectious, and the six couples and three singles at his party were eagerly asking questions and the money was flowing freely. Just having people care that much was wonderful, and Helen knew these things went in cycles. When donations were available she took them, in spite of the fact she had large financial reserves of her own. The day would come when the Sanctuary would need to stand alone again and those reserves would be needed.

Helen was tired but happy when she got home. She checked her desk and found notes on the vampire murders from Will, Declan, Kate and Nikola, as well as a pile of other papers. The only one she read was Nikola's to confirm that the vampires would take care of their rogues themselves and it was no longer her problem.

She looked for Nikola before she went to bed, but he wasn't in his suite so she didn't wait up. She had learned that it was futile to wait; he came when he could, and when he didn't show up she accepted he had something important to do. Very likely he was working on the gate locking mechanism and she wouldn't want to distract him from that anyway.

In the morning she went through the rest of the papers on her desk. She frowned when she looked at the vampire bodyguard contract and the photocopies of the red-haired man's checks. There was something odd about them that she couldn't quite put her finger on. The man's name was Kevin Ginger for one thing, and the checks were on a Swiss bank. Then she realized that the signatures, while similar, weren't exactly the same and there were occasional excess lines here and there as if he had started to write a different letter and caught himself. Forged? Maybe, but more likely a false name. So the papers didn't really tell her anything about him except he was hiding something, which wasn't exactly a revelation.

Her cell phone rang and she answered it, half expecting it to be Eric Griswold. It wasn't, the person on the other end spoke with a slight accent and asked to speak to Dr. Helen Magnus. Helen's alarm antenna went up.

"This is she."

"Ma'am, this is Detective Yamamoto from the Tokyo police. I am calling about a Mr. Henry Foss. He is a relative of yours?"

Helen lied just a little; she didn't want the caller to refuse to tell her whatever it was because she wasn't a blood relative. "Yes, he's my nephew."

"I am very sorry to inform you that we have reason to believe that Mr. Foss has been the victim of an attack. Is it possible you could come to Tokyo?"

Helen lied again, cold chills running down her spine. "I'm in Tokyo now."

"Ma'am, where are you staying? We can send a car to pick you up."

"I'll come to you. Is Henry all right?"

"I am sorry to say no, we do not think so. Someone has died, and it is my sad duty to tell you it may be Mr. Foss."

Helen got the address and hung up. She left messages for Nikola and called Will on the intercom and told him to meet her in the gate room immediately.

They were in Tokyo in a few minutes hailing a cab, giving the driver the address Helen had written down. They soon arrived at a police station, and walked quickly to the desk. Detective Yamamoto was a balding middle-aged man who met them there and led them behind the front desk to the squad room.

At his own desk the detective explained "A man has been killed, a Caucasian with Mr. Foss' identification. However, there was much damage and identification is difficult; one of his friends from the convention tried, but was not sure. One of you could, perhaps . . .?"

"Yes" Helen and Will said together.

"It is not necessary for two to identify, Dr. Magnus can remain here if Dr. Zimmerman would come with me?"

"We'll both go" Helen said firmly, standing as the men did. The three of them went to the morgue where a sheet-covered body was slid out of a cold storage bin. When the sheet was pulled back they recognized immediately that it wasn't Henry, although the face had been slashed to ribbons. But they had seen Henry naked enough times when he changed form to know the hairy chest in front of them wasn't his.

Just to be sure, Helen examined the neck; there were no puncture wounds, so though the slash marks might have been made by claws, the person hadn't been bitten. The rest of the body was also intact, no missing pieces. Cause of death had been determined as a broken neck, and the facial damage done afterwards.

Back at the detective's desk, they were shown the contents of the victim's pockets, including Henry's ID, all in plastic evidence bags. The ID looked genuine, and the cell phone was definitely Henry's too.

Will said "If whoever did this planted Henry's ID . . ."

"Then they wanted everyone to believe that was Henry, at least for a little while. But there would be fingerprints and dental records, neither of which would match" Helen finished.

"So what is the point?" Will asked.

Detective Yamamoto said "And who is the unfortunate person in our morgue? We will of course process the fingerprints and perhaps we will find out. But there is no need for you to remain, you are free to go. We will keep these things for now, they are evidence, but as yet we do not know what they are evidence of, other than a weak deception."

Helen and Will went to Henry's hotel room; they had both noted the hotel name and room number of the card key in the evidence pile. Helen took a small device from her purse and put it on the outside of the card reader. In a few moments the door clicked open.

"That's rather handy" Will commented as they went in. They went through the room, but nothing seemed out of place. Henry's clothes and suitcase were there, as well as personal items. There was just one thing missing.

"The gate controller isn't here either" Will said, "But nobody else can use it, right?"

"Not unless they have Henry to operate it for them."

"And they do. But why? The only place they can go by gate that they can't any other way is . . ."

"The Sanctuary. Come on Will, someone can come back and get these things later, we need to get back, now!"

They were in the cab going back to the gate location when Helen's phone rang. It was Nikola.

"I got your message, I just arrived in Tokyo; how do I find you?" he asked.

"We're almost back to the gate, Nikola. We believe someone has Henry and his remote control both. Guard the gate" Helen said, not wanting to be too specific in front of the taxi driver.

They piled out of the cab to find Nikola lounging on the front steps to the building that housed the gate.

Will shook his head and said "Some guard you are."

"Relax sonny-boy, the gate is safe. I've put locks on Ana's gate, Bhalasaam, and the Sanctuary, and just finished Tokyo. By the way, your remotes won't work now until I update them; I'll fix them when we get home. Where's Henry?"

"We don't know, someone planted his ID on a mutilated corpse and both he and his remote are missing."

"The remote won't tell them anything about the gate technology, although it does have some interesting features I created, but oh well, it's not like my inventions haven't been stolen before."

Will said sharply "I think we're a little more worried about Henry than your patent rights."

Nikola replied mildly "Worrying about Henry won't get him back and I was just trying to ease your minds . . . well Helen's mind about the gate technology falling into the wrong hands. I realize you hadn't quite gotten there yet, William."

Will just glared at him as he activated the gate and they went through. As they arrived back at the Sanctuary Helen said "Nikola, get the rest of the gates locked and our remotes functioning again and now if you please." Nikola just nodded and went off to work.

She contacted Erica and told her to run a full security scan on the Sanctuary, just in case someone had gotten in before Nikola locked the gate. Then she turned to Will and asked "Will, any ideas on finding Henry?"

"There are a lot of possibilities. It could be an old grudge, something that happened at the convention, or more to do with the dead guy than Henry himself. He might have just been in the wrong place in the wrong time and the right size to match the guy on the slab."

"Somehow I doubt that. Will, it could be an Abnormal collector, they are suddenly becoming much more active as a group."

"How would anyone even know that Henry is a HAP or that he'd be in Tokyo?"

"I don't know, they found out about Anita somehow, and she was far less visible than Henry."

"But if someone just wanted to snatch Henry, why kill someone and plant Henry's ID on him?"

"I thought to draw us away while keeping Henry alive to work the gates for them."

"The rogue vampires have their own gate controllers, and now someone has kidnapped Henry and is using his. Maybe using the gate is why Henry was snatched, but whoever did it must realize we'd catch on pretty quick."

"Perhaps they only needed gate access for a short while. Afterwards, will they need Henry at all?"

Helen's computer beeped. She and Will went around the desk and faced Erica's image. Erica said "I've tracked the most recent traffic in the gate room. Two people left and then two people came through, and then two people left a short time afterwards. Then one person arrived. Then one person left and a short time later three of you came through; then one person left. We don't have a camera there, so I can't identify who did what when, there's just the overall infrared sensor that lets me see arrivals and departures."

Will said, frowning "So we left, then two others came and left, then Tesla arrived and left, and then the three of us came back, and Tesla left again. We definitely need a camera in the gate room."

"Agreed, but not a high priority right now. Erica, we need a full security sweep. We don't know who the two people were who arrived and then left or what they might have done while they were here. Check for explosives or anything unusual."

"On it" Erica said and her screen blanked. The evacuation horn started blaring. Helen and Will exited the building with a crowd of others and Will said sarcastically "Hurray for Tesla's gate. Now we have another hole in our security. Every time that guy does something that's supposed to be so wonderful, it turns out to be not so wonderful at all."

"It's not Nikola's fault Will, and we'll have secure gate traffic by the end of the day if I know my vampire. His DNA programming was supposed to provide security, but he didn't think that anyone could replicate his control unit without the DNA restrictions, or consider that one of us might be kidnapped to obtain gate access. Honestly, none of us did."

"Okay, I have to admit it didn't occur to me either, but now what? Do we have a bomb in the Sanctuary or some deadly Abnormal running loose?"

They reached the outside area with the rest of the Sanctuary personnel and waited for the all clear. The fewer beings inside while the sensor sweeps were being done the better, and then there would be an eyes-and-hands search through the facility if the sensors didn't pinpoint anything. It could be a long wait.

It was nearly an hour before the all-clear sounded. Helen and Will went directly to the security office for Erica's report.

She said "The good news is we didn't find anything dangerous. I ran and re-ran the sensor log data to try to figure out where our two uninvited guests went, and as far as I could tell it was the residence hall. Sorry if you find things a little out of place in your suites, but we had to move fast. We did find these."

Erica showed them a plastic bag. Inside were four lumps and a twist of dark hair. There was also a long envelope with Helen's name on it.

"Good god" Helen said "Those look like the missing ears, thumbs and hair from the murder victims. Where were they found?"

"In the back of one of Nikola Tesla's bureau drawers. We found the envelope on your bed."

Helen picked up the envelope and opened it cautiously. Inside was a piece of paper with a typewritten message: If you want your HAP back, bring $100,000 in used unmarked bills to Cairo at midnight tomorrow. You will be contacted on your cell phone when you arrive with further instructions. If anyone else comes with you or follows you, you will never see Henry Foss alive again.

A/N: I think I'm back now. Thanks to Anthropologistgirlinthemaking for the review. Expressions of appreciation and interesting comments and ideas do spur me on to get the next chapter written.