Chapter 7 - Crime Investigation

When we leave the Monastery, we quickly find a café on the sea front and order lunch of pasties and tea. By the time we've finished, Zara seems to want food too, so we go back to the car. I pull it around to a car park just outside town where there's a good view, and Buffy feeds her. We don't talk much, just enjoy the fact that we're together. When she's finished, I return her to her car seat, and we make for the beach Morwenna suggested. It's as lovely and deserted as she suggested, and I decide to get in some quality time with my daughter, claiming the right to carry her in the contraption we bought in Plymouth. We take off across the beach, my arm around Buffy. It looks as though the tide comes pretty much all the way in, because the sand is firm and wet where we're walking. Soon, we both take off our shoes and we move towards the water, feeling its shocking coldness as it laps towards our ankles. It's a good afternoon, peaceful and sunny and again I feel the rightness of it all. I can't help but think that if Buffy'd been able to spend some time like this while she was in Sunnydale, maybe the whole slaying thing wouldn't have seemed so hard.

We stop off on the way back to pick up a newspaper and some fresh milk, then return to our cottage. There's a note from Morwenna in the letterbox, asking us to come up to the main house when we get back. Assuming she just wants to know how the interview went, we leave our things and go there.

Once inside, one look at Morwenna's face makes it clear it's not just a social call. She takes us into a small room that she uses as an office, and sits us down.

"Is there news from Sunnydale?" Buffy asks.

"No, my dear, not at all. It's something rather more local that I wanted your opinion on. I'm sorry if I worried you. You see, in a community like this, everyone knows everyone else, and it's all but impossible to keep secrets. After you left, I had a call from a friend in the village and she told me something rather disturbing. Her son's in the police, working out of the station in Torquay. You'll have heard about the woman who was attacked on the moors. It's in all the papers."

"No, I hadn't heard," I answer. "We bought a paper, but we haven't read it yet."

"The reports I read said it was an animal attack. There are stories on a fairly regular basis of some big cats roaming the moors. Normally it's just sheep that are attacked, and sometimes there're sightings by walkers, or occasionally in the outlying villages during bad weather. Well, this woman, she lived on the moors. Has done for years, a bit of a recluse. Her body was found yesterday, and the papers are saying it was one of the cats. Well, that's worrying enough as it is, because these cats don't seem big enough to try to take an adult. But Jerry, that's my friend's son, he says it doesn't look like a cat attack to him. He said there're only two wounds, and they're in the neck, like two sharp teeth. He also says there're some bruises, and the doctor that looked at the body said that it looks like she'd been in a fight with someone lately - they look like bruises she'd get defending herself from a man."

"And you think it might be a vampire," Buffy finishes for her.

"Well, you're the expert, of course, but it does seem possible."

"Do you have problems with vampires around here?"

"Not that I've heard of. In the big cities, you know, London, Bristol, you hear things, but not enough to be significant. Around here? Never heard of the like."

"Is there some way I could see the body?" she asks.

"I'm sure I could arrange that, as long as you don't mind being out at night."

"I'd need someone to drive me," she says, and my reaction to that is immediate.

"I'll be driving," I tell her, hopefully in a way that stops the otherwise inevitable arguments

"But what about Zara?"

"Well, if it comes to it, I think I'm as able to recognise a vampire attack as you are, even if I don't have the job title to go with it."

"But …" she starts to argue, but she's interrupted by Morwenna.

"If that's the problem, I could look after Zara. She'd be safe with me."

"Are you sure?" she asks. "What if she needs to be fed?"

"Well, surely you're not planning on being away for long? And I'm sure you could leave some milk just in case."

She agrees, and I nod too. If there was some way we could take Zara along with us without risking her, I'd do it, but there isn't. We walk back to the cottage quietly, and I'm fighting the urge to just say 'sod it' to a local vampire problem and stay at home tonight. But Buffy won't do it, and so I won't.

~~~~~

Morwenna arrives as agreed, and for once Zara seems bent on co-operating. Normally, this time of the evening, she's wide awake and looking for attention. Whether it was the fresh air today or something else, I don't know, but the little mite's sound asleep. Somehow that makes it easier to go. As we go to the door, Morwenna hands us a cell phone.

"Take this and check on us if you like. And if you want to stay out a bit longer, let me know."

"We won't," Buffy argues.

"Why shouldn't you?" Morwenna asks. "There's nothing wrong with the two of you having a bit of time away - just an hour could make all the difference."

Buffy doesn't seem convinced, but she takes the phone. Must admit, I appreciate the thought. Must get us one of those things next time we're out.

We drive into Torquay without saying a lot. It seems so strange to be without Zara again, even if it's only for a short while. Morwenna made arrangements for us to meet someone called Sally, the grand daughter of another of her friends, at the entrance, and she's going to get us into the mortuary.

As we go in the main doors, we're met by Sally. She introduces herself and hands us both badges which identify us as visitors. She then takes us along the corridor and down some stairs to the basement. From there, it's a short walk to our destination, and she asks us to wait in an outer room while she checks on things.

She returns a moment later, and beckons us into an inner room where a body lies on a trolley covered in a green cloth. We approach, and Buffy pulls the cloth off the head and shoulders to reveal the injury. She doesn't seem to react, just checks the wound from a few angles. I'm surprised she even needs to do that. It's a fairly tidy wound, and one glance and I'm sure it's a vamp bite. Not much else it could be, unless it's a hoax by someone who has up close experience of vampire bites.

Buffy looks at me, and I nod to indicate that I've seen enough. She covers the body, and we glance at Sally. She checks the outer room first, then beckons for us to follow her.

"You ok to find your way out?" she asks once we're in the corridor.

"Yes, no problem," I answer. We both shake her by the hand, and she returns to the mortuary.

Less than five minutes later, we're in the car.

"So, we come half way round the world, and there're still vampires," Buffy comments as I start the engine.

"All over the world," I say. "But I'm surprised they're around here. It's too open, not enough places to get out of the sunshine. So, what do you want to do?"

"I'd like to go and see where she was found."

"Funny that, so do I."

I pull out of the car park, and turn out of town. Morwenna gave us the details before we left. The victim, Alice Winters, lived in a cottage out on the moors. She was found about a mile from her home, and a similar distance from the nearest road.

We drive along progressively narrower roads, until we reach one that goes only to the cottage. Once there, there's obvious signs of recent activity - I think the police were using the house as a base since it's about the only option for miles around. Finding the murder site's pretty easy from there, you've just got to follow the beaten path.

I follow the faint tang of blood, and I notice Buffy's sniffing carefully too. I flash her a grin, and she grins back. Not for the first time, I'm glad I kept some vamp advantages - and the sense of smell and night vision are definitely among those.

We reach the spot, and, sure enough, there's some blood still on the mossy ground. The vamp responsible was careful, tearing as little as possible, but there's bound to be some spillage.

I stand still, listening and just taking in anything and everything around me. I consciously discount the sound and scent of Buffy. To me, her scent's almost overpowering, a mixture of Buffy and milk and excitement, and it's all I can do to ignore it.

At last, I get it. It's not strong, and it's not all that close, but it's clear. Blood, but it's older than the blood at our feet.

"Can you smell it?" I ask, and Buffy turns so she's facing the same way I am. She inhales deeply, and nods. We start towards the smell, walking quickly but, I'm pleased to note, almost silently.

We make our way quickly, even though the ground is rough and uphill. It just feels so good to be out with my girl again, hunting. The buzz I'm experiencing makes me feel there's nothing I couldn't face right now.

We reach the top of the hill, and the wind's blowing around us, sending Buffy's hair into her face. We take stock again, and the scent takes us down slightly. We continue, and come to a ridge beyond which there's a sudden drop. I know we're close to the source of the smell, so I take a good look at what's below. There's a ledge maybe twenty feet down there. I gesture to Buffy that I'm going down. She doesn't agree, of course, but I'm not about to let her go alone. And I might need some help getting back up if I can't get a foot hold.

I drop down as quietly as I can, and as I suspected, there's an opening in the hill which seems to go some way back. I go inside, every sense on alert. The opening goes quite a way in, and it's quiet except for the drip, drip of water from somewhere ahead.

At last, I come to a widening of the opening, and I find what I was looking for. It looks like a nest. Not the most comfortable I've seen by any means, but it's got some rough bits of furniture, and there're a couple of dead sheep too. I check them over, and they're cold, but there's no sign of decay yet, so they haven't been there too long. Of course, it's colder here than above ground, so it's difficult to gauge. And they didn't include courses in forensic vet medicine when I was at school. No sign of the current occupants, though, so I turn to leave.

I make my way along the passageway, and as I near the entrance, I feel Buffy's excitement go up a notch. I pick up my speed, and once outside again, I can hear the familiar sound of a scuffle above. There's nothing to get my foot into visible, but there's a hand-hold maybe six feet above my head. I jump and catch it, bracing my feet against the sheer face below. I manage to find another hand hold above it, and pull myself up. Two more moves, and I reach the top, looking over the edge to see what's happening before I launch myself at whoever has the audacity to give my Slayer a hard time.

And there's just Buffy. Her chest is heaving with exertion, and I've never seen her looking more beautiful. I pull myself the rest of the way up, and saunter up to her.

"Vamps?" I ask.

"Two of them. Pretty strong too."

"Enjoyed it, did you?"

She just grins.

"Feel like going home?" I ask, nuzzling her neck. "its not like we have to go straight back to Morwenna, now is it?"

She takes in a sharp breath at what I say, then pulls the phone out. I grab her hand as she starts to speak to Morwenna, and pull her back the way we came. By the time we get back to the car, we know that Zara's fine, and sleeping, so there's nothing to stop us from taking a little 'us' time. And I for one, plan on making the most of it.