They were still in bed when the telephone rang. William groaned before rolling on his side to pick it up.
"Hello." he said, trying to get the sleep out of his voice.
"I'm sorry to wake you Sir but we have a body at the Tepes School for Girls. And the Doctor is needed as well."
"Alright George, we'll be there as soon as possible." William said before hanging up and rolling on his other side to wake up Julia.
"Julia, we have to get up and go to work." he said, shaking her softly.
She groaned and rolled away from him. William was barely fast enough to catch her before she rolled out of bed.
"Are you that desperate not to go into work today?" William laughed, pulling her back on the bed.
"I'm tired. And it's your fault." Julia said, sitting up against the headboard.
"Why is it my fault?" William asked, getting out of bed, taking all the sheets with him.
"William!" she exclaimed, bringing her knees to her chest to fight the cold air. "You know very well why I am tired, and now I'm going to get sick because of you."
"Aren't you the drama queen this morning." William laughed, walking into the bathroom.
"Where are we going?" Julia asked as she finally got out of bed.
"Tepes School for Girls."
"I'm going to make some tea." she declared, following him to the bathroom to kiss him good morning before heading for the kitchen.
When she got back to the bathroom, William was shaving. She loved watching him shave. She didn't know why but she found it soothing.
"You should stop looking at me like that and start getting ready if you don't want me to bring you to work in your nightgown." William laughed. "I wouldn't mind so much but you might give a heart attack to George."
When they arrived at the school an hour later, they were surprised to see so many girls outside at this early hour. George came to see them and explained how the school doctor had found the young girl's body in the pound as he walked the grounds to make sure that everything was alright before starting the day. The three of them walked to the pound and Julia examined the body while William looked around to see if nothing had been missed. After Julia was finished, she brought the body back to the morgue and William interviewed the girls who shared their room with Amy, the dead girl. He didn't learn anything from them but one girl seemed pretty intent on helping and led him to discover a notebook and some letters under Amy's matress. Before leaving for the station house, William gave his card to Arlene so that she could contact him if she found anything new. She seemed happy to help but William could tell that there was something else going on there, even if he could not tell what exactly.
He got the same feeling when he went back in the afternoon after having learned that two other girls from the bedroom had fallen for the mysterious man. Arlene seemed as obsessed with this mystery man as George was obsessed with his vampires. William saw the girl pout when he told the two others to follow him to the carriage to go visit Dr Ogden. He left the two girls with Julia and went to the station house. When he came back later, ready to go home, he found Julia at her desk, reading a book. He called her softly but she didn't react. "This must be a really good book" he thought as he walked to her. He placed his hand on his shoulder. He did not expect her reaction and was as frightened as her when she yelled and jumped from her chair.
"William, don't sneak on me like that!" she said, placing a hand on her chest, trying to calm her heart rate.
"I didn't sneak on you, I called you but you didn't hear me you were so … deep inside your book. What is it?"
"Dracula, the girls insisted that I read it and I have to admit it is rather good, very … intense." she said, walking to him seductively.
"Intense uh? Maybe I should read it then."
"You should. You really should." she said before kissing him deeply.
Once again, they were woken up by the phone ringing.
"Is this going to be our new alarm clock?" Julia groaned, burrying her head under her pillow.
"Let's hope not." William said before picking up the telephone.
Another young girl had disappeared from the school. William and Julia got ready quickly and drove to the school. When they arrived, the headmistress was waiting for them with George.
"What happened?" William asked.
Before she could answer, a constable called him over.
"Sir! Sir, there is someone over there!"
William ran to the constable and saw the young girl, in her nightdress, walking and falling. He ran to her and picked her up. He walked quickly to the headmistress, hearing all the girls whisper as he walked past them.
"Where can we examine her?" he asked.
"The infirmary, follow me." she said, turning around, William and Julia following her.
Once inside, William placed the young girl gently on the bed and let Julia examine her. She checked the "bite" marks on her neck, asked her some questions.
"I'm going to take a blood sample, alright? It's going to sting for a second but it will be alright." Julia reassured the girl.
"Can you tell us what happened?" William asked.
The girl explained that she had received a letter and that she had gone to meet the romantic vampire, that he had kissed her in the neck and that she must have fainted because she didn't remember anything else before waking up in the mausoleum.
"She lost a lot of blood too William, I took a sample to analyse but she has barely enough left. She must rest and eat a lot to build her strength again." Julia said as the girl was falling asleep. "I'll leave my recommendation with the headmistress before we leave."
For the rest of the day, William worked on the few leads he had, George trying to prove by any possible way that it was the fact of a vampire roaming the school grounds at night. To end his endless demonstration, William agreed to follow him to the cemetary behind the school. They entered the mausoleum where the girls had said they had woken up and found the rose petals displayed as they had described. They were going to get out when Arlene ran inside. She stopped when she saw them.
"Miss Bennett, what are you doing here?" William asked.
"I … I wanted to see what the other girls were talking about. I ..."
"Constable Crabtree is going to walk you back to the school, there is nothing for you to see here." William said.
"Him?" Arlene asked, clearly disappointed.
"Yes, him. Constable?"
"Yes Sir. This way Miss..."
When William told Julia what had happened that evening, she couldn't help but laugh.
"What is so funny?" William asked.
"You are. It is clear that this girl is in love with you William!I saw how she looked at you when you were carrying the young girl this morning. It was clear that she was jealous and that she wanted to be the one in your arms. You told me that she came to the station yesterday. Did she tell you something that she couldn't have told you earlier when you were at the school?" Julia asked.
"No, I guess she could have told me at the school." William conceded.
"So she just wanted to see you."
"It's … disturbing. I could almost be her father!"
"That's completely normal William. Especially when girls and boys are separated at school. They fantasize about any handsome man who cross their path." Julia laughed, sitting next to him on the sofa.
"You went to an all-girl school if I remember correctly, does that mean that you had this sort of fantasies as well?" William asked, putting his newspaper away to look at her.
"Maybe I did." Julia said, blushing.
"Given the colour of your face there is no maybe here Julia, come on, tell me." William laughed.
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"As long as you don't tell me you are still seeing this fantasy of yours, yes I want to know."
"Alright." she said, cuddling in his side. "He was my science teacher when I was fourteen. He was so tall and handsome. We were all completely in love with him. One day, with some friends, we even followed him home to spy on him."
"And?"
"And we saw that he was still living with his parents and that sort of broke everything up. The dream man was gone, he was just … normal … even less interesting than a normal man should be." she laughed.
"Well, at least I don't live with my parents." William laughed.
"And you are far from normal William. And I can understand why this girl is fascinated by you. You are very handsome, you are intelligent, you save people. Your only bad aspect is that you are married." Julia said, moving her hand up his chest, starting to unbutton his vest.
"And that is a problem?"
"For her yes, but not for me." Julia laughed before moving herself in his lap.
He did not know what to answer, he just looked at her. She was undoing her hair, she was tracing the line of her neck with her finger, she was looking deeply into his eyes.
"Take me to bed William." she said, kissing him passionately.
He didn't need to be told twice. He was competely under her spell. He gathered her in his arms and walked to the stairs.
"You are going to have to stop kissing me like that if you don't want me to fall in the stairs and crush you." William said against her mouth.
"Hurry then." she laughed.
He carried her upstairs, opened the door to their bedroom with his elbow and all but threw her on the bed before throwing himself on her. Her skirt flew away, followed by her shirt and her corset.
"You are wearing too many clothes Mr Murdoch." Julia laughed once she laid naked in their bed.
"Solve the problem then Mrs Murdoch." William teased her.
Julia got on her knees on the bed, unbuttoned his vest completely, pushed his suspenders away from his shoulders, opened his shirt, her eyes never leaving his. Just as she was going to take his shirt completely off, someone knocked at the front door. They both stopped, listening. The knocking started again, panic clear in the knock.
"This better be important! I swear if it is Higgins, I will kill him!" William almost yelled in the stairs while Julia groaned on the bed.
"What is it?" William snapped as he opened the door, buttoning his shirt back on.
"Detective, he attacked me!"
"Arlene? What … oh, Julia!" he called as the school girl fainted in his arms.
When Arlene opened her eyes, she expected to see the detective. Instead, she saw a woman. She knew this woman, it was the doctor who had come with the detective to the school. Only now she was only wearing a robe and her hair was messy.
"Where … where is the detective?" Arlene asked, sitting on the sofa where she had been laid down.
"He is on the telephone."
"What … what are you doing here? I thought the detective lived here?"
"He does. He lives here. With me. His wife. I'm sorry to break your dream Sweetie but he is already spoken for. Now, he will not tell you because he is a very nice man but all this situation with you is making him very uncomfortable so it would be really appreciated if you stopped … pursuing him." Julia said, a calm smile on her face.
Arlene blushed deeply, Julia had seen right through her. Arlene tried to explain to Julia what had happened to her, how she was lured by a letter to the mausoleum, how the vampire had bitten her and …
"That's weird, the marks on your neck don't match the ones from the other girls." Julia interrupted her, turning her head on the side.
As she did so, she noticed the hair pin.
"Arlene, did you pierce your own neck?" Julia asked, taking the pin out of the girl's hair.
Once again, she blushed deeply.
"You did it to have William take care of you didn't you? As he took care of the second girl who disappeared, am I right?" Julia asked.
For all answer, Arlene burst into tears.
"What is going on here?" William asked, entering the living room.
"Arlene just realized that she had made a big mistake and she wants to go back to school, isn't that right Arlene?"
"Yes, I'm sorry I intruded Detective, I really wanted to help, I swear."
"It's alright. Constable Crabtree is coming to get you. He will drive you back to school."
The case was finally closed. William still couldn't believe that such a young girl as Arlene could kill one of her friends only because she was more popular than her. William shook the idea out of his head as he entered the morgue. He found Julia in her office. As always, she was the last one in the building and she was preparing to leave.
"Oh William, I didn't know if you would stop by." she said, smiling at him as she undid her hair.
"Well, here I am, ready to take my wife home from work."
"That's very nice of you William."
"Why do you keep saying my name like that?" he asked, walking to her.
"Because I love your name, William." she laughed.
And here she was playing with her hair again, tracing the line of her neck with her finger. He could tell she was speaking to him but he didn't hear anything, he was too focused on her neck, on her lips. All of a sudden, he lost all control. He pulled her to him and kissed her frantically. He hoisted her up on her desk, almost tore her shirt open and pushed her skirt up, placing himself between her legs. This seemed to be the reaction Julia had been hoping for because she attacked him just as strong, pushing his jacket from his shoulder. She sighed in pleasure when she felt his lips on her neck. She moved her head to give him more access and … she yelled, fright clear in her eyes when William looked at her. She jumped on her feet and hid behind him. When William turned around, he nearly lost control again. In the doorway stood Darcy Garland.
"Put my jacket on Julia." he said calmly.
He felt her take it from his arms and put it on. Once he was sure she was covered he walked toward the Doctor, a threatening look on his face.
"What are you doing here Doctor?"
"I … I wanted to see if Doctor Ogden wanted to have dinner with me, I'm sorry … I ..."
"Mrs Murdoch has made it very clear, and on numerous occasion, that she wants nothing to do with you. Now, let me make something else very clear for you Doctor. If you ever approach her again, or if she has any cause to complain of your behaviour, I will personnaly make sure that you are arrested and charged with harassment. Am I making myself clear? Think quickly, this is a time-limited offer. Now, Doctor, is it clear?" William asked, threateningly.
"I … yes. Yes, it's clear." he answered, almost running away as soon as he had answered.
William followed him, locked the doors behind him and walked back to Julia's office. She had not moved but she was looking at him with a mix of admiration and passion in her eyes.
"Now, where were we?" William asked, walking up to her and placing a lock of her hair behind her ear.
She didn't answer, she simply let his jacket fall from her body. Here she was, standing in front of him in nothing but her skirt. How was he supposed to resist?