Silence hung in the room for some time as Amanda concentrated on avoiding saying something that she might regret. Meanwhile, the deputy took his time to rearrange the mess of papers on his desk. Though it seemed to Amanda that the man was doing nothing but moving the sheets from one place to another and back again, the effect created by his actions eventually seemed to calm the air between the two and - when he felt the moment was right - he started a new conversation in such a bright mood that Amanda almost forgot about her annoyance with the man.
“So then, what have you found in Radcliff?”
“Well…”
“No wait, there was something I wanted to say to you. Even though I’m sure a bright girl such as yourself would conduct yourself with discretion anyway, I thought I better mention that you need to be a little careful about talking to others of your investigation; well, about anything that you might come across, that is. You’re still quite new to our community, you know, and I’m not quite sure if you realise how much of a village the world of the undead really is. It only takes a couple of misspoken words against someone here or there, and then that’s it! You’re done for unless you get your neck down to the Tunnels. Even then, after you’ve had to give up on whatever life you may have carved out for yourself up here, once you’re down there, there’s a good chance that you’ll be ostracised and left to fade away in the darkness.”
As the deputy went on, the air between the two vampires thickened once more as Amanda came to the conclusion that the man before her considered her to be a foolish child who deserved no respect from someone as important as himself. He could have just told her that he wanted her to keep her findings in Radcliff discreet, but this was not enough: he also needed to justify his request by backing it up with the threat that she could ruin someone’s life, perhaps even her own, without her even realising what she was doing. She shifted uneasily in her chair as she fought against the uncomfortable accumulation of feelings that were making her wish she had never agreed to take up the deputy’s offer to investigate Brenden’s case and that were pushing her to just get out while she was ahead. She fought as she still needed the blood from the school to stay in the living world and as she was aware that it would be a grave mistake to end up on the wrong side of the deputy, irrespective of her opinion of the man. As he had said, the world of the undead was a village and it would not bode well for her to displease one of its more influential members.
“I don’t know what I can tell you,” said Amanda. “I certainly don’t think that I’ve found out anything that could affect anyone’s standing in the community. What can I even say? I managed to see three of the four vampires from the files you gave me – Mary O’Hare, Milch and Packard - and I don’t think that any of them could have attacked Brenden. I pretty much doubt that the last one on the list, the older woman, could be a real suspect either, not with the description that Brenden gave me. I’ve also not been able to find anything of any real importance from the interviews I’ve had with the other three. None of them seemed particularly pleased about my visiting them, well maybe apart from Packard, and they were all adamant that they knew nothing about the attack.”
“Am I right in thinking you feel as if you’re wasting your time? Quite the contrary, my dear. Let me reassure you that your investigation is nothing of the sort. If it were the case that anything substantial had come from your interviews, then I’m sure we wouldn’t be having this conversation now. However, I don’t think you should just focus on the big picture. Through your work, you’ve already achieved more than you’re giving yourself credit for. First, we can now say that it is very unlikely that the three people you’ve already talked to were directly responsible for the attack. Second, if one of the three had wanted to tell us something, we would now know what it was as we have given them the opportunity to talk. With these points in mind, and I imagine that you can guess what I’m going to say next, you ought to go back down again and continue with your work.
“Perhaps, though, it would now be good of me to extend a little gratitude to you for your efforts on behalf of the school. I can see that you’re quite tired from all the excitement today, and so why don’t you remain here for the night. I’ll get someone to prepare a spare bed for you very soon. While you wait, why don’t you make your way to the cafeteria and get a little sustenance.”
Amanda had to admit that she was tired, even more so since beginning her conversation with the deputy. Indeed, all she really wanted to do was to eat and go to sleep. She shrugged her shoulders and slowly nodded her head to agree to the deputy’s suggestion.
***
When Amanda checked the time on her phone, she discovered that over an hour had passed since she had settled down on one of the school canteen’s orange plastic chairs to have a drink. She had long since finished the contents of her polystyrene cup, but as
