Page 17 of How to Stake a Vampire

Didi flashed a small frown at Barney before focusing on the ghouls. “How long was the perp here?”

“Couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes.” Bethany shrugged. “He was very efficient. Like he knew exactly what he wanted and where to find it.”

My scalp prickled. It seemed Samuel and Barney had been right.

This thief was no amateur.

“How did you get out of the closet?” I asked curiously.

The look the ghouls exchanged made me regret the question.

“Pete detached an arm and sent it inside the vent to unlock the door from outside,” Steve said.

“We can control our body parts remotely,” Bethany explained at my expression.

Yup, that was going to give me nightmares.

Didi finished taking notes and looked up from her notepad. “Who was the last customer who visited the blood bank that day?”

Confusion washed across Gladys’s face. “Why do you want to know that?”

“Because it might be relevant to our investigation.”

Steve hesitated. “It was that nice young man who comes in every week. Very polite. He always asks about our specials.”

“His name is Virgil,” Bethany elaborated. “He works at that coffee shop in Sycamore Grove.”

My mouth went dry. “You mean Virgil from Bean Me Up?!”

“Yes,” Steve confirmed. “He was here right before closing time.”

“What did he do?” I asked, desperately trying to keep my tone casual.

“He just got his regular order,” Bethany said. “Type A negative, two pints. He made a deposit for payment.”

I blinked. “Deposit? You mean, he donated blood?”

“Yes,” Pete said. “The Tremaine reserve is particularly popular.”

You could have heard a pin drop in the hush that followed.

“Tremaine?” I repeated dully.

Didi’s eyes rounded. “Wait. You mean, like Gregory and Constantia Tremaine?!”

“Ho boy,” Bo huffed excitedly.

Pete looked horrified at his faux pas. He attempted to cover his mouth with his hand. His arm fell off. He picked up the limb and covered his eyes with it instead.

Barney sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Gregory is going to lose his mind.”

“Yup,” Gavin agreed with a sickly expression.

“Barney knowing is one thing, but you knew too?!” Didi asked the dragon newt accusingly.

“Virgil and I went to the same school,” Gavin said defensively. “Also, his true identity is meant to be a secret.”

Gladys had gone deathly pale.