Page 74 of Obsessed in Blood

He turned off the computer and shuffled toward the file cabinets. “Come. Let’s check the files.”

Lucas considered the long aisles and followed the vampire three-quarters of the way down the line of old wood cabinets, occasionally slowing to read the labels on the cabinets. They were alphabetical if he was reading them right.

“Here we are.” The custodian pulled the drawer open and filtered through the folders, most of which were bent and frayed. “Hmm. That’s strange.”

“What is it?” Lucas looked over the vampire’s shoulder and instantly saw the problem.

“The file isn’t here. I suppose the curator could have it, but after seeing the age of the note, it would be an unusual coincidence.”

“Perhaps she’s available now to ask?”

He agreed, and Lucas followed him up to the first floor. From what Cressa had said, in the L.A. branch, Philipe had kept an office on the fourth floor next to the restoration office, so he was surprised to be led upstairs to the curator’s office.

Meredith Renaud was tall and willowy and looked to be in her mid-thirties by human standards, but there were lines at the corners of her eyes that he didn’t think came from a jovial personality based on the deep frown she presented on first introductions. The frown deepened further after hearing the dilemma the custodian presented.

“Let me check the inventory. I’m sure it was simply a mistype.” She turned to her computer, and Lucas glanced at the custodian, whose own expression appeared doubtful. “Yes, here it is.”

The custodian grimaced, and Lucas drew close, but Meredith kept the screen from their view. “It looks like it required special handling for restoration and was transferred back to the home library.”

“Which one? New Orleans or France?” Lucas hoped it was still in the States.

She hesitated, then said, “New Orleans.”

“I apologize, Ms. Renaud, I must have typed something wrong.” But the custodian’s gaze narrowed a bit in what Lucas read as suspicion before turning blank.

“It happens.” She smiled, though it was formal and didn’t reach her eyes, which were cold and calculating. If he was Sergi, he would consider her a vampire with something to hide. “Now, I’m sorry, but I have another meeting. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Lucas held her gaze. “Can you tell me when it was transferred?”

Her gaze turned flinty, and her smile became wooden as she turned back to the computer. “Quite some time ago. Ah, this makes sense. It was 1906. Probably the result of the Great Earthquake.”

“Really?” Lucas gave her a quizzical look. “Is it possible it might have gone to a different library, like maybe the one in Los Angeles?”

“That would be impossible. The Los Angeles library didn’t open until the mid-1920s.” She turned away, busying herself with shifting several files on her desk. She was lying, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. “Now I really must get to my meeting.”

“I’ll show you out,” the custodian said, and he nodded to the curator. “I apologize for bothering you. I should have checked a second time.”

“It’s no trouble.” She gave Lucas a last look. “Thank you for your visit. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”

He followed the vampire toward the entrance where Lucas stopped him. “I have a friend I need to find. I left her on the second floor.”

“Of course, sir.”

“May I ask how long Ms. Renaud has been the curator here?”

“About a year, maybe less.”

“I see. And who was the curator before that?”

“That would have been Claude Renaud.”

“And where is he now?”

The vampire lowered his gaze. “He returned to his homeland.”

“France?”

He nodded. “Now, I must return to my duties.”