The Vampire of Tinkerfall (Elysium #3)

Chapter Twenty-Six

 Booker was waiting in the parlour when Trinket returned. There was tea on the table, and as she took a seat, he handed her a cup and moved from the armchair to the settee beside her.

"Grace got home safely?" he asked.

"Yes, she did. She seems confident in her recovery and thanks you for your generous assistance." She gave him a sidelong glance as she sipped her tea. "All right, you've shown the proper amount of concern. Go ahead with what you truly want to talk about."

He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "That moron with the tattoo is Viper."

"Does this change things?"

"No, not really, I suppose."

"He was bringing up Benedict's creations. Do you think he's the one who's been sending Scales after them?"

Booker shook his head. "No, it's definitely Scales who has the interest. If anything, Scales is manipulating Viper to get him to hunt Benedict down. Seems like he's feeding him dreams of using Benedict to obtain vicious monsters with which to rule the city."

Trinket tilted her head in thought. "Why does Scales want Benedict?"

"Well, the gang will belong to him should something happen to Viper. Maybe he's trying to build up an arsenal for that very day."

"Or maybe he plans on using said arsenal to make that day come sooner."

Raising his eyebrows, Booker nodded slowly. "That is a possibility."

"This new revelation aside, we still haven't found the girl we're looking for."

He sighed. "Right. Well, tomorrow is a new day."

~

Tomorrow was indeed a new day. As was the next day and the day after that and the day after that. And still, they were unsuccessful in their search for the girl who had been spotted at the scenes of both of the vampire deaths. They staked out the apartment building almost daily but never caught sight of her. Or maybe she had actually been there but had been so ordinary that she slipped through the crowd without catching their attention. It would've been much more helpful if there had been something unusual about her appearance.

It didn't help that Trinket was so distracted. Though she did think that finding this girl was important to the case, she was far more interested in searching for Tory. There had been no sign of the wild-eyed girl since she last encountered her, and the fact that there had also been no other vampire attacks didn't give Trinket much confidence that her old friend was innocent.

She counted herself lucky that Booker was so focused on the other mystery girl. It kept him from noticing her eyes wandering through the crowds, her gaze catching on every young blonde woman. But none of them were Tory. It almost made her wonder if she had imagined her. Maybe Tory was just a figment of her imagination. If that were the case, how useful could Trinket be to the case with such an unreliable psyche?

After another unsuccessful day spent hunting for information, she and Booker dined at the Clocktower in hopes of questioning some of the patrons. However, with no success there, either, they made their way home.

"Blast it all. This city used to be so good at gossiping," Booker said as they stepped outside.

A blonde girl pushed past them, bumping Trinket's elbow as she headed into the Clocktower. For a brief moment, Trinket's eyes met hers, and it was in that instant that she recognized her. That wild, paranoid look was unmistakable.

Tory.

But the girl either did not recognize her or chose to ignore her, as she hurried into the alehouse without a word. Trinket nearly chased after her but quickly remembered that she had yet to tell Booker about her old friend. She couldn't very well run off after the blonde girl without an explanation. Once she was certain Tory was involved with this vampire case—or was, in fact, the vampire herself—she would tell him.