The Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko Page B

tourist or a novice. Or did someone have a special reason for killing Victor?’
    â€˜A vampire can kill a man with a single blow,’ said Foma. ‘And without even touching him. Why would he leave any clues behind? Victor could have died from a heart attack, and no one would have suspected a thing.’
    â€˜Agreed,’ I said, with a nod. ‘Then … then your Master is right. It’s some vampire from out of town, and the boy just happened to be in the wrong place. He bit him, then got frightened and puked up the blood.’
    â€˜It looks that way,’ Foma agreed. ‘But there’s still something bothering me, Anton.’
    We finished our beer without another word.
    â€˜Have you tried testing traces from the body?’ I asked.
    I didn’t have to say that I meant traces left by an aura.
    â€˜A dead aura from a dead body?’ Foma said, with a sceptical shake of his head. ‘That’s never been much help. But we did try. No traces were found … Tell me, watchman, what else did you see that was unusual in the Dungeons?’
    â€˜There are Others working there,’ I said. ‘There’s no blue moss, although the place is overflowing with emotions. Someone cleans it out regularly.’
    â€˜There are no Others working there,’ Foma snapped. ‘The blue moss just doesn’t grow there.’
    I looked at him uncertainly.
    â€˜Out of interest, we tried bringing it in from outside. It withers and falls off in an hour. A sort of natural anomaly.’
    â€˜Well … it happens, I suppose,’ I said, making a mental note to check in the archives.
    â€˜It does,’ Foma agreed. ‘Anton, I’d like to ask you not to leave the investigation just yet. There’s something here that really bothers me. Try having a word Victor’s girlfriend.’
    â€˜Is the girl still here?’
    â€˜Of course. The police asked her not to leave town. The Alex City hotel, not far from here. I think it will be easier for you to make contact with her.’
    â€˜Do you suspect her of something?’
    Foma shook his head.
    â€˜She’s just an ordinary person … It’s something else. She’s taking her lover’s death very hard, cooperating willingly with the police. But maybe a fellow Russian will find it easier to get through to her. A gesture, a glance, a word – any little thing. I really don’t want to close this case and leave everything to the police, Anton.’
    â€˜And it would be a good thing to meet the owner of the Dungeons of Scotland, too,’ I said.
    â€˜That won’t get you anywhere,’ Foma said dismissively.
    â€˜Why not?’
    â€˜Because those stupid Dungeons belong to me!’ Foma said with loathing.
    â€˜But—’ I broke off. ‘Well … but then …’
    â€˜What then? I have a small holding company – Scottish Colours – that works in the tourist business. Our Night Watch is a shareholder in the company, and the profits go to finance its activities. We organise musical events and circus performances, we have shares in a few hotels, four pubs, the Dungeons of Scotland, three tour buses and an agency that takes tourists to the Scottish lochs. How else would you like us to earn our money?’ He laughed. ‘The whole of Edinburgh lives off the tourists. If you go to Glasgow and you find yourself in the suburbs, you’ll see a frightening sight – buildings on the point of collapse, hotels boarded up, factories closed down. Industry is dying. It’s not profitable to produce goods in Europe any longer, but it
is
profitable to produce services. What else should an old bard do but run concerts and tourist attractions?’
    â€˜I understand, it was just unexpected …’
    â€˜There aren’t any Others working there,’ Foma repeated. ‘It’s a strange place – the blue moss doesn’t grow there –