Dracul's Revenge 01: Dracul's Blood by Carol Lynne, T. A. Chase

rest of the apartment while the CSI rats take care of the evidence in here.” Jablonsky backed out and turned, gesturing for the techies to come in.
    “Get everything bagged and tagged asap. We’ll need detailed photographs as well.”
    “Yes, sir.” Libby saluted as she snuck past, camera in hand.
    Jablonsky rolled his eyes, but let her go by before heading towards the living room.
    Bobby stayed put, waving his hand to get Libby’s attention.
    “I want a close up of the wound to the neck.”
    Her gaze sharpened. “You think this might be related to the Thompson murders?”
    “I can’t say anything at the moment, but the similarities are striking.” He spun around on his heel and followed Jablonsky.
    “What is it about rich people dying in the goriest way possible lately?” Jablonsky picked up a glass resting on the end table. “This smells like wine.”
    Bobby pointed at the open bottle sitting on the side bar table in the corner. “Probably from that bottle there. Do we have a uniform talking to the doorman? A place like this has to have someone to keep the riff-raff from coming in.”
    “Yeah. Hansen and his partner are on it. We have other detectives going door-to-door in the building to see if anyone heard anything. Have a guess when she might have been killed.”

    DRACUL’S BLOOD
    Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

    69

    “The fact that the blood is still wet, it couldn’t have been any earlier than last night some time.” Bobby rested his hip on the mahogany desk at one end of the living room and stared down at the beautifully decorated egg set in the middle of the blotter. “How much do you think this thing’s worth?”
    He reached out to poke it with his finger.
    “Don’t touch it, Marks.” The lieutenant stalked in, her face set in hard lines. “What do we know?”
    Bobby shot to his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets like he used to when he went to the store with his mother. “Not much. The lab guys are collecting evidence right now. As soon as we can move the body, I’ll take a closer look at the wound.”
    “What’s your gut telling you, Marks?” She pinned him with her fierce light blue eyes.
    “It looks like the same M.O. Less blood, but that’s because there’s only one body.”
    She clasped her hands behind her back and paced. “How can we have the same M.O.
    if Thompson was killed? There wasn’t any evidence supporting a second killer.”
    Jablonsky shuffled his feet. “No, ma’am. Marks could be wrong. Miss Vanderlist could have slit her own throat or it could have been a robbery gone wrong.”
    The lieutenant shot his partner a quelling look, but Bobby wasn’t paying attention to them anymore. Libby stood in the archway, motioning him over. When he got to her side, a gurney with a black body bag came to a halt in front of him. The man who pushed it there grabbed the zipper and opened the bag enough for Bobby to take a close look at Mavis’s throat.
    “Damn,” Bobby whispered, his glove-covered fingers hovering over the teeth marks in Mavis’s flesh where her jugular had been slashed. “Did you get up-close pictures of those marks?”
    Libby shook her head. “I couldn’t get close enough, and I need better lighting. I’ll get some at the morgue before and after she’s cleaned up.”
    “Thanks. Email them to me as soon as you can.”
    “Yes, sir.” This time Libby’s tone wasn’t a smart-ass one.
    “Good girl.” Bobby patted her shoulder and let them take Mavis out of the apartment.
    “Well?” The lieutenant gestured for him to join her and Jablonsky in a huddle as far away from the other cops as they could get and not leave the apartment.

    DRACUL’S BLOOD
    Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

    70

    “Teeth marks, Lieutenant. Her throat was sliced down to the bone, and I don’t think it was a lucky strike, either. The killer knew right where to get her for maximum loss and the quickest access to the blood. I assume he drank it while she lay