The respite from troubles with Erica and the vampires lasted two, almost three days from the day the doctor visited. Two and a half days with no vampires, no assassins. Just normal days, with meals and the washing and all of the normal interactions with my guests. It all came to an end after lunch on Wednesday when Constance Claire with Louis in tow met me in my office with another of her reports. She had a lot to report.
"I followed Erica into a graveyard on Monday night after tea."
Once again, Constance Claire had rendered me utterly speechless. So many things popped into my head. I had no idea which one to pursue first. I knew which graveyard she meant. It was the one maintained by the city four blocks from Begley House towards town and away from the campus. Why had she followed Erica into the graveyard? Why on earth would Erica want to go to a graveyard in the dark? Was I to defend Erica's actions to Constance Claire? Was I to agree that this was a serious action and ought to be investigated? Had it already been investigated, by Constance Claire and Louis? Perhaps that was the way to go.
"What happened?" I tried to say this with as little emotion as possible, not giving anything away, simply prompting for some more of the story.
"Nothing happened, Mary Susan. She just walked around in the graveyard for a few minutes, then sat on a gravestone and stared out into the dark. It seemed to me that she was waiting for something, or rather for someone. But nobody came and after maybe twenty or thirty minutes, she got up and walked back to Begley House. We followed her all the way. She didn't go anywhere else, or do anything else."
That relieved my mind somewhat. I had no idea what Erica was up to, but at least it didn't seem dangerous. It didn't seem to be anything I should look into at all. I could have wondered why she did that, but chose not to, at least not for the present. So I asked another question, just to keep the conversation going. I hoped it was innocent enough and simple enough to inspire further conversation. I had this probably silly idea that the more I knew of what was going on around here, the better prepared I would be to manage it.
"Why did you follow Erica when she went on her walk?"
"For her own protection." She answered quickly, as if she expected the question and had prepared for it mentally. "She was obviously expecting to meet someone in the graveyard. He didn't show up."
I paused, wondering how I should react to this. "You mean a man friend? Someone who wasn't to call on her in the usual way for some reason?"
"I mean a vampire, Mary Susan." Cold and confident, Constance Claire was very sure of her ground. "Erica is in real danger. Isn't she Louis?"
Having made such a startling statement, Constance Claire apparently felt the need for confirmation.
"Well, she did seem to me to be expecting to meet someone, but for the life of me I can't say why she would want to meet anyone in a graveyard. It must have been a secret meeting for sure. I suppose it could have been with a vampire," he went on lamely.
Constance Claire, on the other hand, seemed quite confident. "And one more thing I find especially persuasive. When she took her little trip to see her family, she came back much improved. Even over the four day period she was away from Begley House, her color improved and her mood was better. Better, that is, until the morning after her return. That morning she was weak and tired again at breakfast, and wouldn't talk about it. I think it was pretty clear that the attacks occur during the night and that they were interrupted when she went home to her family. The attacks are only happening while she is in this house."
Constance Claire looked at me, newfound confidence and defiance written on her face. I was going to have to say something, and I didn't like that. But Constance Claire had still more to relate.
"And we found his box of earth in the basement." She said flatly, as though she had completed her proof.
I must admit that having a conversation with Constance Claire is stimulating to say the least. The response to that was obvious, and I did not hesitate.
"What box of earth? What are you talking about?"
"The box of earth that the vampire goes to every dawn to sleep all day. His coffin. He has to sleep every day over the earth of his castle in Transylvania. You haven't read the book, maybe, but I have. It's all in the book. Louis says the box is too small but I say that vampires can change themselves into other things when they want to, so they can make themselves smaller and so they don't need a full size coffin."
It was good of Constance Claire to explain about vampires to me, but I was more interested in the box of earth.
"What does this box of earth look like?"
Louis responded, perhaps to bring some sort of reality to the conversation, perhaps simply to support Constance Claire.
"Its small, for a coffin anyway. It's about two feet long and maybe a foot wide and filled almost to the top with dirt. It seems to have some sort of bulge in the middle. It's in the darkest corner of the basement.
Suddenly I had had enough of this. I simply wasn't going to pretend anymore.
"What you call a box of earth isn't a coffin for a diminutive vampire, it's a planter for an amaryllis plant. I put it there to be dormant for a few months. I hope you didn't dig it up looking for your vampire. It needs to stay in the dark for another month so it will bloom, hopefully, for Christmas."
"Oh, I won't touch it. I won't even go near it. I'd be much too afraid! "