The Classified Dossier: Sherlock Holmes and Count Dracula(20)

“No,” Dracula said. “Mina was my only concern. Possibly they are nearby or possibly they have parted ways. Vampires do not usually tolerate each other’s company, but they have spent so many years together, that I cannot imagine them abandoning each other now.”

“Had you any reason to expect them in London?” Holmes asked.

“None,” Dracula said, resuming his pacing. “It is quite antithetical to their nature. They are like wild beasts, untrammelled by civilization, even more so than most vampires, which is saying something, Mr Holmes. I would have said that nothing was less likely, for while the teeming masses here in London make hunting plentiful, that advantage pales compared to the hindrance of your London society. The sisters, as I knew them, had absolutely no ability to blend or pass themselves off as anything less than clever animals, and should have been discovered and destroyed after their second day here. An orangutan would have an easier time hiding in…”

“In Paris?” I offered.

“Yes,” Dracula said. “Just so.”

“The dangers of inviting a literary man to any conversation,” Holmes said, shooting me a glance that contained equal and conflicting portions of irritation and reluctant amusement. He turned back to the Count. “Do you have any explanation for this aberrant behaviour?”

“I do,” the Count said, “though I suspect you know it already. Either the influence of this ‘elder vampire’, or Van Helsing, or both, if they are not one and the same. Perhaps they are two distinct threats, and not working together at all. It would certainly require a very old and powerful vampire to have commanded such loyalty from the sisters so quickly.”

“How many vampires older than you do you know of?” I asked, the vision of these possibly plentiful monsters chilling my blood, inhuman though I now was.

“None,” Dracula said.

“None?” Holmes asked.

Dracula gave us his thin, cruel smile. “Alive.”

This forced an unusual train of thought upon me, since the Stoker book, as far as I knew, referred to vampires as ‘undead’. Clearly this was not a view that either Holmes or Count Dracula shared. In light of what we now know of those afflicted by the disease, it is clear that ‘dead’ and ‘alive’ mean exactly the same things to a vampire as to the non-afflicted, and I will not make use of the ‘undead’ terminology here. It struck me that any of the afflicted, including Count Dracula, being dismissed as a non-person, as a thing bereft of life, was as personal and profound an attack as anyone could imagine.

“Holmes,” I said, standing and pleading with him. “This has gone far enough. You cannot mean to align yourself with this bloodthirsty and savage creature!”

“There is this to consider, Watson,” Holmes said, seemingly unruffled and unmoved by my impassioned plea. “I have gleaned a great deal from the Count here, but also from my own research.” Holmes gave Dracula a wry look. “You will forgive me if I did not entirely take your information at face value.”

Dracula nodded, composed now and looking every bit the Count he claimed to be.

“But now,” Holmes said, “that I have done some considerable amount of my own research with both the various offices of law enforcement and also the caretakers of a great many cemeteries, not only here, but several other major cities – it helps to know what to look for, you see – I am convinced that the Count is correct when he says that this ‘Mariner Priest’ is a far, far greater threat to London than your average vampire and certainly more so than the Count.”

My heart sank as Holmes went on, warming to his subject.

“While I will concede the point,” he continued, “that the vampire represents quite a danger to the common man, it is not so great as one might think. First, the vampire under natural conditions is a solitary creature and no two vampires would work together or willingly share even quite vast territories. I have found indications that London has less than a dozen such mature, rogue and solitary vampires, for all her teeming millions. In addition, I have it on Count Dracula’s word that he merely desires to rescue his bride and return with her to his estate near the Borgo Pass, and will present no further danger to Britain or any of her citizens.”

“But why, Holmes, should we believe anything that he says? Why would you choose to assist this… monster!”

“Because, dear Watson,” Holmes said, his voice growing very grave, “of the other claim regarding this Mariner Priest that Adaliene made to Dracula.”

“Other claim?” I said.

“He is making,” Dracula said, “more vampires.”

“Does that fit Van Helsing as you know him?” Holmes asked. “You describe him as being on a campaign against vampires.”

“I do not pretend to understand all the man’s motivations,” Dracula said. “But what other explanation is there?”

“I have no other explanation at the moment,” admitted Holmes. “I have never met the man and need more data.”

“It must be him,” Dracula said. “He is making vampires. Many more vampires. Possibly as many as thirty or so already, with a goal of surpassing a hundred or so by the end of the year.”

“A hundred vampires?” I said, astonished beyond all reckoning.