I know.'
"'What were they looking for, then?' Hugh toasted me briefly and took a sip.
"'It's a very, very long story.' I sighed. 'But it fits in pretty nicely with some other things we need to talk about.'
"He nodded. 'All right. Unto the breach, then.'
"'If you'll take your turn, as well.'
"'Of course.'
"I drank half my glass for fortification and began at the beginning. I wouldn't have needed the wine to erase any doubts about telling Hugh James all of Rossi's story; if I didn't tell him everything, I might not learn everything he knew himself. He listened in silence, with obvious absorption, except when I mentioned Rossi's decision to conduct research in Istanbul, when he jumped. 'By Jove,' he said. 'I'd thought of going there myself. Going back, I mean - I've been there twice, but never to look for Dracula.'
"'Let me save you some trouble.' I refilled his glass this time and told him about Rossi's adventures in Istanbul and then about his disappearance, at which Hugh's eyes bulged, although he said nothing. Finally I described my meeting with Helen, leaving out nothing about her claim to Rossi, and all of our travels and research to date, including our encounters with Turgut. 'You see,' I concluded, 'at this point it hardly surprises me to have my hotel room turned upside down.'
"'Yes, exactly.' He seemed to brood for a moment. We had made our way through a multitude of stews and pickles by this time, and he put his fork down rather sadly, as if regretting to see the last of them. 'It's most remarkable, our meeting like this. But I'm distressed to hear about Professor Rossi's disappearance - very distressed. That's dreadfully strange. I wouldn't have sworn before hearing your story that there was more involved in researching Dracula than the usual stuff. Except that I have had an odd feeling, you know, about my own book, this whole time. One doesn't want to go just on odd feelings, but there it is.'
"'I can see I haven't stretched your credulity as much as I feared I might.' "'And these books,' he mused. 'I count four of them - mine, yours, Professor Rossi's, and the one belonging to that professor in Istanbul. It's damned strange that there should be four such alike.' "'Have you ever met Turgut Bora?' I asked. 'You said you've been to Istanbul a few times.' "He shook his head. 'No, I've never even heard the name. But then he's in literature, and I wouldn't have come across him in the history department there, or at any conferences. I'd appreciate your helping me get in touch with him someday, if you would. I've never been to the archive you describe, but I read about it in England and was thinking of giving it a try. You've saved me the trouble, though, as you say. You know, I'd never thought of the thing as a map - the dragon in my book. That's an extraordinary idea.' "'Yes, and possibly a matter of life or death for Rossi,' I said. 'But now it's your turn. How did you come across your book?' "He looked grave. 'As you've described in your case - and the other two - I didn't so much come across my book as receive it, although from where or from whom I couldn't tell you. Perhaps I should give you a little background.' He was silent a moment, and I had the sense that this was a difficult subject for him. 'You see, I took my degree at Oxford nine years ago, and then went to teach at the University of London. My family lives in Cumbria, in the Lake District, and they are not wealthy. They struggled - and I did, too - so that I could have the best of educations. I always felt a bit on the outside, you know, particularly at my public school - my uncle helped put me through there. I suppose I studied harder than most, trying to excel. History was my great love, from the beginning.'
"Hugh patted his lips with his napkin and shook his head, as if remembering youthful folly. 'I knew by the end of my second year of university that I was going to do rather well, and this goaded me further. Then the war came and interrupted everything. I'd finished almost three years at Oxford. I first heard of Rossi there, by the way, although I never met him. He must have left for America