“Because the human didn’t try to hurt me,” I said. “And the stalker’s goal is punishing those who hurt me, or so the notes say. Did the guy see anyone? Or is there video of the attack?”
“No video,” Theo said. “The closet isn’t far from the spot where Blake was killed, and there’s no video in that portion of the building. He remembers seeing a man coming toward him, but that’s it.”
“So male vampire,” I concluded. “Anything new about the origin of the text message?”
“Not yet,” Theo said. “It was routed through an overseas server, and we’re not having much luck getting cooperation on that end.”
“What about the Pedway?” Connor asked.
“Elisa nailed it,” Petra said. “There’s an underground walkway between the Portman Grand and the Brass & Copper. It’s sixty years old and needs repairs, so it’s not accessible to the general public. Used only for employees, maintenance crews, road crews, that kind of thing. At least officially.”
“Officially?” I asked.
“They don’t get supernatural guests very often, but they do tend to mention the Pedway to vampires because the coffee shop in the Portman opens earlier than the one in the hotel.”
“Allowing vamps to get coffee before dawn in safety,” Theo said.
“But wait,” Petra said, holding up a finger. “There’s more. A concierge named Burt, which is such an old-school, conciergey name, recognized Blake from a picture. Says he mentioned the Pedway when the vampires checked in.”
“Mentioned to one of them specifically?” I asked, and she shook her head.
“The group, generally.”
“So coffee kills vampires,” Connor said.
I knew he was trying for humor, but I wasn’t in the place for it. I was glad to be right about the rest—glad to be one step closer to finding the killer—but that didn’t lessen my frustration, or my anger.
“I have a feeling I know what you’re going to say, but was there video of the tunnel perchance?”
“Neither of the access points nor the corridor itself has a camera, probably since they’re supposed to be closed to the general public. But there are sensors on the door that register when it’s used.” Theo consulted something on his screen. “It was opened ten minutes before and four minutes after Blake’s time of death; it hadn’t been opened for hours before that. It was opened ten minutes before the human’s attack, and not again until the next day.”
I sat back, closed my eyes, let what they’d told me percolate a bit. I thought of the stalker, the building, the steps he might have taken to kill his quarry.
“So Blake leaves the Portman Grand sometime before dawn, walks through the Pedway to the Brass & Copper building. He gets coffee. An unknown vampire kills him, and walks back through the Pedway to the Portman. The next night, the killer opens the door, goes through the Pedway into the Brass & Copper building again, drinks from a human, and steals his car. And doesn’t go back through the Pedway.”
“Because he has a vehicle now,” Theo finished. “Good. That’s very good, Lis.”
“And I don’t think the killer is local,” I said. “Otherwise, if his feelings are so strong, why not try to contact me before now?”
“So a vampire temporarily in Chicago needs a place to stay?” Connor asked.
I nodded.
“Put all that together, and the killer was staying at the Portman Grand,” Theo concluded. “Learned about the Pedway, used it to get to and from the Brass & Copper building. Snuck up on Blake?”
“We all saw him fight,” I said, thinking of the battle. “He was quick, made smart moves. The killer had to get close to decapitate him. I don’t think anyone could have snuck up on him, especially not ten minutes before dawn.”
“So he let someone get close,” Connor said. “Let his guard down.”
“And maybe walks with the killer from the Portman Grand to the Brass & Copper building,” I said, and let the implication hang.
“A vampire visiting Chicago and staying at the Portman Grand,” Theo said. “A vampire Blake knew and trusted.”
“Someone from the AAM killed Blake,” Petra said quietly, and silence fell heavy over the room.
“But why?” Theo asked.
Connor looked at me. “You could be reason enough. The imagined slight by Blake showing up at your door, fighting with you at the Grove. We know the killer is disturbed. Maybe those were enough to push him over the edge.”
It wouldn’t have been to any rational person or vampire, but there was nothing rational about this.