"So!" he boomed, laying his bowler hat aside and his huge briefcase across his lap. "Your father — Mr. Horston — is he in?"

"Um… yeah. He's… sleeping." I was finding it hard to string words together.

"Oh, of course. I forgot he was on night shifts. Perhaps I should call back at a more convenient…" He trailed off, thumbed open his briefcase, dug out a sheet of paper and studied it as though it was an historical document. "Ah," he said. "Not possible to rearrange — I'm on a tight schedule. You'll have to wake him."

"Um. Right. I'll go… see if he's…" I hurried through to where the vampire lay sleeping and anxiously shook him awake. Harkat stood back, saying nothing — he'd heard everything and was just as confused as I was.

Mr. Crepsley opened one eye, saw that it was daytime, and shut it again. "Is the hotel on fire?" he groaned.

"No."

"Then go away and—"

"There's a man in my room. A school inspector. He knows our names — at least, the names we checked in under — and he thinks I'm fifteen. He wants to know why I'm not at school."

Mr. Crepsley shot out of bed as though he'd been bitten. "How can this be?" he snapped. He rushed to the door, stopped, then retreated slowly. "How did he identify himself?"

"Just told me his name — Mr. Blaws."

"It could be a cover story."

"I don't think so. The manager of the hotel was with him. He wouldn't have let him up if he wasn't on the level. Besides, he looks like a school inspector."

"Looks can be deceptive," Mr. Crepsley noted.

"Not this time," I said. "You'd better get dressed and come meet him."

The vampire hesitated, then nodded sharply. I left him to prepare, and went to close the curtains in my room. Mr. Blaws looked at me oddly. "My father's eyes are very sensitive," I said. "That's why he prefers to work at night."

"Ah," Mr. Blaws said. "Excellent."