Page 75 of Once Bitten, Twice Mine

“Just because you refuse to open up your mind doesn’t make me delusional.”

“My mind is open to science.”

“Then what is the scientific reason you think the attacks have stopped?” She asked.

Dr. Gardner removed his glasses and wiped them with his handkerchief. “Most likely, the illness burned out. You see it all the time with illnesses with a high mortality rate. They spread quickly at first, but die out once the hosts die before they can pass it along.”

Caroline shivered; it sounded truly ghastly. She was lucky to live in such a time of medicine and science.

“How do you explain the fact it took them several days to die? A disease like the one you’re describing would need to kill in hours. Days would mean people would keep getting sick.”

“Not if it was an illness local to the region that people who had been here for generations had developed an immunity to. That happens all the time in remote villages.”

Murnau snorted. “There’s nowhere in England that remote.”

Dr. Gardner turned to her. “Were the sick men local or had they moved here recently?”

“Most were local.”

Nelly’s family had lived in the area for generations, and she was sure Tommy Palmer’s had as well. Some of the men they had treated may have been newer to the area, but so many of the men she nursed were familiar faces.

“Besides, I never got sick. Even though it was also an illness that targeted men.”

Dr. Gardner frowned, replacing his glasses on his face. “No women fell ill?”

“You saw the ward; I wasn’t hiding any female patients from you.”

“But Dr. Murnau, Nelly was a woman.”

“I know, but your maid was the only female casualty. Even in homes where the men got sick and died, none of the women ever reported even feeling ill in the many interviews we’ve done.”

She didn’t know what to think about that, but it didn’t feel good when she thought about how Valeria selected her…food. That her victims were purposeful. She wasn’t sure why, but somehow choosing made it worse.

It was another thing to speak to Valeria about after sundown.

“Just because something is strange doesn’t mean vampires are the culprit. I don’t know why you called me here if you were so dedicated to believing this madness.”

“I called you here in case you could provide an alternative, and you haven’t. You grouse around here all day talking about how foolish I am, but you have never offered up a single credible theory.”

“I’m still measuring my options, but neither Mrs. Montgomery nor I have seen anything that could suggest anything fantastical,” Dr. Gardner sputtered, his face reddening.

“Then I’m afraid you’re not the diagnostician I thought you were.”

“If you’re so convinced there’s a vampire, then tell me, where is it?” Dr. Gardner threw his hands up.

“That’s where Miss Blythe comes in.”

Both men looked to her, and she blinked at them. She had forgotten to come up with a credible lie about why she hadn’t yet found the vampire.

“I haven’t yet located the vampire.”

Dr. Murnau frowned while Gardner looked smug.

“Have you found any clues?”

“She won’t because there are no clues to find.”

“What are you all squabbling about?” Mrs. Montgomery said, frowning at the three of them. “You’re lucky this ward is empty. I could hear you from the other wing.”