Ray nodded. “In the trunk against the wall. Ike wore special rubber gloves to handle them.”
I rubbed my nose as Saber went to the chest and opened it. With his good hand, he lifted out two sets of cuffs attached to sturdy chains, one at a time. The shackles were the kind prisoners wore with longer chains to allow a modicum more movement. Saber draped one set of shackles over the lip of the trunk, examined them in turn, and then held the locks up to the light.
“Ike didn’t notice these shackle locks had been tampered with?”
“What? But Ike had the only keys.” Ray edged marginally closer. “Where do you see this tampering?”
“Scratch marks. They’re faint, and they could be older than they look, but I’d lay odds they’re new.”
“You suspect that Laurel picked the locks?” Ray asked.
“That’s one theory.”
Saber dropped the cuffs and chains back in the chest and closed it as I turned to Ray.
“Will you let me see Laurel’s room for just a minute?”
He huffed a breath, clearly impatient, but gave me a short nod.
“Saber, are you finished here? The others will not care if you are in Laurel’s rooms, but Ike’s—”
“I’m done. Let’s go.”
As soon as Ray opened Laurel’s door, even he and Saber smelled the tang of oranges. The furniture was a mishmash of antiques and just plain old pieces, but the carved canopy double bed on the far wall could’ve belonged to an honest-to-gosh storybook princess.
I followed my nose to the bathroom first, looking for the source of the smell. No bathroom cleaners stored under the vanity. No orange-scented shampoo or conditioner or soap, but one green towel hanging on a rack smelled of it.
“Ray, do you have any paper grocery bags?”
He frowned. “I do not know, but I can ask Miranda.”
“Ask me what?”
I gave a “Yeep,” and Saber darn near had his weapon drawn as we spun to see Miranda bracing an empty laundry basket on her matronly hip.
“Oh, my, I’m sorry, Master Ray,” she said quickly, her British accent strong.
He waved a hand. “It is no matter, Miranda. Are the others all awake now?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Please let them know that I need them in the parlor shortly. Oh, and do you have some paper bags the Princess and Saber may take with them?”
She bobbed her head, curtsied, and hustled out of the room.
A curtsy to the master of the house? Now that was British, but I only let it bemuse me for a moment.
“Thanks, Ray,” I said as I scooted by him on one side of the door, Saber on the other. Next I went to the bed, where the scent seemed to be the strongest. The half-burned candle was vanilla, but the sheets reeked of oranges and sex. Not two words I’d have thought of in the same sentence.
I glanced at Saber standing at the footboard. “You need to take the sheets, too.”
Miranda bustled back in just then with a small stack of Publix grocery bags. “Will these do?”
“Yes, thank you,” I said with a smile as she handed me the bags. “I’m sure glad you take paper instead of plastic.”
She sniffed. “If anyone should care about the earth, vampires should. We’re here long enough.”
I couldn’t help grinning. “You’re right. Miranda, when did you last clean this room?”
“Nearly two weeks ago, ma’am. Is anything amiss?”
“No, no. Just wondering. Thank you.”
“Miranda, you may join the others in the parlor now. We will be there shortly. Correct, Saber? Princess?”
“We’ll be there in a jiffy,” I answered for both of us.
Ray lounged against the doorjamb and watched in silence while we bundled the bedding into several bags, Saber helping onehanded because of the sling. In the bath, I put the towel in yet another bag, folded the tops of the bag over twice to semi-seal them, and gathered them all to carry out. I wanted Saber’s good hand free, just in case Ray’s vamps took exception to us being in the house.
As we headed toward the door, Ray straightened and held out his hand.
“A moment. I have cooperated, and I will allow you to question the others, but you must tell me why taking these things is important to the investigation.”
Saber straightened the strap of his sling. “Here’s the short version. We know that Ike was paying protection money to Vlad. We know that Laurel was making runs to Atlanta for Ike. We know that there is a vampire in Vlad’s nest who is reported to be immune to silver.”
Ray inhaled, hissing air into his lungs. “That is not possible.”
“Apparently, it is,” I said. “But, wait, there’s more. Laurel knew things she shouldn’t have known. Like that Jo-Jo was in St. Augustine darn near before we’d met him.”
“She also gave Donita jewelry to pawn,” Saber said. “Items that tourists who had been in the club reported missing. They didn’t have memories of being robbed but remembered leaving the club with their jewelry and not having it the next day.”