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I think about Grady working on the ice machine my first night, with a flashlight in his teeth. Kit rolling her eyes whenever his name came up.

“Could somebody else have taken the reports?”

“Anybody who's been in this office. The binder lives on that shelf.”

Merek has the staff schedule spread out on the floor.

“Grady worked both nights,” he says. “Corinne was here Sunday, and she stayed until six on Thursday.”

“Is that unusual?” I ask.

“Not really. Half the staff worked both nights, Trouble.”

“And the vault door,” William says. “Someone would have needed to remove the cover plate to reach the release.”

“How hard is that?” I ask.

“Anybody with the right tools could do it,” Tav says.

“So Grady,” Merek says. “And William. And Tav. And Lenart. And me.”

“Which is why we're not accusing anybody yet,” William says.

“There's one more thing,” Lenart says.

He's been quiet through most of this.

“Sabine was here both nights.”

“Who's Sabine?”

“A vampire. She's been a member since 1902.” He pauses. “We were together for about sixty years. It ended in 1988.”

“Your ex.”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Why does your ex keep showing up when I get locked in things?”

“I don't know. Sunday, I spoke with her at the main bar around eleven. She asked who the new girl was. Thursday, her card went through the red door at 7:52. She had the lounge booked that evening and left at nine-fifteen.”

“Does she have a key to anything?” William asks.

“Not that she should.”

“Does she want me gone?” I ask.

“Sabine has never liked anything she didn’t choose,” Lenart says. “She didn’t choose you.” He pauses. “When Harold Pike notified the council that Dez’s heir was a human bartender from California, Sabine asked whether the wards should go to someone who’d never set foot in this building. She asked it at two meetings. She wanted the succession delayed until the council could vote on it.”

“Did they?”

“No. The treaty doesn’t give them a vote.” His mouth thins. “She didn’t enjoy hearing that from me.”

He holds my eyes. “I wish I had more to tell you, Tara. That’s everything I know about her involvement.”

“I know you’re not.” I believe him.

William types her name.