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Edene Ilsa ([info]harborfey) wrote in [info]oceancove,
@ 2011-05-30 13:38:00

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Entry tags:c: henry doyle, c: ilsa

Who: Ilsa, Henry Doyle
What: A missing vampire
Where: Henry Doyle's office
When: Very late evening, not unreasonably early for a vampire
Rating: PG
Status: Complete

Ilsa's drive to the council building was somewhat…restless.

Her limited knowledge of Henry Doyle may have not have been cause for worry, but with a fresh cut on her hand as an irritating reminder of her almost-humanity, she was all the more keenly aware of the contrast between her near-powerlessness and his age and position. Amelia's word that Doyle was as trusted as pack had truly eased her mind on the subject, but the knowledge of her own lack still sat there. The cut hurt where her fingers were wrapped around the wheel, and she was tense, her hands a little too jerky at the wheel, her feet a little too heavy on the pedals.

Another driver cut her off, and she swore as her pulse leaped high. She paused, let out a breath, and then noted the driver glancing at her in his rear-view mirror. She gave a shaky laugh and cheerfully flipped him off.

At the council building, she passed through security and headed to Henry Doyle's office. She walked slowly, putting her thoughts in order, and her distraction lent her a faraway aspect; she all but drifted to Henry's door, paused, and then knocked gently, precisely on time.

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[info]otherkindofout
2011-05-31 08:43 pm UTC (link)
Henry's office was, by any standard, a bare and personality-free space. Whereas other council-building employees had chosen to decorate their offices with photos of their family, beloved art prints, or, in the case of a minor earth elemental, an alarming number of plants, Henry had elected to provide absolutely no personal touches to his workspace. It had, as a result, a highly temporary feel; a never subsiding sense that at any minute the current occupant could disappear and be replaced seamlessly with another. As far as Henry was concerned this was a far more personalized connection between man and workspace than most offices, at least as it applied to him and his own odd ways.

He was at his computer when the knock came, reviewing a PDF file on proposed changes to property tax. Property tax was a subject near and dear to most elderly vampires; many had a number of properties throughout the world, old haunts of sorts, which each had a different (and oft increasing) tax rate applied against it. Henry regularly received vampiric citizens who wished to lodge complaint after complaint against the discriminatory and never-ending nature of property taxes. 'I owned it before that government even existed!' was a common claim. In many cases it was a true one as well.

Henry glanced around the edge of his screen, impressed that the knock had come at the exact moment that the computer's built-in calendar had displayed the meeting reminder pop-up. "Come in," he called as he minimized the file. A keystroke brought up the screensaver (the Cove seal, which lazily scrolled by on endless repeat).

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[info]harborfey
2011-06-01 04:42 am UTC (link)
Ilsa entered the room and closed the door behind her with a soft click. "Mr. Doyle," she said politely. She walked a few steps further into the room, taking in her surroundings and finding them rather beige, in a manner that had nothing to do with color. The room shouldn't have seemed strange, but it tasted occupied to her, in a way that contrasted oddly with the look and feel of it, and for a half-moment she looked at Henry curiously, before the purpose of the meeting pressed in on her again.

"One of the regulars at Sugared appears to be missing," she said quietly, without preamble. "A vampire. His name is Graeme - Graeme Ecclesfeld."

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[info]otherkindofout
2011-06-01 05:33 am UTC (link)
Nothing changed in Henry's expression. He simply nodded as if vampires were reported missing on a regular basis and gestured to one of the two chairs arranged facing his desk. He knew Ecclesfeld by name and Cove resident report only. He knew the woman before him not at all, although he could smell both the bakery and Amelia from across the room.

"Are you certain he hasn't simply moved?" It was that didn't inspire confidence but which needed to be asked for all the same. The police would not take kindly to launching a manhunt for someone who had simply grown tired of living behind fences and barbed wire. "Not everyone leaves a forwarding address. What makes you believe Mr. Ecclesfeld did not simply grow tired of life in the Cove?"

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[info]harborfey
2011-06-01 06:27 am UTC (link)
Ilsa nodded and took a seat, absently glad of the gesture. She preferred formality with strangers and would have remained standing if he hadn't offered. "His - friend," she decided on, for lack of a better word (a better word that wasn't thrall. It seemed terribly impolite). "Her name is Amy. She is human.

"They've been something of a matched set for almost twenty years, and he would not have moved without telling her, probably would not have moved without her at all," she explained, with easy, simple conviction. "And she hasn't heard from him since before the first of the month."

Ilsa paused. "I tried to convince her to speak with you. She was very reluctant, and I am not sure why." She had a few notions, but didn't think he would appreciate unsolicited speculation.

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[info]otherkindofout
2011-06-01 06:41 am UTC (link)
Henry mirrored Ilsa's nod. He pulled a pad of paper and a pen from one desk drawer and began taking notes. He wrote in English but the various abbreviations and unknown symbols quickly rendered the paper unreadable by anyone but Henry himself, much to his secretarial staff's despair.

"When you say friend you mean, I assume, food source?" His tone remained flat indicating, correctly this time, that he had no particular emotional response to the idea of dedicated feeding hosts. It was a common enough practice in the Cove and in the vampiric community at large.

"Was she reluctant to speak to me specifically? Or to speak to anyone at all? Is she at all interested in engaging outside assistance? Or is this strictly your idea? As -- what? -- a concerned friend?" He canted his head slightly to one side questioningly. "A concerned blood host?"

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[info]harborfey
2011-06-01 08:16 pm UTC (link)
"I mean friend," she replied with a tilt of her head. She was largely unfamiliar with the intimacies of vampire culture, and was unable to tell from his objective tone whether she should be insulted on Amy's behalf. Even so, it would have been more academic than visceral. "I do know she has fed him in times of emergency, but I am not privy to the ordinary details of their arrangement.

"I am not a friend. I like them, but have rarely encountered either outside the shop. I can be more specific, if you like," she added. Ilsa had met Graeme briefly in the 19th century, but she considered it irrelevant. She hadn't even recognized him the first time he walked into Sugared.

"To be frank, Mr. Doyle, it seemed as though the only reason Miss Grey allowed herself to talk to me is that she thought I wouldn't take her seriously - or, barring that, would not care." Ilsa said this with perfect equanimity. Even if the notion bothered her, her feelings were hardly at issue. "As to the rest, she may be interested in engaging outside assistance. I don't know. We never discussed the police" - it hadn't occurred to Ilsa to ask, as it was a strange new thing to consider the police a resource - "but I doubt she'd be interested in that avenue, if only because her objection to you appeared to be related to the office."

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[info]otherkindofout
2011-06-01 10:00 pm UTC (link)
"We can," began Henry cautiously, "of course avoid entanglement with the authorities if Miss Grey would prefer we do so. There are a number of other resources that can be tapped, so to speak, within the local and larger vampiric community. I would like to involve, if possible, a local officer on an unofficial level; unless, of course, you feel Miss Grey would also object to this? The individual I have in mind is trustworthy and in-faction, if that helps matters."

"I will also need some additional information on the missing man. Oftentimes these cases prove to be rather less dire than they originally seemed. People appear to have disappeared only to be found living with other, unknown partners or engaging in a second, double life. But you seem, unless I am mistaken, to believe this isn't the case?" He set aside the pen briefly, frowning. "Do you think something serious has happened to Mr. Ecclesfeld?"

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[info]harborfey
2011-06-02 12:13 am UTC (link)
The answer was unequivocally yes, but Ilsa paused, trying to separate this certainty from her reaction to Amy Grey's haggard appearance and quick, tired denial when Ilsa hadn't automatically dismissed her.

"I do," she said eventually. "He stopped taking Amy on his trips to Seattle some months ago, but he was never gone so long, and never out of contact. I realize this fact points just as easily to the theory of a double life," she said seriously, her absent tone turned focused, "but I find it more likely that he has been trying to protect her from something. Graeme is - not always kind. But he is loyal, and he is honest."

"I am willing to tell you anything I know of him, but my practical knowledge is not extensive. And a trustworthy local officer would be an excellent idea," she added brusquely, because it was true, though she had no idea if Amy would object. "Amy - she may speak with you, or this officer, if it is made clear to her that such inquiries would be unofficial. If much more time goes by, she may speak with you regardless. She seems wary, but I don't know that she would be difficult to convince." Ilsa fell silent, deeply cognizant of how terribly unhelpful everything sounded. "She knows something is wrong."

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[info]otherkindofout
2011-06-02 12:35 am UTC (link)
Henry looked up sharply. "Seattle?" The word came out harsher than he intended, but he neither corrected his tone nor apologized for it. "He's been taking regular trips to Seattle? For how long? How often?"

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[info]harborfey
2011-06-02 01:13 am UTC (link)
"Since fall of 2009," she replied, taken aback but unoffended. "I can't be more specific than that. They would be gone for two or three weeks at a time, but he stopped taking Miss Grey with him in early November."

It was the week that two vampires and seven aide workers had died. It had been all over the newsmedia, the story of how two new vampires, ostensibly trying to abstain and then overcome with bloodlust, turned on the people trying to help them and then killed themselves when they realized what they'd done. Everyone agreed that the attack was tragic, but the question of for who had been very polarizing. The story had sold a lot of papers.

"Since then, he's left once a month, perhaps every six weeks." She scanned her memory, trying to remember his absences from the shop. "I would guess he stayed no longer than a week each time."

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[info]otherkindofout
2011-06-02 01:50 am UTC (link)
Henry made an unhappy sort of noise that was, at best, non-committal in nature. He scribbled a series of additional lines on his pad, filling the whole bottom quarter of the sheet before flipping it over entirely. He glanced up again.

"Do you know if he took anyone else with him in place of Miss Grey? Or if they travelled with a third party in the past?" He paused, mentally debating asking a further question. When he spoke he seemed uncertain, as if he was doubtful of the wisdom of his choice, although he plunged on regardless. "Has Mr. Eccleesfeld's physical appearance or personality changed in any way lately? Or since," he glanced at his notepad, "the fall of 2009?"

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[info]harborfey
2011-06-02 05:16 am UTC (link)
Her composure slipped somewhat as she flailed internally, beginning to speak twice without saying anything either time. The questions surprised her, though there was no reason for them to. She just didn't have good answers.

"Perhaps a little quieter recently, but both of them," she explained eventually. "In the fall of 2009 I had only recently started at Sugared; I would not have been able to recognize a prior change. My only other experience of Mr. Ecclesfeld is over a century old, and in a much different professional context. He is changed in that regard, but no more than may be expected, and in the usual ways. I only barely remember it, in any case.

"I…sell them coffee," she finished helplessly. "I don't know - wait. A third party?" She glanced away, as though looking at another person would detract from the processes of memory. The room really was wonderfully free of distractions. "No," she said, thinking aloud as much as talking to him. "Not as such, but - last Halloween. They were preparing for a guest. A vampire, a new one I believe - Graeme was using words like 'mentor.'" She raised her head. "And Amy was using words like 'stray.' But I don't think anything ever came of it. They never mentioned him again."

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[info]otherkindofout
2011-06-02 07:25 am UTC (link)
Henry nodded as he jotted down additional notes. His expression had gone from neutral to grim. He lifted his gaze to her once more and frowned.

"You said you were not familiar with the details of the feeding arrangement between Mr. Ecclesfeld and Miss Grey, correct? Can I assume then that you do not know if Mr. Ecclesfeld has ceased to feed off Miss Grey of late? Have you noticed any fresh bite or puncture wounds? They could be anywhere but they would be most likely found on the neck or inner wrist. Have you seen anything like this?"

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[info]harborfey
2011-06-02 08:00 pm UTC (link)
"I haven't," she replied, apologetic but matter-of-fact. "I had actually been away in the weeks before she first spoke to me; I wouldn't have been around to notice. But truly, I have only seen such marks on her a handful of times, and not from any modesty on her part - she doesn't seem to mind." She paused, lost in thought. "Her neck was bandaged at one point over the winter. The marks were not particularly neat. But that wasn't Graeme."

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[info]otherkindofout
2011-06-02 10:09 pm UTC (link)
"Then who was it?"

He frowned faintly, trying to sort out which details were likely to be relevant and which weren't. Bite wounds could be important or not. If Amy were allowing multiple vampires to feed from her they would be somewhat less useful a tool for sorting out where Graeme had been and when.

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[info]harborfey
2011-06-03 04:59 am UTC (link)
"I don't know. She didn't intend to tell me as much," Ilsa said, and her eyes went liquid-dark at the memory. The mechanics of being truth-bound were one of the few things that could still make her feel truly fey. "Her attempts to speak before that tasted of deception. She was very angry. It was cold." Her attention snapped back to the present, and in the transition she lost some strange quality of presence. "I didn't pry," she continued. "I had meant to tease her, not to trick her. The marks were not - careful."

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[info]otherkindofout
2011-06-03 07:09 pm UTC (link)
Henry nodded slightly. The frown remained in place. He had hoped that Graeme Ecclesfeld's disappearance would be easier to explain, however painful that explanation might be to Amy Grey. A new girlfriend, a second life, something that would indicate he had left for the sorts of reasons that drew many people away from the Cove. It seemed increasingly likely, however, that the reasons might be less ordinary that Henry would like.

"I will look into this matter. If you can convince Miss Grey to come speak to me as well, or to provide additional information of any kind, that would be helpful. I would caution you to be wary of becoming over involved yourself. Seattle has negative connotations for our people at the moment. Your involvement may attract the attention of unsavory types, even if they have no connection to Mr. Ecclesfeld's disappearance itself."

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[info]harborfey
2011-06-03 07:54 pm UTC (link)
Ilsa nodded; she would try. "Of course. But I don't have any real influence with her. By coming to you with this I have overstepped." Her tone was even. While generally preferring to remain within the bounds of accepted social structures - she liked rules - she didn't sound particularly bothered by this. "And I can assure you that I presently have no intention of engaging in activities that would attract 'unsavory types.'"

Ilsa leaned forward in her chair, extracting a pen from one of the pockets of her coat and a small pad of paper from another. She scribbled something quickly. "I will send notice if I remember any other fact I can be sure is significant. If you think of anything else you or this officer would like to ask me, I will help if I can. I probably can't." She placed the piece of paper with her contact information on his desk, and looked up. "I appreciate your seeing me."

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[info]otherkindofout
2011-06-03 09:25 pm UTC (link)
Henry pulled the piece of paper closer, glancing at it briefly as he did so. He memorized the full name and phone number instantly; if anything happened to the square of paper he would be able to locate her regardless.

"I appreciate your informing me of the situation. I suspect I would not have heard about it otherwise." Or not, he amended mentally, until the situation, if there was one, got substantially worse. "I think your friends are lucky to have someone like you watching out for them."

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[info]harborfey
2011-06-03 11:44 pm UTC (link)
Her expression shifted. She briefly considered but then discarded the idea of saying again that she was not a friend. "That is kind of you to say," she said instead, because it was. It was the sort of social nicety that people didn't usually even know if they meant - the sort of thing people would try but fail to say around the fey. She liked that he meant it.

"They would be luckier if they didn't need it," she said plainly, and stood. "I won't take any more of your time."

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[info]otherkindofout
2011-06-04 12:09 am UTC (link)
He stood as well. 'Offered her his hand. "Do take care. And know I will do my best to locate your friend." He was sincere, as was the worry that was taking up residence in his unseating heart. He wasn't sure he would be able to offer good news when he had any or if he'd ever be able to provide any news at all.

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[info]harborfey
2011-06-04 12:57 am UTC (link)
She wanted to thank him. She didn't; she never did, outside clearly outlined transactions, unless it was someone she knew well enough to trust. Experience had left her leery of implying a sense of indebtedness or obligation - when your words were always true, they could be used against you. But she believed he was sincere, and was inclined to like him.

She took his hand. "Goodnight, Mr. Doyle," she said. The drive home was rather more somber. She was angry.

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