Chapter 8

Chapter 8 A few minutes later, Dink and Josh walked into the lobby of the Shangri-la Hotel. Mr. Linkletter was standing behind his counter, staring at the door. "Hi, Mr. Linkletter," Josh said. "Ruth Rose said to meet her here. Have you seen her?"

Mr. Linkletter nodded. "Yes, I saw her about twenty minutes ago, with Dr. Cula." Dink's eyes went to the little, round Band-Aid on Mr. Linkletter's neck. "Do you know where they went?" he asked. "No, I didn't notice," Mr. Linkletter said. "They sat and talked here in the lobby. When I looked up again, they had disappeared." Dink remembered how the myste-rious man in black "disappeared" from Ellie's Diner and the Book Nook. "Of course," Mr. Linkletter went on, "Dr. Cula could be up in his room. He likes to nap during the day." Josh snuck a glance at Dink. "Um, can you tell us which room he has?" Josh asked. "That would be room 202," he said. "Feel free to go up and check." Dink grabbed Josh by the arm and tugged him toward the elevators. Dink pushed the UP button, and the boys waited. Seconds later, one of the two elevators arrived with a ping. Dink and Josh stepped inside.

"Did you see that?" Dink asked. "Mr. Linkletter didn't even check his register. How did he know which room Dr. Cula had?" "Yeah, and he never gives out room numbers," Josh said. "He always says guests at the Shangri-la pay for privacy." "And did you notice how nervous he looked?" Dink said. Josh nodded. "His mustache was practically doing a dance on his lip!" The elevator pinged, and the doors slid open. Dink and Josh stepped into the long corridor and stood, listening. No one was in the hallway, and it was very quiet. The small wall lights cast a dim glow onto the carpet. "This is creeping me out," Josh whispered. "What if that guy is in his room, just waiting for us?" "Right now we have to find Ruth Rose," Dink said. He pointed to room 202. "Let's go." They tiptoed toward the door. Dink got ready to knock, then noticed that the door was already partly open.

He raised his eyebrows at Josh, who was staring back at him. Dink pushed the door open a few more inches. "Dr. Cula?" he called through the crack. "Anyone here?" No answer came. Josh nudged the door fully open with the toe of his sneaker. There was no one in the room. The boys saw a TV set, a desk, an armchair, and night tables with lamps on both sides of a neatly made bed. "It looks like no one is staying here," Dink said. "Mr. Linkletter did say room 202, right?" Josh nodded. The boys tiptoed into the room for a better look. Dink felt goose bumps marching up his arms and legs. Then he noticed a loud hum. "The air conditioner is blasting," he said to Josh with a shiver. "It's freezing!" Josh answered. He walked across the room and stopped at the closet door. He looked at Dink. "Should I open it?" Dink nodded.

Josh pulled the closet door open, then gasped. "What?" Dink said, hurrying over for a look. On the floor sat a black leather suitcase. Hanging above the suitcase on a hanger was a long black cape. "He disappeared again," Josh whispered. "Let's get out of here," Dink said. "We have to find Ruth Rose." "Maybe she went back home," Josh suggested. "Maybe," Dink said as they walked toward the door. Against the wall to the right of the door was a small table they hadn't noticed when they entered the room. On it was a sheet of paper. A box of Band-Aids sat on top of the paper. Dink picked up the Band-Aid box. "The little, round kind," he said, reading the words on the box. "Oh my gosh!" Josh said, pointing to some writing on the paper.

Dink picked up the paper. "It's a list of names," he said. He read the list out loud: ELLIE LANDOLF ERNEST PASKEY LIONEL LINKLETTER RUTH ROSE HATHAWAY DINK DUNCAN JOSHUA PINTO The names were written in purple. The first three names had purple check marks next to them. "The vampire checked off the names of the people he bit on the neck!" Josh wailed. "And our names are next! I think I'm gonna be sick." Dink studied the list. He was espe-cially interested in the purple writing. Where had he seen that color before? Then Dink remembered. He brought the paper up to his nose and took a deep sniff. He smiled. "What do you smell?" Josh asked.