Chapter 44

We were connecting some of the dots now. Finally. I hoped we would be able to put together the whole vampire¹ puzzle soon.  By the following afternoon, the FBI had identified twelve cities on the East Coast where murders involving vampire-like bites had occurred as early as 1989.1 put the names on one of my index cards. Then I stared at the list long and hard. What could possibly link these cities?
Atlanta
Birmingham
Charleston
Charlotte
Charlottesville
Gainesuille
Jacksonville
New Orleans
Orlando
Richmond
Savannah
Washington, DC
The breadth of the list was a problem. Scarier and more mystifying was the fact that the murders might have been going on for over a decade.
Next I made an even longer list of cities where non-lethal attacks by supposed ‘vampires’ had been reported and investigated. I stared at the list and got a little depressed². This was starting to look like an impossible conspiracy³.
New York City
Boston
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Virginia Beach
White Plains
Newburgh
Trenton
Atlanta
Newark
Atlantic City
Tom’s River
Baltimore
Santa Cruz
Princeton
Miami
Gainesuille
Memphis
College Park
Charlottesville
Rochester
Buffalo⁴
Albany
The Violent Crime unit in Quantico was working round the clock on the murders. Kyle and I were pretty sure that other cities would turn up, and that the pattern might even go back further than eleven years.
In Atlanta, Gainesville, New Orleans, and Savannah there appeared to have been murders in at least two different years. So far, Charlotte, North Carolina, was the worst hit: there were three suspicious⁵ murders going back to 1989. It was even possible that the killing⁶ spree had started in Charlotte.
The FBI had moved agents into the twelve cities where the murders had taken place, and special task forces had been set up in Charlotte, Atlanta, and New Orleans.
I finished up with my investigation⁷ in Charleston. It didn’t accomplish too much. At this point, the media didn’t have the story about the wide net of murder locations, and we wanted to keep it that way for as long as we could.
That night, I visited Spooky Tooth, the only club in the Charleston area that was a hangout for Goths and vampire wannabes. What I found there was a nest of young people, mostly under twenty. They were still in high school or college. I interviewed the owner of the nightclub, and questioned some of the clientele. They were definitely angry and restless, but no one seemed a likely murder suspect.  I made sure I was back in Washington the next afternoon. At seven-thirty, Nana, Jannie, little Alex and I went to one of the Boys Choir⁸ concerts.
The choir sounded better than ever. Damon was one of the featured singers. He had a beautiful solo,’The Ash Grove’.  ‘See what you’ve been missing,’ Nana leaned in close and said.

1 vampire   

n.吸血鬼

参考例句：

• It wasn't a wife waiting there for him but a blood sucking vampire!家里的不是个老婆，而是个吸人血的妖精！
• Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampire.由于听过许多有关吸血鬼的传说，孩子们晚上不敢去睡觉。

2 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

3 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

4 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

5 suspicious   

adj.可疑的，容易引起怀疑的，猜疑的，疑心的

参考例句：

• A man was hanging about the house in a suspicious manner.一个男人在房子周围可疑地荡来荡去。
• He's so suspicious he would distrust his own mother.他这个人疑心太重，连自己的母亲也不相信。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。