Bathed In Blood. Alex Archer

if Polgár knocked her unconscious and then stripped her before pushing her over the edge,” the detective replied. “Polgár had several sets of clothing in her backpack, including another pair of hiking boots in a different size than those she was wearing.”

      Annja thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. “I didn’t get that sense, Detective, sorry. She appeared genuinely concerned for the injured woman and was extremely helpful during the rescue.”

      “What better way to throw the authorities off her trail than to assist in the rescue of the woman she attacked and left for dead, no?”

      The cynicism inherent in that line of thought made Annja happy she didn’t have the detective’s job. Still, she just couldn’t see that young woman as the culprit.

      “Thank you for your patience. We appreciate your help with this investigation. Will you be staying in Nové Mesto much longer?”

      “I have at least another day of shooting at Csejte Castle, and then some archival research at the state museum in Bratislava, so I’ll be here for a few days yet.”

      Tamás nodded. “Please be sure to leave your contact information with the desk sergeant so I can get in touch if any more questions arise.”

      “Of course, Detective. I’m happy to help in any way I can.”

      “I appreciate that, Ms. Creed. Good day.”

      A uniformed officer escorted her down the hall, past another interview room where Polgár was being questioned by two plainclothes detectives. At the front desk a sergeant took down her cell phone number, the name and room number of her hotel, and asked her to keep them informed of when she intended to leave the country. Annja agreed to do so and five minutes later was standing on the steps of the police station, suddenly exhausted from her ordeal.

      It had been a long day and night. It was time to get some sleep.

      That, however, was easier said than done, as her rental car had been confiscated by the police as part of the murder investigation.

      The rental car company was going to love this, she thought as she flagged down a cab for a ride back to her hotel.

       6

      Annja awoke the next morning with an uneasy feeling in her gut. The comments Detective Tamás had made during her interview lingered. She understood why he’d considered her and Csilla suspects—ninety percent of all violent crime was committed by someone known to the victim, and he’d thought she and Csilla knew each other or the woman they’d found. But once he’d learned the condition of the body and heard both of their statements, his attention should have shifted elsewhere. The idea that either of them had anything to do with the woman’s death was ridiculous. The fact that he might actually think she and Csilla had brought the victim in for medical treatment in order to deflect suspicion was, well, crazy.

      He hadn’t seemed to be in a hurry to chase down the cause of death and that, too, set her nerves abuzz. She didn’t need to be a CSI or NCIS fanatic to know that the best chance of catching a killer was in the first forty-eight hours after the crime had been committed. Leaving the crime scene, and whatever evidence it might contain, to the mercy of time and the elements while he waited for word from the medical examiner was asking for trouble. He should have had a crew out there last night.

      Maybe he did, she thought. She didn’t know what happened after her interview. Maybe they’re still out there combing the rocky slope.

      Easy enough to check, wasn’t it?

      She got up, made herself some coffee—wishing all the while it was hot chocolate instead—and picked up the phone. She needed to call Doug, and it was probably best if she got it over with now. Doug’s mood didn’t tend to improve with time.

      The phone rang a couple of times, and then he picked it up.

      “Doug Morrell.”

      “It’s me,” she said.

      “Me? Me, who? This wouldn’t be the infamous Annja Creed, would it? Wake-me-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-without-even-an-apology Annja Creed? That one?”

      Annja sighed, though she made sure to do it away from the phone where he couldn’t hear. “I can explain, Doug.”

      “I’m waiting,” he said.

      Doug wasn’t much younger than she was, but he knew next to nothing about history, or the state of the world, for that matter, which had a tendency to drive her nuts. He didn’t care about the facts, he often said, but about the ratings. Always the ratings. He had no qualms about “enhancing” an episode with some creative special effects if he thought it would keep viewers from changing the channel. More than once Annja had been forced to threaten him with bodily harm—in a loving way, of course—if he mucked about with her carefully constructed on-screen performances. Over time they’d become friends, and Annja knew that, in the end, she could count on Doug.

      She filled him in on what she was doing in Hungary and how she’d planned to surprise him with an episode on Elizabeth Báthory. Then she told him about getting caught up in a police investigation when she’d stopped to rescue the woman who’d been thrown over a cliff and...

      “Wait, wait, wait!” he said, finally interrupting her stream of explanation. “Elizabeth who?”

      Annja sighed again. “Báthory. Elizabeth Báthory, also known as the Blood Countess.”

      “Why’s that?”

      “Because she liked to bathe in the blood of virgins. Thought it would keep her from aging and give her immortality.”

      There was sudden silence on the other end of the line.

      “Doug?”

      Nothing.

      “Doug?”

      An intake of breath, and then his voice came thundering down the phone line.

      “You’re over there filming an episode about a woman who liked to bathe in the blood of virgins and you didn’t tell me about it first? Are you insane?”

      Annja wasn’t sure what to say. Not that it mattered, since Doug wasn’t finished.

      “Not just blood, but the blood of virgins. Probably beautiful ones, at that! For heaven’s sake, Annja, what were you thinking? We need to jump on this right away!”

      “Ah, Doug, jump on what?”

      “The reenactment, of course! We’ll have to get someone good to play this Liz Batha-whatever woman and surround the bathtub with all the virgins and...”

      Annja couldn’t take it anymore. “The virgins were dead, Doug. How do you think she bathed in their blood?”

      As usual, the facts didn’t bother him in the slightest. “Well, of course they were, at some point. But not right away. And we can use that. We can most definitely use that. When will you be back with the footage?”

      “I’m not sure this is such a good idea, Doug. Remember last time you tried...”

      “Ancient history, Annja. We can’t face today thinking about the mistakes of the past. If we’re going to back you on the episode we need to be thinking about the audience. Now answer the question—how long?”

      Figuring she could deal with any of Doug’s so-called improvements to her episode once she was back in the States, Annja focused on getting the resources necessary to make it all work. “I need a few more days to get the right shots of Csejte Castle and then...”

      “See-what?”

      “Csejte Castle. The Báthory family estate here in Slovakia.”

      “Right, right. I knew that.”

      “So I should probably stick