The New Regency Theatre isn't doing quite as well as Jago would have liked, despite a brand new Indian axe throwing act. In fact, it starts bleeding money a few months in. One night, Jago is approached by a mysterious man named Varney, who offers to buy the theatre on the spot. Jago finds himself forced to agree, and signs the contract against his better knowledge... only to realise that the new owner didn't buy his debts as well.
He seeks out Litefoot for guidance, but Litefoot has problems of his own. Sergeant Quick solemnly informs him that the police force has found out about Ellie living in his bedroom. Since young barmaids living in professors' bedrooms cannot be explained by any conventional means, Litefoot is rather suddenly out of a job with the police force, and universities across the land have already been warned not to hire him. Moving abroad to Germany or France is hardly an option for Litefoot, who only speaks English and Chinese, and he lacks the funds to devote all his time to his research for Ellie's cure.
Both Jago and Litefoot are rather desperate for money when, out of the blue, a Mr. Ruthven shows up to offer Litefoot the opportunity of a lifetime. The Ruthven catacombs underneath the estate house a collection of human bones, and Mr. Ruthven would be interested to know if these indeed belong to his ancestors. Litefoot, taking Sacker along for additional expertise, gladly accepts the job.
When Jago decides to check up on Ellie, he finds that the girl has disappeared, and tracks her down to the Ruthven estate. Litefoot and Sacker, meanwhile, happily spend their time cataloguing the bones, and become fascinated by their odd deformities. Litefoot soon realises that they're dealing with a whole new species of human, evolving over time to become feral, feline hunters with intense strength and dexterity. They're promptly attacked by one, which rips Sacker to shreds and is only stopped when Ellie barges in to defeat it in hand-to-hand combat.
Meanwhile, Jago discovers Sanders at the Ruthven estate, who explains that he's been manipulating the Ruthven family into super-hunters for a thousand years. Mostly to alleviate his own boredom and make some nice prey for himself. But since the Ruthven experiment has failed, Sanders is quite happy to simply start over. After all, he's got another nice experiment going: Ellie, whose mind is linked to his, and who can't resist being drawn to him.
When Litefoot and Ellie manage to thwart Sanders' plans simply by diverting an underground river to flow underneath the house, Jago finishes the job of killing Sanders by setting him on fire again and (using his knowledge of Indian axe throwing tricks) dropping a entire chandelier on Sanders' head in the process. Since Ellie was never fully converted (she never willingly drank the blood of the living), she appears fully cured of her vampirism too. Litefoot's reputation is summarily restored when his housekeeper (Mrs. Hudson) vouches for him, and Jago may keep the New Regency, as Varney and Ruthven turned out to be the same man.
All's well that ends well, until Leela shows up at Litefoot's door, bringing with her another mystery.
Tropes
- All Myths Are True: Litefoot puts his extensive knowledge of vampire lore to good use.
- Bad Liar: Jago is still terrible at it, as shown when he rather hilariously pretends to be a door fixer for the Ruthven family.
- Call-Back: Jago makes a nice quip, parodying the ending of "The Similarity Engine".
- Character Name Alias: Varney and Ruthven are both names of fictional vampires who predate Dracula. It is a little surprising that Jago, being a purveyor of sensationalist entertainment, did not recognise them.
- Chekhov's Skill: Jago's knowledge of Indian axe throwing tricks comes in very handy.
- Falling Chandelier of Doom: Jago drops a massive chandelier on top of Sanders by throwing an axe to cut through the chain holding it up.
- Horror Hunger: Ellie once again makes good use of hers.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: Sanders has been selectively breeding Ruthven's family for generation to become suitable prey for him: specifically one that might have a chance of killing him. When that plan falls apart, he decides to hunt Jago instead, even though he expects Jago to last for no more than minutes.
- Killed Off for Real: Sacker.
- Long Game: Sanders has been playing it, predominantly out of sheer immortality-induced boredom.
- Not What It Looks Like: Litefoot is sacked for cohabiting with a young single woman to whom he is related. The young woman is Ellie, and Litefoot is keeping her secured in his house while he attempts to cure her vampirism, but he cannot exactly explain that to commissioner of police.
- One-Winged Angel: Sanders transforms into his true form at the climax of the story, which is massive, winged, and grotesque.
