Nora said, after a moment, “A Pez dispenser.”

“That’s it. You tip up the chin, candy pops out of the neck.”

Eph nodded. “Except for the candy part, an apt description.”

Fet looked at Eph. “So why are you public enemy number one?”

“Because silence is their weapon.”

“Hell, then. Somebody has to make some noise.”

“Exactly,” said Eph.

Setrakian eyed the light clipped on the side of Fet’s belt. “Let me ask you this. Your profession uses black light, if I am not mistaken.”

“Sure. To pick up rodent urine traces.”

Setrakian glanced over at Eph and Nora.

Fet took another look at the old man in the vest and suit. “You know about exterminating?”

Setrakian said, “I have had some experience.” He stepped over to the turned property manager, who had crawled or dragged himself away from the sunlight, and was now curled up in the far corner. Setrakian examined him with a silver-backed mirror, and showed Fet the result. The exterminator looked back and forth between the property manager as he appeared to his eyes and the vibrating blur reflected in the glass. “But you strike me as an expert on things that burrow and hide. Creatures who nest. Who feed off the human population. Your job is to drive out these vermin?”

Fet looked at Setrakian and the others like a man standing on an express train, gathering speed out of the station, suddenly realizing he had boarded on the wrong track. “What are you getting me into here?”

“Tell us, then, please. If vampires are vermin—an infestation spreading quickly throughout the city—how would you stop them?”

“I can tell you that, from a pest control point of view, poisoning and trapping are short-term solutions that won’t work in the long run. Picking these babies off one by one gets you nowhere. The only rats you ever see are the weakest ones. The hungry ones. Smart ones know how to survive. Control is what works. Managing their habitat, disrupting their ecosystem. Removing the food supply and starving them out. Then you get to the root of the infestation, and wipe it clean.”