"I bet we can manage," says Mark. "Miles even solved a murder once. What information do you possess?"

"I saw the guy," she describes him, "and he has a British accent and was probably affiliated with the Watcher's council. I think he may have incapacitated or taken Giles before he showed up at school to drug me; Giles didn't show up to work all day so he's probably been here since last night at least. He managed to pass as a plausible magic teacher for a few minutes. He may have been loitering in the library all day if scent tracking's your thing, although there'd be lots of conflicting data. Plus whatever you know from having been vampirenapped."

"Mm," says Mark. "Yeah. I expect we can find him. What do you want done with him when we do?"

"Depends on how hostile he is to having been found anything from 'citizen's arrest' to 'wait for Charlie' to 'come up with a story with Giles about how in the course of this man's felonious activities a small fellow well beyond the reach of the law came in with a barbecue fork'."

"That sounds like a good range of options."

"Those barbecue forks are a menace. Oughtta be a law. How would you go about finding the guy?"

"The town is small. I expect we can check all the likely hotels and so forth individually. Faster if you drive us, of course."

And when they have arrived, Mark says, "I think I'll search faster alone, but if you want to come along I don't mind."

"Go ahead, although you'll freak Giles out if you show up without me, probably, so maybe let me know before you barge in having found something."

She waits in the car.

"My Giles," snorts Bella. "Uh, I'll call Charlie." She has her phone now. She calls Charlie. "Where in the hotel are they?" she asks Mark.

"Room 212."

"Thanks." She relays this to Charlie, and then the call's over. "So, this is kind of an awkward question but do you need directions to the butcher shop your brother has been raiding, and if you do not already know where to find it what have you been eating?"

"I mostly haven't," he says. "Been busy."

"Mostly?"

"When I arrived in this world I was in a room full of ominously chanting robed cultists. They deprived me of my senses by magic and I killed a lot of them anyway. Their 'god' was very impressed and offered to make me his immortal consort. I declined. He decided to make me his immortal consort anyway. When I woke up, I fought him, won, and eventually managed to kill him by cutting his head off. Then I ate some leftover cultists. Between that moment and a stop at the butcher's on the way to the school earlier tonight, I didn't eat."

"Oh. Okay. Well, kindly restrict yourself to the butcher's shop and I'll give you a pass on the cultists, although I'm not sure you needed the advice with your soul emulator as described."

"The loss of my soul has had no discernible effect on my personality at any level."

"Rare bird you are."

"Yes."

"You want a ride anywhere once this is wrapped up?"

Shrug. "You can drop us off at the butcher's. Sometime soon we'll want to be driven to an airport but that's not a project for tonight, I don't think."