When Inspector Rostnikov arrives in the town of Arkush with Emil Karpo, the policeman nicknamed the Vampire, he finds a community stunned by the murder of the outspoken Father Merhum. But it is the priest's cryptic last words that make Rostnikov wonder if this was indeed a political assassination or a murder with a motive closer to home. Meanwhile, Rostnikov's other associates plunge into the seedy world of Moscow night life, following the cold trail of a missing girl and the bloody tracks of a cunning killer.... "From the Paperback edition.