Blaire was astonished by the transformation in Vincent. His walk had gone from proper and upright, to a slight limp in the one foot. His back was now hunched in a way that when paired with the grey wig aged him at least thirty years, if not more. Her jaw nearly hit the floor as she watched the transformation in him take place. If she had not known it was him, she would not know that the man who stood beside her was the very man she had been talking with for two days now. However, by the time they had reached the front lobby she had once again regained her composure.

When they reached the front Lobby Blaire recognized the Bell Hop from the front lobby. It was the same one whom she had spoken to the night before, however there was a change in him now that he seemed to recognize Vincent, or Mr. Valentine as he had called him. He had looked at Blaire with a different light then there had been the night before, “are you Mister Valentine’s new aid?” She could feel it more then she could hear it. A pull in her brain willing her to answer the question, “That I am” she said with a genial smile, and as if to top it all off she offered her hand with a, “Mr. Maroni at your service” she said in a light hearted way, despite the fact that she felt anything but light hearted at the moment.

“Thank you Tommy.” She made the mental note to remember the bell hops name in the future. She leaned against a nearby wall as she waited for Vincent to finish the conversation with the man’s wife. She could only hear the half of the conversation that was Vincent’s but from the look on his face as he talked to the woman told her that the news was not particularly good. “he never reached home, we are going to have to find him. By the sound of it he never got on the train so he may still be in town.” She looked up at him, the news wasn’t good but at least they had a small strain of luck. They would not have to search New York for him that night. As big as it may be, there was a higher likely hood of finding him in time here. She gave Vincent a nod to show that she understood and then headed in the direction of the doorway. They were up for a long night ahead of them.

She turned after a moment to look back at the figure of Vincent standing in the lobby looking, well rather pained as his leg hurt him. She could not help but think to herself that he would have done rather well in the theater department. An idea struck her in that moment and when she walked swiftly back across the room she pretended to help the elderly man towards the front door, really she whispered to him so the bell hop could not hear, “Where do we start?”