15 September 2027
Wednesday. The house keeps a ledger of every hunt, and the quickest parties are written up on a public board for all to see. I approve of ledgers. I have kept one since before the telegraph.
Getting onto the board is simple and difficult. Simple, because there is only one rule: escape. Difficult, for exactly the same reason. The quickest parties rank highest, and when two are equally quick, the one that asked for fewer hints goes first.
My catacombs and the Count’s graveyard are counted separately, which is correct. I will not have my recruits’ times added to his guests’ times, as though we were in the same business. We are in opposite businesses.
I will not write the numbers here. Numbers change. The board is kept current by the house; my diary is kept current by me, and I am slower.
— Prof. Van Helsing
