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“I’m sorry.”
She squeezes my arm. “I know, and I can see this is difficult for you, which I presume is on our behalf.”
“I know you didn’t get along with Annis, but she’s still your sister.”
She nods, almost absently. Then she motions me to follow her into her chambers and closes the door before speaking. “What Annis said, about me informing the police on her and being there to see her arrested, what is your interpretation of that?”
“She was shielding you. Crichton’s attention had turned in your direction, and the surest way to divert it was to prove you two aren’t close enough to conspire. To do that, she had to mock you. Mock Dr. Gray. Pretend to think you hate her enough to turn her in to the police.”
“That is what I was thinking. I just didn’t want…”
“To credit Annis if credit wasn’t due? It is. The performance was a little ham-handed, but Crichton doesn’t seem to require subtlety.”
“No, subtlety would be quite lost on him.” She goes quiet. “Hugh has made a mistake here, hasn’t he? One that could endanger his career.”
“I don’t know.”
A wry half smile. “You don’t know whether it will endanger his career,but you do know it was a mistake. He should have been forthright about the connection between my work and Annis being accused of procuring poison. He ought to have ordered a search of our house immediately. With the delay, a search now is almost pointless, as I will have had time to prepare.”
“He thought he was doing the right thing, protecting you.”
“But it may end up causing more trouble… for him and for me.”
“I think it can still be fixed. We just need to speak to him.”
“We’ll do that tomorrow. Thank you. You are a very good friend. To all of us.” She puts out her arms.
I embrace her for a moment before I say, “Get some sleep. Dr. Gray and I are going to the jail tomorrow, and I don’t know whether you’ll want to join us.”
“I absolutely want to. Whether I am allowed is quite another thing, and I fear I will not be.”
“Detective McCreadie will make sure you are.”
“I hope so. Whatever Annis has done, she is still my sister, and I am concerned for her.”
“I know.” I give her another quick hug. “We will speak in the morning.”
FORTY-FOUR
I’m up early to get a few chores done, which sounds like such dedication to my job… until I admit that I won’t get back to sleep and housecleaning lets me accomplish something while my brain works through the case. I head down to the funeral parlor first. Cleaning it is my job, and it’s been neglected since all this started.
I’m halfway down the stairs when I smell booze. My first thought is that a bottle broke in Gray’s office. We must not have put it back securely the night we had a few drinks in there. Then I hear the sound of movement in the lab. I do not for one second think that Gray is down there getting loaded. Yes, his sister has been arrested for multiple murders. Yes, if convicted, Annis could drag the whole family down with her, Victorian morals being what they are. But anytime I’ve seen Gray reach for the bottle, it’s social—a drink with me or Isla or McCreadie.
If I smell booze and hear movement, it’s because Gray is working, alcohol being used as a fixative for corpses.
Still, I do check the front door, just to be sure there’s no chance I’ll walk in on an intruder. After all, it isn’t even light out, meaning it can’t be past five in the morning. The door is bolted and the floor is clear of footprints, which in this era is the simplest way to tell whether someone has broken in.
I head to the lab door, rap on it, and only get a grunt.
“May I enter, sir?” I ask.
“That depends.” Gray’s voice is almost a warning growl. “Are you going to keep calling me ‘sir’ even when we are alone?”
“Sorry,” I say as I open the door. “Habit.”
“Habits can be broken.”
His tone is snappish, meaning that growl really was a warning—telling me he’s in a foul mood. As the smell suggested, he’s working on a preserved body. Or part of one. It’s a lower leg with a wicked gash.
