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“If you are seeking other employment, I might very well put that on it.”
“Nah, I’m not going anywhere. What other boss would take me out toplay a doxy? Pursue a target through midnight streets and alleys, and fight off not one, not two, butthreeruffians intent on terrorizing an innocent woman. It was quite an evening.”
“Agreed.”
He lifts his glass, and I toast with my unfinished one. Then I slide back down to my chair.
“So, thallium,” he says. “Tell me about thallium.”
“It’s a heavy metal. I know it was discovered—accidentally, I think—in the nineteenth century, so it hasn’t been yet? Not discovered, that is. It exists, obviously. But if it hasn’t been identified, I doubt it’s being used for poison.”
“Unless it iscommonlyused for poison, I would not be aware of it, even if it has been discovered. We will speak to Isla on her return the day after tomorrow. For now, tell me what you can.”
“I studied it for a case I was involved in. It’s tasteless, odorless, and colorless, which is why it’ll come to be known as the poisoner’s poison.”
“It sounds a beast.”
“It is. It presents like a lot of heavy metals. What made me think thallium was the hair loss plus painful legs and his complaint about his feet burning.”
“Peripheral neuropathy.”
“I guess? You’re the doctor. I just recall the symptoms. I also think those can take a while to develop, but every case is different.”
“It does seem like a match. I don’t recall seeing that particular constellation of symptoms before.”
“Have you handled any interesting poisoning cases?”
His lips twitch. “Are you looking for a bedtime story, Mallory?”
“Possibly.”
“All right. Let me see. Ah, there was one, when I was still in medical school…”
I settle in, close my eyes, and let myself fall under the spell of Gray’s voice.
“Mallory!”
I startle awake to find myself staring into the face of a preteen girl. There’s a surreal moment where I think I’m a teen myself, shaken awakefrom a nap by one of my babysitting charges. Yes, I was the world’s worst babysitter.
“Mallory,” Alice whispers, her dark eyes wide with alarm. “Get up! You’ve… you’ve…”
She can’t finish the sentence. Her gaze only darts from side to side, as if that is enough. When it travels the same path again, I follow it to see McCreadie slumped in his chair, mouth open, while Gray has taken the sofa, his long legs over the end of it. Both men have their eyes closed, deep in sleep, though their poses suggest a far more sinister conclusion.
“No,” I say quickly. “They’re fine. I didn’t poison them. I…”
I trail off as I see her confusion, and I realize her shock comes from the fact that I am sleeping with them. I will point out that they are ten feet away, and we are all fully dressed, but from Alice’s expression, we might as well be naked in Gray’s bed—all three of us.
“You need to get out of here,” she whispers. “Dr. Addington is coming upstairs. He cannot see you—”
“Sleeping fully dressed in the same room as two men?”
Her glare tells me I am dismissing her very legitimate concern. I grumble under my breath, push myself to my feet, and adjust my bodice. Alice rolls her eyes and motions for me not to bother. Having my breasts half exposed at 8:00A.M.isn’t nearly as scandalous as falling asleep in the same room as my employer.
Victorians.
I head into the hallway. “I shall need to don my work dress and—”
“Oh, please do not bother,” a voice says from down the hall. “Not on my account, dear girl.”
