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“You gave me the basics. I was going to ask for more today, and then you left. Which is fine. I would, however, appreciate it if, while we are on a case, you let me know what you need me to do, if anything, while you are gone.”
“It was personal business.”
“I didn’t ask where you were going. Or what you were doing.”
“Do not make this worse, Duncan,” Isla warns. “Mallory is being very gentle in her rebuke.”
“It’s not a rebuke,” I say. “It’s negotiating a new professional relationship. If I am your assistant—and not merely a housemaid who helps you now and then—I need more communication.”
Isla clearly wants to say more, but another look from me stops her.
“I apologize,” Gray says. “I had business to attend to, getting that outof the way so that I might focus on the case, and I ought to have told you that I was leaving. I also ought to have discussed the other cases with you.”
He pauses, with a look I have come to know well. It’s his expectant look, when he makes what he considers a difficult admission and expects a cookie for it. If I’m in a good mood, I find that look kind of adorable in an exasperating way. I am not in a good mood, and I answer it with a curt nod that has him slumping.
“Moving on,” I say. “Isla has news.”
“I’m not certain he deserves it,” she mutters.
At my look, she says, “Fine. I confirmed it was not arsenic. It is definitely another heavy metal, with a limited list of possibilities that includes thallium.”
“The relatively new element,” Gray says. “Meaning if thallium is the culprit, that is significant.”
I cut in with, “I’m not saying it’s definitely thallium. Hair loss is the classic symptom, though like I suggested last night, it can take a couple of weeks to develop. Still, yes, it’s presenting as thallium.”
“The point,” Isla says, “is that whatever killed Gordon is definitely a heavy metal and definitely not arsenic. Now I want to know what Dr. Addington found on the other bodies and whether I can gain access to tissue samples, which is how we came to discuss Mallory’s lack of information regarding those subjects. I ought to have been clear on that. She was not complaining about you. She does not do that, even when she should.”
“I will see what I can do about the tissue samples,” Gray says. “Though the second victim—the public house customer—was buried today.”
“Exhumation?” I say. “Tell me we can do a proper Victorian exhumation, in the cemetery at midnight, ravens perched on the nearby gravestones, as the casket is slowly lifted from its grave.”
“That put you in a better mood,” Gray says. “Next time you are cross with me, I shall not bother with apologies. I will take you to an exhumation.”
“Please. Also, I’m pretty sure you didn’t actually apologize.”
“It was implied. I will see what can be done, though for an exhumation, we’ll need the approval of Dr. Addington, which I doubt we will get when we are requesting it because we question his findings.”
“Leave that with me,” I say. “I can find a way to convince him.”
“By flaunting your bosom under his nose?”
“It’s currentlymybosom, meaning I can flaunt it any way I like. This, though, will require more. Maybe a striptease.”
Isla shakes her head. Gray turns, slowly, toward me. “Please tell me I am misunderstanding that phrase.”
“Probably not. Also, I was kidding. I don’t want to see an exhumation badly enough to get naked in front of Dr. Addington. And, yes, I know, that displays a serious lack of dedication to science.”
Gray doesn’t answer. He doesn’t seem to know how.
“What about the first body?” I say. “No, wait. You said it’s now a medical cadaver. So we can buy it, right? How much does a dead body go for these days?”
“We are not buying that poor man’s corpse.” Gray pauses. “Not unless absolutely necessary. But yes, we won’t require Addington’s permission to getthatsample.”
“Great. Now, can you tell us the backstory on these two poisonings?”
FIFTEEN
Victim number one was James Young. Occupation: gravedigger. This is the one whose wife didn’t collect his remains, meaning his corpse would be given to the medical colleges for study, saving her the expense of burying him. She’d apparently collectedtwicethe usual burial-society payout, because he’d been paying double into it. As a gravedigger, he must have seen so many bodies unceremoniously dumped into a hole that he wanted to ensure his mortal remains received better treatment.
