The Apothecary's Poison (Glass and Steele Book 3)

by C. J. Archer

  "My dear fellow, I have not threatened anyone. He has. Now, if you'll excuse me."

  Matt looked as if he would protest, but instead he swung the thug around and marched him out the door. The man tripped down the steps but Matt managed to keep him on his feet.

  "Coyle has thrown you to the wolves," Matt growled at the man. "Care to admit that you work for him now?"

  The man didn't speak. He looked angry, but at Coyle or Matt?

  "He doesn't care what happens to you," Matt said. "He's saving his own skin at your expense."

  Still, the man said nothing.

  "Don't you care what will happen to you?"

  "The law will do what it wants with me. Ain't nothing going to change that."

  With a grunt of frustration, Matt shoved him into the cabin. "India, you'll ride alongside Bryce. Bryce, take us to Scotland Yard."

  Bryce helped me up to the driver's seat then waited until Matt shut the cabin door. I sat with my heart in my throat the entire journey, jumping at every shout from other coachmen or loud noise. Matt seemed to have everything under control, but the disappointment of Coyle's unruffled reaction must be eating at him. Perhaps he'd got the thug to confess by now.

  The cabin door flew open before the coach came to a complete stop outside the Victoria Embankment police headquarters. Matt pushed the man ahead of him. He still held his collar and the gun at his temple, but the man now sported a bloody nose and bruised cheek.

  I eyed Matt but made no comment. I didn't dare. Fury hardened his face and clouded his eyes so that I hardly recognized him. He didn't seem to see me as he marched the thug toward the New Scotland Yard building. I followed a few paces behind.

  Inside, constables rushed over. Matt briefly explained that the thug had threatened me and pulled a gun on us. They took him and his gun away, then led us to a windowless room that seemed to be used as a sitting room but had more in common with a cell it was so airless and sparsely furnished.

  "Get me Brockwell," Matt demanded. He paced for five minutes until Brockwell came, then he stopped pacing. He did not sit.

  Brockwell walked into the room in his slow, deliberate gait that wound my already fraught nerves even tighter. Matt was just as tense, if his rigid shoulders and stony silence were anything to go by. He had not spoken to me since ordering me to sit alongside Bryce.

  "My constable tells me you brought someone in after he threatened you," Brockwell said. "Poor Miss Steele! What an ordeal for you. Constable, bring tea for Miss Steele."

  "He's linked to Hale's murder," Matt said before Brockwell addressed him. "He's the man who threatened Miss Steele yesterday. Today, he held us at gunpoint in my conveyance. If I hadn't overpowered him, he would have broken Miss Steele's fingers or shot her to get his point across."

  "Perhaps you should have stopped investigating after the first threat."

  Matt sucked in a sharp breath and looked as if he would explode in fury. I caught his hand and squeezed so hard it must have hurt. He merely blinked but at least he no longer looked like he wanted to punch Brockwell.

  "When you question him," I said, "you must ask him about Lord Coyle."

  "Thank you, Miss Steele," Brockwell said. "I am aware of what I must ask him."

  "He won't admit anything," Matt bit off. "Coyle has somehow managed to convince him not to speak. Perhaps he has threatened the man's family or promised them money if something happens to him." He lowered his head and swore under his breath.

  "Thank you for bringing him to me," Brockwell said, standing. "Please, stay for tea. Miss Steele looks as if she could do with a cup. You both do." He headed out, passing the constable carrying a tray.

  Matt dragged his hands through his hair and shook his head when the man offered him tea.

  "I think we'll go," I said to the constable. "I'm sorry for your trouble."

  "No trouble, ma'am." He eyed Matt who was once again pacing.

  I grabbed Matt's arm and forced him to stand with me. "We have work to do," I said. "Remember?"

  We followed the constable back through the warren of offices and cubicles then saw ourselves out. "The London Hospital," I said to Bryce.

  "We should go home," Matt said. "Brockwell's right. You've had an ordeal."

  "We both have, but I seem to have calmed down. You have not. I think you need to focus on work for a little while, and then we'll return to Park Street. If we go home now, you'll sit there and stew in your own anger."

  "I am not angry," he said, settling beside me.

  I took his hand in both of mine and rubbed it. After a minute, I felt the tension leach away and his body relax. He caught my hand and tugged the fingertips of my glove, removing it completely. He stroked his thumb across my knuckles, giving the motion his full attention. He breathed deeply, expanding his chest, and let it out slowly.

  "India, I'm sorry for all of this. You shouldn't have gone through that."

  "It's hardly your fault. There's no need for you to apologize."

  "If I'd left you home, you would not have endured that."

  "Therein lies the problem. I would not allow you to leave me at home." I curled my other hand around his arm above the elbow. "Matt, do not blame yourself. And anyway, you saved us."

  He merely grunted.

  "Although my watch would have managed once I let it out of my reticule."

  His faced lifted, although he didn't quite smile. "I'm not yet confident in your watch's abilities to put our lives in its hands."

  I rolled my eyes. "Very amusing."

  "Pardon?"

  "Hands. Watches have hands. You made a pun."

  He smiled, sort of. I counted it as a small victory and smiled back, but his features quickly settled into a frown again. He concentrated on my fingers, perhaps thinking about what would have happened if he hadn't stopped Coyle's man from breaking the bones.

  A shiver threatened to wrack me, only to be stopped in its tracks when he kissed my hand. My breath stopped too as his warm lips pressed against the knuckles.

  I stared at the top of his head, then, without really thinking, went to stroke his hair.

  But he pulled away and caught my hand. He tucked it between both of his, cradling it. "We're stopping the investigation," he said.

  "No! Matt, you can't stop now."

  "We have to put our faith in Brockwell."

  "And wait and see if he arrests you for Hale's murder?" I withdrew my hand and thrust it back into my glove. "Unlike you, I have little faith in our constabulary. We're going to continue until the murderer is caught, and that's that."

  "India—"

  "No, Matt. I insist. Besides, Coyle now knows we're aware of his involvement, and he knows the police are aware, too. He'd be a fool to send a second man after us."

  "Perhaps he is a fool. We don't know enough about him to say for certain. India, I'm not placing your life in unnecessary danger."

  "If you won't help, then I'll continue the investigation on my own."

  "Now you're just being stubborn and unreasonable."

  I crossed my arms. "I suspect Willie will help me."

  He threw his hands in the air. "Of course she will! She's one card short of a full deck, and I'm beginning to think you are too." He shook his head. "I can't believe you're going to defy me on this."

  "I'm glad you realize that I will."

  He crossed his arms too, matching my pose. "I don't see that I have a choice if I want to protect you."

  We sat side by side without speaking the rest of the way to the hospital.

  Unfortunately, Dr. Ritter and Dr. Wiley were in surgery and were expected to remain there for some time. We decided to go home and return later. Matt had looked tired ever since the incident with Coyle's man, so it was perhaps for the best that he would be forced to rest now and use his watch in the privacy of his own house. It wasn't yet midday, however. It worried me that he needed his watch already.

  He refused to retire to his rooms until after he'd spoken with the others. Miss Glas
s was out making calls so the rest of us assembled in the sitting room with cups of tea. Matt told them what had happened when we'd first arrived at the hospital and then went on to confront Lord Coyle. It wasn't easy with Willie interjecting every few seconds.

  "That God damn pig swill," she muttered when he finally finished. "He should be tied and gutted like the hog he is. Wish I'd been there, Matt. I'd have helped you get Coyle to talk."

  "Matt handled the situation as well as could be expected," I said. "No one could have got Lord Coyle to admit any wrongdoing. He's much too clever."

  "And he'd know he can't be touched," Cyclops added. "No one would dare accuse a lord of being involved in a murder."

  "He's not above the law," Matt said. "We just have to find enough evidence against him that would convince the police and a jury."

  "You're going to continue?" Cyclops glanced sideways at me. "Is that a good idea?"

  Matt's lips flattened. "I have been given no other option."

  I lifted my chin. "I told him I'm going to investigate with or without him."

  Willie slapped me on the shoulder. Some of my tea splashed over the rim of my cup and pooled in the saucer. "Good for you, India. We don't let men like Coyle scare us."

  "His man tried to shoot her!" Duke cried. "A wise person would be scared of Coyle."

  "You calling me an idiot?"

  He lifted his cup to his lips and sipped.

  "This is nothing to do with foolhardiness," I told them, "and everything to do with making sure Matt's neck doesn't end up in a noose."

  My pronouncement was met with silence from the men and an "Amen," from Willie. "You think he killed Hale because the doctor refused to sell him his magic medicine, don't you?" she asked.

  Matt nodded and pressed his finger against his temple, as if he could dig out the ache there. "We think Coyle found out that Hale is an apothecary magician. He approached Hale to purchase some of his magic medicine, but Hale refused. So he had him killed then offered to buy Hale's private bottles from the hospital."

  "It's a good theory," Duke said, nodding.

  "Sounds too drastic to me," Cyclops said from where he stood by the fireplace. "Why not just steal the bottles from Hale's office? Why kill Hale?"

  "Because Coyle's mad." Willie drew little circles at her ear with her finger. "Mad folk don't think like the rest of us. They go straight for the throat. Or the poison, in this case."

  "It means Coyle put a spell on Hale's personal bottle of Cure-All," I said with a shake of my head. "I think it's too much of a coincidence for him to be an apothecary magician when he has nothing to do with the industry."

  "He could have colluded with an apothecary magician," Matt said. "Which brings us back to our original suspects."

  The others went over old ground, tossing out theories and suppositions. I did not join in. I'd had a thought, and when Matt asked me what was on my mind, I told them.

  "What if Hale infused the poison spell into his own medicine, not intending to take it himself but give it to someone else?"

  "And then he took it by accident?" Matt asked.

  "Or someone swapped the poisoned bottle with his regular one in his desk drawer. It means they would have seen him place the spell on the medicine and seen where he put the bottle."

  "Ritter or Wiley," Duke suggested. "Someone from the hospital."

  "Not necessarily an employee," I said. "It's quite easy to get in and walk through the building. It could have been any of our suspects."

  Matt squeezed the bridge of his nose. "It would mean there is no other apothecary magician and we're barking up the wrong tree by looking for one."

  Several sighs filled the sitting room, followed by silence. Matt closed his eyes. He looked done in.

  "Matt," I said gently, "your watch."

  He pulled the watch out of his inside jacket pocket. He flipped the case open and closed his eyes again as the magic flowed along his veins. I watched, fascinated by the effect. It made him seem otherworldly and not quite human, the way I imagined fairy folk appeared.

  A movement near the door startled me. Hope Glass stood there, her lips forming a perfect O, her wide gaze on Matt as the magic lit up his face and disappeared into his hair.

  Chapter 13

  "Hope!" I leapt to my feet and rushed to stand between her and Matt, blocking her line of sight.

  Duke and Cyclops sprang into action, too, flanking either side of me to form a shield.

  "But…Matthew!" Hope blurted out. "Your skin!"

  "Ain't nothing to see." Willie grabbed her by the shoulders, turned her around and marched her out.

  Hope glanced back, but Willie kicked the door closed with her foot. I could hear Hope's excited voice questioning her on the other side, and Willie getting crosser and crosser.

  "Damn it," Matt muttered, slipping his watch back into his pocket. "I'd better talk to her."

  "And say what?" Duke asked.

  "I'll think of something." He strode to the door and turned on a charming smile as he opened it. "Hope! What a pleasant surprise." He held out his hand and she hesitated before placing hers in it.

  "Is everything all right, Matt?" she asked.

  "Of course," he said cheerfully. "It's wonderful to see you, and without the others, too." He beamed one of his dashing smiles and her face glowed, thanks to the sheer brightness of it.

  It was a genuine smile, and why wouldn't it be? He admitted he liked her, perhaps more than he let on. The familiar knot of jealousy tied my insides together.

  "Excuse me," I said and headed to the stairs, only to have Willie catch up to me and block my path.

  She gripped my arm hard and bent her head to mine. "You can't leave now, India," she whispered. "Someone has to stay and make sure she doesn't get him into a compromising position."

  "Willie! He wouldn't do that."

  "I said she'd do it to him. Not all ladies are prim and proper like you. Some are devious. And anyway, if they're alone, she'll ask him about what she saw and he might tell her. Someone has to stop him from confiding in her."

  "You do it."

  "Polite talk makes me want to gouge my own eyes out. You're good at it."

  "At being dull?" I picked up my skirts and forced my way past her. "Send Duke or Cyclops in. I've got better things to do."

  "Like what?"

  "Like…see to the clock in the drawing room. It's running a little slow."

  "Coward."

  "India?" Matt called after me. "Won't you join us for tea?"

  I paused on the step and smiled back at him. Hope, now holding on to Matt's arm, inspected his profile, perhaps looking for signs of the magic. "I'll be in the drawing room," I said. "The clock needs fixing."

  He narrowed his gaze.

  "Come, Cousin," Hope said. "It'll just be us. We can discuss private family matters."

  Willie sighed heavily. "Then I better come too, since I'm family." She turned her back to them and glared at me so hard her eyeballs looked in danger of popping out of their sockets. "You owe me," she mouthed.

  Matt joined me in the drawing room a half hour later. I checked behind him but he was alone.

  "Found the problem?" he asked, nodding at the mantel clock in front of me on the table, its housing open and the mechanisms exposed.

  "Not yet," I said.

  "Perhaps that's because there is no problem."

  I ignored him and inspected the wheel, barrel and spiral spring under my magnifier. All pieces were, in fact, in good working order, but I wasn't going to tell him that. "Has Hope left already?"

  "She grew tired of Willie making her presence known with yawns, coughs and sniffs. I got the distinct impression Willie doesn't want me to be left alone with Hope."

  "She's worried you're going to fall in love with her and want to remain here in England."

  He hiked up his trouser legs and sat. "She has a point."

  I dropped the spring and it rolled off the table.

  Matt picked it up. "As always,
Willie has her own interests at heart. Pay her no mind."

  "I-I'm not." I accepted the spring and used my tweezers to insert it back into the clock's housing. "Did Hope ask you about what she'd seen?"

  "She asked to see my watch, so I showed it to her. That reminds me, we still need to buy me a new artless one."

  "Stop trying to change the subject. What did Hope say about your watch and the magic?"

  "She gave the watch a good inspection and handed it back to me. She then asked why my skin had changed color while I was clutching the watch. I told her she'd been mistaken as I was holding the watch at that moment and my skin was perfectly normal."

  "She won't believe that. Hope is not the sort of girl who is easily led to believe the opposite of what she saw. Her curiosity must be piqued even further."

  "Speaking from your own experience?"

  "This is not a laughing matter, Matt."

  He held up his hands in surrender. "I'm not laughing."

  "You were smiling." I closed the housing on the back of the clock and gave the glass dome a clean with my cloth. "Hope won't give up until she learns the truth. She's clever, tenacious and devious. She'll find out about your watch somehow."

  "Then perhaps I should just tell her."

  I stopped cleaning and stared at him. "You're joking again."

  "To be honest, I don't know. Sometimes I think it would be easier if she just knew what was wrong with me. She and my Aunt Beatrice would give up on marrying me then."

  "I wouldn't be so sure. Your Aunt Letitia still thinks you're a prize, and she knows you're ill." I inspected the clock dome for smudges. "Anyway, we will find Chronos, and he will fix your watch, so your point is not relevant."

  He continued to watch me as I polished the glass case, my strokes getting more and more vigorous as my nerves stretched tighter with each tick of the clock. "You're going to polish a hole through that glass," he eventually said.

  When I continued, he leaned forward and laid his hand over mine, stilling it.

  "What's wrong, India?"

  "I'm worried. First Payne sees you using your watch and now Hope."

  He stroked my hand with his thumb then pulled away. "Hope is hardly like Payne."