For Dead Men Only: An Alexandra Gladstone Mystery

by Paula Paul

  As they approached the building where the mortuary was housed, Alexandra felt a sudden void in her chest when she saw Percy. He was on foot with Mrs. Gibbs on his arm. All he did, however, was touch the brim of his hat as he met the two of them, and Mrs. Gibbs gave them a smile of greeting before they continued on their way. Alexandra was almost certain, however, that Percy had winked as he passed by. That was quite a different reaction than he’d had before when she’d found it necessary to perform a postmortem examination. At that time, both he and Constable Snow had been unwilling to give permission for the task, not only because she was female, but because they’d insisted on her providing written permission from the family, something that, at the time, was impossible. This time, since no law officer was available, the question hadn’t arisen. Alexandra knew she was taking a risk, nevertheless.

  They were within a few feet of the entrance when both of them noticed Rob and Artie across the street and several yards beyond. Tossing a stick for Zack, they pretended not to see Nancy and Alexandra and quickly distracted Zack when he seemed about to bound across the street to greet his mistress. Rob pulled something soft and dripping blood from a bag and held it under the dog’s nose for him to gobble. That would have given Nancy and Alexandra just enough time to disappear around the back of the mortuary building, had not Nicholas ridden by on his fine Arabian horse.

  “Good evening, ladies. I hope it’s not a medical emergency that brings you out this evening.” He was eyeing Alexandra’s medical bag.

  “No, my lord,” Alexandra said, her voice strained.

  “I saw the boys across the street and wondered—”

  “You could say it was an emergency of sorts,” Nancy said. “So I think it best we move along, don’t you, miss?”

  “Well, if you need…” Nicholas stopped speaking and seemed to take sudden notice of where they were. “Oh, I see,” he said. “That again. You must allow me to help.”

  “You were more of a hindrance than a help in a similar situation in the past.” Alexandra kept her voice low, and there was a hint of anxiety in her tone. She wanted him to move on.

  “If I know the law regarding these things, then I’m certain you are breaking—”

  “I have no doubt that you know the law, my lord,” Alexandra said.

  “Quite so,” Nicholas said. “And since that is the case, you must call upon me immediately should you suffer any consequences.”

  “Thank you, my lord.” The conversation was making Alexandra even more nervous, and after her curt response, she moved away from Nicholas with quick steps. She, along with Nancy, went to the back of the building. To her surprise, Nicholas had dismounted his horse and was following closely behind. She opened the door with slow caution, grateful to find it unlocked. She stepped inside, followed by Nancy and then Nicholas. There was little light in the room, and it was cold, somewhat like the interior of a cave. The smell of decay was unmistakable, along with a caustic chemical smell.

  “My lord Dunsford,” Alexandra said. “I’m afraid you will find this as unpleasant as you did before when you tried to witness the same procedure. I suggest you retire to Montmarsh, and I shall inform you of any pertinent results later.”

  “Why do you always revert to calling me my lord when you’re nervous? I’m still Nicholas, and I have no intention of telling anyone of your crime. And you needn’t worry about me. I’m sure I’ll be quite all right.”

  Alexandra took a deep breath and tried to refrain from rolling her eyes. “Very well,” she said, and walked toward the interior of the large, cavernous room, where a body lay on a table, covered with a sheet. By this time, Nancy had lit two oil lamps and set them up next to the white lump that was the body.

  Alexandra lifted the sheet to reveal a face. Although still recognizable, it had grown paler and more waxen looking than it had been the last time she’d seen it. She couldn’t help remembering Danny Poole as a young boy, several years her junior, roughhousing with other boys in the streets of Newton-upon-Sea or running along the coastline, his hair tousled by the breeze. She touched the deputy’s chest and noted the coolness, yet there was still a small amount of blanching of the skin under her fingertips. It would be a few more hours before full rigor mortis was established.

  Working silently beside Alexandra, Nancy opened the medical bag and began to lay out instruments on a table next to where the body rested. Before Alexandra picked up a scalpel, she opened the mouth for examination. She found two teeth in the process of decay and a raw wound on the gums near one of the bad teeth. She’d seen the problem in others. Gums often became diseased in the presence of bad teeth. Such a sore could provide an opening for microscopic, disease-causing organisms, or even poison, to enter the blood and attack various organs. Once she was back in her surgery, she would examine all of the organs available to her. She also snipped a sample of hair from the dead man’s head.

  She made the first incision across the chest from shoulder to shoulder, and then another incision along the abdomen all the way to the pubis. She was vaguely aware of Nicholas standing behind her, but he made no sound or any apparent movements. She removed the liver first and placed it in a pan provided by Nancy. She would dissect the organ later and examine pieces under a microscope. Next she removed the adrenal glands and kidneys, then the stomach, pancreas, and intestines, examining each carefully as they were removed. When she opened the stomach to examine the contents, she thought she detected the faintly sweet scent she’d noted in the presence of the horseman. There was no way to be certain, however, since she often found her sense of smell distorted during such procedures.

  Alexandra and Nancy worked for several hours before Alexandra signaled that it was time to close the incision and leave with the samples of organs Nancy had incised from each of them. Alexandra would have preferred to have access to each entire organ, but transporting them to her surgery would have been difficult, if not impossible.

  “Nicholas! You’re still here,” she said as she turned around, holding her bloodstained hands in front of her on the way to wash them at the pump and basin at the end of the room.

  “Yes,” he said. “I have to admit it wasn’t easy to stay. Nevertheless, I found it fascinating, and your skills amazing. You will take those little bits of the body you harvested to your microscope for examination, I assume.”

  Alexandra nodded and wiped her forehead awkwardly with her upper arm where her sleeve was not bloodied.

  “You look exhausted. You as well as Nancy.”

  “It’s hard work,” she said, almost too tired to speak.

  “I shall see that you get home safely,” Nicholas said. “If only I’d known I was going to do this, I would have brought my carriage.”

  At that moment, the sound of Zack’s loud and angry bark reverberated through the room. Nancy and Alexandra looked at each other, alarmed.

  “Someone’s out there,” Nancy whispered.

  Alexandra nodded and finished washing her hands under the pump.

  “No one knows we’re here, do they?” Nicholas asked.

  “We can’t be sure,” Nancy said, still whispering as she pumped water for her own washing.

  Zack barked again, even louder, and the three of them inside the mortuary could hear the shouts of the two boys. It was not possible to make out what they were saying, except for the word no, repeated several times. There was a loud clatter at the front door as if someone was trying to enter, and then the sound of several voices. The three of them ran to the front and saw the door shaking on its hinges as something banged against it.

  From the front window, they could see a mob of about twenty-five men, along with a few women. Their faces were distorted by the light from the torches they held high above them. It was a milling, rumbling, boiling pot of rage.

  “They know we’re in here!” Nancy said. “They want to kill us!”

  “Of course they don’t want to kill us,” Alexandra said. “That would be rather extreme.” Her words belied her feeli
ngs. Her heart was about to leap out of her chest, and all that was in her screamed for her escape, but she knew if she tried, she would be detected. She made herself walk into the parlor and closer to the undulating front door. If anyone out there was in danger, she had to be ready.

  “I seen her go in there, and I know what she’s doing!” a male voice shouted.

  “Ye’s wrong, sir, the lady doctor ain’t in there!” This was Rob’s voice, as loud as that of the man he was confronting.

  “She’s in there, all right! That beast of a dog, he’s always where she is,” another man yelled. “See ’im? ’E’s out here waitin’ for her.”

  “Stop hittin’ that door. Ye’s sure to break it if you don’t stop!” Artie’s little-boy voice could barely be heard above the sound of the other shouts and the hammering on the door.

  There was more pounding, more shouts from the mob.

  “They’ve got Rob!” Nancy screamed and backed away from the window.

  Alexandra lunged for the door, but backed away when she saw a chip of wood fall from the facing where the hinge was attached.

  “Stay here, both of you!” Nicholas said, striding toward the back door. “Stay away from that door.”

  Alexandra started to protest, but Nicholas had already disappeared into the embalming room, headed for the back exit.

  “What can we do?” Nancy’s voice was strained.

  Before Alexandra could reply, the door bulged inward as another loud and forceful blow came from the outside. Nancy screamed, and Alexandra reached for her to pull her close. “We have to stay calm,” she said. She felt anything but calm. She was torn between staying inside as Nicholas had commanded and trying to rescue Rob.

  She made her way to the window and saw Rob struggling to free himself from the grip of two men. They’d forced his arms behind his back, and she could hear his cries of pain. Nicholas appeared suddenly, emerging from the back of the building.

  “Stop! Stop in the name of the queen’s court!” Nicholas shouted.

  “ ’Tis his lordship,” one of the men cried. “ ’Tis the earl hisself!”

  “In the name of the queen’s court,” Nicholas shouted again, his voice sharp and commanding.

  The mob grew quieter, but Alexandra could see them still seething and stirring, still ready to pounce.

  “You!” Nicholas pointed to a man in front of him. “What’s this all about?”

  Alexandra saw, in the dancing light of the torches, Rob using the momentary distraction to jerk himself free. He ran toward Zack and Artie at the edge of the crowd. One of the men started after him, but he was stopped by another who pointed toward Nicholas, urging him to listen. Artie held on to Zack’s leash as the massive dog lunged toward the crowd. Rob reached them just in time to help Artie hold the dog back from the mob.

  “Zack! No!” Again it was Nicholas’s voice shouting a command, and, to Alexandra’s surprise, Zack obeyed. He stopped barking and lunging, although he stood alert and tense.

  “Talk!” Nicholas said, pointing to the man he had earlier commanded to speak. “Why are you trying to tear down this building?”

  “She’s in there!” the man said. “She’s in there performing an ungodly deed on a dead man!”

  “Whom are you accusing?” Nicholas asked.

  “Gladstone! That woman what calls herself a doctor! Gladstone!” The men kept shouting, each trying to be louder than the others.

  “You’re accusing Dr. Gladstone of an ungodly deed?” Nicholas asked. “Explain that to me. What ungodly deed?”

  “Why, she cuts the body open and slices it piece by piece!” one of the men said.

  “Goes against the will of God!” the other said. “ ’Tis only Frenchmen and the like that defiles a body that way.”

  “Why would Dr. Gladstone do such a thing?” Nicholas asked in a much calmer voice.

  “God knows why,” came the answer.

  “ ’Tis called a necropsy,” the other voice said. “I heard of it before. Has a Latin, popish sound to it, I say.”

  “A necropsy, yes, I’ve heard of that,” Nicholas said. “Sometimes called an autopsy. I believe there are distinguished doctors in London who perform them.”

  “Even if they does, it ain’t right for a woman to do a man like that.”

  “I say, I never thought of that,” Nicholas said. “I’d say that calls for a good discussion. What do you say we talk about it over a pitcher of ale at the Blue Ram?”

  “Ale you say? A whole pitcher?” It was impossible for Alexandra to determine which of the men was speaking, since Nicholas had persuaded them to speak in quieter voices.

  “I’m buying, of course.” There was no mistaking Nicholas’s voice.

  “Never turned down a pitcher o’ ale,” one of them said. There were a few more fading and incomprehensible exchanges as the men moved away toward the Blue Ram.

  Chapter 10

  Nancy and Alexandra were in the kitchen sharing a breakfast of poached eggs and toast with Rob and Artie. Alexandra often allowed the boys to eat with them when the weather was exceptionally cold or stormy. This morning, though the weather was pleasant, she’d insisted that Nancy invite them in as a reward for their service the night before.

  “I can’t imagine how we could have gotten through the night without you,” Alexandra said. “Had it not been for the two of you and Lord Dunsford, I fear we’d be in a great deal of trouble.”

  Rob shrugged. “Had to do somethin’, now, didn’t we? What with the constable gone and now ’is deputy dead and whittled up by the two of you.”

  “We don’t whittle a body when we perform an autopsy,” Nancy said, “and the doctor is correct. Even with law enforcement unavailable, we could have been lynched by a mob. Stop slurping your tea, Artie.”

  “Like you say, Lord Dunsford done his part same as me and Artie and old Zack,” Rob said.

  “Yes,” Alexandra agreed. “You were all brave.”

  “Surprised, I was,” Nancy said.

  “We were all surprised at what happened,” Alexandra said.

  “What I mean is I was surprised by Lord Dunsford. The way he took on that mob. Didn’t know he had it in him. I think Zack was impressed as well.” Nancy dabbed at a spot on the table where Artie had spilled his tea.

  Alexandra looked at her with raised eyebrows. “What an odd thing for you to say, Nancy. One could almost say you see Lord Dunsford as a coward.”

  “Not a coward exactly, miss, but he is a bit of dandy, you know. Not the type to take on the likes of men about to start a street brawl. I take it you weren’t surprised.”

  “Not at all,” Alexandra said. “No more than I was surprised at the bravery of the boys and Zack.”

  Artie smiled broadly, and Rob ducked his head, embarrassed, but Alexandra could see a self-satisfied grin on his face.

  “Just because we were lucky enough to escape with our lives last night doesn’t mean our trouble is over,” Nancy said.

  Alexandra’s sigh sounded troubled. “I’m well aware of that, Nancy. Since we weren’t able to talk to Lord Dunsford, we don’t know where we stand with the mob.”

  “Or the law, for that matter.” Nancy spoke with her back to Alexandra and the others as she stood at the stove, serving up more eggs for the two boys.

  “We is back runnin’ from the coppers?” Artie asked, directing his question to Rob. The two boys had become more than familiar with trying to stay a step ahead of authorities before Alexandra and Nancy rescued them from the wharves and put them to work.

  “Nothin’ to worry about.” The break in Rob’s sixteen-year-old changing voice tarnished his attempt at sounding confident. The room was silent for several seconds except for the sound of forks against plates and Artie’s slurping. “Can’t say I understands it all,” Rob said, breaking the silence as he looked at Alexandra. “Why was them blokes so mad about what you was doin’? ’Twas just doctor work ye was doin’ in there, way I sees it. Was ye up to somethin’ I don’t kn
ow ’bout? Breakin’ the law, I mean?”

  “No one was breaking laws. Shame on you for suggesting Dr. Gladstone would do such a thing,” Nancy scolded. “Now, eat your eggs.”

  “Actually, I was breaking the law,” Alexandra said, “but in this case I felt I had no choice.”

  “I knows what ye means by that,” Rob said, speaking around the mouthful of eggs he was chewing. “Many’s the time I stole a few pence or maybe a slab o’ bacon. Had no other choice since it was that or starve to death. Not to mention what woulda become of Artie. He’d starve in no time at all, him bein’ such a skinny runt. So ye done it because we’s all about to starve, did ye? If the problem is that people ain’t payin’ ye on time, I can speed ’em up. I has me ways.”

  “For heaven’s sake, Rob—” Nancy began.

  “It’s nothing like that,” Alexandra said, interrupting her. “I was breaking the law by performing the autopsy on Deputy Poole.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Rob said. “Ye was whittlin’ on the poor bloke’s body so ye could come up with what kilt ’im. Ain’t the first time ye had to sneak around to get it done.”

  “It’s illegal for a woman to perform an autopsy, for one thing,” Alexandra said, “and I didn’t have the proper permission.”

  “Well, it ain’t always convenient to wait for permission. I learned that back when I was even littler than Artie. But as for ye bein’ a woman, I sees the point, ye bein’ the weaker sex, as they says.”

  “Weaker sex?” Nancy’s screech was indignant. “I’ll tell you about weaker—”

  She was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on a door and Zack’s single bark, signaling a visitor. Alexandra and Nancy exchanged a silent glance, fearing they were both about to have to answer for what they’d done the night before.

  “I’ll see who it is,” Nancy said, hurrying toward the front. “You stay here, and I’ll tell whoever it is you’re with a patient.”