by Emily Organ
“Try what?” I asked.
“This!”
He lifted his leg and kicked just below the lock with the heel of his foot. Some of the door frame splintered to a backdrop of gasps from the patients. After a few more kicks the frame gave way and the door opened wide into the darkness of the cupboard.
Chapter 47
I was half-expecting to find a startled Miss Turner hiding beyond the door, but when James and I peered in we saw nothing inside but a large, dingy cupboard filled with basic supplies.
“Do you have a lantern I could borrow, please?” he asked the nurse.
As she went to fetch one, I stepped into the gloom. I could see blankets neatly folded on shelves and bowls stacked according to size and shape.
A moment later, James shone the lantern inside. “Just nursing supplies, by the looks of things,” he said, ”and no Miss Turner.”
“Perhaps the rest of the stolen medicines are in here,” I suggested.
We both looked around but saw nothing that looked medicinal.
“This looks out of place,” said James, shining the lantern on a dark sack at the back of the cupboard.
“I think they’ve found her!” exclaimed the nurse behind us.
We stepped out of the cupboard to see a number of patients gathered around the windows. James and I managed to get close enough to see that they overlooked one of the yards, where a small group of people stood.
“Come on, let’s go,” said James, handing the lantern back to the nurse.
“What about that sack in the cupboard?” I asked.
“Oh yes! It didn’t look right, did it?”
I dashed back into the cupboard to fetch it, only just managing to make it out in the gloom. James was at the far end of the ward by the time I re-emerged, so I jogged to catch up with him.
“I’d like to hear what she has to say for herself,” he said as we dashed down the staircase, two steps at a time.
Out in the women’s yard, Inspector Ferguson and a group of constables had encircled the nurse, her white apron was a dazzling contrast to the blue of their uniforms.
A crowd of bystanders had already gathered around them, but Mrs Hodges swiftly appeared and ordered them all inside. I looked up at the windows overlooking the yard and saw faces peering out from every one of them. Dr Kemp strode out into the yard, his expression etched with concern.
“I haven’t done anything wrong!” Miss Turner protested as James and I approached.
“I’d say that murdering Father Keane was wrong, wouldn’t you, Miss Turner?” said Inspector Ferguson as a sergeant clapped handcuffs around her wrists.
“I didn’t do it!” she protested.
“Did you also give pieces of cake to Mr Connolly and Mr Sawyer?” I called over to her.
Her brow furrowed, as if she had no idea what I was talking about. The yard we were standing in reminded me of the stone-breaking yard, and consequently of Mr Patten and Mr Walker. Surely she hadn’t also murdered them?
Miss Turner was a tall lady, but she was on the slender side, such that I couldn’t imagine her overpowering the two men. Perhaps the murder of Father Keane had been resolved, but there were still questions to be answered.
“Take her to the administration block,” Inspector Ferguson ordered his constables. “And bring the Black Maria to the Kingsland Road entrance.”
As she was led away, Miss Turner locked eyes with Dr Kemp. Her look was a pleading one, as though imploring him to intervene.
He shook his head as he watched her being led away. “And to think that I trusted her,” he said sadly. “And a nurse at that! You wouldn’t think it of a nurse, would you?”
“It takes all sorts, Dr Kemp,” said Mrs Hodges. “I never would have thought it either. What a foolish woman! She’s thrown her life away.”
“You’ll question her about Mr Connolly and Mr Sawyer as well, won’t you?” I asked Inspector Ferguson.
“I certainly will,” he replied. “There’s no doubt that there are more victims. We have already found ten empty coffins, but there may be more at Tower Hamlets cemetery. There’s plenty of investigating to do yet on that score.”
“So what’s your working theory, Inspector?” asked James.
“Someone at the workhouse colluded with Hicks to sell the bodies of deceased paupers to the medical schools. Paupers who seemingly had no family members or friends to miss them,” he replied. “I suspect Lennox knows something given the manner in which he took off when Miss Lloyd’s coffin was found to be empty. I’m not sure as to the extent of Hale’s involvement yet, but it seems quite certain that Miss Turner was the one who carried out the despicable acts. She no doubt did so on the orders of someone else, possibly Lennox or Hicks. We’ll continue to question these men until we are able to get the truth out of them.”
“And Dr Macpherson of St Bart’s Medical School?” I asked.
“We know that he bought Miss Lloyd’s body from Hicks,” replied Ferguson.
“In good faith, no doubt,” muttered Dr Kemp.
“Yes indeed. Unpleasant as this whole business is, there is no suggestion that the medical school is guilty of any wrongdoing.”
“When exactly did Miss Turner steal the aconitine, Dr Kemp?” I asked.
“I noticed it was missing about six weeks ago.”
“Since that time she’d have had the opportunity to poison countless inmates,” I said.
“As I’ve already stated, there is still quite a job to do at Tower Hamlets cemetery,” said Inspector Ferguson. He strode off to join the constables who were standing at the far end of the yard with Miss Turner.
“I blame myself,” said Dr Kemp, wiping his brow.
“Oh no, you mustn’t!” said Mrs Hodges. “You trusted her. We all did! No one could have known that she would steal medicine and poison the inmates with it. And a priest too! It truly is the most despicable act I have ever encountered.”
I noticed Dr Kemp’s eyes resting on the sack I held in my hand, which I had quite forgotten about. A piece of string tied it closed. I examined the knot and saw that it had been drawn quite tight, so I started pulling at it with my fingernails.
“I should never have allowed her to have a key for the medicine cupboard,” continued Dr Kemp. “Knowing how harmful those medicines were, I should have kept them safe. And to think that we were caring for poisoned inmates in the infirmary! I should have spotted the signs, but I didn’t.”
Mrs Hodges offered him further platitudes as I struggled with the knot.
“Here, allow me,” said James, taking out a small pocketknife and unfolding it.
He cut the string on the sack and opened it up. Several items of dark clothing appeared to be folded up inside it.
“What have you got there?” asked Mrs Hodges.
Dr Kemp stepped away to speak to a nearby constable.
James pulled the clothing out of the sack to reveal a dark grey woollen suit consisting of trousers, a waistcoat and a jacket. Wrapped within the jacket was a white shirt with reddish brown spots on it. A collar fell to the ground, and I saw that it also had dark red stains upon it.
“Good grief!” exclaimed Mrs Hodges. “Is that blood?”
When I saw the stains on the waistcoat and the jacket sleeves I instantly turned away, feeling sickened. As I did so, my eyes landed on Dr Kemp just as he was slipping through the door to the covered walkway.
“He’s leaving!” I shouted.
“Where?” James looked up from the spot where he had stopped to retrieve the blood-stained collar from the ground.
I started running toward the door that Dr Kemp had stepped through.
James soon caught up with me.
“This way!” he shouted over to Inspector Ferguson. “We need to grab hold of Kemp!”
Once we were inside the covered walkway we could see Kemp’s retreating form ahead of us.
James chased after him, and I did my best to follow as quickly as my skirts and corset would allow me. A
number of inmates stopped and stared.
“Police! Stop that man!” shouted James.
A brave man stepped in the direction of the doctor in a bid to apprehend him, but Dr Kemp responded by shoving him out of his way. The man fell against the wall.
“Are you all right?” I stopped to ask him.
“Yeah,” he replied, bemused. “But why’s the doctor runnin’ away from the police?”
“Good question,” I replied as I hurried on, following James and Dr Kemp inside the block. I could see Dr Kemp up ahead, running for the door that opened out onto The Land of Promise. Fortunately, the exit was still being guarded by a constable. Kemp swung around and changed direction, heading instead for the casual wards.
“Keep guarding the door!” called James to the constable before following the doctor through the door to the men’s casual ward. I paused for a moment, unsure whether to follow them into the men’s ward before deciding that James might need my help.
A short corridor led into a cold, spartan bathroom identical to the women’s bathroom next door. Someone was sprawled out on the floor, close to one of the bathtubs. I saw that it was a man lying on his side.
James.
A shriek echoed around the stone walls, and I only realised that the sound had come from me once I was knelt by James’ side. His eyes were closed and a trickle of blood ran out from a cut on his lower lip.
“James!” I cried out. “James! Wake up!”
I gently lifted his head from the cold, tiled floor.
“James!”
But there was no response.
An icy sensation ran through my chest, like the blade of a knife.
“Please, James, wake up!”
I gave his shoulder a shake, but his body remained limp. Surely he would come round. Was he even breathing?
I placed my fingers beneath his nose to check. Before I could find out either way, darkness fell and I knew nothing more.
Chapter 48
A harsh light stabbed at my eyes and my head throbbed with pain. My body felt crooked, and I realised I was lying face down on a tiled floor.
I heard a groan beside me, and then shouting from further away.
I managed to lift my head, and a face swam into focus.
“James?”
His blue eyes flickered open and I felt a grin spread across my face.
“You’re all right!”
I reached out to him, and he pulled a puzzled expression as though he had no idea where he was.
A shout from behind me brought us both to our senses. James propped himself up on his elbow, then looked up over my head before trying to scramble to his feet.
“Careful,” I said, attempting to help him. As I moved to get up, my head span with a dizzying pain.
“Are you all right, Penny? What happened?” He held out a hand to steady me.
“I’m not sure.”
We both staggered to our feet, then James lunged past me in the direction of the raised voices. I turned to see three workhouse inmates hunched together on the bathroom floor. It was only when I looked closer that I saw a fourth man lying beneath them.
It was Dr Kemp.
I couldn’t help but admit a loud laugh. With the weight of three men bearing down on him, the doctor had no chance of getting away.
One of the inmates, a young man with dark eyes, grinned at me. For a fleeting moment he reminded me of Bill Sawyer, the poor man who had supposedly died of heart failure the night Eliza and I had stayed at the workhouse.
“We got ’im for yer!” he said triumphantly. “Shame on the doctor for punchin’ a lady like that!”
“He punched me?”
“Yeah, an’ I saw the toerag do it! Tried to get away after, but we got ’im.”
“Thank you,” I said fervently.
Inspector Ferguson soon arrived with two constables in tow.
“Here you are!” he said breathlessly. “We didn’t know which way you’d gone. Are you all right, Blakely?”
“Sawbones punched ’im,” piped up one of the men, who I now recognised as Mr Price.
“Good grief! Dr Kemp’s down there!” said the inspector.
“Thank you for your help,” James said to the inmates. “We’ve got him now. I’m a little concerned about the fact that his lips appear to be turning blue.”
Dr Kemp didn’t look well at all. The inmates moved away from him, but he lacked the strength to struggle as James put the handcuffs on.
“I don’t understand what Kemp has to do with all this,” said Inspector Ferguson as the doctor was propped up into a sitting position against the wall.
“Did you not see what was inside the sack?” James asked him.
“No.”
“The blood-stained clothing he was presumably wearing the night he killed Mr Patten and Mr Walker,” replied James. “The clothes had been bundled into a sack, which was placed at the back of a cupboard that only Miss Turner was believed to have a key for. Either Kemp has his own or he asked her to put the sack in there on his behalf. You were hoping no one would ever find it, weren’t you, Doctor?”
“You’ve no proof that it’s mine,” muttered Kemp breathlessly.
“I think the fact that you bolted as soon as we opened the sack is indictment enough,” said James. “And although I didn’t have much time to examine the clothing, I noticed there was a button missing from the waistcoat. A black glass button like the one Horace found in the stone-breaking yard. That’s where the two men were murdered, isn’t it?”
“Then Dr Kemp murdered ’em!” exclaimed the young inmate.
The doctor shook his head rapidly as he tried to recover his breath.
“I always thought sawbones was a good ’un,” said Mr Price. “’E looked out for us, ’e did.”
“In what way?” asked James.
“Givin’ people med’cine when they needed it.”
“Is that so?” queried Inspector Ferguson.
“Yeah, so’s they didn’t get no fever an’ end up in the ’firmary.”
“There’s a medicine that helps to prevent fever is there, Dr Kemp?” James asked.
He gave a casual shrug.
“That’s what ’e said,” claimed the younger man. “Only I didn’t want no pills. I don’t trust ’em.”
“Dr Kemp offered you some pills to prevent fever, but you refused to take them. Is that what you’re saying?” asked Inspector Ferguson.
“Yeah. I didn’t like the look of ’em.”
“And what did the doctor say when you refused them?”
“’E told me I’d get sick an’ die.”
“Was he angry with you?” I queried.
“Yeah, a bit.”
“Is this true, Dr Kemp?” James asked the apprehended man. “Did you get angry when certain inmates refused to take the medication you had offered them?”
“Not a bit of it,” he muttered.
“Was it medication they actually needed, or was this the aconitine pills? Did you persuade Mr Patten or Mr Walker to take them, Dr Kemp?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The two men who were found murdered in the yard. As you know, we have already found the blood-stained clothing you wore that night. Did you see Lawrence Patten working alone in the stone-breaking yard that evening and attempt to persuade him to take the gelatine capsules filled with aconitine?”
The doctor gave a derisive laugh, as if the suggestion were entirely ridiculous.
“Was that why he was murdered? Because he resisted you?” continued James. “Did you then lose your temper with him? Perhaps you struck him, a struggle ensued and you lost one of the buttons from your waistcoat during the tussle. Am I right?”
The doctor shook his head, appearing bemused.
“And then you decided to teach him a lesson and strangle him, did you?” James probed.
“I suppose you had originally intended to poison him so that you could sell his body,” I added. “A quick check
of his admission record would have reassured you that no friends or family members would come looking for him. Perhaps you looked at the record yourself, but I’m more inclined to think that the clerk, Mr Lennox, would have done that part for you. He probably did the same thing with regard to Mr Connolly and Mr Sawyer.”
“Young men whose bodies would remain unclaimed once they’d died,” said James. “No family members to miss them. And presumably their youthful bodies would have fetched you a better price than the body of an older man.”
“How many times did you commit this heinous crime, Dr Kemp?” asked Inspector Ferguson. “How many victims are there?”
“I’ve never heard such utter nonsense,” he said scornfully.
“Quite a number of times, I’d wager,” said James. “But your plan failed when it came to Lawrence Patten, didn’t it, Dr Kemp? Once you had lost your temper with the poor man and strangled him you realised the murder would be quite obvious. Panic no doubt ensued as you desperately tried to cover your tracks. You needed to frame someone else.
“You waited for the next man to enter the yard and, unfortunately for Mr Walker, it was him. You must have summoned him over, perhaps under the pretence that you required some assistance. Somehow you persuaded him to join you and the deceased Mr Patten. Without warning, you hit him with the shovel until you were sure he was dead, then you placed the shovel next to Patten’s body to make it appear as though he had struck the fatal blow.”
“When did you extinguish the lanterns, Dr Kemp?” I asked.
He shook his head as if it wasn’t even worth his time to reply.
“Perhaps you did so immediately after the death of each man,” said James. “When Horace looked out into the yard at ten minutes past eight Patten’s lantern had just been extinguished. Perhaps that was when you began lying in wait for someone to cross the yard, Dr Kemp. Once you had attacked Mr Walker and extinguished his lantern, you swiftly made your way back to your rooms. A number of inmates must have seen you hurrying away from the scene. Perhaps you told them you were on your way to or from a medical emergency.”
“You know Dr Macpherson, don’t you, Dr Kemp?” I asked.
