Thirty-Seven
Beatrice waited until Abigail and Sara had disappeared through the door of Sara’s laboratory. Then she sidled up to Joshua. He had the pack containing the smoke canisters slung over one shoulder.
“Did you, by any chance, get a lecture on the subject of your honorable intentions toward me?” she whispered.
He gave her a politely puzzled expression. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I got a pithy little talk on the subject of gentlemen who feel free to trifle with an innocent lady’s affections. Very annoying, to say the least.”
“The gentlemen or the lecture?”
“That is not amusing, Joshua.”
“Sorry.” He paused at the door to allow her to enter first. “Yes, I got a lecture.”
“I was afraid of that. I apologize on behalf of my employers. They do mean well, you know.”
“I never doubted it.”
She beetled her brows. “How did you respond?”
“I pointed out that you carry a gun and those rather nasty smelling salts and appeared to be quite capable of defending yourself.”
She smiled, pleased. “An excellent response.”
“How did you reply to the warning about my intentions?”
“I made it clear that as I am no longer innocent, the lecture came too late to do any good.”
She swept through the doorway, ignoring his muffled laugh. Really, the man had the oddest sense of humor, she thought.
Sara and Abigail were waiting. Sara was in the process of donning a large leather apron. Her laboratory occupied the basement of the town house. A number of workbenches were covered with a variety of scientific instruments that ranged from delicate scales to an electricity-generating machine. Some of the glass-fronted cabinets along the walls contained ore and gemstone specimens. Others held bottles and small boxes filled with various chemicals.
“Let’s have a look at those smoke-producing devices, Mr. Gage,” Sara said. Enthusiasm and curiosity sparked in her eyes as well as in her voice. She gestured toward a nearby workbench. “You can set them on that table. You say they are volatile?”
Joshua went to the workbench and slipped the pack off his shoulder. “The man who used one of these against me ignited it by smashing the canister at my feet. There was a great deal of smoky vapor but no flames.”
He put the pack on the workbench, opened it and removed the three remaining canisters.
Sara put on a pair of goggles and tied a mask over her nose and mouth. She pulled on some heavy gloves and went to the table.
“Stand back, everyone,” she ordered.
No one argued. Beatrice and the others moved away from the workbench. They all watched, intrigued, as Sara picked up one of the canisters and examined it closely.
“Interesting,” she said. “Let’s see what’s inside.”
She removed the stopper with great care. A strong chemical odor wafted out of the opening. Beatrice wrinkled her nose.
“Whew.” Abigail waved a hand in front of her face and hastily retreated another few steps.
“Hmm,” Sara said.
She used a medicine dropper to remove a sample of the contents. The fluid was clear. She placed a few drops in a test tube and repeated the process several times until a number of samples had been prepared. Then she replaced the stopper in the canister.
She looked at Beatrice, Joshua and Abigail.
“This is going to take a while,” she announced. “I can’t work with so many people watching my every move. Go upstairs and have some more tea. I’ll call you when I’ve got news.”
Obediently, Beatrice and the others trooped back upstairs. Abigail led the way into the small parlor. Joshua went to stand at the window looking out into the fog. Beatrice sensed his impatience. Abigail noticed as well.
“You may as well sit down, Mr. Gage,” she said. “There is nothing to be gained by watching the street.”
“No, I suppose not. Can’t see a damned thing in this fog, anyway.” Reluctantly he turned away from the window and lowered himself into a chair. “But I have the feeling that time is running out. Lancing would not have taken the risk of pulling me into this affair if that wasn’t the case. I must find the source of the chemicals as soon as possible. And then I must find the assassin.”
“I understand,” Abigail said. “Meanwhile, what are your plans for tonight? You and Beatrice are welcome to stay with us.”
“Thank you, but no,” Joshua said. “Beatrice will be safer in another location that I have in mind. I need to be assured that she is protected while I pursue my plan to draw Lancing’s hired assassin out into the open. The Bone Man is an obstacle that I wish to remove as quickly as possible.”
Beatrice looked at him. “It seems to me that the simplest way to draw the killer into a trap would be to use me as bait.”
“No,” Joshua said. The single word was flat and unequivocal.
“Have you got a better plan?” she asked politely.
“Let’s just say it is an alternative strategy.”
She did not like the sound of that. “What do you intend to do?”
“It’s clear now that Lancing used me to find you, but now I have become a problem for him,” Joshua said.
Abigail’s brows rose in cool comprehension. “Lancing knows that you are standing in his way. Even if he manages to grab Beatrice, he is aware that you will continue to be a problem.”
“Because you won’t stop looking for me,” Beatrice said quietly.
“No,” Joshua said. He met her eyes. “Not ever.”
Abigail watched him intently. “You believe that Lancing’s first objective is to get rid of you?”
“That is certainly the strategy I would employ if I were in his place,” Joshua said. “He knows how I think, but the reverse is also true. I know his ways as well as he knows mine. After all, we were both trained by the same man.”
“But it is the assassin you must deal with first, not Lancing,” Beatrice said.
“The assassin is Lancing’s vulnerable point,” Joshua said. “The skull-faced man is the one person who knows how to get to Lancing. The thing about hired killers is that one must pay them on a regular basis. That means there is always a rendezvous point. When I have that, I will have Lancing.”
“But first you must draw out the assassin,” Beatrice said. “If you don’t use me as bait, what will you use?”
“Myself,” Joshua said. “He will be in a vengeful mood after two failures. His pride will make him reckless.”
Beatrice caught her breath. “Joshua, I must tell you that I don’t think that is a good plan—”
The muffled sound of an explosion in the basement stopped the conversation cold.
“Good grief,” Abigail said. She jumped to her feet and rushed toward the door. “Sara? Are you all right? Sara.”
Beatrice and Joshua followed Abigail out into the hall and down to the first floor. At the top of the basement stairs they stopped. Tendrils of smoke and the scent of powerful chemicals wafted up from the basement.
“Sara,” Abigail called anxiously. “Answer me.”
Sara appeared at the bottom of the steps. She climbed quickly through the drifting vapors. When she reached the doorway she stripped off her mask and goggles and gave them a triumphant smile.
“Good news, Mr. Gage,” she said. “I think I know the name of the apothecary who supplied the chemicals for the smoke devices and very likely for that Egyptian Water you described, as well. There is only one person in London who can be relied upon when it comes to obtaining rare and exotic chemicals like these.”
“Only one?” Joshua asked.
“As far as I am aware, Mrs. Grimshaw in Teaberry Lane is the only apothecary I know of who specializes in the preparation of compounds and formulas that possess paranormal properties.”