“He does this horrible thing, but then he wants it out of his sight, because he’s feeling vulnerable, maybe, or superstitious, or just guilty. He might be worried about evidence, I suppose. To get her out of his office as quickly as possible he will have to administer a good amount of laudanum, so that she’s far away when she realizes that something is very wrong. There are other autopsy reports coming?”
“There will be,” Anna said. “By the end of the day tomorrow. Would you like to see those when Jack brings them home?”
This question felt very much like a quiz. She wondered what Anna wanted to hear and decided that it didn’t really matter. She told the truth. “I’d be very interested if I can be of help.”
“I think you can,” Anna said, and finally she produced a smile. “It’s immodest of me, but I take some pride in how quickly you’re learning to think like a doctor. And now I’m going to tell you a secret. Ready?”
“Um, yes.”
“If you feel like you’re being tested, you are. In medicine, at least. If that’s the case, don’t watch the person who asked the question, for two reasons. First, the more you look at that person for signs of approval, the less likely you are to see any facial expression at all. Second, don’t be afraid of silence. It’s an old trick to use silence as another kind of test. It’s a way to determine how confident you are of your answers. If you don’t know, say so. If you do know, say that, and stop talking.”
Elise couldn’t quite keep from smiling.
“Go on,” Anna said. “Say what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking you remind me of some of the nuns.”
Her mouth twitched at the corner. “Anyone in particular?”
Feeling a little light-headed, Elise stood up and walked to the door. She chanced a look at Anna, who had one brow raised.
Elise said, “Yes.” And left the room without looking back over her shoulder.
41
DRESSED TO GO to the shops, Anna told Mrs. Cabot that she would be out for an hour.
Mrs. Cabot said, “Hmmm.”
Anna said, “I’m just going to the post office.” She might have tried to show her dimples, but the housekeeper had already proved herself immune.
Mrs. Cabot said, “Ned will be by any minute. I’ll send him to the post office for you.”
Anna didn’t need Ned along on this outing. She wasn’t entirely sure herself what she hoped to accomplish, a fact that would be immediately obvious when he started asking questions.
“I need the exercise,” Anna said in a tone that any one of her students would recognize as: enough.
“I don’t like it.” Mrs. Cabot was more like Mrs. Lee every day.
“My cold is almost completely gone,” Anna countered. “It’s seventy-two degrees with a light breeze, the sun is shining. The fresh air will do me good.”
? ? ?
IN FACT, THE air and the exercise did her a great deal of good. It was such a relief to be out of doors that for a few minutes Anna walked at a steady pace feeling nothing but the sun on her face and an odd contentment.
She turned onto Ninth Street and picked up her pace, picked up her skirts, and stepped around the worst of the rubbish in the street. The smell of ripe trash in the sun was unavoidable in New York in the summer. In fact, that meant summer had really arrived, in Anna’s mind.
At the next corner she stopped, fishing in her pocket for coins for an old couple, the man holding out a tin cup. He smiled up at her with such obvious pleasure that she was taken aback for a moment.
“It’s Dr. Anna.” He peered up at her from the rolling platform that did the work of his missing legs; another veteran, one who had survived the worst and was still here, managing from day to day. He elbowed the woman next to him. “Sary, it’s Dr. Anna. You looked after our grandson when his knee went bad in February. Pavel Zolowski, if you recall. Our girl Judy married a Polack, you see. You came out to tell us how things stood after you fixed Pavel up.”
“I remember,” Anna said. “Of course I remember. A very lively boy. How is he?”
“Right as right can be,” said the old woman. Her eyes scanned back and forth, sightless but still seeking.
Anna would stay and listen if they wanted to tell her about their grandson, but she asked no intrusive questions; the poor had every right to their privacy and dignity. After a moment she put coins into the old woman’s hand directly, smiled at her husband, and took her leave.
? ? ?
IT WAS EASY to get turned around among the market stalls; the aisles were narrow and the crowds shifted in unpredictable ways that seemed designed to halt her progress. Most of the market sellers fell into one of two categories: the overly friendly, loud-voiced but engaging seducer—she passed one who was juggling spoons while he flirted with passersby—and the irascible, curt ones who always had the best merchandise.