“Mr. Campbell. No, you may not. I have to be in surgery in five minutes. I’m just here to leave my wraps.”
She unlocked the door and went in, locked it behind herself, and took a moment to catch her breath. Then she went on as she had done every morning for as long as she had come to work at the New Amsterdam: she took off her hat, changed her shoes, and exchanged her shirtwaist for a fresh tunic and put on a full apron over that. The whole time she was aware that Campbell was still in the hall, waiting.
She thought of Mabel Stone in the little cottage by the sea. She thought of Janine Campbell’s four boys, children she had never seen but could imagine nonetheless: if not healthy, then healing.
As soon as she opened the door Campbell stepped toward her, close enough that she could make out ale on his breath. She had faced down drunken husbands and belligerent mothers, and she resolved to face down Archer Campbell. She put her arm straight out, her fisted hand against his shoulder, and pushed him away.
“Mr. Campbell,” she said. “You are inappropriate.”
His hand closed over her forearm. She spun around and jerked free in one motion, and they stood looking at each other. She could hear her heartbeat echoing in her ears, and every nerve was twanging like a fire bell.
“You will talk to me.” His voice went husky and she saw his pupils dilating with an almost sexual response to her rejection. She thought of one quick jerk of the knee and how that would take the look off his face.
“I want to know where Mabel Stone is,” he said. “Don’t tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about. I saw you go into her place that night with the detectives, and the next day the Stones were gone, both of them. There’s no word of them, and nobody knows where they went. Except you. You know, don’t you.”
Anna looked him directly in the eye for a count of three. She said, “Mr. Campbell. Leave this building and never come back. Never approach me again or I will swear out a complaint.”
“Haven’t answered my question, though, have you? That’s as good as a confession in my book. You’ll talk to me, unless you like the idea of a search. You’ll never know when it’s coming, but I can guarantee you, Comstock will find what he needs to send you to prison.”
In some part of her brain Anna realized that he didn’t know she was married, or to whom. The thought made her smile, and her smile made his whole face contort with rage. This is what his wife faced every day, she thought. This is what she lived with for years.
A small group of people came into the hall. An orderly, too busy flirting with the nursing students to take note of anything else, and behind them, Elise. She pushed her way through the others and broke into a trot.
“Dr. Savard,” she called. “Do you need help?”
“She does,” said Campbell with a wide rictus of a smile that displayed graying teeth. “But not from you.”
His eyes moved over Anna, roaming over her body to stop on her face.
“You’re no woman a man would want as a wife. I doubt you even know you are a woman.” His grin flickered on and off. “But then old maids can be surprising. All those juices stored up with no place to go.”
There was a distinct buzzing in her ears and she seemed to be watching the scene from a remove. She felt no fear or even disgust. The most she could muster was a clinical interest, wondering what an alienist would make of Campbell.
“I could show you what goes on in a man’s bed—”
Then Elise Mercier stepped forward with both fists raised and delivered a blow to Campbell’s middle that deflated him like a pin to a hot-air balloon. All the breath in his lungs left him in a rush, the smell of oysters and ale hanging in the air as he collapsed to the floor, hacking and fighting for air.
It all happened in seconds, and then everyone was staring at Elise. The look on the orderly’s face was distinctly admiring, but the nurses were shocked and, Anna thought, a little frightened.
Elise studied Campbell, writhing on the ground and gasping for air.
“He’ll be all right. More’s the pity,” she said to no one in particular. Then she realized that everyone was looking at her, and she produced a small, crooked smile. She said, “Six brothers.”
That seemed to satisfy them all. The orderly crouched down to get hold of Campbell by the collar of his jacket and yanked him to his feet.
“Would you be wanting to call the police, Dr. Savard?”
Anna shook her head. “Just put him out on the street, please, Jeremy. I need to get to surgery. Nurse Mercier, I suggest you soak that hand in cold water before it begins to swell.” But she smiled at Elise. “Later I’ll try to remember to remind you about the prohibition on violence inside the New Amsterdam.”