mortis set in. How quickly the body rotted.
“ Stepping out for a bite, luv, can I get you anything?” Mrs. Cotter asked, making me jump since I had not heard her step so close. Standing at my elbow, I could see that she already had her coat and gloves on as she looked at me expectantly, her eyes on a level with mine for the first time because she was standing and I was still seated.
“ Oh, no thank you, Mrs. Cotter, is it all right if I stay?” I replied, putting down my borrowed pencil and flexing my hand, only now realizing that it was aching. I glanced at the clock above the doorway, surprised to see it was already five o’clock in the evening.
She shrugged. “Just don’t leave while I’m out, and you can stay as long as you want,” she replied with a wink. “I’ll be back within the hour.”
I smiled as she tottered off, glancing down at my notes and then back up as I heard a voice that I thought I recognized through the open door. With a frown, I stood, groaning as I did so, feeling the effects of sitting for hours, and walked toward the door still swinging slowly shut.
“ No, I tell you, we nicked him square in the middle of his…”
“ Constable Dawes?” I said, my hand still on the library door so it did not lock behind me, but my eyes on the three uniformed gentlemen standing in the hallway.
“ Miss Adams?” he replied, turning my way with surprise stamped on his handsome face.
I grinned and he grinned back as he and his two comrades removed their hats and said their hellos. Introductions were made all around and I learned that they were dropping off a body at the morgue.
“Poor bugger froze, we think,” Constable Bonhomme, a young man in his twenties, explained. His sideburns were a touch longer than fashionable. “Brought ’im in for Beans t’take a look at, though.”
“ Beans?” I asked, looking quizzically at the three men, who all laughed, only Brian looking chagrined.
“ It’s our nickname for Dr. Beanstine, one of the Yard’s coroners, Miss Adams,” he said, elbowing his friend in the ribs to get him to stop smiling so broadly. “It’s all in good fun, I swear.”
I was invited for a drink at the pub with the three of them but begged off, citing the work I was already neck-deep in, and shook hands with them each in turn, smiling at Brian as he turned back at the stairs leading to the main level.
Feeling a good deal warmer than I had a few moments ago, I returned to my lonely work, pulling my chair up to the table and focusing on the dog-eared copy of Gray’s Anatomy .
Mrs. Cotter returned at some point, popping by my desk to take a pile of books I had already reviewed and delivering a few more as we refined my search more and more. The grisly images in the books were detailed with captions and surrounded by tables of real data from experiments, and I took careful note of everything I could.
“You’re still here?” said Brian, surprising me for the second time that evening. I looked over my shoulder to find him standing right behind me, staring curiously down at my pad of paper.
I rubbed my eyes wearily before answering, “Why? What time is it?”
“It’s after nine, Miss Adams,” he replied, leaning over my shoulder to put his finger on my pad. “And what in the world is bloat?”
“ It’s a stage of decomposition,” I replied, smelling the beer on his breath and feeling it warm on the nape of my neck. I swallowed nervously. “I thought you were out with your mates?”
“ I thought I’d make sure you got home all right,” he replied with a dimpled smile, leaning in even closer to whisper into my ear. “Besides, I think your chaperone has been asleep for at least a half hour.”
It took me a few seconds to pull my attention away from his lips at my ear over to the desk, where I could see Mrs. Cotter slumbering with her feet up on a patterned ottoman.
He laughed softly, stepping away from me to start collecting up the books scattered on the
“ Stepping out for a bite, luv, can I get you anything?” Mrs. Cotter asked, making me jump since I had not heard her step so close. Standing at my elbow, I could see that she already had her coat and gloves on as she looked at me expectantly, her eyes on a level with mine for the first time because she was standing and I was still seated.
“ Oh, no thank you, Mrs. Cotter, is it all right if I stay?” I replied, putting down my borrowed pencil and flexing my hand, only now realizing that it was aching. I glanced at the clock above the doorway, surprised to see it was already five o’clock in the evening.
She shrugged. “Just don’t leave while I’m out, and you can stay as long as you want,” she replied with a wink. “I’ll be back within the hour.”
I smiled as she tottered off, glancing down at my notes and then back up as I heard a voice that I thought I recognized through the open door. With a frown, I stood, groaning as I did so, feeling the effects of sitting for hours, and walked toward the door still swinging slowly shut.
“ No, I tell you, we nicked him square in the middle of his…”
“ Constable Dawes?” I said, my hand still on the library door so it did not lock behind me, but my eyes on the three uniformed gentlemen standing in the hallway.
“ Miss Adams?” he replied, turning my way with surprise stamped on his handsome face.
I grinned and he grinned back as he and his two comrades removed their hats and said their hellos. Introductions were made all around and I learned that they were dropping off a body at the morgue.
“Poor bugger froze, we think,” Constable Bonhomme, a young man in his twenties, explained. His sideburns were a touch longer than fashionable. “Brought ’im in for Beans t’take a look at, though.”
“ Beans?” I asked, looking quizzically at the three men, who all laughed, only Brian looking chagrined.
“ It’s our nickname for Dr. Beanstine, one of the Yard’s coroners, Miss Adams,” he said, elbowing his friend in the ribs to get him to stop smiling so broadly. “It’s all in good fun, I swear.”
I was invited for a drink at the pub with the three of them but begged off, citing the work I was already neck-deep in, and shook hands with them each in turn, smiling at Brian as he turned back at the stairs leading to the main level.
Feeling a good deal warmer than I had a few moments ago, I returned to my lonely work, pulling my chair up to the table and focusing on the dog-eared copy of Gray’s Anatomy .
Mrs. Cotter returned at some point, popping by my desk to take a pile of books I had already reviewed and delivering a few more as we refined my search more and more. The grisly images in the books were detailed with captions and surrounded by tables of real data from experiments, and I took careful note of everything I could.
“You’re still here?” said Brian, surprising me for the second time that evening. I looked over my shoulder to find him standing right behind me, staring curiously down at my pad of paper.
I rubbed my eyes wearily before answering, “Why? What time is it?”
“It’s after nine, Miss Adams,” he replied, leaning over my shoulder to put his finger on my pad. “And what in the world is bloat?”
“ It’s a stage of decomposition,” I replied, smelling the beer on his breath and feeling it warm on the nape of my neck. I swallowed nervously. “I thought you were out with your mates?”
“ I thought I’d make sure you got home all right,” he replied with a dimpled smile, leaning in even closer to whisper into my ear. “Besides, I think your chaperone has been asleep for at least a half hour.”
It took me a few seconds to pull my attention away from his lips at my ear over to the desk, where I could see Mrs. Cotter slumbering with her feet up on a patterned ottoman.
He laughed softly, stepping away from me to start collecting up the books scattered on the
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