She shook her head.
“There is no antidote. Once ingested, depending on the amount, a person can begin to feel sharp pains in the abdomen, sweating, heart palpitations, and in some cases reported, they can see a bluish-purple haze in their vision, but if the amount is enough, death can be the result.”
“Very good,” Dr. Hall said, before calling the attention of the group back to him. “Any questions?” No one spoke. “Well, I believe our work here is done. Constable? I’ve given my opinion and I believe once Dr. Stewart finishes his investigation, he’ll come to the same conclusion. Now if you will excuse us.”
Grace removed the face covering and apron as soon as they exited the room and followed Dr. Hall back down the hallway and up the spiral stairs until they were back in the foyer of the building. To her surprise, Dr. Hall seemed to be walking with a bit of buoyancy in his step and when they were finally outside, he seemed almost jolly as she tried to keep pace with him as heheaded toward her carriage. The driver had jumped down and was swift to help Grace up and to her surprise, she was followed by Dr. Hall.
“That was satisfying,” he said, rather pleased as the carriage took off down the road. “Dr. Stewart is always so sure of himself, but I knew he missed something with that case.”
“You did?”
“Oh yes. The report about Mr. Flannery freezing to death had always struck me as strange. He was a patient of mine, you see, and had never shown signs of any malaise or addiction to the drink. In fact, he seemed to loathe wines and whiskeys alike. The fact that he had frozen to death from supposedly overindulging always confused me. But I wasn’t in Glasgow at the time and Dr. Stewart had taken inventory of the body. I always guessed he’d done a poor job and that confirmed it.”
“Oh.”
He glanced at her.
“You were rather impressive as well.”
Grace had to concentrate very hard not to break into a silly smile.
“Thank you.”
“I know Mrs. Fletcher likely taught you all she knows about medicinal plants. She’s a fountain of information, that one.”
“She taught you as well, didn’t she?”
“She did,” he said as the carriage turned north. “For as long as I can remember, she had me out in the woods and fields, picking plants and flowers, sketching them, identifying them, taking notes on their properties and the reactions they cause in the human body. I suspected that’s why Dr. Barkley rented her one of his rooms above his practice in Glencoe. To keep his patients close if they didn’t agree with his diagnosis and would turn to Mrs. Fletcher.”
“She is your aunt, is she not?”
“Aye.”
“Then why do you call her Mrs. Fletcher?”
Dr. Hall’s dark brows lifted.
“I’m not sure. I’ve always called her that, ever since I was a boy.”
“Because she asked you to?”
“No, it’s just… What everyone else called her.”
Grace was unsure how to feel about that information. She knew Dr. Hall had been orphaned as a child and that he had gone to live with his only living relative, but how his parents passed and what his childhood had been like were a mystery. One that seemed to grow more interesting to her by the day.
“She has always been very kind to me.”
“That’s because she likes you.”
Grace smiled, her hand moving over her chest absently to where her necklace lay beneath her dress.
“Did she tell you that?”
“She did,” he said, and for a moment Grace saw something in his eyes, something kind, not unlike Mrs. Fletcher.
It was the most striking thing, to see a flash of white in contrast to his well-kept beard as a sweeping, fluttering sort of feeling filled her insides. He blinked then and the moment was gone, but Grace couldn’t seem to shake it the rest of the ride home.
Once they reached Aunt Belle’s house, Dr. Hall exited the vehicle and turned to help Grace down. She hadn’t even realized it until her feet touched the cobblestones and she tried to pull away, but he didn’t let go.
