Bill’s lips pressed together in a stern line, but his eyes danced. “Saffron, it’s unnecessary to lie to me. Give me what you took from Jeffery Wells’s case, and you’ll never have to see me again.”
Again, she caught the nuance. “But you’ll be seeing me regardless?”
Bill let out a soft chuckle. “You always were clever. Even as a little girl, I recall you getting into all sorts of mischief with that active mind of yours.”
She found her lungs did not want to fill with air. He acted as if he’d known her as a child. But he couldn’t—
“You think I must be lying.” Bill leaned forward in his chair. With his elbows on his knees and his face forward, he gave the impression of earnestness. “I assure you; I’ve watched your progress just as surely as you watched your strychnos seeds sprout. Except you haven’t been watching them. You’ve allowed Alexander to tend them for you. A good idea, too, as you’re not too popular at the university, especially at the moment. Dr. Aster may have forgiven you for your absence to help Nick, but the rest of your colleagues see it as a continuation of the preferential treatment they think you’ve been receiving since you were a student. Luckily, Alexander doesn’t see you in so negative a light. Despite your differences of opinion, I believe he’s in love with you.”
A choked sound came from Saffron’s throat.
“I shouldn’t distress you by telling you before he does,” Bill said. “But it illustrates the point you must understand if our conversation is to progress: I know everything, Saffron. I know who you care for. I know who they care for. I know about the flowers and vines you draw in your notebooks. I know the shop where Elizabeth prefers to buy her wine. I know what Alexander’s shaving soap is scented with. I can’t say for sure whether or not you like it, but I’d wager you do.”
Throat constricted by the flood of fear at his gently spoken words, she managed to ask, “What do you want?”
“You know what I want. I want what you took from Wells’s case.”
“I didn’t take—”
Warning laced his quiet voice. “Did I not make my point clear? I know everything, including that you took materials from the case before you turned it over to Nick’s friends and the police. I want it.”
Saffron believed him. If he’d been spying on her and the others—butwhywould he?—then he likely would know. He might be the scientist Colin had warned would examine the materials to ensure she hadn’t swapped out anything. She didn’t see the point in lying, then. “I can’t give it to you.”
Bill was silent for a beat. “Why not?”
“I destroyed it,” she whispered.
“Show me,” Bill ordered. He rose, straightening to an unimpressive height, though straight-backed as an arrow.
He squashed her hopes of enlisting Elizabeth’s help by murmuring, “I have a colleague keeping Elizabeth company. Let’s not interrupt them.”
Shivers broke out over her body, pebbling her skin. Elizabeth was in just as much danger—more, probably. Bill must know how much Saffron loved her friend, and he would be furious when he realized Saffron wasn’t lying about destroying the stolen materials.
In the bathroom, still damp and muddy, Saffron pointed him to the basin on the floor.
Bill walked slowly over, kneeling beside it. His nose wrinkled as he took in the trio of vials, their contents soaked.
“Hydrogen peroxide,” he muttered. He picked up a piece of paper, the ink long since muddled by the acid. “Clever.”
He stood, and as he did so, he rolled his shoulders. The action of a man attempting to collect his temper.
Saffron swallowed hard. She knew she’d done the right thing, stealing and destroying the information, but what would the consequences be?
Bill walked slowly, deliberately, to the door where Saffron stood. He stopped just before her. This close, she still couldn’t see the color of his irises. His lashes were straight, shading them somewhat as he studied her.
“You owe me, Saffron Everleigh,” he murmured. “You owe me something big to make up for this loss.”
“I—I won’t steal secrets for you,” Saffron stammered. “I won’t. If Alfie had gotten his hands on that specimen, it could have killed hundreds of thousands of people.”
“Alfie?” Bill smirked. “He was going to give it to me.Iwould have killed hundreds of thousands of people with it.”
Fear gripped her at his cool manner. Bill was Alfie’s collaborator, the one Colin and all his men feared. The prospect of being responsible for the deaths of so many people didn’t bother him in the least. “Who are you? Why are you doing any of this?”
“Bill Wyatt. Please, continue to call me Bill.”
He held his hand out for her, which she could not have been paid a thousand pounds to take. “I’ve made you uncomfortable. I apologize. In my eagerness to finally speak with you in this open way, I’m afraid I’ve forgotten my manners.”
She was torn between demanding answers from him and wanting desperately for him to leave. But she didn’t know how to do either without threatening herself or Elizabeth.
