She sighed, and Lee turned in his chair to say, “Come now, old thing. That’s still something. I don’t recall any nasties we worked on that made someone’s skin turn yellow.”
“Perhaps not in our study,” Saffron replied, “but numerous poisons affect the kidneys.”
“The liver too,” he said, tapping her notebook where she’d jotted down “hepatotoxicity.” “I don’t suppose you noticed the weights of these organs.”
“The weights?”
“An autopsy includes the weighing of individual organs,” Lee said, as casually as one might discuss the weather. “Gives a great deal of information, same as looking at samples under a microscope. A liver plagued with certain illnesses may swell or shrink, depending. Same as the kidneys. If the coroner said the fellow died of kidneyfailure, though, that likely means the liver bit was just wear and tear from heavy drinking or something.”
“But there isn’t a way to know without you seeing the report?”
“Or the organs themselves.” Now his nose wrinkled. “I haven’t done something like that since school. Can’t say I’m in a rush to do it again.”
Saffron nodded absently. Breaking into a morgue would be a thousand times worse than any of the snooping she’d already done. She’d find another way to solve this. Then she’d find a way to tell Inspector Green without him being angry she’d meddled again.
CHAPTER8
Saffron parted with Lee with a surprising degree of comfort. He’d been his normal self, complete with smiles and near-flirtations. The only awkwardness had come when he’d asked her to give Alexander his regards as she’d departed. It was on the tip of her tongue to mention she was assisting Alexander and his brother only out of friendship and a sense of justice, but she held her tongue. She was loath to give up any sense of equilibrium after the discomforts and disappointments of the last month.
She spent the rest of the day on her actual work, staying in her office well into the evening, which was beginning to creep up on her faster and faster with the changing of the season.
Tuesday morning brought the news she’d been hoping for. Word quickly spread through the North Wing that Dr. Miller had received a visit from a police inspector asking his advice.
Saffron had to fight off a scowl hearing it; when she’d been visited by the police, the rumors were always something nasty, like she’d been accused of harming someone. But it was good news, because it meant that she’d soon have the list of chemicals from Inspector Green.
At lunch, she made her way into the breakroom. Gregory Spalding, the research assistant Dr. Miller shared with another professor, was eating with two other members of Biology. Spalding was a ruddy-faced blond man, rotund but tall, and his demeanor was so loud and jolly that one often missed he was without his left arm. He kept hisjackets and shirts neatly pinned back and his body usually turned slightly to the side to hide his wartime loss.
Saffron liked Spalding, for he was generally more pleasant to her than the others. His loss made it difficult for him to assist in the greenhouses, but he always made an effort, and she’d seen him gain more skill in manipulating specimens one-handed. He was, however, not very enthusiastic about journals and books, ironic as that was for a professional researcher. Saffron had often heard him proclaim that he joined the biology department to look at living things, notread.
Saffron sidled into the room, keen to not disturb the men as they finished their meal. She quietly lit the spirit lamp to heat water for a cup of tea. After a few minutes of their chatter, the men stood. Saffron tensed at the silence that fell as they noticed she was in the room.
“Ah!” Spalding said. “Good afternoon, Miss Everleigh. Didn’t see you there.”
She returned the greeting with a smile. “I hear Dr. Miller has had rather an interesting visit.”
He grinned. “Indeed. Your old friend, I reckon. Detective inspector something or other. Same fellow who came ’round asking about old Maxwell.”
“I suppose he wasn’t asking about Dr. Maxwell this time.”
His companions left the room as Spalding guffawed. “No, nothing so interesting as that!”
“Not an attempted murder?”
With a rueful grin, Spalding said, “No, indeed! Of course, I’m the one to handle it, Miller hasn’t got the time.” He shook his head with a chuckle. “Lord knows why he keeps fussing over his beets when he might be helping the police! I admit though, it’s tedious stuff.”
“What is it?” Saffron asked, stirring her tea. She couldn’t appear too eager, but Spalding liked an audience.
“Wants to identify some fertilizers, of all things. Damned if I know why.”
“Fertilizers? Strange thing for a policeman to ask about. I wonder if there was some sort of crime involving them.”
He shrugged. “Don’t know, wasn’t there when the inspector dropped off the list. Now I’m stuck in the library this afternoon.”
“Me too,” Saffron said with a commiserating sigh. She blew on her cup of tea.
Spalding smirked. “Loads to do after your little vacation?”
She bit her tongue from replying that her vacation had been a trip to a professional conference, which no one else from Botany had been sent to, but that would have been counterproductive. “It’s a pity, too, since I heard Winters was going to be preparing the greenhouses for the cold. I’ve always liked that sort of thing. A nice break from sitting looking at books.” She wrinkled her nose slightly. “We’ll be sharing books, then, as I’m going to be investigating fertilizers myself. I want to see if I can give my specimens a little boost now we’ve less sunlight.”
