“As Dr. Maxwell is currentlyindisposed,” said Berking, his eyes slipping over to Saffron with a malicious glint, making Alexander grit his teeth, “we are still in consultation over whether we will continue on with the chlorophyll study or press into the next available research project, which is a study on exotic poisons. You must bewellaware of all the possibilities the Amazon offers for such things, Dr. Henry. We wouldn’t want this opportunity to pass by.”
Henry, who was letting his attention wander obviously, stiffened as Berking spoke. His eyes narrowed at the window. “Indeed,” Henry replied gruffly, nodding again to Snyder. With amusement, Alexander watched Henry realize Snyder hadn’t been taking notes. He looked ready to reprimand him when he caught sight of Saffron just behind Snyder, writing notes studiously. His eyes lingered on her momentarily.
After a few more comments about studies and supplies, the meeting concluded, and the group began to break up. Dr. Henry stood talking to several men as they passed on their way to the door, his old swagger seeming to come out as he laughed and clapped them on the back. Robinson, who insisted they discusshow biology would be coordinated with entomology, shuffled Alexander down the hall.
Saffron finished her notes and stood, taking a very long time to close her bag and prepare to leave. She was trying to overhear Dr. Berking and Richard Blake. Blake had remained completely silent throughout the whole meeting. His face had stayed the same too. She was beginning to wonder if his face made any other expressions than indifference and a bland smile. Blake and Berking had their heads together and backs turned, and their conversation was far too quiet to hear.
Dr. Henry strode over to her. “Miss Everleigh, I believe.”
“Yes, sir,” said Saffron, somewhat surprised he knew her name.
“Snyder says you stepped in to take notes to free him up for the meeting. Very kind of you to humor him,” he said, his voice as loud as when he had addressed the whole room. “He gets in quite a tizzy if he’s forced to do his job and write things down. Some assistant!”
Saffron offered a tight-lipped smile.
Dr. Henry dropped his voice to a normal volume and gave her an evaluating look. “I want to get a copy of these notes so I could look over them this evening. Type them up and bring them to my office at the end of the day.”
“Yes, sir, I can do that,” Saffron said, stomach fluttering. She’d just been given the perfect opportunity to question the top suspect. “Is five o’clock all right?”
“That’ll be fine,” he said, eyes narrowing slightly. “See you then.”
CHAPTER 18
Saffron hurried along the hallway, heels clacking as she passed researchers from the meeting chatting in the hall. She needed to type up the notes for Dr. Henry, but more than that, she needed to plan what she was going to say to him.
A frisson of nerves slid down her spine at the prospect—he could have tried to kill his own wife. But she would be careful. A few questions about his wife being in hospital would be a natural lead into more serious questions. She could always plead curiosity, since she obviously had nothing to do with the Henrys or the expedition funds.
At the bottom of the stairs, Saffron looked about the hall, hoping to see Alexander amid the students milling around. She needed to get his advice about how to handle Dr. Henry. Instead of Alexander, she saw Dr. Berking’s hulking figure making his way through the door at the far end of the hall, Mr. Blake behind him.
Caught between impatience to question Dr. Henry and the desire to know what Berking and Blake were talking about, she found her feet moving toward the retreating backs of the two men. They were already almost to the racquetball courts to the north of the building when Saffron exited the hall, but Saffron could hear Berking’s loud voice echoing across the green.
“Why announce it to the whole bloody group then?”
Blake must have made a reply, because Berking shook his head and said, “No, no, you’re right.”
They turned into the door leading into the Wilkins Building and began up the stairs. Saffron waited until they’d reached the first landing before she followed. She hadn’t heard a word Blake said, his voice was too quiet, but Berking’s side of the conversation sounded promising. They were at least discussing Dr. Henry.
“This should have been cleared up days ago,” Berking growled. “Getting close to the departure …”
Saffron crept up the deserted stairs after Berking’s voice faded. There would be more students to disguise her following them in the main halls, so she dashed up the remaining steps and promptly ran into someone standing at the landing. She dropped her bag, sending her pen, pencils, powder compact, keys, and notebook scattering across the black and white tiles.
“Oh, excuse me,” said Richard Blake, his low voice cool and even.
“I’m so sorry!” Saffron gasped, her voice high with dismay. Her eyes darted around, looking for where Berking might be lying in wait, but saw no one.
Blake stooped to help her pick up her things. He handed her pencils and her notebook, pausing to look at her as she placed them into her bag. “You were at the expedition meeting, weren’t you? Just now.”
“Yes, I was taking notes for Harry Snyder. I just …” Considering she had smashed into him in an otherwise lonely stairwell, she needed a reason to be following him. “I saw that you were there, Mr. Blake, and er, wanted to speak to you.”
He raised his brows in polite expectation and they rose to their feet. “I see. How may I assist you?”
“I wanted to ask you about, er …” Saffron cast around for something benign and landed on the photographs she’d passed by with Alexander earlier. “My father.”
Blake’s lips tipped up in a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. His eyes were blue, she noticed, but rather a watery blue. “Your father?”
Saffron cleared her throat and nodded, her idea forming quickly. “You see, my father was a professor here and died in the war almost five years ago and I’d been thinking that perhaps my family might want to make a contribution in his honor.”
“I see,” Blake replied.
