Scooting back farther, she kept on lowering herself until her entire body hung suspended, supported only by the forearms she rested against the windowsill.Darkness surrounded her on all sides.It almost felt as though she’d be dropping into a void once she let go.
Despite the experience at her back, she prayed there would be no obstructions beneath her and dropped, deliberately making sure her left leg took most of her weight.Relief swiftly replaced her concerns when she managed to move without pain shooting through her right knee.
Instead, she was overcome by a sudden wave of nausea thanks to the smell of chemicals and corpses permeating the air.It was somehow worse than the last time she’d been here.
“Everything all right?”Adrian asked from above.
“Yes.Your turn,” she hissed, fighting the urge to gag.
His feet produced a muted thud as he landed beside her.Eager to get away from the bothersome smell, Samantha retrieved the candle she’d brought and lit it.She moved her hand in a wide arc, allowing the light to fall on their closest surroundings.It included a table upon which a human form lay, covered by a white sheet.
Samantha jerked back and suppressed a shudder, then sent the light in the direction of the hallway she recalled Ashburry leading them through.“This way.”
They started forward together, their intention to search all the rooms on this level since it seemed to be mostly unused during the night.As such, it could have provided the very space a surgeon conducting experiments would require.Equipment could have been smuggled down with relative ease, and since the morgue was also located here, those who died could have been disposed of with other corpses.
Although, Samantha reminded herself, Miss Griffin had been pulled from the river, not from an unmarked grave.Everything about that suggested a hasty need to get rid of the body.It wasn’t neat in the way it would have been had a grave-digger removed the corpse from the hospital under what he believed to be legal circumstances.
She frowned at the endless darkness looming ahead.“Something doesn’t add up.”
“What?”
“We’ll discuss it later.Since we’re here we might as well get the answers we’re after.”
They moved on, locating a series of rooms as they traversed the length of the building.Most were used for storage.A couple were entirely empty.One contained several large basins with lines strung under the ceiling for drying laundry.
They rounded a corner only for Samantha to leap back while grabbing Adrian’s arm and pulling him with her.She snuffed out the candle and pressed herself back against the wall.“Shush.”
Footsteps clicked as the person she’d spied came toward them.She sucked in a breath and held it, heard Adrian do the same at her side, and prayed whoever was coming this way was unaware of their presence.
The footsteps paused.“Henry, is that you?”
It sounded like the voice belonged to a young woman.The footsteps recommenced with greater hesitance than before.
“Stop teasing me, will you?”The woman’s voice trembled just enough to convey alarm.“You know I don’t like it down here on my own, so if it is you, please show yourself to me.”
Adrian’s hand caught Samantha’s, drawing her farther away from the corner.Something made a soft scraping sound and then she was being pulled backward, through a doorway and into an even darker abyss.
A soft tap followed as Adrian eased a door shut.Neither uttered a word for what felt like endless seconds.Her heart thumped heavily against her breast.Afraid of making the slightest sound, she didn’t so much as move a muscle while waiting to see if they would be followed.
“I think we’re safe,” Adrian eventually whispered.
Samantha expelled a deep breath and proceeded to relight the candle.She struck the flint and a flame burst to life, illuminating the space they were in: a stairwell with heavy stone steps leading deeper underground.
* * *
The surgeon glanced toward the patient.Mrs.Hughes was an older woman who’d been referred by Doctor Jobkin, one of the last remaining physicians in play, though there was a good chance even he had gone into hiding.The letter the surgeon received from Jobkin that morning had said he intended to withdraw from medicine for a while.He suggested the surgeon do the same.With Wentworth arrested, chances were he’d take the fall as intended.Best not give Bow Street a reason to question whether or not they’d caught the right culprit.
The warning echoed Islington’s.By continuing, the surgeon put all of them at risk.His being caught could lead to the group’s collapse as other names tied to the surgeon’s became the focus of a criminal investigation.England could be set back decades in terms of medical advancements.All because one person kept insisting they’d almost discovered medicine’s holy grail.
The only question was how many more people would have to die before that happened?
Meticulous records taken by the group’s members filled a collection of thick notebooks.Careful preparations had been made before these findings were applied to people.Of course there would be casualties.Such was the necessity of great discoveries.But in time, with the right quantity of ingredients, fewer people would have to perish.
A quick review of the notes assured him he’d made the right adjustments since the previous attempt.The wary look in Mrs.Hughes’s eyes, however, was cause for some concern.
The surgeon turned to her with a friendly smile that would hopefully put her at ease.“You needn’t worry.The procedure you require won’t take long and will also be painless.I recommend you take a seat on the edge of the table so we can begin.”
“I, um…” She clutched her reticule with both hands but did as he asked.
