The Apothecary's Poison (Glass and Steele #3)(12)

"Thank you," Matt said cautiously.

"Do you mean there is still a chance he will be arrested?" I asked. "But he didn't kill anyone! Why would he murder Dr. Hale? It's absurd. Your inspector is incompetent. Is it Nunce from Vine Street?"

Matt rested his hand over mine, and I swallowed the rest of my questions and retorts. Hysteria would not help. I did, however, clutch his fingers. I wanted him to know that I wouldn't abandon him, no matter what Munro did.

"Miss Steele, you seem to be under the impression that I am here to question Mr. Glass only. You, too, are under suspicion."

I swallowed heavily and bit my tongue.

Matt's grip tightened. "You'd better explain your reasoning," he growled.

Munro clasped his hands over his stomach and eased back in the armchair. "You two went to see Hale yesterday."

"So?"

"You impersonated reporters from The Times."

"You need more than that, Munro."

"You, Mr. Glass, have excellent knowledge of poisons, and Dr. Hale was poisoned."

I sucked in a breath and blinked at Matt. How much did he know about poisons? It was difficult to tell from his face. "That doesn't mean he would murder Dr. Hale," I said.

"My detective inspector thinks otherwise. At the very least, it justifies this interrogation."

"Who told you I am knowledgeable about poisons?" Matt asked. His tone was idle but the rigidity of his body implied otherwise.

Munro steepled his thumbs. "That isn't important."

"It is to me."

"Where were you last night?" Munro asked.

"Here, all night."

"I can vouch for him," I said quickly.

Munro's gaze dipped to my hand, linked with Matt's.

Matt withdrew. "She means we were together in the sitting room until ten, along with my friends, cousin and aunt. They and the servants can testify that neither I nor India went anywhere."

"And after ten?"

"I went to bed, alone. You'll have to take my word as a gentleman that I didn't sneak out during the night and murder anyone."

Munro's "Hmmm" gave nothing away and did not reassure me in the least. "Why did you visit Hale yesterday? Why pretend to be reporters?"

"That's a private matter."

Munro waited, but Matt remained silent. The two men eyed one another, neither looking away, but it was Munro who spoke first. "You're not helping your cause, Glass. Tell me why you were there yesterday."

Matt still did not speak. Munro's nostrils flared but he let the silence drag and drag. It was a technique used by some to force the other person to talk. It didn't work on Matt but it did on me.

"We read an article in The Weekly Gazette about a medical miracle Hale performed on a patient and hoped he could perform a similar miracle for us. Mr. Glass is ill, you see, and has been told by American doctors that there is no cure."

Matt jerked around to face me, and I felt the full force of his ire. I lifted my chin. I did not regret telling Munro. This was not a time for his pride to dictate actions.

"You don't look ill," Munro said.

"We wanted to speak to Dr. Hale impartially," I told Munro. "We wanted to get a sense of how the miracle had been performed before we informed him of Matt's illness. That's why we pretended to be reporters."

"And what did you learn?" Munro asked.

"That the patient he saved probably wasn't dead but did, in fact, die soon afterward."

"So my men also discovered. No miracle was performed. Your visit was wasted."

It was far from being a waste from our point of view. We had a way to meet Chronos now, thanks to Hale. Thank goodness we'd spoken to him before his demise.

Munro rose. "Thank you for being honest with me, Miss Steele, and I'm sorry to have alarmed you. We must consider all possibilities, and when I heard a man named Glass had visited Hale yesterday with his assistant, a Miss Steele, my curiosity was piqued."

"Curiosity or suspicion?" Matt pressed.

Munro ignored the question.

"If you hadn't learned that I knew about poisons, you would not have come," Matt said. Again, Munro didn't answer. "I've never mentioned my interest in chemistry to you."

"I like to thoroughly check the people who work for me," Munro finally said. "You are no exception, despite the task you and Miss Steele recently performed for me." He slapped his hands behind his back. "I hope you understand, Glass. I'm sure you would do the same."

"My sources of information are always known to me. I trust them implicitly. I don't trust information passed on by strangers of unknown reputation."

I suddenly realized what Matt was referring to. The commissioner had learned about Matt's interest in chemistry from someone who wanted to besmirch his reputation: Sheriff Payne. It had to be him. Payne had already visited Munro and tried to discredit Matt once. Thank goodness Munro hadn't taken the malicious sheriff's word at face value.

"Thank you for coming here personally, sir," I said. "We appreciate your effort to discover the truth."

"I'll inform my detective that he must look elsewhere for suspects. He's young and enthusiastic, so I'm sure he'll uncover something soon enough."