The Apothecary's Poison (Glass and Steele #3)(23)

Cyclops lifted his glass of wine. "We would have smelled beer or wine in the bottle."

Bristow returned and handed the Cure-All to Matt before leaving again. Matt smelled both bottles then passed them to me.

"They smell the same," I said, passing the bottles to Cyclops. "One thing we must remember is that the magic may already have vanished, no matter how it came to be in there."

Everyone smelled both bottles and we all agreed they had the same scent. That didn't mean that a minute amount of magic-infused liquid couldn't have dripped in.

"Ink," Matt blurted out. "Ink is a liquid."

"Matt," I chided. "Mr. Barratt isn't a murderer."

"Barratt flirted with her," he told the others, as if that explained my point of view.

"He was charming," I said, "but I'm being perfectly objective. He had no reason to kill Hale."

"That we know of yet."

"I think India's right," Cyclops said. "I don't think he's the poisoner."

"How can you know that?" Willie asked, no longer paying any attention to her food.

He held up both bottles. "Since the contents of these smell the same, it's unlikely another substance was introduced, particularly one as noticeable as ink." He tipped a drop of each onto the tablecloth. They were both clear. Ink would have changed the color. "The magician must know how to turn the original medicine into poison. I ain't an expert, but I'd wager only an apothecary can do that."

Matt stabbed a slice of beef with his fork. "You are probably right. But aside from Hale himself, we know of no other apothecary magicians."

"Then we'll have to find one," I said. "We should start with Dr. Hale's business partner."

"Agreed. We'll visit tomorrow morning." Matt studied one of the bottles. "There's an address at the bottom of the label: The Pitt Medicine Company, 167 New Bond Street. You and I will go, India. Cyclops, you'd better return the bottle to the hospital. The artless policemen and doctor won't find anything in it, but we should do the right thing."

Cyclops looked at the bottles, side by side in front of Matt. "Which one's which?"

I picked them both up and placed my hand over the openings. "This one contains the magic poison." I handed the bottle to Cyclops. "I'll return the other to Mrs. Bristow."

"You coming with me back to the hospital?" Cyclops asked Willie. "We'll go tonight."

"You can count on it," she said. "Ain't nothing to do here except teach Letty how to play poker."

Matt narrowed his gaze at her. "Do not teach my aunt to play poker."

Willie flashed him a smile and tucked into her food.

I cornered Cyclops outside his room before he, Duke and Willie returned to the hospital. They'd decided to go late, when only a skeleton staff remained to take care of patients overnight.

"Everything all right?" he asked with a frown. "Something wrong with Matt?"

"Nothing like that," I reassured him. "I want to know how you're going to return the bottle to the hospital."

He leaned one shoulder against the wall near the door and crossed his arms. The poorly lit corridor made his good eye seem darker, his face graver. "Is that all?"

I bit the inside of my cheek. "Ye-es."

"You don't want to know how I got past three constables and a doctor to steal that bottle?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I did wonder."

"It weren't too hard. Willie and Duke distracted them and I took the bottle."

"How did Willie and Duke distract them? For that matter, how did you know the bottle was in the basement at all?"

"One of the nurses was partial to a bit of ready."

"You bribed her?"

"Bribery's better than throwing punches."

He had a point.

"She told us the bottle was in the laboratory in the basement and who was watching it. The three of us acted like orderlies and went down. No one stopped us. Orderlies are like servants."

"Invisible?"

He nodded. "Once down there, Willie acted like a madwoman. She created a scene, babbling, frothing at the mouth, and the like. Two of the constables chased her. While they were gone, Duke and I put out the lamps. Ain't no windows down there to let in the light. The other constable came out to investigate. Willie's carrying on lured him further away. Duke and I went inside the laboratory, pretended to be orderlies and asked the doctor about a delivery. He didn't know what we were talking about, so he had to find the paperwork. When his back was turned, I slipped the bottle of Cure-All he'd been testing into my pocket and we walked out. Willie joined us on the stairs."

I stared at him, stunned by their brazen theft. "Any number of things could have gone wrong. What if the constables hadn't chased Willie? What if the doctor had ordered you to leave without checking his paperwork?"

He lifted one broad shoulder. "We would have changed tactic, tried something different. There were three of us and four of them. Two were as scrawny as a corn stalk. They wouldn't have put up much of a fight."

"You would have thrown punches after all?"

"We wouldn't have hurt any of them too bad."