Kronberg Crimes 01 - The Devils Grin

strength.
    ‘How has it been delivered?’ I asked and it, it, it echoed in my brain, bouncing off cold walls like the shrieking of bats.
    ‘Female from Dundee, delivered in a brougham,’ answered Stark in a bored telegram style. I made a mental note – Dundee was more than four hundred miles north. How far did the Club’s tentacles reach?
    ‘The cabby is a reliable man. We have used him for other… tasks.’ Stark scratched his chin, lost in thoughts and I sensed the gaping cleft within the man, who did not quite trust his young colleague but had been ordered to share sensitive information. ‘He was well paid and instructed not to listen to any noise she made. We told him she is insane and seriously sick,’ explained Stark. He seemed to loosen up a little, then chuckled. ‘The man must have whipped his horses like the devil to get to London in such a short time!’
    He clapped his hands in delight and I felt the heat rising inside my chest. Slowly, I took a deep breath, told my heart to be still and my fists to uncurl. In my brain, though, I went berserk: I would beat Stark unconscious and tie his arms and legs with a rope. Then I would infect him with cholera and wait a few days. After the disease had turned Stark into an intestine-expelling wreck, I would leave him outside in the cold, lying in his own shit and vomit, without food, water, or even a consoling word for his remaining days. A trial would be the least thing Stark would have to worry about.
    Fighting for the appropriate amount of curiosity and ease in my voice, I asked, ‘Dundee, you say? That’s far away. Who prepared her for the transfer?’
    Here, Stark stopped for a few seconds, obviously pondering whether he was allowed to share this information, too. After a moment he gave in. ‘A colleague from the Dundee School of Medicine.’
    I made another metal note. The Club had a medical doctor working for them so far away from London. How much farther did they reach?
    ‘Did you take precautions?’ I enquired.
    ‘Of course we did!’ he cried indignantly. ‘She has no family; no one will miss her. The driver believes she will receive special treatment at our school.’ A smile played around his angler-fish death-trap. ‘Do not worry yourself, Dr Kronberg – no one will ever know.’ He grabbed my shoulder and shook it lightly.
    How a man could exude so much hypocrisy and not drop dead of shame was a conundrum to me. ‘Excellent!’ I replied. ‘Has the cab been cleaned thoroughly?’ Focusing on avoiding the transmission of cholera and preventing the worst, was the one thing that kept me sane at the moment, while my heart was aching like a rotten tooth.
    ‘Certainly!’ exclaimed Stark, letting go of my shoulder to wave his hand. ‘Its interior was disinfected by your assistants. They also cleansed themselves and are now using your new invention – those masks – in addition to coats and gloves when they deal with the woman.’ He was now notably irritated by the interrogation.
    I gave him an approving nod and walked over to the door. ‘I will have to extract the germs before or right after the subject dies,’ I said and grabbed my coat from the hanger. Stark did the same, and together we took a hansom to the medical school.
    A few minutes later, we walked into my laboratory. On the floor lay a soiled and frail-looking woman, half covered by a thin blanket. Although she was too weak to move, her hands were bound behind her back.
    I felt myself falling apart. I knew I had to remain here, appearing calm and calculating. But all I wanted was to run away and scream. Quietly I inhaled and pulled myself back together. Then, we approached the dying woman. Her breathing was shallow, almost gone.
    ‘Leave me alone. You don’t want to watch this,’ I said. Stark appeared to have the exact same thought.

    ~~~

    I untied her hands. Her ribcage started to heave convulsively, and she opened her eyes in panic. Her unsteady gaze found me kneeling on the floor close by. She opened her mouth, but was unable to speak. Her eyes were pleading. I ripped off my gloves and took her cold and shrivelled hands into mine, as though I could give her enough of my warmth and bring her back to life.
    ‘I am so sorry,’ I choked, feeling utterly useless.
    Her legs started twitching – the loss of fluids and minerals was causing her muscles to contract uncontrollably and painfully. And I sensed it then, and wished I could be the one to be taken away now.