Kronberg Crimes 01 - The Devils Grin

ago.’
    ‘Any clue what he could want other than you back in your laboratory?’ he asked.
    ‘No.’
    He rose and waved his arm for me to sit. ‘Anna, trust yourself in this as I trust you. You are an excellent actress. In fact, the best I know. You are intelligent, observant, and you can adapt to any situation. Bowden knows you are sick, so he will not be surprised to notice you are not yourself. You can pretend to feel weaker than you really are. Stay in bed when he calls, close your eyes often, breathe heavily, you know the game.’
    So assuring was his speech that I almost started to believe him. Then, I lifted my right hand and held it parallel to the floor. It shook severely.
    ‘I can’t. Not today.’ My voice was about to break and he must have noticed it.
    ‘Hmm…’ he grumbled, ‘that looks rather serious.’
    A moment later, he clapped his hands together, eyes shining brightly and told me not to worry myself; to go to bed, and find some rest.
    ‘What is the plan?’ I asked his back, which was almost out of the door.
    He turned and stuck his face through the open crack, produced a boyish smile, and answered, ‘Hold-up is the plan. Bowden will find it impossible to pay you a visit tonight.’
    The door snapped shut and I found myself trusting Holmes without detailed explanations. How odd.

Chapter Eighteen

    I stared in the looking glass for a long moment, then nodded at my own reflection, trying to convince myself that I was able to face the world of Dr Anton Kronberg yet again.

    ~~~

    It took me a considerable time to get dressed, walk down onto the street and find a hansom to the medical school. My forehead itched from cold perspiration and I slapped it off as I sat down in the cab, condemning my weakness. The timing was more than inconvenient.
    My two assistants were busy preparing a fresh batch of media as I entered the laboratory. Everyone adhered to etiquette — I bade them a good morning and they politely enquired about my health.
    However, I noticed that the surveillance had fortified — the two men kept within a three yards radius from me. While I struck a match on the table and lit the Bunsen burner, I wondered how much time I had left.
    Using a magnifying glass, I inspected the colonies that grew on the solid media. The Petri dishes clinked quietly while I pushed them about, opening and closing their lids. Behind me, my two assistants were silently observing my doing, boring their stares into my neck, causing it to tingle constantly.
    Bacterial colonies in a vast diversity of shapes and colours had formed under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions. We would need a lot of mice to test these on. I turned to my two companions.
    ‘Mr Strowbridge, we will need at least one hundred mice to test our new germs. I need you to procure them immediately. And supplement the cages and the fodder, please.’ My voice was thin, supposed to reflect my weakened state.
    Strowbridge nodded and left, while Bonsell stayed behind and moved a bit closer yet, compensating for the lack of his colleague and back-up. Several minutes after Strowbridge had gone, faint footfall sounded in the hallway. I hoped it would be Bowden. Meanwhile, Bonsell had squeezed himself a little too close.
    ‘Mr Bonsell, are you resistant to cholera?’ I held a slender iron lance into the Bunsen burner’s flame, just above the hottest blue. ‘I know you are supposed to keep an eye on me, Bonsell,’ I said softly, pushing the glowing lance into the solid media. The hiss made him jump. ‘But you are overdoing it. I might stumble over you and accidentally infect you with cholera.’
    ‘My dear sir!’ cried Bonsell in disbelief, taking a step back, possibly afraid I would drive the smouldering metal into his hands if he didn’t keep them off the workbench.
    ‘I mean it, Bonsell. The way you handled that woman was most unprofessional,’ I barked, using up my feeble breath. ‘You left a trail of highly contagious feces that contaminated my entire laboratory. Or how do you think I contracted cholera? And worst of all, you risked the contamination of our valuable pure cultures. Your carelessness threw back our work for more than a week!’
    I had risen to my feet, my face now very close to Bonsell’s. ‘Should you get too close to me while I work with my cultures, or should you so much as think of touching my work, I will break your arm!’
    ‘Well, well, Dr Kronberg,’ interrupted Bowden with a snarl, entering the room