Kronberg Crimes 01 - The Devils Grin

there is a grain of truth in that. Regardless, Mycroft did not know of any such activities.’
    ‘You believe him?’
    ‘Yes. He is, I fancy, my most trustworthy source when it comes to such things.’
    ‘Any clue on who financed the Club’s research?’
    ‘But of course!’ said he, his eyes lighting up, and energy sparkling in his voice. ‘What do you think was I doing these long weeks? Sitting on my hindquarters, eating porridge, and picking oakum? The Club’s supporters were lawyers, bankers, and men working for the government even, but apparently without their superiors’ knowledge. Even your superintendent Rowlands helped paying their bills. It is a rather long list of names.’
    ‘How many?’ I asked cautiously.
    ‘Fifty-four.’
    My hand involuntarily clapped over my mouth, my mind started racing and putting my own small puzzle pieces next to the ones he had provided. The picture grew darker…
    Holmes interrupted my thoughts, ‘I do believe, though, that the Club reached even further than that. Unfortunately, we have no information whatsoever on the Dundee part. The question remains how far their net extended.’
    ‘But the most important question is why ,’ I answered.
    ‘I thought that was clear from the beginning?’
    Slowly, I shook my head. ‘I believe the vaccine tests were either pretence or only part of their goal. I dare say the latter.’
    ‘What goal, precisely?’ he asked, leaning forward.
    ‘You asked me how I had got Bowden to trust me.’
    Holmes nodded and I dropped my gaze to the muddy tips of my shoes, images of the dying woman and my hand holding the ether-soaked cloth invading my mind.
    ‘I had this crazy idea,’ I said quietly, ‘about using deadly germs for warfare.’
    Holmes sat erect like a stick, all tension and awareness now.
    ‘Bowden’s eyes lit up. But not in surprise. He knew.’
    ‘He was already working on it?’ His voice was tainted with shock.
    ‘I cannot tell. But the plan existed, I am absolutely certain.’
    We stared at each other and, after a while, I added softly, ‘The crime is not solved.’
    ‘No,’ he said, slamming his back against the brougham’s wall and closing his eyes. Then his throat produced a deep growl, ‘Someone sits at the centre of this. We will find him in due course.’
    I noticed the we. Some other day it would have possibly made me proud. ‘I will leave London,’ I answered quietly.
    His eyes opened and he pulled himself up again. After some consideration, he said, ‘Yes, it does make sense. It might be the only reasonable thing for you to do. Otherwise, you would be bait.’
    I gazed out of the window, feeling empty.
    ‘That is not the reason for you to leave?’ he asked doubtfully.
    I shook my head.
    ‘You sent me a letter the day before you fell ill with cholera.’
    I nodded.
    ‘You euthanized her?’
    I nodded again.
    ‘I will not arrest you for that!’ He cried out, throwing his hands up as though I had said something utterly ridiculous.
    ‘It doesn’t matter. Jail or no jail, it doesn’t change what I feel. I killed the woman. I should at least have tried to help her.’
    ‘That is absurd, Anna! How could you have got her away from that place? And even if you had been able to, they’d have found another one!’
    ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘They would have found another one for me . She was delivered to me and no one else.’
    ‘So you run away from yourself,’ he declared.
    ‘Yes I do. And from a corrupt medical establishment that abandons an entire sex. I run away from the man at the centre of the Club, from the police, and…’ I forced my throat to unfold again, ‘…and from you.’
    His eyes flickered. He looked hurt and I held on to my hands so as not to grab his to comfort him.
    ‘I run away from you because I cannot live next to you while not living with you. Whenever I stoke your emotional side it hurts and weakens you, and I am very sorry for that.’
    ‘You must understand that I have no tendencies to romanticism,’ he said, and his voice sounded as though he had swallowed glue.
    ‘I know who you are,’ I whispered.
    Now it was he who stared out of the window. He seemed to argue with himself. I had cut his time short. After a while, he asked, ‘How have you planned your escape?’
    ‘Well, quite simply, I will overpower you.’ I smirked and saw the corners of his mouth twitch in response.
    ‘Do you plan to hide in St Giles? I don’t think it is—’
    ‘No, you are right,