Chapter 8

Saffron parted with Lee with a surprising degree of comfort. He'd been his normal self, complete with smiles and near-flirtations. The only awkwardness had come when he'd asked her to give Alexander his regards as she'd departed. It was on the tip of her tongue to mention she was assisting Alexander and his brother only out of friendship and a sense of justice, but she held her tongue. She was loath to give up any sense of equilibrium after the discomforts and disappointments of the last month.

She spent the rest of the day on her actual work, staying in her office well into the evening, which was beginning to creep up on her faster and faster with the changing of the season.

Tuesday morning brought the news she'd been hoping for. Word quickly spread through the North Wing that Dr. Miller had received a visit from a police inspector asking his advice.

Saffron had to fight off a scowl hearing it; when she'd been visited by the police, the rumors were always something nasty, like she'd been accused of harming someone. But it was good news, because it meant that she'd soon have the list of chemicals from Inspector Green.

At lunch, she made her way into the breakroom. Gregory Spalding, the research assistant Dr. Miller shared with another professor, was eating with two other members of Biology. Spalding was a ruddy-faced blond man, rotund but tall, and his demeanor was so loud and jolly that one often missed he was without his left arm. He kept his jackets and shirts neatly pinned back and his body usually turned slightly to the side to hide his wartime loss.

Saffron liked Spalding, for he was generally more pleasant to her than the others. His loss made it difficult for him to assist in the greenhouses, but he always made an effort, and she'd seen him gain more skill in manipulating specimens one-handed. He was, however, not very enthusiastic about journals and books, ironic as that was for a professional researcher. Saffron had often heard him proclaim that he joined the biology department to look at living things, not read.

Saffron sidled into the room, keen to not disturb the men as they finished their meal. She quietly lit the spirit lamp to heat water for a cup of tea. After a few minutes of their chatter, the men stood. Saffron tensed at the silence that fell as they noticed she was in the room.

"Ah!" Spalding said. "Good afternoon, Miss Everleigh. Didn't see you there."

She returned the greeting with a smile. "I hear Dr. Miller has had rather an interesting visit."

He grinned. "Indeed. Your old friend, I reckon. Detective inspector something or other. Same fellow who came 'round asking about old Maxwell."

"I suppose he wasn't asking about Dr. Maxwell this time."

His companions left the room as Spalding guffawed. "No, nothing so interesting as that!"

"Not an attempted murder?"

With a rueful grin, Spalding said, "No, indeed! Of course, I'm the one to handle it, Miller hasn't got the time." He shook his head with a chuckle. "Lord knows why he keeps fussing over his beets when he might be helping the police! I admit though, it's tedious stuff."

"What is it?" Saffron asked, stirring her tea. She couldn't appear too eager, but Spalding liked an audience.

"Wants to identify some fertilizers, of all things. Damned if I know why."

"Fertilizers? Strange thing for a policeman to ask about. I wonder if there was some sort of crime involving them."

He shrugged. "Don't know, wasn't there when the inspector dropped off the list. Now I'm stuck in the library this afternoon."

"Me too," Saffron said with a commiserating sigh. She blew on her cup of tea.

Spalding smirked. "Loads to do after your little vacation?"

She bit her tongue from replying that her vacation had been a trip to a professional conference, which no one else from Botany had been sent to, but that would have been counterproductive. "It's a pity, too, since I heard Winters was going to be preparing the greenhouses for the cold. I've always liked that sort of thing. A nice break from sitting looking at books." She wrinkled her nose slightly. "We'll be sharing books, then, as I'm going to be investigating fertilizers myself. I want to see if I can give my specimens a little boost now we've less sunlight."

His pale brows soared. "Are you, now?" He leaned a hip against the table, and it squeaked loudly as it lurched under his weight. He hastily returned to his feet. "Don't suppose I could give you that list to research? You know, a favor?"

Saffron tamped down the sense of victory threatening to show on her face. "A favor?" She frowned somewhat melodramatically. "I don't know …"

He held up his hand, saying, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble. You'll be in those journals and books anyway, won't you? I'll owe you one."

She pursed her lips as if considering, while inside she was beaming. Nearly everyone liked Spalding, and his word in her favor could be useful. "Very well."

Ten minutes later, she was on her way to the library with Inspector Green's list in her hands.

Light seemed to slip through the windows of the library like water through fingers. The afternoon had barely begun, in Saffron's mind, and already the warm sunlight had dimmed to a blue-tinted glow.

It had been hours since she'd begun picking through texts. Inspector Green's list of chemicals was lengthy, not to mention they were given as a combination of brands and unnamed mixtures. Haber-Bosch was featured alongside monocalcium phosphate. Deciphering those wasn't difficult, as she was already familiar with some, but determining what any of them might to do the human body was quite another thing.

Asking Lee was a possibility, but she'd just been to see him. After his parting comment about Alexander, she was wary of asking too much of him. He undoubtedly thought she and Alexander were together, and she didn't want to make Lee resentful when she believed there was a possibility of resuming their friendship.

There was an entire chemistry department at the university, but she knew no one who worked in it. With her reputation lingering near the bottom of the list of desirability, she didn't know if she could get any of them to assist her.

But Lee had a friend in Chemistry, she recalled. Hope lit in her chest. Romesh, his name was, and he'd analyzed some cocaine Lee had once been given. Lee had mentioned that Romesh hadn't been happy about it, but Saffron wasn't going to bring him illicit substances.

She got to her feet, checking the clock on the far end of the quiet library hall. Over the heads of two dozen students and staff bent over the rows of long tables topped with glowing green lamps, she saw it was a quarter to five. Some would already be gone from their labs and offices, but perhaps Romesh—was that his surname?—might not be.

The Chemistry Hall, just across an alley from the North Wing to the east, had a strange smell. It wasn't pleasant, but Saffron couldn't quite put a finger on what was bad about it. It was like the gentle stink of pear tree blooms mixed with the strange fruit a researcher had once brought to the North Wing to share after an expedition to Southeast Asia. Saffron, a student at the time, had wondered if the long journey back to England had made the durian fruit overripe and thus unpalatable, but Maxwell, who'd given her a piece to try, had insisted that the sweet onion flavor was as expected.

The building itself was not so different from her own haunts, white-walled and tiled. Many of the windows were open, likely in an effort to air out the place. They let in the late afternoon chill and the sounds of busy Gower Street beyond. The halls were mostly empty. It was easy enough to find the lab of the man she was searching for or at least make an educated guess. Romesh was not a typical English name, so she searched for a name that was equally non-English sounding.

Datta, she thought, might match. The light was on within, she noted with some excitement. Perhaps she could make further progress in her investigation this evening after all.

She knocked and then knocked again when no one answered. A sound like a chair scraping across the floor preceded footsteps approaching the door.

It swung open, and a petite woman blinked up at Saffron. She had deep brown skin with large brown eyes framed by a messy Eton haircut that, at first glance, made the young woman look almost like a young man. She wore a man's shirt, complete with a starched collar, tucked into a narrow skirt. Neither her clothing nor her short hair could conceal she was a woman, however.

She looked expectantly at Saffron.

"I'm looking for Romesh …?" Saffron offered, preparing to ask if the woman belonged to that name.

Just then, a man in a white lab coat came striding down the hallway. He was reading a file and came up short when he saw her.

He matched the woman in coloring, his skin a rich bronze and his hair thick and black. His eyes were huge behind his spectacles, not from surprise, but because the lenses magnified them significantly.

"Are you Romesh?" Saffron asked him.

"Yes." He sounded and looked baffled. He glanced toward his office, saw the woman with the Eton crop, and scowled. "What do you want with my cousin?" He turned to the woman. "Savita, what have you done now?"

Not appreciating the harsh tone, Saffron said, "I came in search of you, Dr. Datta."

His cousin snorted. "Romesh hasn't a doctorate. He's too busy trying to appease his fiancée."

"Vita!" Romesh scowled at her. "Get back into the office and stop being troublesome."

The girl's protests were cut off by Romesh chivying her back from the doorway.

Saffron cleared her throat. "Mr. Datta?"

Romesh turned around, looking exasperated. "I apologize for my cousin, Miss—?"

"Everleigh. Saffron Everleigh, in Botany."

"Everleigh—Everleigh?" Romesh looked agog at her. "You're Lee's associate?"

"Yes," she replied. "Dr. Lee and I worked on a study together earlier this year."

Romesh's eyelids fluttered for a moment behind his spectacles. "And you're … speaking to Savita? What about?"

"I came to speak to you about a list of chemicals. I need to know some things about them quite urgently, and since Lee spoke so highly of your abilities …" She trailed off hopefully.

"I … well." He darted a glance up and down the hall. "This is all above board, isn't it? I told Lee I wouldn't be testing anything untoward for him again."

"This is nothing of the sort, I assure you," Saffron said quickly.

"If you won't do it, Romesh, move aside and let me tackle it," his cousin said, appearing over his shoulder. A grin lit up her face. "I'm a chemist too."

Romesh attempted to block her. "Ignore her, Miss Everleigh. Savita is untrained. She likes to mix things together and see the reactions, that's all."

"But that's wonderful," Saffron said, angling herself to see Savita again. "Do you study here, Miss Datta?"

"Yes," Savita answered, attempting to knock her cousin aside with her hip.

"No," Romesh grumbled. "Not until second term."

"But that's very exciting, isn't it?" Saffron took Savita's lead and ignored Romesh. "Have you any experience tracking down chemicals and breaking them into their components?"

"I do," she said brightly.

"I have a list," Saffron said, drawing her notebook from her handbag and passing Savita the list. "I need to know what exactly these chemicals are, and what they might do to the human body if consumed."

"You need someone with more experience, Miss Everleigh." Romesh attempted to pluck the list out of Savita's hand, but she dodged away. "If you need it before the new year, I will look up the chemicals for you. Savita barely knows boron from barium."

Behind him, Savita gasped. "You are—how dare you! I spend nearly as much time here as you do. I should tell her about all the times you've complained about missing points on your exams!"

Romesh opened his mouth to argue back, but Saffron said quickly, "If you could both take a look, I would be much obliged. But I do need the information as soon as possible."

"Police business again?" Romesh asked, dropping his voice low.

Saffron nodded. Savita had crept closer, nearly pressing her face between Romesh's arm and the door frame. "Police business? I'll have it done by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow morning," Romesh said.

Saffron bit her lip. "It is an extensive list."

"It will be done, I assure you."

"I assure you too," Savita added.

"Thank you both very much," Saffron said, not bothering to hide her smile now. "I'll come back tomorrow, then."