Anne Perry - A Sudden, Fearful Death

He had the geography of the place firmly in his mind. There was nothing more to learn standing here.

He was on his way out again, irritated and short-tempered, when he saw Callandra crossing the foyer. She looked tired and her hair was even more unruly than usual. The characteristic humor had left her face and there was an air of anxiety about her quite out of her customary spirit.

She was almost up to Monk before she looked at him dearly enough to recognize him, then her expression changed, but he could see the deliberate effort it cost her.

Was it simply the death of a nurse, one as outstanding as Prudence Barrymore, which grieved her so deeply? Was it the haste with which it had followed on the heels of the tragedy of Julia Penrose and her sister? Again he had that appallingly helpless feeling of caring for someone, admiring her and being truly grateful, and totally unable to help her pain. It was like the past all over again, his mentor who had helped him on his first arrival in London, and the tragedy that had struck him down and begun Monk's career in the police. And now, as then, he could do nothing. It was another emotion from the past crowding the present and tearing at him with all its old power.

"Hello William." Callandra greeted him politely enough, but there was no pleasure in her voice, no lift at all. "Are you looking for me?" There was a flicker of anxiety as she said it, as if she feared his answer.

He longed to be able to comfort her, but he knew without words that whatever distressed her so deeply was private and she would speak of it without prompting if ever she wished him to know. The kindest thing he could do now would be to pretend he had not noticed.

"Actually I was hoping to see Evan alone," he said ruefully. "But I ran into Jeavis straightaway. I'm on my way out now. I wish I knew more about Prudence Barrymore. Many people have told me their views of her, and yet I feel I am still missing something essential. Hester remembers her, you know…"

Callandra's face tightened, but she said nothing.

A student doctor strode past, looking harassed.

"And I went to see Miss Nightingale. She spoke of Prudence very highly. And of Hester too."

Callandra smiled a trifle wanly.

"Did you learn anything new?"

"Nothing that throws any light on why she might have been killed. It seems she was an excellent nurse, even brilliant Her father did not exaggerate her abilities, or her dedication to medicine. But I wonder-" He stopped abruptly. Perhaps his thought was unfair and would hurt Callandra unnecessarily.

"You wonder what?" She could not leave it. Her face darkened, and the tiredness and the concern were there.

He had no idea what she feared, so he could not choose to avoid it.

"I wonder if her knowledge was as great as she thought it was. She might have misunderstood something, misjudged-"

Callandra's eyes cleared. "It is a possibility," she said slowly. "Although I cannot yet see how it could lead to murder. But pursue it, William. It seems to be all we have at present Please keep me informed if you learn anything."

They nodded briefly to the chaplain as he passed, muttering to himself.

"Of course," Monk agreed. And after bidding her goodbye he went out through the foyer into the wet streets. It had stopped raining, and the footpath and the roadway were glistening in the brightness of the sun. The air was filled with myriad smells, most of them warm, heavy, and not very pleasant: horse droppings, overflowing drains unable to take the downpour. Rubbish swirled along the gutters in the torrent. Horses clattered by, flanks steaming, vehicle wheels sending up showers of water.

Where could he find out Prudence's real ability? No one in the hospital would give him an unbiased opinion, nor would her family, and certainly not Geoffrey Taunton. He had already learned all he could expect to from Florence Nightingale. There was no recognized body that passed judgment on the abilities of nurses, no school or college of training.

He might find an army surgeon who had known her, for whatever his opinion would be worth on the subject. They must have been hurried, always tired, overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the sick and injured. How much would they remember of any individual nurse and her medical knowledge? Had there even been time for anything beyond the most hasty treatment, little more than amputation, cauterization of the stump, stitching, splinting, and prayer?

He was walking along the fast-drying pavement, ignoring the passersby and going generally southward without any destination in mind.

Had she thought to improve her knowledge since leaving the Crimea? How would she have gone about it? No medical school accepted women. The idea was unthinkable. What private study was there? What might she learn without a teacher?

Some hazy memory of his own youth intruded into his mind. When he had first come down to London from Northumberland, desperate to better himself, absorb every piece of knowledge he could, and arm himself against a busy, impatient, and suspicious world, he had gone to the reading room of the British Museum.

Hastily he turned on his heel and walked back the twenty yards to Guildford Street and increased his pace past the Foundling Hospital toward Russell Square, then Montague Street and the British Museum. Once inside he went straight to the reading room. Here she would find all manner of books and papers if she were really as thirsty for learning as her father had said.

He approached the attendant with a sense of excitement that was wildly out of proportion to the importance of his quest.

"Excuse me, sir, may I interrupt you for a little of your time?"

"Good afternoon, sir. Of course you may," the man replied with a civil smile. He was small and very dark. "How may I be of service to you? If there is something you wish to find…" His eye roamed in unconcealed awe around the vast expanse of books both visible and invisible. All the world's knowledge was here, and the miracle of it still amazed him. Monk could see it in his eyes.

"I am inquiring on behalf of the friends and family of a young lady whom I believe used to study here," Monk began, more or less truthfully.

"Oh dear." The man's face darkened. "Oh dear. You speak, sir, as if she were deceased."

"I am afraid she is. But as so often happens, those who mourn her wish to know anything they can of her. It is all there is left."

"Of course. Yes, of course." The man nodded several times. "Yes, I do understand. But people do not always leave their names, you know, particularly if it is newspapers and periodicals that they come to read. Or the sort of thing young ladies usually seek-I'm afraid."

"This young lady was tall, of a determined and intelligent manner, and would in all likelihood be plainly dressed, perhaps in blue or gray, and with few, if any, hoops in her skirts."

"Ah." The man's face lightened. "I think I may know the young lady you mean. Would she by any chance have been interested in medical books and papers? A most remarkable person, most serious-minded. Always very pleasant, she was, except to those who interrupted her unnecessarily and made light of her intention." He nodded quickly. "I do recall her being very brisk indeed with a young gentleman who was rather persistent in his attentions, shall we say?"

"That would be she." Monk felt a sudden elation. "She studied medical texts, you say?"

"Oh indeed yes; most diligent, she was. A very serious person." He looked up at Monk. "A trifle daunting, if you know what I mean, that a young lady should be so intent. I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that someone in her family suffered a disease and she thought to learn as much of it as possible." His face fell. "Now it seems I was wrong and it was she herself. I am most deeply sorry. For all her solemnity, I rather took to her." He said it with a slight air of apology, as if it needed some explaining. "There was something in her that… oh well. I am very sorry to know it. How may I help you, sir? I have no recollection of what she read now, I am afraid. But perhaps I can look. It was very general…"