Page 63 of A Bloom for a Blacksmith

“Indeed,” Stella replied, remembering how he had examined the mullioned windows during the move. She had thought then he was merely ensuring they were properly installed and wouldn’t leak.

“I can see to making some decorative pieces to attach to the ends,” Angus offered. “A simple ball shape, or a flower, perhaps?”

“That sounds lovely,” Iris said, her eyes wide at hearing the plans.

He beamed in delight, but sobered upon hearing Darius’s next words.

“Angus and I have a project we need to see to this evening,” Darius announced. “So, we’ll take our leave of you lovely ladies.” He stood and gestured for Angus to join him.

Furrowing his brows in what appeared to be confusion, Angus stood and said, “Good evening.” He spoke to both of them, but his words were directed to Iris, Stella was happy to note. So she nodded to her husband’s assistant and bid him a pleasant night.

“Good evening.”

The men bowed and left the ladies, but before Darius exited, he kissed Stella on the cheek and whispered, “Don’t wait up for me.”

“But I will, and you know it,” she replied.

Later that night

By the light of a lantern, Darius studied the dead body that lay sprawled between the newest bookcase and Stella’s office door. “Is there any chance anyone saw him after you left with Miss O’Connor?” he asked.

Angus shook his head, fighting back nausea. “It was nearing sunset, and the street was cast in shadow when we departed,” he said. “We made sure all the lights were extinguished, and the fire was out in the fireplace.”

“Good.” Darius had already checked for valuables. There were none, nor was there any means to identify the man.

“Does he truly… did he live across the street?” Angus asked in a hoarse whisper. “In the rooms directly across from Iris? She said he accused her of… of teasing him.”

Darius was studying the man’s hands, noting that white lines crossed each of his fingernails. Several had horizontal ridges. “He did,” Darius affirmed. “The owner of the bookbindery across the street has been rather vocal about his desire to see him move out. Apparently there is quite a stench coming from his rooms.”

“Oh, do I know about that,” Angus murmured. When Darius directed a curious glance at him, he added, “The man who lives above me has let his rooms to others to sleep there when he is at his employment—four others, I think. Our house is not meant for so many people.”

Darius nodded his understanding and then returned his gaze on the dead man’s fingers.

“What are you looking at?”

Sighing, Darius said, “Evidence that this man would have eventually died of arsenic or lead poisoning if he hadn’t perished earlier today.” He held out the hand, so the lantern illuminated the fingertips. “He’s quite lean now, but when Stella bought this building a few months ago, he was far heavier.”

“Poisoning?” Angus repeated. “How do you know it was arsenic or lead?”

“I’ve seen this before. He probably worked as a printer or a binder. Arsenic is used to make the bright-green, red, and yellow inks,” he explained. “As a printer, he would have been handling the lead type. Ever heard of ‘painter’s colic’?”

Angus shook his head.

“Well, you get it from breathing in the fumes when melting lead to make the type. Not only would he have suffered abdominal pain, but he also probably had some paralysis in his hands, and no doubt, it’s what made him not right in the head. He wasn’t long for this world.”

For a moment, Angus felt vindicated. Over the past hours, he had experienced such guilt. Even though he hadn’t actually killed the man with his punches, the vagabond’s broken nose had resulted in him choking to death on his own blood. “So… what are we going to do?”

Darius sighed. “We’re going to dispose of the body. But first, we have to make sure we can get him out of here without being seen.”

Moving the lantern so they weren’t illuminated, they unfolded a tarp in which to roll up the body. “I’ll get his shoulders. You get his feet. We’ll put him a foot or two from the edge of the canvas.”

“Understood.”

Stunned at how heavy the body was, Angus was dripping with sweat by the time they had the corpse rolled up. Halfway through the process, Darius folded the ends of the tarp over the head and feet and continued to roll the body until they reached the end of the tarp.

“Looks like a roll of carpet,” Angus remarked.

“As it’s supposed to,” Darius replied, lifting a coil of rope from the floor. “Now, help me get him tied up. We’ll leave a length of rope at the end so we can tie a rock to it. Help to keep it from floating.”