The Great Ellini (Book One of The Powder Trail)

Chapter Thirty Nine: The Cagiest of Them All

Danvers made his way up Mansfield Road to the Chemistry Faculty, with steps so heavy that he felt as though he was leaving a deep groove in the pavement as he went.

He did not want to talk to Violet Pike. Violet Pike made him feel as though the world was full of grasping, grudging, suspicious people. And yet where else could he get answers?

It wasn't right that Mrs Darwin had made Jack forget the woman he loved. He wasn't precisely sure what Mrs Darwin had done to bring this about—only that it involved Professor Carver somehow, and that Yelavitch seemed to think it was not chemistry, but magic. The only thing he knew—and therefore the only thing that comforted him—was that it wasn't right.

And now he had that mysterious conversation between Ellini Syal and Miss Violet to ponder. They had escaped from something. And Violet was afraid that whatever was pursuing Miss Syal might start pursuing her.

And she had no fingernails! This detail stood out horribly to Danvers, who felt as though Violet's bright, false fingernails had been raked across his eyes. Someone had been capturing women and removing their fingernails! Someone who hadn't wanted them to escape, and might well take back Miss Syal, even if he wasn't interested in Miss Violet. Where could you go from there, except to talk to Miss Violet?

Still, Danvers had tried to avoid it. He had gone back to Dr Petrescu, looking for guidance, but Dr Petrescu was, in some way...gone. He didn't seem to remember asking Danvers to eavesdrop on his conversation with Mrs Darwin. He just winced and shrugged whenever Jack was mentioned, and the sound of Miss Syal's name made him splash sulphuric acid all over the tabletop.

Danvers had never felt alone before. To him, the world had always been like a school dormitory after lights out. He had always been able to huddle and gossip with other people, safe in the knowledge that they were as excited by the world's wonderful goings-on as he was.

Now it was as though he was the last one awake. Everyone else had stopped telling ghost stories and fallen asleep, but he was still staring, wide-eyed, into the darkness, trying to make out familiar shapes. And, with every passing second, he couldn't help thinking that maybe the darkness was not exciting and full of wonder. Maybe the other people in the dormitory were not his friends.

He went into the Chemistry Faculty through the servant's entrance. Everybody knew him there—he was greeted like a breath of fresh air, which was often what the servants at the Chemistry Faculty needed. Strange, nameless fumes hung beneath the soot-caked ceilings, and he had often observed that this close atmosphere made the faculty servants cagey. It was not a promising sign, when you were hoping to extract information from the cagiest of them all.

When he entered the kitchen, he found Violet standing alone by the window. She jumped as soon as she noticed him.

"What do you want?" she said, narrowing her eyelids. "Yelavitch isn't here."

Danvers removed his hat. "Actually, Miss Violet, I came to see you."

He noticed as he got closer that she was shivering and cradling a hot cup of tea between her palms. There was a roaring fire at one end of the kitchen, but it seemed she would rather shiver in a corner than go near it.

"What are you after?" said Violet.

"Reassurance, Miss Violet. May I sit down?"

Violet didn't actively protest, so he took a seat at the kitchen table, with the fire at his back. He could barely see her eyes now, they were so narrowed with suspicion. This was probably not going to work. He should have brought Jack with him, just to break the ice. Miss Violet had a crush on Jack. His violent past and criminal tendencies made him just her type.