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“I could hardly leave my hotel room,” she whispered. “I was too weak to even go for a stroll with my new husband.” At the mention of him, the despairing pull of her brow started to return.

“And when you came back to London earlier than expected, and you continued to be unwell, Mr. Lawlor summoned a physician?” Leo asked to keep Augusta from weeping again.

“Yes,” she answered, sniffling. “Mr. Gray is my husband’s physician. Sebastian was sure he would make me well again, and yet, I only worsened. Mr. Gray told us last month that it was cancer of the stomach. That I was… Well, that I would not live much longer.” She fluttered her lashes, and a few tears spilled down her cheek. “And now, I will die all alone.”

Leo met a glance with Jasper. He nodded, granting permission, she presumed, to tell Augusta the truth about her illness. And thus, what they suspected Sebastian had done to her.

“Mrs. Lawlor,” she began, “you are not ill. At least, not terminally, as Mr. Gray led you to believe.”

The blanket covering Augusta shifted as she hinged forward in her chair, her stare suddenly razor-sharp. It sliced into Leo. “What do you mean by that?”

As gently as she could, Leo explained. “It is my belief, as it is Inspector Reid’s, that your illness has been caused by long-term exposure to arsenic. The poison is tasteless and odorless, so you wouldn’t have known you were consuming it. The gastric symptoms you’ve been experiencing along with other things, like the white lines on your fingernails, the rough patches of skin on your palms, the numbness in your hands and feet, are all in line with arsenic poisoning.”

Telling someone they’d been poisoned was new for Leo; most poison victims she’d encountered had been past the point of help.

As expected, staunch denial spread across Augusta’s face.

“No.” She lurched to her feet, the blanket falling away. “No. That cannot be.”

“I understand that it is a shock—” Leo began, stopping when Augusta made a strange noise in her throat, something between a growl and a wail of pain. She turned away from them.

“My uncle works at Tate’s and is a surgeon by trade; however, he has spent nearly twenty years as a coroner. I assisted him for several years.” At this confession, Augusta peered over her shoulder at Leo with distaste, as was usual when someone learned of her work. “We’ve seen many arsenic poisoning victims. We’ve also seen morphine overdoses, which we suspect is what happened to you yesterday. May I ask, Mrs. Lawlor, who last administered your laudanum?”

Augusta’s stare went distant as she considered the question, and as horror dawned in her eyes, Leo knew what answer she would give.

“Sebastian,” Augusta whispered. She reached out to grip the back of the chair. “I woke in the night, feeling ill. He must have heard my distress because he came into my room and poured me a glass of water. He added drops from the bottle Mr. Gray had recently brought, but…Sebastian would only ever add eleven drops of the tincture. Just a teaspoon.”

“Did you witness him administering just those eleven drops, Mrs. Lawlor?” Jasper asked.

She pressed her fingers to her brow, as if in pain. “I cannot say. It was dark, and I was so nauseous.”

How easy it would be, Leo considered, for Sebastian Lawlor to slip in more than the normal amount with his wife distracted or still half asleep.

“The current bottle is missing from your bedside table, according to your maid,” Jasper said. “None of your staff seem to know what has become of it.”

“You are suggesting Sebastian took it?” Augusta asked, almost angrily.

“Yes,” Jasper answered brusquely. “We are considering the possibility that he gave you a high dose of laudanum, with the intent to end your life. If he emptied the bottle into your glass last night, he wouldn’t have wanted to leave the evidence for your maid to find. It would only inspire suspicion.”

Kitty had informed Leo that the two-ounce bottle had been new. If Sebastian had mixed that amount, or near to it, into his wife’s glass of water, the potency could have certainly led to her death. However, Augusta Lawlor may have developed a tolerance to laudanum over the last few months. It was also possible that her generous size had helped to protect her from succumbing to the tincture’s effects. A proper dosage of laudanum was administered according to a person’s weight. A heavier person would need a larger dose of the drug to feel the same effects as a slighter person would with a smaller one.

Had Sebastian incorrectly calculated how much laudanum was needed to kill his wife? It was an awful thought. And Augusta was not ready to believe it. She lifted her chin and firmed her expression. “That suggestion is abhorrent, Inspector. I cannot entertain it. I will not! I would like you both to leave.”

They could not refuse. She had welcomed them in and had every right to toss them out. Though clearly feeling thwarted, Jasper nodded tightly.

“Very well, Mrs. Lawlor. I do have one last question for you, however. Where is Mr. Henry Gray’s office located?”

They would need to visit. Or rather, Jasper would. Leo had been gone from the morgue nearly three-quarters of an hour now and would surely not have time to accompany him.

“I’m sure Hastings will get you the address,” Augusta answered, her demeanor so chilled she would not even look at them. Still, they thanked her and wished her well.

Hastings was waiting for them in the front hall, and when Jasper asked for the doctor’s address, the corners of the butler’s mouth pulled even lower in a downward slope. “I am afraid none of the staff know where to find the doctor. Mr. Lawlor was always the one to summon him, you see.”

Once they were in the hired carriage again, on their way back to the morgue, Jasper doffed his bowler and groaned as he rested his head against the cushioned wall.

“I doubt Mr. Gray’s address will be found within the London Directory, but I’ll put PC Drake on the hunt as soon as I’ve checked in at the Yard and updated Chief Coughlan.”

“What did he say about my consulting?” Leo asked, though she was nervous for the answer. Jasper sighed and lifted his head.