“No, sir, but ’e went white like ’e were going ter faint,” she replied.
“Could that be the very natural horror of a decent man told of abominable human crime and suffering?”
“Course it could,” she said tartly.
“Did he say that he had either the wish or the power to ruin this man? For example, send him to prison?” Coniston continued.
“I went ter get ’im brandy. ’E didn’t say much at all, ’ceptin’ ter thank me.”
“I see. Did he at any time tell you that he was going to face this man, accuse him, or otherwise bring him to answer for his terrible trade? Did he tell you this man’s name?”
“No.”
“Thank you, Miss Nisbet. That is all I have to ask you.”
Rathbone was on his feet yet again. “May I re-direct, my lord?”
“Of course,” Pendock told him.
Rathbone looked up at Agatha. “Miss Nisbet, did you form the opinion that Dr. Lambourn was deeply horrified by what you told him?”
“Course ’e was,” she said witheringly.
“Because of the suffering, the crime of it?”
“I think it were ’cos ’e ’ad an idea ’oo it were,” she said slowly and distinctly. “But ’e never told me.”
There was an immediate ripple of amazement and horror through the room. Rathbone turned to look at the gallery, and at that moment saw the door open and Hester come in. Their eyes met and she gave a very slight nod. Relief washed through Rathbone like a wave of heat. He turned to the judge, the smile still on his lips.
“I would like to call Dr. Alvar Doulting to the stand, my lord.”
Pendock glanced at the clock on the far wall.
“Very well. You may proceed.”
Alvar Doulting came up the aisle between the seats in the gallery and across the open floor. He climbed the steps of the witness stand with difficulty. When he reached the top and faced Rathbone, suddenly all that Agatha Nisbet had said of a living hell became real to Rathbone’s eyes. Doulting looked like a man who lived in a nightmare. His skin was gray and sheened with sweat. In spite of the fact that he clung to the rail, he was trembling violently. A muscle in his face twitched and he was so gaunt the bones of his skull seemed to stretch his skin.
Rathbone felt a searing guilt that he had compelled the man to come here.
Doulting swore to his name and his professional qualifications, which were impressive. He had clearly once been a great doctor in the making. The man who stood in front of them now was the more horrifying because of it.
Based upon what Agatha Nisbet had told him, Rathbone began his questioning, urged on by the feeling that Doulting might not stay well long enough to say much. If the diarrhea, vomiting, and cramps that Winfarthing described in the withdrawal symptoms of addiction were to strike him, he would be unable to continue, no matter how critical his evidence was to the case. And yet still Rathbone felt brutal doing it.
“Thank you, Dr. Doulting,” he said with profound sincerity. “I appreciate your coming. Since you are clearly unwell, I shall be as brief as I can. Did you speak with Dr. Joel Lambourn, shortly before his death in early October?”
“Yes, I did.” Doulting’s voice was steady, in spite of his physical distress.
“Did he ask you about the sale and use of opium, in the course of his investigation into the possible Pharmacy Act prepared by Parliament?”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell him, if anything, beyond the dangers of people overusing it because of the fact that it was inadequately labeled?”
Doulting gripped the railing more tightly and took a deep breath.
“I told him about the relief opium gave to agonizing pain when it was administered directly into the bloodstream using the recent invention of a hollow needle attached to a syringe. I also told him how much more deeply addictive it is, acting within a matter of days to make someone so dependent upon it that it is almost beyond a person’s ability to stop using it. It takes over their lives. The hell of being without it is almost as bad as the pain it relieved.”
Rathbone was compelled to ask the next question, even though he hated doing so. He felt the clenching of his own body as he imagined not only the man’s pain but his humiliation.
“And how do you know this, Dr. Doulting?”
“Because I am addicted to it myself,” Doulting answered. “I was given it with the best intentions, after I had my pelvis crushed in an accident. My pain then was almost unbearable. The opium was given to me for some time, until the bones healed. Now that the pain is almost forgotten, I wish I had never seen opium, never heard of it. I dread the hell of withdrawal and can bear to survive only for the comfort the next dose of opium will bring.”
“Where do you obtain it?” Rathbone asked.
“From a man who sells it to me, in a form pure enough to inject into my body.”
“Is it expensive?”
“Yes.”
“How do you afford it?”
“I have lost everything I had, my house, my family, my practice. Now I must do his bidding to sell it to others who have also become its slaves. I think perhaps I would rather be dead.” There was no melodrama in his voice, no self-pity. “It would certainly be better for others, and perhaps it would be better for me also.”
Rathbone wished he could reply with any comfort at all, even if only to acknowledge his dignity, but this was not the place.
“Do you know the name of this man, Dr. Doulting?” he asked.
“No. I would tell you if I did.”
“Would you? What would happen to your supply then?”
“It would be stopped, as I imagine it will be now that I have testified here. I really don’t think I care anymore.”
Rathbone lowered his gaze. “There is nothing I can say to touch your pain. The best I can do is thank you for coming here and testifying to this court-at such price to yourself. Please wait there in case Mr. Coniston has anything to ask you.”
Coniston stood up slowly. “Dr. Doulting, do you expect us to take this fearful account solely on your word? By your own admission, you are the servant of this man and will do anything for your dosage of opium.”
Doulting looked at him with weary contempt. “If you doubt me, go into the back alleys and gutters where the lost and the dying are. You’ll find others who’ll tell you the same thing. For God’s sake, man, look at me! Before the opium I was as respectable as you, and as comfortable. I had rank and position, a home, a profession. I had health. I slept at night in my own bed and woke looking forward to the day. Now all I want is redemption-and death.”
There was a wave of pity from the court in sighs and murmurs so palpable that Coniston found himself unable to continue. He looked up at Doulting, then across at Rathbone. Someone in the gallery called out to him to sit down.
“Order!” Pendock said loudly. “I will have order. Thank you, Mr. Coniston. Is that all?”
“Yes, my lord, thank you.”
Pendock looked at Rathbone. “Court is adjourned for today.”
Late that afternoon and into the evening, Rathbone, Monk, Hester, and Runcorn sat around the kitchen table eating, drinking tea, and planning the last day of the trial. Sleet battered against the windows and the oven made the room an island of warmth.
“Might have enough evidence for a verdict based on reasonable doubt,” Rathbone said unhappily, “which I suppose is better than I hoped for a day or two ago. But I want to prove her innocent. Her life will still be ruined without more than this.”
“And she will not have cleared Lambourn’s name,” Monk pointed out.
Hester was staring at the plates arranged on the dresser, but clearly her vision was beyond them, far into a space only she could see.
“Do you believe Lambourn knew who it was?” she asked, shaking her head a little and looking at Rathbone. “He must have, mustn’t he? Or at the very least, whoever it is thought he knew. That has to be why he was killed. If he had handed in a revised report and the government had seen it, especially Mr. Gladstone, who is something of a moral crusader, selling opium might well be made illegal.”