The thought put her to mind of Maxwell’s warning about Alexander. Picturing Alexander with a foul temper was difficult to do. But Maxwell had always been protective of her. Maybe this whole poisoning business was making it worse, especially since he had to go away.
Saffron put her jumble of theories aside as she mounted the steps of the history building and located Dr. Henry’s office. It was the corner office on the top floor, a suite with an outer office for his assistant. Mr. Snyder looked flustered. He hurriedly detached himself from his messy desk and crossed to where she stood in the doorway. He smoothed his black hair back and blinked rapidly at her.
“Hello, Mr. Snyder,” she said, smiling. “Do you have a moment?”
He hesitated before stepping back and allowing her inside.
“What a beautiful room,” Saffron said, no simpering needed. The room was decorated with a lush Persian carpet in hues of burgundy and scarlet, and a massive table on which were placed a colorful selection of curios that looked like they were brought back from Dr. Henry’s travels. Several large windows lit the room, with pearly gray skies beyond. It looked more like a study in a grand house, and this was only the outer part of the office.
Snyder smiled and replied, “Yes, Dr. Henry worked hard to get this space. He insisted.” Saffron guessed Dr. Henry had bullied some old man out of this office and probably into retirement. “Miss Everleigh, I did tell you that the professor wasn’t here, didn’t I? He is still tending to his wife at the hospital.”
Saffron wondered if Dr. Henry really was at the hospital. That seemed unlikely. She nodded anyway and said, “Oh yes, you did, Mr. Snyder. But I had such a curiosity about some of the things Dr. Henry had brought back from his journeys after speaking with Eris Ermine the other day …”
Snyder’s face tightened with annoyance. “Ah yes,” he said, “Miss Ermine often speaks to Dr. Henry at length about his travels. She was here just the other day to view his Mauryan coin from his Indian expedition.”
So, Miss Ermine had recently spent time in Dr. Henry’s office? Perhaps plotting during a tryst?
“How fascinating! I know Dr. Henry isn’t here at the moment”—Saffron looked at Snyder through her lashes, and he stood up straighter—“but do you think you could … I mean, you must know exactly the same things as Dr. Henry, having traveled with him …”
Snyder’s dark eyes followed the motion of her hand as she tucked a hair behind her ear. “Yes, yes, I’ve been with Dr. Henry for years. He’s taken me on all his recent expeditions.”
“I mean, people say all the time how brave Dr. Henry is,” Saffron said, stepping closer to Snyder. “But they forget that, as his assistant, you’ve seen it all too.”
That seemed to decide him. His chest puffed out, and he said, “Yes, of course. Allow me to show you. After all, I was actually …”
Saffron could hardly believe her luck as she walked into Dr. Henry’s office. It was furnished in much the same tastefully expensive way as the outer room, except with more maps and globes littered with pins. She followed Snyder to Dr. Henry’s desk, a monstrosity of polished mahogany, where he held up a little frame in which lay a small, unevenly cut square of silver.
She took it in her hands and gasped with false astonishment. “How amazing! Where did you say it was from? Perhaps you could show me?”
Snyder looked quite pleased with himself and turned to the map that spanned most of the wall, pointing to a pin in India in the map. “You see, we had just arrived in the Punjab, and we prepared to travel east …”
Saffron, with the occasional “Oh my” and “Indeed!” edged back toward the desk, silently sliding the stacks of paper on top of it so she could see who they were from and the first few lines of text. She found several notes that had gone back and forth with other professors in the history department, including a few mentioning Dr. Henry’s petition to get another branch of the history department instated. From the few lines of text here and there, Saffron thought he wanted to head up a new series of courses in “primitive cultures” and eventually create a new degree.
“Oh dear, my shoe has come unbuckled,” she murmured. She knelt down behind the desk. Quickly, she pulled at the two drawers in front of her, finding they were both unlocked. She stood up and took a few steps back to where Snyder stood, still reminiscing about the coin’s discovery.
“Mr. Snyder,” she interrupted, “could you perhaps fetch me a glass of water? All this talk of adventure is quite exhilarating. My heart is absolutely pounding!”