Mid-morning, a few days later, while Torrell was out on errands and Kaddie was helping Elspeth decant small quantities of tinctured widow’s bane for the dispensary, Poisoner Robles had visitors.

  Kaddie remembered the captain of the guard from the visit to Bryler Street, and on this occasion the woman was accompanied by a tall, male stranger who bore a huge, overly-manicured white mustache.

  Marla hurriedly descended the stairs into the kitchen. “There’s a lot of shouting going on up there.”

  “Differences of opinion? It’s not like Robles to argue a point.” Elspeth winked at Kaddie.

  “Well, any more and I suspect Captain Young will box both their ears.”

  “What are they arguing about?” Kaddie swept away a loose strand of hair, wincing as she caught her still tender nose with her finger tips.

  Further conversation was interrupted by the servant’s bell, ringing high on the wall above their heads.

  “All that yelling must have given them a dry throat. They probably want tea.” Marla dashed upstairs, disregarding Kaddie’s question. She reappeared moments later. “Nope. They want you, young lady, so I would make haste and beware. No one in that room is in the best of moods.”

  Kaddie’s skirt-length apron was wrinkled and covered in stains after continually wiping her hands. Her hair was unkempt. She reeked of alcohol and widow’s bane. The swelling around her eye had disappeared but there was still a scab across the bridge of her nose and a yellow bruise coloring her right cheek. She was in no state to talk to strangers and her irritability rose accordingly.

  On arrival she was relieved to find Robles wasn’t smoking his pipe. However, the study was crowded and there was nowhere to sit. Captain Young was in her guard’s regalia, a short riding coat festooned with braids, atop skin tight riding pants and polished boots. Her dark hair was pushed into a snood, and her eyes had grown narrow with appraisal when Kaddie arrived.

  As for the stranger, he was as old as Robles, at least. His moustache dominated his face, a look Kaddie considered ridiculous. He wore a tailored coat decorated with lavender piping.

  “My apprentice, Miss Loxton,” Robles offered the others a flourish. “Kaddie, this is Captain Young of the City Guard, and Mercantiler Harrow.”

  Pleasantries eluding her for the moment, Kaddie nodded in a way she hoped would be polite.

  “What do you know about the Shale?” Young’s voice bore an edge, suggesting Marla’s earlier observation had been correct.

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  “I know the men don’t live very long because of the mellowbell. Is this about the piece of skin?”

  The older man guffawed. “Your apprentice is astute.” His eyes returned to Robles. “Or listening at the keyhole, by the sound of it.”

  Kaddie opened her mouth to speak.

  “Or,” said the captain, “she’s astute, as you said.” She held out her hand. “Glad to meet you, Kaddie.”

  Rescued from expressing a torrent of outrage, Kaddie shook the woman’s firm hand. Something passed between them. Not quite friendship. Not yet. She glanced at Robles whose eyes were glinting with mischief.

  “Well?” his male companion said. “Does she know anything or not?”

  “I’ve illustrated and transcribed my notes in detail. What more do you need?”

  “The symbol?” Robles asked.

  “Shale, was my opinion. An initiate. It was all in my notes.”

  “She’s a Shadow Valley girl,” Robles explained to the others. “They do considerable trade with the Shale, the Mesa, and many others.”

  “That doesn’t make her an expert. A girl—”

  “What are you trying to discover?” Kaddie asked. “Unless they were poisoned, a sliver of skin won’t tell you a whole lot.”

  “Enough,” Robles said. “Just give us your thoughts, from when you arrived at the scene.”

  She pushed aside a stray piece of hair. The atmosphere in the room was becoming difficult to bear, threatening to spill her temper into the mix. Deliberately, she brought her hands to her sides. Maiden forbid she’d start wringing her skirts like her mother. “I thought it was strange he was there. If I may ask, what was the building on Bryler Street, before it burned to the ground?”

  Robles raised an eyebrow toward the other man. “Well?”

  “A dye merchant. Nothing more.”

  “What kind of dyes? Food, clothing, ink?”

  “All kinds.” Harrow’s withering look was meant to silence her.

  “The Shale deal in metals,” she said, warming to her subject. “But they also harvest plants that grow among the strata. The stems and bulbs absorb—”

  “—some rather nasty poisons,” Robles interrupted.

  “Well, you’d know all about those.” Harrow offered the gathering a heavy sigh. “We appear to be going around in circles. Captain, if you would give me leave, I have business to attend to.”

  Kaddie stepped aside as the man swept out of the room, almost trampling her in his eagerness to leave.

  “Insufferable,” Captain Young said when he’d gone. Her exclamation brought a smile to Kaddie’s face, which dropped when the woman added, “Was there any need to bring your apprentice into this?”

  “This is a dangerous game and I need her to know what she’s dealing with. I thought he showed his hand rather well, don’t you?”

  “I still don’t think it’s appropriate.”

  “Oh, she can handle herself.” Robles grinned wickedly. “Just look at her face.”

  Young swatted Robles with her gloves. “And you’re as insufferable as Harrow.”

  “With a little more charm, I hope.”

  “What will I be dealing with?” Kaddie narrowed her eyes.

  “We’re not altogether sure,” the captain said. “But I would agree that we ruffled Harrow’s feathers.” She began pulling on her gloves. “I need to return to barracks. The number of guards on the city wall is shrinking by the day, and I need to put a stop to any further desertion. Nothing more we can do with this, other than wait. Again, nice to meet you, Kaddie.”

  There was a brief, discreet hand-holding between Robles and the captain, leaving Kaddie embarrassed at having seen it. However, when the woman had gone, Robles was all business.

  “You’ll be accompanying me this afternoon, directly after lunch, so for pity’s sake, tidy yourself up.”

  Furious at his dismissive attitude, Kaddie climbed the steps to her room and heard her mother’s voice echoing within every footstep. “Don’t you stomp like that, Kaddie Lowndes.” Mother hated her tempers. But who could possibly remain calm when dealing with the likes of Poisoner Robles?