Half a Mind TO Murder (Dr. Alexandra Gladstone Mysteries Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

understand, Constable Snow,” Dr. Gladstone said, still holding on to Miss Pendennis, who once again was wailing.
    “ Please sit down, ladies,” Snow had to shout to be heard above the noise. When he saw that both women had obeyed him and that Dr. Gladstone had managed to quiet the hysterical woman once more, he turned back to Lucas. “Listen to me carefully, Lucas. I want you to tell me how you got the org…the heart in the first place.”
    Lucas stared at him, uncomprehending.
    “Where did you get the heart?” Snow said again, enunciating each word.
    “ Out of here,” Lucas said, pointing to his chest.
    “ Out of your own chest?”
    Lucas laughed and looked down at his intact chest.
    “Lucas!” Snow spoke sharply to get the boy’s attention and to distract him from his laughter. It worked. The boy’s eyes locked onto his own. “You would have to cut that heart out of a person. Is that how you got it? Did you cut it out?”
    Lucas ’ eyes became unfocused for a moment as if he had moved his soul to another location, but he slowly rejoined himself and brought his attention back to Snow. “Yes,” he said, nodding. “I think so.”
    “ Did you cut it from the body of Ben Milligan?” Snow’s words went unheard as Miss Pendennis’ keening filled the room and frightened Lucas so much that he ran to her and encircled her with his arms.
    “ I’m sorry, Mum. I won’t do it again,” he said.
    “ Surely you know this boy hasn’t the skill for such an expert surgery,” Dr. Gladstone said in the same instant.
    Snow ignored her and watched the boy and his mother, overwhelmed for a moment by the need to walk away. A mother ’s grief was never easy for him to witness, and the very sordid nature of this entire case was repulsive to him. This was not the sort of thing he had expected when he traded his life as a schoolmaster for that of a constable. And this was not the first time he had wondered if he had made the right decision, until he reminded himself of the reason he had taken the position. The higher salary was attractive, especially given his constant and increasing need for more money.
    “ Miss Pendennis,” he said, forcing any sign of emotion from his voice and steeling himself for her response. “I shall have to place your son under arrest.” There, he had said it, and the woman was yawling as Dr. Gladstone did her best to comfort her while she continued to protest that the boy did not have the skills. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, knowing the unpleasantness would pass, knowing, too, that he had done his duty. After all, he as good as had a confession from the boy. The courts would decide whether or not he was capable of the removal. Whether he was or not, it was highly likely his mental state would keep him from the gallows. He would go to an asylum where he would be better off, and his mother would adjust to his absence. Women were resilient in that way. Perhaps the boy’s temporary incarceration in the gaol would be best at the moment anyway, given the frightened mood of the citizenry. Snow was well aware that most of them blamed the insane act on the poor imbecile. He knew, too, that a select few even targeted his unfortunate mother.
    In Snow ’s mind, there was no need to consider her a suspect, since he had one in hand who had made a confession and who had provided circumstantial evidence as well. He would not consider the mother even in the light of her alleged madness. The common malady of so-called uterine insanity, with which she was said to be cursed, was something he knew little of, and, further, preferred not to know.
    He was happy to see that Dr. Gladstone was administering to the woman, offering her comforting words as well as the contents of some mysterious vial she had pulled from her bag. He was dismayed, however, when, just as he was lea ding a confused but docile Lucas away, Dr. Gladstone called out to him.
    “ Yes, Doctor,” he said, turning to face her.
    “