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Back The Art of Dying Save as PDF
Chapters (90)
  1. PROLOGUE
  2. 1849
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. EDINBURGH
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. FIFTY-FIVE
  59. FIFTY-SIX
  60. FIFTY-SEVEN
  61. FIFTY-EIGHT
  62. FIFTY-NINE
  63. SIXTY
  64. SIXTY-ONE
  65. SIXTY-TWO
  66. SIXTY-THREE
  67. SIXTY-FOUR
  68. SIXTY-FIVE
  69. SIXTY-SIX
  70. SIXTY-SEVEN
  71. SIXTY-EIGHT
  72. SIXTY-NINE
  73. SEVENTY
  74. SEVENTY-ONE
  75. SEVENTY-TWO
  76. SEVENTY-THREE
  77. SEVENTY-FOUR
  78. SEVENTY-FIVE
  79. SEVENTY-SIX
  80. SEVENTY-SEVEN
  81. SEVENTY-EIGHT
  82. SEVENTY-NINE
  83. EIGHTY
  84. EIGHTY-ONE
  85. EPILOGUE
  86. HISTORICAL NOTE
  87. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  88. Extract from A Corruption of Blood
  89. 1850
  90. ONE

‘I can’t see how that is any business of yours. Now, be on your way. If I need you, I know where to find you.’

Raven took a step closer to him.

‘I am no longer some student or apprentice. I have a certain status and I have connections of my own in this city. I might be inclined to inform James McLevy that I recently treated a man for a gunshot wound. That would rid me of you for good, wouldn’t it, Mr Flint?’

This gave him pause, but like a practised brawler Flint did not reel from the blow for long. He nodded, calculating.

‘Dr Raven, just so you understand, if you were to tell McLevy who you treated, I would have to tell him where I got the chloroform. And that’s not the worst thing I could talk about, is it?’

Flint’s mouth curled into a cold smile.

‘It is true you delivered my wife, and for that I remain grateful. Admiring, even. You delivered Alec too, one could say. You were unable to save him, though it was a mercy what you did for him in the end. What they call a mercy killing: but a killing nonetheless.

‘I have witnesses to what you did. Witnesses who will say what I tell them to. You might claim it was an attempt to ease his pain, but they will argue that you went further than that and it was not your place to hasten his end. They might contest that his end was so assured. Some might even call it murder.’

Flint ran a finger along Raven’s scar.

‘After all, this was a man you bore a grudge, the proof of which any judge can see etched upon your face. If you stop prying into matters that don’t concern you I am sure neither of us will have reason to make good on our threats.’

FIFTY-EIGHT

logo missingarah watched as Raven and Jarvis hefted Archie’s brass-studded leather trunk into the house.

‘What does he have in this thing, ship’s ballast?’ Raven complained as they manoeuvred the trunk down the hallway. Sarah followed them inside and closed the door, thinking as she did so about the first time she had ever crossed this threshold. No. 52 Queen Street had been an intimidating prospect then and she remembered feeling scared and alone.