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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

Martha stood before him quietly for a moment, nodding. Then she spoke.

‘Dr Raven, enquiring about Mrs Banks is not the whole of my business here. I have received word about my sister.’

Raven was jarred by how Mary Dempster had vanished from his mind. It was as though he hadn’t thought of her name in weeks rather than days. All he had thought about was Sarah, and it felt as though nothing else mattered. And yet if he didn’t find Mary, he would never be able to prove to Simpson or anyone else what he and Sarah had discovered.

‘She is staying in the place she ran off to once before, when we previously had a falling out. I received a letter from her. It was waiting for me yesterday when I returned home. She asks for me to visit her, which seems odd to me. Why would she not simply come home?’

‘Where is this place?’

‘Off the West Port. A building in Warnock’s Close. In truth I am afraid to go there. It is a notorious part of the Old Town.’

Is there any other kind?, Raven thought.

SIXTY-SEVEN

logo missinghe Lawnmarket was teeming as Raven crested the Mound, the throng spilling down onto Bank Street. It was a market day, stalls lining the street from the Esplanade to the Tron.

As he crossed towards George IV Bridge, Raven passed spatters of vomit and blood, interspersed with the mounds of horse dung that choked the gutter. Some people had evidently cracked open the ale casks early, or perhaps they had simply been drinking all night. He saw a fight break out or possibly resume, heard the crack of fist upon cartilage, saw blood spurting from a burst nose. Another staggering combatant was cradling a broken arm, his inebriation a greater impediment to his perambulation than his agonies. Drink was muffling the pain for now, but when it wore off he would likely be presenting himself at the Infirmary. Would that the vintners and tavern-owners spared a thought for the doctors whose task it was to fix the damage wrought by their customers, he mused.

Then he chided himself for this thought. How many times had he himself drunk deeply of their wares before ending up in a brawl? As many times as he had gone into a tavern in the express hope of starting one. Was this new perspective a sign of maturity or merely hypocrisy?

The brawl attracted the notice of a policeman on the other side of the throng. Raven watched him hurry to a colleague, one he recognised from being in McLevy’s company when he came to Queen Street. The first was speaking animatedly and pointing Raven’s way, then they both set off towards him, negotiating the bodies, stalls and barrows.