Perhaps it was Sarah’s judgment that was giving him pause. For sure she was over-enamoured of the professor and blind to his weaknesses, but she also had an infuriatingly consistent habit of being right. He wondered if that was what prompted him to hold forth in ostentatious demonstrations of his own knowledge when in her presence: the fear that no matter how much he learned, she would still be wiser than him.

He returned to the task in hand, removing the soiled linen from beneath the unconscious patient before applying a bandage and compress.

‘May I ask you about something rather delicate, Dr Ziegler?’

The older man’s brow rose in curiosity. Raven took it as assent.

‘What do you know about Dr Matthews Duncan and Professor Miller spreading rumours about Dr Simpson?’

Ziegler looked grave. ‘A medical man relies on his reputation and there are those who seem intent upon destroying his.’

‘Why, would you say?’

‘Shifting allegiances. And I suspect jealousy plays a part.’

‘How so?’

‘Professional disagreements sometimes become acrimonious. Slights are deeply felt, grudges held.’

‘Specific instances might aid my understanding.’

‘I’m not privy to the nature of the dispute with Miller, but I know Matthews Duncan feels he has not been afforded the credit he is due for the discovery of chloroform.’

‘He was there that night, I suppose,’ Raven recalled, ‘and he participated in many experiments to find a replacement for ether, albeit unsuccessfully. But Simpson doesn’t deny he had a role, does he?’

‘Regardless, it is always referred to as Simpson’s chloroform, and I think Dr Matthews Duncan takes issue with that.’

‘That’s hardly Dr Simpson’s fault, and surely not sufficient reason to propagate malicious gossip.’

Ziegler looked at him intently for a moment.

‘In this case, I think it might be more than enough.’

Raven remembered previous encounters with James Matthews Duncan and thought perhaps Ziegler had a point. He was undoubtedly the possessor of a prodigious mind, but in order to accommodate his cleverness, the part of his intellect that negotiated relationships with other human beings seemed to have been diminished.

‘And what of Miller? There must be some perceived iniquity or quarrel to explain his involvement.’

‘As I said, I am unaware of recent unpleasantness between Miller and Dr Simpson. All I know is that Simpson did not support him when he applied for the chair of surgery.’

‘Why not?’

‘Syme was supporting Miller, which might have had something to do with it, but Dr Simpson said it was because Miller had been professionally dishonest.’

‘That is quite the accusation. How so?’

‘By publishing a report about the death of a patient he had operated on without mentioning the pertinent and incriminating details of the post-mortem findings.’

‘What was the case?’