The man coughed so long and hard that I feared he would lose a lung. Finally, he spat a blob of mucus onto the floor at his feet, some of it landing on one of his boots. I suspected that was the only polish they ever got. “Let me guess: Henry Clerval?”

I gasped in shock. Henry had bought bodies for Victor? I could not imagine it. It made no sense.

And then I realized—Victor must have used Henry’s name so that his would not be known by so low a creature as this man. It was clever, really. And it made my job easier: I would not have to try to bribe this man into silence about Victor’s activities.

“Yes,” I said. “Henry sent me.”

“So mister high-and-mighty needs more supplies, does he? Why would he send you?”

“He has been ill. But he is finally able to resume his…studies.”

The man sneered, his mouth puckering with greed as he tried to sound casual. “Lots of other buyers these days. Buyers who pay in advance. Always a demand with the university. He thinks he can just come back and claim the best goods again?”

“What do you mean?”

“The tallest! The strongest! The strangest! Has a taste for the unusual, your Henry. Treats me like a market where he can haggle over the price of apples! I have not missed him, no, not one bit. But I have missed the payments he owes me.”

His eyes kept darting to my purse, and I resisted the urge to clamp my hand over it. I was holding my cloak to hide my dress, and any movement might reveal my true state.

“I see,” I said coldly. “I will have to consult with him as to whether he wishes to continue to give you his patronage.”

The man’s face twitched as he attempted to smile. “I can give you a deal. I just received two bodies—foreigners, no family to claim them. No one to complain if the bodies never find the cemetery grounds. But you pay now and pay what he owes me.”

I stepped back, failing to hide the revulsion on my face. How could Victor have stooped so low? How could he have associated with such a repulsive man and such soul-curdling activities?

“Where are you going?” He lunged forward and grabbed my wrist, his hand cold. I shuddered at his grasp, imagining what else those hands had touched that day.

“I am leaving, sir. Let me go.”

He yanked me closer. My cloak flapped open, and he noted my appearance, growing rougher. “Not until I get what Henry owes me! You think I am dirty because of what I do? That he can stay away and be clean and fancy?” He turned toward the open door, pulling me along with him. “I will show you what filth your Henry trades in. I will show you what he thinks he can forget debts on.”