Free Kronberg Crimes 01 - The Devils Grin by Annelie Wendeberg

tattered. But where there is demand and money to pay for such services, someone will make an offer. Body-snatchers soon figured out that freshly buried people could be dug up in the dead of the night and sold to medical schools. Very soon, however, these few cadavers of mostly old or diseased people did not suffice…
    Holmes and Watson fell quiet and the silence interrupted my train of thoughts. Both were gazing expectantly at me and I wondered whether I had missed a question.
    ‘Watson and I were just discussing the curious incident of the non-existent entry wounds. Watson thinks it must be an airborne version of tetanus.’
    ‘Hmm… That could be a possibility, if tetanus germs weren’t strictly anaerobic. They peg out when they get a whiff of fresh air.’
    Watson coughed and remarked, ‘Well, then someone must have injected it, but that is impossible!’
    ‘Why do you think so?’ asked Holmes.
    ‘Because no one could possibly do such a horrid thing!’
    I rose to my feet to face both men and spoke quietly, ‘How do you think we learned so much about anatomy in such a short time? History is repeating itself, Dr Watson. Our species has always exploited the weak, be it actively or by ignorance. When anatomists wanted fresh bodies it didn’t take long until they got them. How anyone could have believed their claim not to have known these were murder victims they procured, is a mystery to me. Several medical doctors even placed orders — pregnant women, children, newborns and malformed people. And they got these delivered as well.’
    The thought of the homeless not daring to fall asleep on the streets, drove a chill up my spine. The danger was ever present; someone could suffocate them and cart them off to the next anatomical school. The two men were quietly listening; Watson had his shoulders drawn up, as though to cover his ears.
    I continued, ‘In a single year, Burke and Hare killed seventeen people in Edinburgh alone and sold all their corpses to Dr Robert Knox, who convinced the authorities that he’d had no idea they had been murdered.’
    While listening to my narrative, Holmes clicked the mouthpiece of his pipe against his front teeth.
    ‘How can an anatomist not know that he is dissecting a murder victim?’ I cried. ‘After the trial against Burke and Hare, the Anatomical Act was passed. It gave free licence to medical doctors to use donated bodies for dissections. Tell me, Dr Watson, who would donate a loved and deceased child, mother, or husband?’
    His face paled and he didn’t reply, so I answered for him. ‘No one but the poorest, to feed their children, or themselves. Don’t you think the government knew what was going on? Don’t you think they turned a blind eye? Don’t you think they passed the Anatomical Act to make the butchering of paupers legal? Do you really believe that no one would inject a deadly disease into a pauper to test a cure for that very same disease? One worthless life — isn’t that an acceptable price to pay for the good of mankind? Man kind, Dr Watson!’
    Watson gulped. I turned to Holmes, changing the topic, ‘What do we do next?’
    ‘We?’ He replied slightly shocked ‘You won’t do anything and I will do some thinking.’ With that, he lit his pipe again and leant back in his armchair. After a moment, Watson and I realised that we had been dismissed.
    ‘It was very nice to meet you, Dr Watson,’ I said down at the street, as both of us were about to part.
    ‘It was, er…interesting, Dr Kronberg, to say the least. May I ask you something?’
    ‘Certainly.’
    ‘Has your secret ever been discovered?’
    ‘Yes, by Mr Holmes.’
    ‘Of course, but I meant by anyone else?’
    ‘No. People usually believe what they see.’
    He met my eyes for a short moment, it was the first time. Throughout the evening he had avoided looking directly into my face.
    ‘I have the impression that I make you feel uncomfortable, Dr Watson. Should I have offended you, I am