Free The Curse of Christmas by Anna Lord Page A

windmills.”
    “What is his interest?”
    “Public interest.”
    “Crossbones?” he said dubiously.
“It is a rum sort of place to take a public interest in.”
    “I agree. I went there today to
have a look for myself and met two grave-diggers. I’m going back
tomorrow to give one of them a health check. I think he has
syphilis.”
    “Syphilis isn’t my field and I’m
already involved in the ghost train mystery. Besides, if anything
odd is going on it’s probably just a case of tooth-robbery.”
    “Tooth-robbery?”
    “The Anatomy Act made stealing
corpses pointless but teeth are lucrative. With the advent of
nitrous oxide there has been a huge increase in dental work.
Dentists cannot get enough teeth. Animal bones have sufficed to
date but those with money want the best, the real thing, and that
means human teeth. There’s quite a bit of money in teeth.
Crossbones is unconsecrated ground despite the Unitarian church
across the way, meaning it is not overseen by a church warden, so
there’s no one to check how the bodies are buried. I bet the graves
are shallow, only about four feet deep instead of the usual six,
and I bet bodies are stacked one on top of the other, separated by
planks of wood so that they can be packed down tighter. It also
makes it easier and quicker for corpses to be dug up and rifled.
You will only see one name on the headstone, but there will be six
or more bodies in the grave. Moreover, grave robbers no longer want
the whole corpse. They are only interested in the head. They only
need to expose the head and yank out the teeth. Did your two
grave-diggers have wooden spades?”
    “I can’t say I noticed –
why?”
    “No matter; they probably use
normal spades during the day and wooden ones at night. When Agrippa
used the term ‘soft shovel’ he was referring to wooden spades. They
make less noise. If you stake out the cemetery you will catch them
at it in no time at all.”
    “Well, that’s where I’d like
your help. I intend to stake it out but I’m not sure how to go
about it. You did a first rate job with the Smithfield case and I
was hoping you could help me with Crossbones. Plus it’s not the
sort of place I would wish to stake out on my own. I hope you don’t
think I’m turning into a coward but as you just pointed out - it
really is a rum spot.”
    “Coward! Good heavens no! I
agree it’s not the sort of place you want to be hanging about on
your own after dark, old boy! I can give you a hand staking it out
but I won’t be able to spare much time in chasing things up. You’ll
have to follow-up the tooth-robbery aspect on your own. Ah, here’s
the Camden Market Road. ” He banged on the roof of the hansom and
prepared to alight, putting his hand into his pocket for some
change for the driver.
    “Let me take care of the fare,”
offered Dr Watson, pleased that his friend had relented after that
shaky start. “Shall we say tomorrow evening? Midnight? I’ll meet
you there.”
    “Midnight it is then.
Cheerio.”
     
    Dr Watson slept later than he
intended. A glance at the clock on the mantel told him that the
funeral at the Unitarian church would already be underway. The
thought of a ticking-off from the Countess made him feel grumpy.
His head fell back on the pillow while he mustered the energy to
get up. The only way to avoid an unwanted lecture was to avoid the
Countess. That’s when he decided to stop by the St James Street
Club. He could speak to Langdale Pike and ascertain how much of the
article written by Agrippa had been invented and where the source
of his information had originated.
    According to Reverend Paterson
the journalist had not even visited the cemetery in question. Was
it possible none of it was true? And if that was the case, did he
really want to drag his old rugby pal into a wild goose chase at
midnight. Best of all, calling at the St James Street Club would
give him an excuse for not attending the funeral.
    The St James Street Club was