Free Nemesis of the Dead by Frances Lloyd Page B

gloves. ‘He’s most efficient, this little chap. His juice is a very potent purgative.’
    ‘Nice for him,’ said Sid.
    They watched the professor taking specimens expertly with a scalpel so as not to harm the host plants.
    ‘What a whopping great onion!’ Sid lifted a huge bulb out of the sample case. It must have weighed six pounds. ‘Don’t tell me you’re taking it back for Ariadne to cook for the feast tonight?’
    ‘Goodness me, no.’ Professor Gordon reclaimed it carefully from Sid and bent to put it back in the case. ‘That’s an Urginea maritima – the sea squill – and you’re right, it belongs to the same family as onions and garlic. But its uses are pharmaceutical, not culinary. This one is the white variety – used as a diuretic, stimulant, and expectorant, but frankly, I wouldn’t recommend it for medicinal purposes unless you know exactly what you are doing.’ He straightened up. ‘There’s also a red variety. Slightly toxic but nothing severe. Peasants on Katastrophos make rat poison from it.’
    ‘Does it work?’ asked Jack.
    The professor shrugged. ‘Sometimes the rats die and sometimes they don’t.’
    Professor Gordon meandered on slowly, his bulging eyes swivelling from right to left like a chameleon’s, on the look-out for more samples for his experiments. Jack reckoned he must have worked this part of the island for years, because he knew every inch. He and Sidney ambled alongside, watching with interest.
    ‘You certainly know your subject, Professor,’ said Jack. ‘I suppose you teach it to others through your books and lectures. It must be very rewarding to be able to share your knowledge with another generation of botanists.’
    Professor Gordon stopped and took on the evangelical, almost fanatical gleam that he always acquired when speaking about his research.
    ‘My specialism, as you know, is in plant-based medicines. Did you know that more than eighty per cent of the world’s population uses plant remedies either in part or entirely?’
    ‘No, but I’m not surprised,’ said Sid. ‘My old gran was forever dosing us with jollop she’d boiled up on the stove. Senna pods were the worst. Didn’t half make you—’
    ‘Much work,’ continued the professor, swiftly, ‘has already been done based upon the traditions of the Chinese, Egyptians and American Indians. Information on plant medicines has been handed down over the centuries. Even as we speak, scientists are investigating newly discovered cultures and this has resulted in the introduction of a number of new plant compounds into pharmaceutical research.’
    He paused and his face took on a fervent flush. ‘But I can assure you, gentlemen, those people have barely scratched the surface. They cannot begin to imagine the amazing discoveries I have made, the incredible power that I can unleash from my plants.’ He waved a scornful, dismissive hand. ‘A tuppenny-ha’penny botanist announces the discovery of a “wonder herbal medicine” responsible for miracle cures and suddenly everyone is using it. Well, very soon, I shall be more famous than any of them and my genius will at last be recognized world wide. I shall be numbered among the greatest botanists of our time.’ His staring eyes glazed over, dreaming of the adulation.
    ‘Really? And how’s that, Professor?’
    ‘Oh yes indeed. I’m honoured to say that I have been offered the position of master at a prestigious Swiss university. When I take up the post, which will be very soon, I plan to endow the Gordon Botany Research Scholarships. Botanists will flock there from all over the world to marvel at my revolutionary research and study at my feet.’
    Jack’s eyebrows went up and he whistled. ‘Scholarships in Switzerland, eh? That’ll cost a few quid, won’t it?’
    ‘Naturally, funding any scholarship is expensive and these particularly so.’ He spread his hands modestly. ‘But happily, money isn’t a problem. It’s my work that’s