Given the dramatic nature of the previous night, the morning turned out to be surprisingly unexciting. The publican came down to see them and, after receiving a rather sizeable gratuity from Lucille, prepared a meal, a bath and new clothes for the both of them. Alden very much felt that the cinched waist frock coat he was presented with was rather showy for a man of his age, but he didn’t exactly have much of a choice. He wasn’t very enthusiastic about the top hat, either, and he flatly refused the offer of a cane. Once they were cleaned, dressed and fed, the publican called two large cabs. Alden took the bag of Han treasures and most of Li Tao’s personal effects for further investigation, while Lucille took all the stolen research notes and all of Li Tao’s personal papers. After bidding each other a rather cursory farewell, they went their separate ways. Alden spend most of the cab ride staring out the window at the dense morning fog. They probably needn’t have bothered with the new clothes and the cab ride on a day like this. Not much chance of anyone spotting them in this murk in the first place… Arriving at his shop, Alden quickly began moving the bags to his apartment. To his chagrin, he was spotted by Mr. Dawkins as he carried the last bag through the hall. “Good morning Mr. Stowe. I must say, you’re cutting quite the handsome figure this morning!” “I had a bad spill, and needed to borrow some clothes from a friend. No need to make fun, Mr. Dawkins.” “Oh, no! I’m doing nothing of the sort! I really do think the cut looks quite dashing on you. It brings out your figure in a very flattering way.” Alden gave the dainty young man a long, searching look, but he seemed to be entirely sincere. “Well, thank you, I suppose. But we don’t have any time to fritter away talking about fashion! I need you to get everything that absolutely needs doing today sorted out as quickly as possible. I’ll be down as soon as I put these things away and get changed. I hope you brought those books we discussed yesterday.” “Of course, Mr. Stowe. I just put them away in the workroom.” “Capital! Go get the business of the day sorted as fast as you can, because we have some very important work to do!” Mr. Dawkins was still hard at work with the day’s tasks when Alden returned, but with both of them working it didn’t take much longer to get it all squared away. Once everything had been bottled, labelled and stored as appropriate, Alden quickly made sure the door to the workroom was securely locked. “All right, Mr. Dawkins. We have a very important project ahead of us.” He pulled out the syringe he had taken from Li Tao’s body. The fluid inside the needle tip seemed to have congealed, but the little bit of milky purple liquid remaining within the main body of the device still seemed fresh and fluid. “This syringe contains some form of novel poison, seemingly completely unknown to the European medical community. It has already taken the lives of at least three people in the past weeks, two of them presumably by being administered gradually through their food or some similar method, one of them through intravenous injection. In the latter case, the time between injection and death was less than three full minutes. In all three cases, the cause of death was spontaneous combustion.” Mr. Dawkins took a moment to digest the information he was just told. “This is related to that hypothetical you posed to me, is it not? About the man spontaneously combusting despite regular doses of tincture of saffron and thornroot. It wasn’t a hypothetical, was it?” “Indeed not. That was the case of one Dr. Rawleigh, who was murdered just last week.” “This private contract you are working on seems to be rather more exciting than I had imagined, Mr. Stowe.” Alden snorted. “Truth be told, it’s turned out rather more exciting than even I suspected, lad. But be that as it may. There’s work to be done.” With that, Alden unscrewed the needle tip from the syringe and replaced it with a different tip of the same size. Thankfully, the syringe was a perfectly ordinary mass-produced steel and glass construction, the kind one could find for sale at any apothecary, so the replacement tip fit perfectly. Pushing out a few drops of the liquid onto a small saucer, Alden studied it carefully, taking in both the appearance and the scent. “Clearly a mix of tincture evaporate and other preparation forms. A lot of different components, as well. Seems to be an emulsion of some sort of soft oil and a water-based solution.” Mr. Dawkins gave him an impressed look. “You can tell all that just by scenting and looking at that small sample?” “It’s not hard, lad. You just have to know what you’re looking for. There’s a lingering scent of some sort of medicinal alcohol, though not a particularly well purified one. Possibly rice-based, but it’s hard to tell given the complexity of the rest of the scent profile. The point is, the alcohol scent isn’t strong enough for an actual high-alcohol solution, which means that at least part of the compound was extracted as a tincture, then the purified tincture was diluted in water and the alcohol was allowed to mostly evaporate.” “I suppose that makes sense.” “The fact that it has many different components is clear from the complexity of the scent profile. It has a lot of competing notes, with nothing standing out above the rest with the exception of a very sharp note that I suspect might be some form of glandular extract. As for the emulsion, there is some sort of fine-grain particulate suspended in the fluid, but not enough to account for the milky appearance or viscosity of the compound. If I had to guess, it is an emulsion of a compounded water-based solution, at least one of the ingredients of which is a fine-grained purple-coloured particulate, with some sort of glandular oil extracted from an animal.” When Alden finished his explanation, he realized Mr. Dawkins was simply staring at him. “Anything the matter, lad?” Mr. Dawkins quickly looked away. “I’m just glad to have found myself in your employ, Mr. Stowe. I think I can learn a lot working for you, sir.” Alden harrumphed a little self-consciously. “Now now, none of that. I won’t have a colleague calling me ‘sir’. Back to the matter at hand. The problem is that I don’t recognize any of the scent notes off-hand. This strange purple colour, as well…” “May I?” “Of course, of course.” Mr. Dawkins carefully smelled the substance. A curious frown appeared on his face. “I have a suspicion, but I would need to taste the substance to know for sure.” “It’s a lethal poison, lad!” “I’ll take all due precautions.” “Fine, but be very cautious. I have no clear idea as to what dosages are lethal.” The young man nodded and made some preparations. Then, he coated the bottom of a spoon in the substance and pressed it briefly against various parts of his tongue, trying to get a full understanding of the flavour notes. The moment he had the information he required, he rinsed his mouth and spat, first with water, then with alcohol, then with water again. Much as Alden disapproved of the notion of taste-testing a poison, he had to admit the Lad was taking his precautions seriously. “I think I know two components of the compound, Mr. Stowe.” “Really?” “The scent and flavour rather stick in the mind. Besides, the two are often used together dried and very finely powdered, and the combination has a colouration much like this pale purple.” “Well, then, what is it?” “The first is a type of blue mould that can grow on the lingzhi fungus under the right conditions. It is typically used to enhance the androgenic processes of the body. Muscle gain, growth of facial and body hair, virility, that sort of thing. The other is tiger pizzle, which is prized in Han and Wei as an aphrodisiac.” Alden considered the matter for a moment, and the more he thought about it the more sense it made. “Aphrodisiacs and male enhancement. Of course! By Jove, Harry! I think you might have solved it!” As the flash of excitement faded, Alden felt a little self-conscious at the outburst. “Oh, I do apologize. My excitement rather got the better of me, there. I hope you don’t mind me calling you Harry?” Mr. Dawkins smiled a little stiffly. “Frankly, Mr. Stowe, for a pound a day you could call me Tiffany.” Alden snorted at the awkwardly delivered jest. “If anything, Harry, I should be paying you more! Now, take those books of yours and find any sections that deal with male enhancement and aphrodisiacs. Oh, and go fetch ‘The Chemistrie of Ardour’ by Comtessa Eloise de l’Amour and ‘Bedroom Solutions’ by Dr. Jeremy Tuffle from the shelf. We’re going to get to the bottom of this!” Despite the breakthrough, identifying all the individual substances within the fluid was no easy task. It was well into the evening by the time they felt certain they had identified every component of the peculiar compound. The workroom was littered with the detritus of numerous experiments, as well as the remains of a duckling and a newt which Mr. Dawkins had to run out and purchased from the nearest purveyor of laboratory animals so they could test specific toxicity. The mouse they had purchased for the same purpose had not perished from the sample it was fed, unlike the bird and newt, and seemed only faintly affected by the compound. Staring down at his notes, Alden shook his head mutely. “Tincture evaporate of shanyao, ginseng, caterpillar fungus and yin xing leaf, mixed with powdered blue lingzhi mould, powdered tiger pizzle and oil from the anal glands of a sun bear, then emulsified into this strange, somewhat viscous fluid… You’d think with so many different aphrodisiacs and male enhancers, this stuff would cause some very obvious psychological and behavioural effects…” Mr. Dawkins hummed thoughtfully. “Not necessarily. Not as much as you might think, anyway.” “How so?” “Well, most Wei and Wu medical texts I have read suggest that combining multiple aphrodisiacs generally doesn’t provide additional benefit, and they often caution that the practice can be very harmful. And I know for a fact that recent Han studies specifically caution against combining the intake of caterpillar fungus and tiger pizzle, because the combination actually removes most of the benefit of both.” “But retains the side effects?” “Supposedly, yes. All in all, I would expect a substance like this to have a noticeable effect as an aphrodisiac and male enhancer, but not much more than any number of readily available tinctures and medications.” “…And Dr. Rawleigh would have had no drive to speak of to begin with, given his daily dose of saffron and thornroot. And from what I hear Professor Abney wasn’t particularly amorously inclined either, or if he was he was at least a lot more tactful and restrained about it than many of his colleagues. It makes sense that both of them would be able to work as normal without much apparent change to their demeanour, even with this stuff in their bodies…” “But they would still be receiving the combined side effects of all the components. Inflammation of the sanguine humours. Vastly increased production and binding of phlogiston in their tissues…” “Leading to spontaneous combustion. Nasty stuff.” “I can’t imagine it was developed as a drug for injection, though.” Mr. Dawkins mused. “Several of these components would be very dangerous to inject. If he hadn’t combusted, the man who had this injected intravenously would probably have died from simple poisoning within the hour.” “Leading to the question of exactly how and why this was developed in the first place… I’m going to need some help on this one, I feel, but I think I know where to get it. Thank you so much for your assistance, Harry. How did you become so knowledgeable on the subject of aphrodisiacs and male enhancement?” Mr. Dawkins coloured faintly. “As it happens, I have studied the science of what enhances and inhibits the androgenic processes of the body for quite some time. A personal project, one might say.” Alden looked the young man over thoughtfully. As young men go, he really had a surprisingly slight and feminine aspect about him. Soft, delicate features, no facial hair beyond a fine fuzz, a gentle, high-pitched voice, barely any visible musculature… He supposed it was hardly surprising if such a girlish lad would seek out things that might enhance the androgenic processes of the body, although he clearly had yet to find anything that worked for him… Squirming slightly under Alden’s thoughtful gaze, Mr. Dawkins awkwardly cleared his throat and spoke, in a fairly blatant attempt at changing the topic of conversation. “So, Mr. Stowe, I heard you exclaiming ‘by Jove’ a number of times earlier. Are you perhaps an Olympian?” “I suppose, though I rarely ever go to temple or offer any sacrifices or anything. I celebrate Saturnalia, of course, but everyone celebrates something towards the winter solstice. Even the Jews celebrate that thing with the candles, and they are usually a dour bunch at the best of times. It’s hard not to get pulled into the festive spirit. But beyond Saturnalia I rarely find time for gods. I have too much going on in my life to spend my limited time on divine matters, quite frankly.” “Oh, I know the feeling. I was born and raised druidic, but I barely ever observe. City life is so busy, and it’s an hour by train and another half an hour on foot to get to the nearest glade that’s deemed holy by my sect. I just can’t seem to find the time.” “Well, speaking of time, I need to see if I can get this information to my employer before she turns in for the night. Thanks again for all your invaluable assistance. I wish you a good night, Harry.” “Good night, Mr. Stowe.” Alden turned and left, having completely forgotten his earlier thoughts about the peculiar Mr. Dawkins. He didn’t hear the slight sigh of relief that the young man let out when he left. It was well past midnight by the time Alden had managed to arrange a meeting with Lucille, although by the look of things she wasn’t planning on heading to bed any time soon. Her office was a mess of papers, some of which Alden recognized and some of which he didn’t. Clearly Lucille was deep into her investigation of the documents retrieved from Li Tao’s house. As Alden sat down, she shot him an expectant look. “I take it you’ve figured something out?” Alden nodded an slapped another large sheaf of papers atop the mess of Lucille’s desk. “A full breakdown of the components of the poison, along with everything I know and everything I can reasonably assume about its workings and effects. Additionally, I have included a breakdown of the most likely method of its manufacture, although that is mostly an educated guess, and I’ve outlined several other likely alternatives for the manufacturing process in brief.” Lucille raised an eyebrow as she skimmed the documents. “This is shockingly thorough, given the time frame. I must say I’m impressed.” “I’m a tincturer, Lucille. This sort of thing is quite literally my job. Besides, I had the help of a very good assistant, without whom this would have taken far longer.” “Nevertheless, well done.” “But this is as far as I can take it. I need someone with more resources to continue researching this stuff.” “What sort of resources?” “Well, someone who can procure large quantities of rare ingredients native to Asia, for one thing. And someone with the ability to perform extensive animal testing. I need to know what exactly this stuff does in what quantities, how fast it acts, what methods of administration are viable, how quick and intense the burn is, if there are any tell-tale signs in the time in between administration and combustion… If we want to put a stop to these poisonings, we need a full understanding of how the poison works.” Lucille nodded thoughtfully. “I see your point. I do have some contacts who should be able to do what you need. Please write a specific request for what you need to know, along with any instructions you can provide.” “Very well.” Alden spent some time writing out a detailed request. Starting with figuring out what method was used to produce the substance. He described the texture, appearance, scent and other characteristics of the compound to the best of his abilities, along with his best guesses on the ratio of the different components. Then he detailed exactly what he needed to know about the workings of the substance, and a number of other relevant matters. After a moment’s thought, he also added a request that the level of phlogiston released during combustion be carefully measured and recorded. “There. This should be everything I need to know.” Lucille read through his request carefully. “Yes, I think this can be arranged. As for you, continue your own investigations by whatever means you can. I will call for you if there is further information, and you know how to reach me if you discover anything important.” “Very well. Until next time, Lucille.” “One last thing before you leave.” “Yes?” “Well done, Alden. Keep up the good work.” Lucille then proceeded to toss another little pouch of coins at him, and for a moment Alden almost turned it down. After all, the amount of money she had given him was bordering on the ridiculous by this point. Fortunately, the more logical part of his brain proceeded to round up those thoughts and stomp them flat. After all, the moment he turned down additional payment was the moment he had truly taken leave of his senses. Without another word, Alden snatched the little pouch of coins and left for home.