Chapter Thirty-One:
Nemo…
He looked at her across the table. She waited for him to speak with a cold, hard look in her eyes. Almost as though she was trying to decide the best way to dispose of him. "Miss Kathryn," he began. She remained as she was. "It has come to my attention that you may not be completely honest with us. Therefore, I am giving you the opportunity now to be honest with me. Tell me exactly what happened the night you were shot."
She didn't answer immediately. She sighed and leaned on the table. "Captain," she said in a low voice. "I've already told you everything that happened. You can check my information against Dr. Jekyll."
"I have. And it proved to be accurate," he said. "But you didn't tell us who shot you."
Kathryn's eyes became colder and harder. "I don't believe I'm comfortable telling you that information," she said calmly. Her tone was even, but a bitter chill descended on her shoulders.
"Why is that?" Nemo asked her, noting she was distancing herself. "Why would you protect him?"
"How do you know it was man who shot me?" she countered, standing. "For all you know, it could've been Lady Lucas!"
"I only assumed," the captain said, trying to calm her. "Skinner informed us you were shot, but he said he did not see your attacker clearly."
An odd look crossed her features, but left just as quickly as it appeared. "Well, I have no idea why Skinner was there," she said. "And I have no idea why you need to know who shot me. It seems utterly irrelevant to me. I was able to eventually complete the assignment and retrieved the documents for you. Why is it so important to know my attacker?"
"Only so we have a clear understanding of who it is we are fighting," he answered. "Are you certain you will not tell me his name?"
"Yes."
He nodded. "I see," he muttered. "Continuing on, then. Mr. Sawyer informed us that you were found in the company of Professor Moriarty. Tell me why."
"Is this an interrogation?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.
"A debriefing."
"It's the same thing, Captain," she said. "My acquaintance with Professor Moriarty started sixteen years ago. He and I have been close friends since then."
"To the point of marriage?" Nemo knew he may be pushing the limits of how much she would allow him to question her, but he needed to find where she kept her loyalties.
"Possibly." She sat down again and leaned back in her chair. "Why do you ask?"
He cleared his throat. "Simply curious," he replied. "Why was Moriarty in your home that particular morning?"
"He was looking for the documents on the Elixir of Life," she said simply.
"Did he say why?"
She paused briefly then answered. "He has been taking the Elixir for the past few years," she said. "That is how he was able to survive poisoning, falling into a violent waterfall, and being shot in the back by Sawyer. The Elixir does more than merely sustaining life. It returns life to a lifeless form. He needed the documents because he needs to make a new dose of the Elixir before the end of the year or he will die."
"Interesting," Nemo said, watching her closely. She had grown colder while telling him about Moriarty, if that was even possible. "Were you going to give it to him?"
"No," she said. "I was going to give hi m the formula for a particularly lethal poison that included not only Deadly Nightshade, but Mercury as well. You're as good as dead when the solution simply touches your lips."
"You would kill your—friend if only to keep him from the Elixir?" he asked, surprised. He knew she was cold-hearted. But he hadn't thought she was that cold-hearted.
"Yes."
"Why?"
She looked almost ready to kill. "It's because of him that I am what I am," she said, bitterness reigning supreme in her voice. "It's because of him that I am a cold-blooded murderess. Do you think I had a choice when it came to my future? He filled me with the thirst for revenge that became an addicting habit. The least I could do for humanity is destroy the man who created me."
"How long have you felt this way?" he asked her.
"Since the beginning of the end," she said. "I doubt if I can ever fully love again because of this man. So I will suffer the rest of my life because of him. My name can never be cleared because of him. I can never be actually happy because of him. It sickens me to think that he once loved me."
Nemo was interested in her choice of words. "What do you mean, 'the beginning of the end'?" he asked her.
"When I realised I could never stop killing," she said. "It was several years ago. I try to rationalise it. I try to excuse it as homicide for the sake of science. But I know the truth. I can't stop. It's a sickening addiction, Nemo. And I can't end this. So, I realised it was the beginning of the end of my life. My life will end when I can finally stop killing. I take sick pleasure in it."
"Should I take precautions for the safety and sake of my crew and the League?"
She shook her head. "Gods, I hope not," she said. "But, if ever you find that I've done something questionable, you have my permission to lock me away until I've got it out of my system."
"Do I have you word?" he asked.
She looked at him, seeming to consider all her options. "Yes," she said. "You do."
He nodded. "One last question before I release you," he said. "There has been speculation throughout the League on this issue, and I need to know to reassure them. Where exactly do your loyalties lie?"
"My loyalties?" she repeated. He nodded again. "I am loyal to myself, the League, and the British Crown. Honest to the gods."
"Very well. You're dismissed. Thank you for your time."
