What – was he…

…

Silence. The final inquiry was met with silence, as dark eyes blinked, and blinked again, and Malachi didn’t even know what he was feeling because it all just went blank.

“……”

The quiet was punctuated only by the sound of his breath, unsteady and shallow.

“The… the ver-…” …dict?

The verdict? What was his verdict for assaulting his –

Arthur was lying. He had to be lying, he must have been, there was no way he had done that and Malachi didn’t believe it. Mable was fine. Sure, he hadn’t seen her, but she was fine. Nothing had happened to her. Not at the church, not in his confessional, not at Arthur’s hands, not while she was waiting around for Malachi to return and spend time with her, like he should have done that night, like he hadn’t done that night, and why hadn’t he seen her since then?

Nausea toiled in the pit of his stomach. His throat was so dry he could hardly speak.

“Doctor Adams,” he started unsteadily, distant and forced out. A complete break from protocol. “If you did something to her, I will kill you.”