“Thanks, Shirley,” Laurie said. “I’m certainly going to owe you for all this, but I don’t know how I’m going to repay. I seriously doubt you want any in-kind professional services.”
“Don’t even joke like that,” Shirley said. “I’m too superstitious.”
Disconnecting, Laurie reflexively checked her watch. The Indian visa place didn’t open until nine, so she had some time. The first thing she did was call up the airlines and use her credit card to pay for the tickets she had reserved. Next she called Jennifer. The phone rang four or five times, and when it was finally answered, Laurie expected voicemail. It was Jennifer, who sounded out of breath.
Laurie identified herself and then asked if she were calling at a bad time, because she could easily call back.
“No, this is fine,” Jennifer said, breathing deeply. “I’m having dinner in a fancy Chinese restaurant here in the hotel, and when the phone rang, I ran out here to the lobby to answer it. Guess who I’m having dinner with?”
“I couldn’t begin to guess.”
“A Mrs. Benfatti. She’s the wife of the man who died at the Queen Victoria last night.”
“That’s a coincidence.”
“Not really. I looked her up and we had lunch. I have to say his death has some strange parallels with Granny’s.”
“Really?” Laurie questioned. She wondered if they were real parallels or imagined.
“Gosh, here I am blabbing away, and you called me. Please tell me you are coming to India.”
“We are indeed coming to India,” Laurie said, the excitement showing in her voice.
“Terrific!” Jennifer cheered. “I’m so pleased, you have no idea. Tell Dr. Washington thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“He did send you his regards,” Laurie said. “Have there been any big changes in the situation there?”
“Not really. They are still trying to push me to give them the green light. I did tell them that you guys were coming and will be there Friday morning sometime.”
“Did you mention that we happen to be forensic pathologists?”
“Oh, yeah, most definitely.”
“And their response?”
“Another lecture that there will be no autopsy. They are very adamant.”
“We’ll see,” Laurie said.
“I made it a point to talk with the nurse who took care of Granny. She’s this beauty queen you won’t believe with a figure to die for.”
“Coming from you, that’s quite a compliment.”
“I’m not in her league. She’s the kind of woman who probably can eat anything, and she just looks better and better. She’s also really nice. At first when I met her she acted weird.”
“How so?”
“Shy or embarrassed, I couldn’t tell which. It turns out she was afraid I would be angry at her.”
“Why would you be angry?”
“That’s what I asked her. You know what it turned out to be? Granny was the first patient she has lost since she’d graduated from nursing school. Isn’t that touching?”
“Did you learn anything about your grandmother from her?” Laurie asked. She didn’t comment on Jennifer’s rhetorical question. At first blush, Laurie didn’t understand how Maria being the nurse’s first nursing death meshed with the nurse’s being worried Jennifer might be mad at her. Laurie assumed it had to be a cultural thing.
“Not really,” Jennifer said, but then corrected herself. “Except she said Granny was cyanotic when she was found.”
“True cyanosis?” Laurie questioned.
“That’s what she said, and I asked her specifically. But she was relating this secondhand. Granny didn’t die on her shift but on the evening shift. She had learned it from the nurse who had come upon Granny after Granny had already died.”
“Maybe you’d better not play medical investigation,” Laurie suggested. “You might ruffle too many feathers.”
“You’re probably right,” Jennifer agreed, “and especially not with you guys coming. What are your flight details?”
Laurie gave the flight numbers and the expected arrival time. “Now, you don’t have to come to the airport like you suggested,” Laurie said. “We can just jump in a taxi.”
“I want to come. I’ll take a hotel car. I mean, my expenses are being covered.”
Under those circumstances, Laurie agreed for Jennifer to come out to fetch them when they arrived. “Now I better let you get back to your dinner and your dinner companion.”
“Speaking of Mrs. Benfatti, I offered that you would look into the situation with her husband. I hope you don’t mind. There are parallels, as I’ve said.”
“We’ll look first at the parallels and then decide,” Laurie said.
“One more thing,” Jennifer said. “I went to the U.S. embassy this afternoon and spoke to a very nice consular officer who was very helpful.”
“Did you learn anything?”
“It turns out that the case manager at the Queen Victoria was giving me the true story about bringing bodies back to the States. You have to jump though a lot of bureaucratic hoops, and it is expensive. So I’m leaning in the direction of cremation.”
“We’ll discuss it more when I get there,” Laurie said. “Now get back to your dinner.”
“Aye-aye, sir. See you tomorrow night,” Jennifer said gaily.
Laurie replaced the receiver. For a moment she kept her hand on it, thinking about a heart attack and general cyanosis. When the heart fails, the pumping action stops, and you don’t get general cyanosis. Cyanosis generally comes from the lungs failing and the pumping continuing.
The phone under Laurie’s hand rang harshly, causing her to start. With her pulse racing, she snapped the receiver back up and blurted a hurried hello.
“I am looking for Dr. Laurie Montgomery,” a pleasant voice said.
“This is she,” Laurie answered with curiosity.
“My name is Dr. Arun Ram. I just spoke with Dr. Shirley Schoener. She said you were imminently coming to New Delhi and are in the middle of an infertility cycle using hormones. She said you will need to have the size of your follicles followed and your estradiol blood levels checked.”
“That’s true. Thank you for calling. I expected to hear back from Dr. Schoener with some numbers so I would have to make the calls.”
“It is no bother. It was my suggestion, since Dr. Schoener said she had been just speaking with you. I wanted to let you know I would be honored to be of assistance. Dr. Schoener told me a little about you, and I am very impressed. There was a time in my early training when I aspired to become a forensic pathologist from watching American TV shows. Unfortunately, I became disenchanted. The facilities in this country are very bad because of our infamous bureaucracy.”
“That’s too bad. We need good people in the specialty, and India would be well served if the facilities and the field were improved.”
“Dr. Schoener had first called a colleague of mine, Dr. Daya Mishra, who is obviously a woman, if you would prefer. But Dr. Schoener said you were interested in someone with admitting privileges at the Queen Victoria Hospital, so Dr. Mishra recommended me.”
“I would be very grateful if you would see me. My husband and I have other business at the Queen Victoria Hospital, so it will be convenient.”
“When are you coming exactly?”
“We are leaving this evening from New York and scheduled to arrive in Delhi late Thursday night, October nineteenth, at twenty-two-fifty.”
“Where are you in this current infertility cycle?”
“Day seven, but more important, on Monday, Dr. Schoener estimated five days before the trigger shot should be given.”
“So the last time you were seen was Monday, and everything was fine.”
“Everything was fine.”
“Then I believe I need to see you Friday morning. What time would you prefer? Anytime is good since Friday is a research day and my calendar is clear.”