Neef manoeuvred himself out of the car with some difficulty, again protesting that he wasn’t drunk.
“Sorry,” smiled Eve. “Pleasantly relaxed.”
“Exactly,” said Neef, turning to look back inside the car.
“See you at eight thirty.”
“I can get...”
“Eight thirty.”
Eve was as good as her word. She picked Neef up promptly at half past eight and took him to the hospital. On the way they talked about Neil.
“I’d like to take him out this Sunday if that’s all right,” said Eve.
“Sounds fine,” said Neef. “He’s still quite stable and he’s obviously very comfortable with you. I think your visits are doing him the world of good.”
“I’d like to think that was true,” smiled Eve. “He’s so easy to get attached to.”
Neef half turned his head as if to say something but Eve got in first. “I know, I know,” she said. “You really don’t have to warn me.”
“Sorry,” said Neef. “Have you thought what you two might do together?”
“The forecast for the weekend sounds reasonable. I thought we might try for a picnic by the river.”
“Sounds good.”
“Why don’t you join us?”
“Me?” exclaimed Neef.
“Why not you?”
Neef didn’t get more than a couple of words out when he stopped and reconsidered. He said, “I was about to say something pompous about not getting personally involved with the patients but I thought better of it.”
“Good. Then you’ll come?”
“I’d love to,” smiled Neef. “What would you like me to bring?”
“Just yourself. I’ll fix the picnic. I’ll also pick Neil up from the hospital. You can meet us somewhere. Better still, we’ll pick you up from home.”
“I look forward to it,” said Neef.
“If I don’t get a chance to speak to you before then, I’ll see you at ten thirty on Sunday morning. You’ll tell the nurses?”
“I’ll tell Kate when I get in.”
“Sister Morse?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think she likes me.”
“She’s suspicious of your motives. You’re a journalist.”
“Guess that doesn’t put her in a minority of one,” said Eve.
Neef shrugged.
Eve dropped him off outside the main gates and he waved to her as she drove off.
Neef hung up his jacket in his office and called into the duty room to warn Kate about Neil’s picnic. She wasn’t there. The night staff nurse said that she had called in. He husband had taken a turn for the worse. She was up at University College Hospital.
Neef phoned University College Hospital and spoke to one of the housemen on the ward where Charlie Morse was a patient.
Mr Morse has been moved to ICU. He was transferred last night with severe breathing difficulties.
Neef felt a dark cloud come over him. He asked to speak to Clelland, the physician he had spoken to last time.
“I’ll ask the switchboard to page him,” replied the houseman.
There was a thirty second delay before the operator said, “Still paging Dr Clelland for you.”
After another thirty seconds Clelland came on the line.
“Doctor, it’s Michael Neef. I understand Charles Morse’s condition has deteriorated?”
“He’s very ill; he’s not been responding to antibiotic therapy.”
“Did the lab confirm your Klebsiella diagnosis?”
“I’m afraid not,” replied Clelland. “They found no evidence of bacterial involvement at all.”
Neef closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead lightly. He could sense a nightmare coming true. “So where do you go from here?” he asked quietly.
“There’s not much we can do,” confessed Clelland. “If it’s not bacterial it must be viral. It’s just a case of keeping him as comfortable as possible and hoping he pulls through. We’ll keep him on broad spectrum antibiotics of course, to make sure secondary infection doesn’t set in.”
“I don’t think he has pneumonia at all,” said Neef.
“I’m sorry. I don’t think I understand.”
“I don’t think I do either,” said Neef. “But Charles Morse is displaying the exact same symptoms as two young girls who have recently died from cancer after being exposed to some unknown carcinogen. They both presented as severe pneumonias but no bug was isolated and they didn’t respond to antibiotics.”
“The story in the local papers?”
“Yes.”
“Have I got this right? You’re telling me that Mr Morse has cancer?”
“I hope to God I’m wrong but yes, I am. I think you’ll find his pneumonia symptoms subside when you try him on steroids instead of antibiotics. Once the inflammation goes down you’ll be able to find the tumours on X-ray.”
“Look, his wife is here at the moment,” said Clelland. “I don’t think I want to tell her this without knowing something more. It’s a very awkward situation, if you see what I mean.”
“I understand,” said Neef. “I don’t think I want to say anything to Kate at the moment either. I could be wrong but it seems one hell of a coincidence.”
“But if you’re right it would mean that Morse had been exposed to the same carcinogen as the two girls,” said Clelland.
“I suppose it would,” agreed Neef. “Another connection for the Public Health Service to ponder.”
“Maybe this will make it easier for them.”
“Maybe,” said Morse, reluctant to see any good coming out of Charlie Morse’s misfortune. “Will you give steroids a try?”
“Nothing to lose.”
“Good. I’ll hold off saying anything to Kate until you’ve tried it. If it doesn’t work we’ll know I was wrong. If it does, I’ll tell her.”
“Might be best coming from you.”
Where have I heard that before, thought Neef.
Nine
Frank MacSween called Neef just after eleven and said that he was carrying out the post mortem on Jane Lees. “Thought you might like to attend?”
“I didn’t think you’d be doing it till Monday,” said Neef.
“The Public Health people are anxious to have the report. I said I’d do it today.”
“I’ll come down,” said Neef.
Neef was just about to leave the unit when Kate Morse arrived. She was in uniform.
“You shouldn’t be here,” said Neef.
“I wasn’t doing much good up at Uni College,” said Kate. “They said they’d call me if there was any change in Charlie’s condition. I just don’t understand it. He’s not been responding to treatment at all. I know it’s ridiculous but I keep thinking about Jane Lees. She was admitted as a pneumonia and didn’t respond to antibiotics and the other girl... Mary... Marlene...”
“Melanie,” said Neef, feeling uncomfortable at keeping a secret from Kate. “Melanie Simpson.”
“Yes, Melanie. They both had severe pneumonias that didn’t respond to treatment. Mike, I’m scared.”
Neef couldn’t fob Kate off with false reassurances but he didn’t want to confide his own fears in her in case they turned out to be groundless. “Maybe he’ll turn the corner today,” he said with more sadness in his voice than conviction. “I’ll be down in Pathology for a while if anyone needs me.”
“Same as before,” announced MacSween as Neef entered the PM suite, doing up his gown. “The cancer is more advanced of course, but there are multiple primary foci just like Melanie Simpson and no involvement of any organ other than the lungs. There’s much less inflammation but that’s because of the steroid therapy I see you wrote her up for.”
“Would you still go for a true viral pneumonia on this one?” asked Neef.