‘Yes, I’ll just get my class organised and I’ll go over right away,’ Harris said to the worried-looking Mr Norton.
‘No, I’ve seen to that,’ said the headmaster. ‘You get going now. They insisted it was urgent. Try not to be too long.’
Harris left the school and made towards the hospital at a brisk pace. When he arrived he began to explain who he was but the receptionist had been expecting him and immediately took him to an office near the rear of the building where he was asked to wait. He had barely sat down when the door opened and three men strode in.
‘Ah, you’re the boy’s teacher?’ enquired the first man, walking around to the desk. His portly figure lowered itself into a chair with a weary slump and his tired eyes barely flickered towards Harris. He waved his hand at the two others before Harris could reply. ‘Doctor Strackley’ – the doctor nodded -
‘and Mr Foskins from the Ministry of Health.’ Foskins stretched a hand towards the teacher who shook it. ‘And my name isTunstall, I’m the Hospital Group Secretary.’ The man behind the desk finished his introductions glancing through a sheaf of papers. He stopped at one in particular, seemingly studying it closely, but at the same time asking, ‘Your name?’
‘Harris. How is Keogh?’
Tunstall looked up from his document. ‘You haven’t been told?’
Harris froze at the tone of the group secretary’s voice, ’I’m’ afraid he died during the night.’
Harris shook his head in disbelief. ‘But it was only yesterday that he was bitten.’
‘Yes, we know, Mr Harris,’ the doctor stepped forward and leaned on the desk, his eyes looking intently at the stunned teacher. ‘That’s why we asked you to come along.
You brought the boy here yesterday. Perhaps you could tell us how and where he received the bite?’
‘But you can’t die just from a bite. And in one day?’
Harris shook his head at the three men, ignoring the doctor’s question.
Tunstall spoke up, putting the papers finally to one side.
‘No, it seems impossible, doesn’t it? A post mortem is already being carried out to see if Keogh was suffering from any other illness at the time. We thought possibly the bite may have acted as some kind of catalyst for a hidden disease carried by the boy. But we’ve virtually discounted that theory now, although we’re still checking it out. You see, a woman was brought in yesterday too - you may have read about it in the papers; her child was killed by rats - and she was herself attacked by them in an attempt to save her daughter. She died two hours ago.’
‘But that means anyone who comes in contact with the rats and gets bitten by one...’ before Harris could finish, Foskins interrupted.
‘Yes, Mr Harris. Once a person has been bitten, they have about twenty-four hours to live. That’s why it’s essential to learn as much as possible about these particular rats. They’re obviously an unknown species, unknown to us inEnglandanyway. From what we’ve heard, their sheer size is quite extraordinary...’
‘We want to know everything the boy told you of’ the incident,’ said Tunstall impatiently.
‘Yes, of course,’ Harris nodded. ‘But how did they die?
What did they die of?’ He looked at each of the three men in turn. The room filled with an uneasy silence.
Finally, the doctor cleared his throat and looked at the group secretary. ‘I think it’s only fair that we take Mr Harris into our confidence. I think we can trust him to be discreet, and he may be able to help us if he knows this area well.’
‘I was born here. I know most of this region - and I know exactly where Keogh saw his rats.’
‘Very well’sighed Tunstall. ‘But understand, you must not repeat anything said in this room to anybody.
We’re not sure what we’re up against yet, and until we are, we must treat it with the utmost discretion.
We don’t want people to panic over something that may only be a rare occurrence.’
‘Like six tramps being eaten alive,’ interjected Harris.
‘Yes, yes, Mr Harris, we know it’s a bit frightening,’ said Foskins quickly. ‘But we don’t want people panicking do we? I mean, the first thing to suffer would be the docks, wouldn’t it? Heaven knows, the dockers don’t need much excuse to stay away from work so just think of what this sort of scare could do. And if foodstuff were left to rot in the warehouses and ships, what then? The whole waterfront would be infested within a few days. Vicious circle, Mr Harris, vicious circle.’
The teacher remained silent.
‘Look, we’ll probably overcome this problem before anything else occurs,’ Tunstall leaned forward, pointing a finger at Harris. ‘Now your help isn’t essential, but if you do want to assist us you must agree to silence.’
What brought that on wonderedHarris. He must be really worried. ‘All right,’ he shrugged. ‘I just want to know how Keogh and the woman died.’
‘Of course,’ smiled Doctor Strackley, trying to break the icy atmosphere. ‘The deaths were mused by an infection introduced by the bite of the rat into the bloodstream. The usual disease mused by the vermin is calledWeil’s Disease , Leptrospirosis or Spirochoetal Jaundice. We only have about ten or eleven cases of this a year in this country - it’s that rare. The organism that causes it, Leptospira Icterohaemorrhagae, is carried by rats and conveyed to man in their urine, either through the skin or alimentary tract. It’s an occupational hazard to workers in sewers. Incubation period is from seven to thirteen days; onset of the disease is abrupt fever, muscular pains, loss of appetite and vomiting.
The feverish stage lasts several days before jaundice appears and the patient becomes prostrate.
Temperature usually declines in about ten days but relapses tend to occur. We often treat the disease by penicillin and other antibiotics but we do have a special serum for it. Trouble is, it’s rarely diagnosed asWeil’s Disease in time to use it.
‘Right, so that’s the disease we know about. Now, the incredible thing about last night’s two cases is that the whole process happened within twenty-four hours.’ He paused, as if for effect. ‘There are other differences too.’
He looked at Tunstall, silently seeking permission to carry on. Tunstall nodded.
‘The fever strikes within five or six hours. Jaundice sets in immediately. The victim rapidly loses all his senses – sight goes first. The body goes into a coma, occasionally being racked by violent-spasms. Then, the most horrible thing happens. The skin - by now completely yellow – becomes taut. It becomes thinner as it stretches over the bone structure. It turns to a fine tissue. Finally, it begins to tear. Gaping holes appear all over the body. The poor victim dies a terribly painful death, which even our strongest drugs seem only to ease a little.’
The three men remained silent as the knowledge sought entry into Harris’s numbed brain. ‘Poor Keogh,’
he finally said.
‘Yes, and God help anybody else who gets bitten,’ said Tunstall, almost impatiently. ‘Now, before anything else happens, we’re getting the Ratkill people in. They’re a good company and very discreet.
They’re investigating the bombsite and the woman’s home this morning and if you can tell us where the boy was bitten, we’ll get them to have a look around that area too.’
Harris told them about the old canal that Keogh had been using as a short cut. ‘Look, let me take some of the exterminators down there, I can show them the exact spot.’
‘Yes,’ said Foskins, ‘we’re going along to the churchyard now to see how they’re getting on. You can come along and then take some of their chaps off to the canal. I’ll have to ring the school first.’
‘All right, but not a word to anyone about this. Just say the hospital needs you for a statement. Now when you do go back to your school we’d like you to ask your pupils if they’ve seen any rats recently, and if so, where. Also, if they’re bitten by anything - anything at all - they’re to go straight to the hospital.