“I am Dr Logan,” replied Sarah frostily. “Was there something?”
“I came by to take a look at the Keegan boy. His tests this morning seemed to suggest he was going downhill. But if you’re busy...”
Sarah got up and excused herself before following Logan out of the room. The tension between them persisted while they stood on either side of the patient’s bed and ran through the monitor read-outs together. As Logan finished noting down the last reading into his Filofax he said, “I thought you realised, Doctor, that being on duty meant giving your undivided attention to your patients.”
“When they need it, they have it,” replied Sarah, but she knew that Logan had the upper hand. He was not going to let her off lightly.
“I hardly think that socialising with your friends is compatible with giving ‘undivided attention’, do you?”
“I am not ‘socialising with my friends’, as you put it,” replied Sarah. “Mr Main and Father Lafferty had something they wished to discuss with me.”
“Main?” said Logan.
“Simon Main’s father,” said Sarah. “You may remember, Simon was a patient here in HTU. He died.”
“I remember,” said Logan. “What exactly do they want?” he asked, now more puzzled than annoyed.
“I’m not at liberty to say,” replied Sarah, intrigued by the change that had come over Logan.
“If it concerns HTU in any way, I should be told,” Logan said angrily. “Do I have to remind you that you are a junior doctor in this unit?”
“I don’t think so,” replied Sarah evenly. “I think you have made that perfectly clear to me on every conceivable occasion.”
“I demand to be told what’s going on.”
“And I must repeat that I am not at liberty to say.”
“You leave me no alternative but to inform Dr Tyndall of this,” Logan warned.
“As you wish, Doctor,” replied Sarah coldly.
Logan stormed out and Sarah let out her breath in a long sigh. The staff nurse at the console who had been out of earshot, though aware that all was not well, gave her a sympathetic shrug. Sarah returned to the doctors’ room.
Lafferty got up from the table and said, “This is all my fault. We should never have come here. Perhaps I could speak to Dr Tyndall and explain?”
Sarah smiled her appreciation. “Dr Logan and I just do not get on. He wanted to know what you were doing here.”
“You didn’t tell him?” said Lafferty.
“No, that’s why he was so angry.”
“Maybe we should go?” said Main.
“No,” said Sarah firmly. “He has already decided to report me to Dr Tyndall but that’s of no consequence. We have to find out what happened to Simon and Mary. Now, where were we?”
Lafferty gave Sarah a look of admiration and said, “We were discussing whether the funeral directors would know if a body was missing.”
“And there’s something we have been avoiding discussing for my benefit,” said Main.
Lafferty and Sarah exchanged a silent look.
“We haven’t discussed why the bodies went missing,” said Main. “We haven’t discussed who would want them.”
“No, we haven’t,” agreed Lafferty quietly, a bit unsure of Main’s intentions and considering the possibility of an imminent explosion.
“Dare I suggest that we all know why the medical profession might want to hang on to the bodies?” asked Main. When Lafferty and Sarah did not respond he added, “Spare parts.”
There was a slight tremor in Main’s hand, Lafferty noted but he seemed to be well in control of himself. Lafferty said, “I have to confess that the thought had occurred to me.”
“Me too,” agreed Sarah.
“I refused permission when I was asked at the time,” said Main.
“So did the O’Donnells,” added Sarah.
“But some bastard thought they would go ahead anyway,” said Main bitterly.
“Unfortunately, I think you may be right,” said Lafferty.
Main folded his hands on the table in front of him and made a gesture of frustration with his shoulders before saying, “The ironic thing is, I don’t really mind. At the time when I was asked, I was consumed with grief and couldn’t bear the thought of anyone interfering with Simon’s body. I refused point blank... it was almost a reflex action. But if I had been asked a little later, or in slightly different circumstances, I think I would have said yes. But I wasn’t.”
Lafferty nodded his understanding and Sarah gave Main a smile of encouragement.
“The really ironic thing,” said Main, “is that I actually had feelings of guilt after the funeral about having said no!”
Lafferty was glad that Main was speaking openly about his feelings. Main seemed much more comfortable with the new explanation of his son’s fate than anything involving satanism or the occult. It was almost as if he felt relieved by it.
“So what we are dealing with is a scandal,” said Main.
“A scandal involving murder,” Lafferty corrected him.
“So it’s an organised scam... involving organs to order?” suggested Main.
“I suppose it could be,” agreed Sarah cautiously, “but do you realise what sort of organisation that would involve?”
“Tell us,” said Lafferty.
“Our patients would have to be tissue-typed before their death to match up with the ‘orders’. The organs would have to be removed very quickly after death. This would involve surgeons and theatre facilities standing by, and then there’s transport. I don’t see how all this could be arranged secretly.”
Main said, “Maybe I’m cynical but I tend to think that if the money is big enough most things can be arranged.”
“So who is doing it?” Lafferty asked Sarah suddenly.
“Logan,” she replied almost automatically.
“You’re sure?” asked Lafferty.
“I know I’m biased because I dislike the man so much but everything points to it,” said Sarah. “He has a bee in his bonnet about getting transplant permission. He thinks Dr Tyndall should press much harder for it and gets annoyed when he doesn’t. I’ve heard him complain that Tyndall’s far too soft on several occasions.”
“I remember now,” said Main. “Logan asked if he could have a word with me after Simon died but Doctor Tyndall stopped him. I didn’t know what it was about at the time but now what Tyndall said makes sense. He told Logan the matter was closed. I had made ‘my decision’.”
“This was after you had refused permission for organ removal?” asked Lafferty.
“Yes.”
“And then there’s his involvement in John McKirrop’s death,” said Sarah. “I’m sure it was him.”
Lafferty told Main about the suspicious circumstances surrounding John McKirrop’s death.
“Did Logan recognise us?” asked Main.
“I told him who you were,” replied Sarah.
“Then you must now be in danger,” said Main.
“I didn’t tell him why you were here,” said Sarah.
“He’ll work it out for himself,” said Lafferty.
“Maybe we could make something up?” suggested Main. “An alternative reason for our being here.”
“At midnight? The father of a boy whose body went missing and the parish priest who has an interest in both John McKirrop and Mary O’Donnell. Would you believe an alternative explanation?” asked Lafferty.
“No,” conceded Main. “I wouldn’t.”
Fourteen
“So what do we do?” Main asked.
“I’ll just have to be very careful,” Sarah replied.
“I don’t think that will be good enough,” said Lafferty.
“Then what?” asked Sarah.
“You’ll have to get out of here,” said Lafferty flatly. Main drew in his breath. Sarah looked shocked.