Trauma (32 page)

'Maybe we should go?' said Main.

'No,' said Sarah firmly. 'He has already decided to report me to Professor 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 who 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 the occult. It was almost as if he felt relieved.

'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 Professor 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 Professor 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.

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.'

'So what do we do?' Main asked.

'I'll just have to be very careful,' said Sarah.

Lafferty smiled at Sarah's bravery. 'I don't think that will be good enough.’

'Then what?'

'You'll have to get out of here,' said Lafferty flatly. Main drew in his breath. Sarah looked shocked.

'But her career . . .' said Main.

'It's her life we have to consider,' said Lafferty. He looked at Sarah and said, 'Perhaps there's a way you could take some leave or arrange some kind of secondment until this business is over,' he said.

Sarah put her hand to her head and said, 'I hadn't thought . . . I don't know . . . I don't want to run away . . . I'm in it too you know.'

'Ryan's right,' said Main. 'It's too dangerous for you to continue working here. You must see that.'

Sarah nodded reluctantly then an idea seemed to strike her. She said, 'I met Professor Tyndall's brother at the reception the hospital gave for them over their new vaccine. It's just possible that I could spend some time in his research lab up at the university medical school. That way I would be away from Logan but still be around to keep in touch with you two.

'That sounds like a good idea,' said Lafferty.

Main agreed. 'You'll speak to Professor Tyndall about it tomorrow?' he asked.

Sarah promised that she would.

'So how do we go about collecting evidence?' asked Main.

Lafferty said, 'Logan must have accomplices. I think we're all agreed on that. Maybe that's where we'll find the weak link. From what Sarah told us about the routine procedure after a death someone must be being paid to turn a blind eye to certain irregularities. Do we know if the same firm of funeral directors was used in both Simon's and Mary O'Donnell's case?'

'I used Maitland Stroud in Morningside,' said Main.

Lafferty's shoulders sagged. He said, 'The O'Donnells used Granby's in Dalkeith Road.'

'They can't all be in on it,' said Main.

Lafferty looked at his watch and saw that it was after one am. 'Let's sleep on it,' he said.

'Some of us,' smiled Sarah.

'Sorry,' said Lafferty. 'You'll call me tomorrow when you've spoken to the Professor?'

Sarah said that she would. She accompanied Main and Lafferty to the door where they parted with whispered good-nights.

Main and Lafferty did not speak again until they were inside Lafferty's car. They both seemed to sense that the hospital was no longer a friendly place. It had become alien, threatening, a place to fear rather than trust.

'Do you think it's worthwhile asking the undertakers whether they actually saw Simon's body?' asked Main.

'No,' replied Lafferty firmly.

'Why not?'

'If they did, we'll be no further forward and if they didn't and didn't say anything about it, it would mean they’re involved so they wouldn’t tell us anyway. Either way, we’d be advertising our suspicions. It would get back to Logan.'

Main accepted what Lafferty said without comment for a moment, preferring instead to watch the road as they twisted and turned through the dark and largely deserted streets. 'You're right,' he conceded. 'I'm just not thinking straight.'

Lafferty smiled as he flicked on the wipers to deal the drizzly rain that had just started. 'You're doing just fine,' he said. 'None of this can be easy for you.'

'You know, I actually think I'm glad things have turned out this way,' said Main. 'It actually gives me a good feeling to think that part of Simon is alive inside someone else.'

'Good,' said Lafferty quietly.

'Even if it turns out that his body was used as part of some crooked medical scam involving millions, I'll still be glad. It won't matter who the patient is, whether he's the son of an Arab sheikh or a Texas oil millionaire, just as long as the kid's alive thanks to Simon.

'I think that's the right view,' said Lafferty.

'I just wish I could have said yes at the time instead of going through all this,' said Main. 'But Professor Tyndall just asked me at precisely the wrong moment.'

Lafferty brought the car to a halt outside Main's apartment block.

'Would you like to come up for coffee or a drink?' Main asked.

Lafferty shook his head and said, 'Let's both get some sleep. We need it.'

As Lafferty drove back to St Xavier's his thoughts turned to Sarah Lasseter and the danger she was in. He comforted himself with the thought that Logan couldn't afford to harm her while he and Main were on the scene. It would be too obvious. So what would he do? He would secure his position; that's what he’d do, Lafferty decided. He would take extra care to see that no one got careless. He would take no risks at all until Sarah Lasseter and her prying friends had disappeared from the scene. That might make the investigation doubly difficult but surely, in something this big, there had to be some way of getting inside it.

Lafferty decided to leave the car parked outside on the road rather than go to the trouble of opening the gates leading to the parking area beside the house. He took the short cut through the old churchyard, his feet crunching on the stones of the path as he skirted the church to reach the house. As he rounded the last corner, he came to an abrupt halt and his blood ran cold at the sight that met him. There wasn't much light but he could see that an animal was attached to his front door. As he approached slowly, he could see it was a cat. Its stomach had been slit open and its entrails were hanging out, its paws nailed to the wood. The smell made Lafferty put a hand to his face. He looked away for a moment and saw something else that made his heart stop. There was a body lying in the shadows.

He squatted down and turned the body so he could see the face. It was Mrs Grogan! He felt for a pulse and found one; she was alive; she had just fainted. He gathered her up in his arms and carried her round to the side door. Once safely inside, he called the police and Alan Jarvis who he knew was Mrs Grogan's GP. He was also his, though he seldom had need of him. Mrs Grogan came to before either had arrived and Lafferty had to calm her through her initial panic at the recollection of what she'd found on the door.

'I came back about ten o' clock,' she stammered. 'I'd forgotten to take my magazines home earlier so I thought I would pick them up on my way home from my sister. But when I got to the door . . .' Mrs Grogan buried her face in her handkerchief and Lafferty put an arm round her shoulders. Outside, cars were starting to draw up.

Lafferty glanced at the clock and saw that it coming up to two a.m. This was shaping up to be another night without sleep and it was beginning to tell on his patience. Mrs Grogan had been suitably soothed and sedated by her GP and the police had agreed to take her home. Other policemen however, remained to ask, just about every stupid bloody question they could think of, in Lafferty's view. He had expected the incident to be dealt with by a PANDA crew but they had been joined by a full inspector and his sergeant from CID. It was Inspector Lenny, the officer who had attended on the canal bank. Lafferty felt compelled to ask why?

'Because
you
are involved sir,' replied the man.

'I don't understand,' said Lafferty, suddenly feeling apprehensive.

'It goes something like this sir,' said the policeman, holding Lafferty's gaze as if it were some kind of test. 'You were the priest who was looking for McKirrop to ask him about witchcraft in the cemetery. You were the priest who found him dead. Now you are the priest who has a black cat nailed to his door. You seem to lead an exciting life sir.'

Lafferty remained silent.

'And now you are going to tell me that you have no idea who did this or why. Am I right?'

Lafferty nodded. 'Quite right,' he said. 'I've absolutely no idea.'

It was the police inspector's turn to keep quiet while he stared at Lafferty disconcertingly. Eventually he said, 'I'm no expert sir but I would think that a cat nailed to your door had something to do with black magic or satanic ritual or am I wrong?'