“I can’t imagine,” Cal said. “The anesthesiologist was very specific in our hypothetical case. He said the victim should have a history of some kind of a heart problem; exactly what it was didn’t matter. The person should have had general surgery within twelve hours, and the drug be given in an existing intravenous line. That was it, wasn’t it?”

“That’s what I remember,” Durell said.

“She’s a medical student,” Veena added. “She knows about this stuff.”

“That shouldn’t matter,” Cal said. “We got the plan from an anesthesiologist, and he said it was foolproof.”

“She has arranged for two medical examiners to come to India,” Samira said.

“That’s right,” Veena agreed. “It’s not just she we have to think about.”

“And she mentioned my patient, Benfatti, to Veena, meaning she already knew about him,” Samira added.

“Once the information has been on CNN, anyone can know about it,” Cal said. “That’s not an issue.”

“But aren’t you worried about the medical examiners coming?” Veena asked. “They are forensic pathologists. It certainly worries me.”

“The medical examiners don’t worry me for two reasons: one, it sounds like from what you’ve said the Queen Victoria has no intention of allowing an autopsy to take place, and two, even if one was done and they found some evidence of succinylcholine, it would be attributed to the succinylcholine the patients are known to have been given as part of their anesthesia. The only thing that worries me to an extent is this Hernandez having a suspicion in the first place. What could have caused her to suspect anything?”

“Maybe it’s just paranoia on her part,” Durell suggested. “And the fact that there were two deaths back-to-back.”

“That’s an interesting idea,” Cal said. “You know, that could be it. Think about it. Out of the blue she finds out her grandmother is dead after surgery in India, of all places. She has to fly all the way here. Then the hospital pressures her to make a decision about what to do with the body before she’s ready. On top of that, there’s another, similar death. It’s enough to make anyone paranoid. Maybe the only lesson we should be learning here is not to do two in a row at the same hospital.”

“But Samira had a perfect patient,” Durell said, defending his girlfriend. “And she was eager. We have to reward that kind of initiative.”

“No doubt, and we did. You did a terrific job, Samira. It’s just from now on let’s not do the same hospital two nights in a row. We have to spread them out. After all, we have nurses in six hospitals. It doesn’t make sense to take any risks whatsoever.”

“Well, we’re not taking that kind of risk tonight,” Durell said.