“Don’t say anything. Just call the hospital, and then call me right back. I actually already called the hospital, but they wouldn’t give me any information, which is silly, since it has already been on international television. I’m staying at the Amal Palace Hotel and will stay here by the phone. Once again, I’m sorry to be the one to have had to call you when it was the hospital’s responsibility.”

The next thing Jennifer knew, she was listening to a dial tone. Rita had hung up on her. Thinking she might have done the same had the situation been reversed, Jennifer slowly hung up the receiver. It gave her a terrible feeling to have been the messenger with such bad news, and she found she hated the role. At the same time, as a physician in training she knew that she might have to do it a number of times over the course of her career.

Knowing that sleep was now completely out of the question, Jennifer wondered what she should do. She thought about reading more in the guidebook but then gave up. She couldn’t concentrate. She began to worry that even if the CNN report had been correct, Rita might leave her in the dark and not call her back in a kind of passive-aggressive reaction, blaming the messenger.

Without coming up with a better idea, Jennifer turned up the volume on the TV and blankly began watching a CNN segment on Darfur. But no sooner had she gotten herself comfortable when her phone rang. She snatched it up practically before the first ring terminated. As she hoped, it was Rita, but Rita’s voice had changed. She was now choked up to the point that it was difficult for her to speak.

“I don’t know who you are or what kind of human being you are, but my husband is dead.”

“I’m terribly sorry, and I certainly didn’t get any pleasure from having had to be the one to tell you. The only reason I was willing to do so is to warn you about the hospital possibly trying to bully you into giving them permission to cremate or embalm.”

“What difference does that make?” Rita snapped.

“Only that if either is done, an autopsy can’t be done. It seems already that there are similarities between your husband’s unexpected passing and my grandmother’s and Mr. Benfatti’s. I would assume your husband’s death was unexpected?”

“Absolutely! We had him cleared by his cardiologist only a month before.”

“It was the same with my grandmother and Mr. Benfatti. To be honest, I’m concerned these deaths are not natural. That’s what I meant when I said something was wrong.”

“What do you mean exactly?”

“I’m concerned these deaths might be intentional.”

“You mean someone killed my husband.”

“Somehow, yes,” Jennifer said, realizing just how paranoid such a statement sounded.