“You want to come out and take a look at the organization’s new ride?”

“Why not,” he said. He let his feet fall to the floor with a plop and stood up.

The front door to the mansion then slammed shut.

“Can we hold off just for a few minutes?” Cal asked. “If that’s Veena and Samira, I’d like to get a debriefing. I’ve been worrying over that Hernandez chick all day, ever since you rightly said we should find out what made her suspicious. I imagine it has something to do with her being a medical student, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what it could be. I even called the two doctors we’ve originally consulted in Charlotte, North Carolina. As far as I can figure out, we’ve thought of everything.”

“I’m for finding out,” Durell admitted. “Otherwise, it’s going to be a constant worry, you know what I’m saying?”

“I know what you’re saying,” Cal agreed, as Veena, Samira, and Raj came into the library. They were in a good mood, singing a song they all knew from childhood. Samira broke off and went up to Durell for a hug and a real kiss. Veena went to Cal but availed herself of only a French-style peck on each cheek.

Raj literally threw himself laughing onto the couch as he finished the last refrain of the childhood ditty.

“You guys are happy,” Cal commented, with the suggestion he wasn’t.

“It was an easy day for all of us,” Veena said. “Raj was the only one assigned a patient, and he was just a hernia repair. Samira and I had to look for things to do.”

“How come?”

Veena and Samira looked at each other. “We’re not sure. Maybe a few cancellations. Maybe Nurses International is doing too good a job.” They laughed.

“Wouldn’t that be ironic,” Cal said. “Anyway, what’s the status with the Hernandez woman? Any feedback today?”

“I was free around two-thirty,” Veena said, “so I went down to talk to the case manager. I asked her about Maria Hernandez’s body and whether it had been taken care of. She cackled mockingly and said, ‘Of course not.’ Apparently, they had gone to the extent of offering to have the body taken to Varanasi to have it cremated on the banks of the Ganges, but the granddaughter turned it down, so they are completely frustrated. Tomorrow the medical examiner friend is coming to the hospital, which shouldn’t make the slightest difference because they absolutely refuse to do an autopsy. But there’s clear sailing in sight. The case manager told me they are getting a writ tomorrow from a magistrate to remove and cremate the body. So it should be over tomorrow sometime.”

“Same for Benfatti,” Samira said.

“Same for David Lucas,” Raj said. “The magistrate writ is to cover all three bodies.”