“It’s not important. The reason I didn’t is because the facilities for forensic pathology have been traditionally very bad, for bureaucratic reasons.”

“I notice even a hospital like this one lacks any mortuary facility.”

“That’s true,” Arun said. “There’s little need. Hindu and Muslim families claim their departed immediately for religious reasons.”

“Here I am,” Laurie said brightly, coming into the room. “I’m so excited about reaching the trigger injection. I can’t tell you how much I hate taking hormones.”

“I asked your husband about IUI,” Arun said to Laurie. “He wanted to wait for you.”

Laurie glanced at Jack. “Why did you want to wait for me?”

Jack shrugged. “He asked what our preference was.”

“Well, natural is much nicer. There’s no doubt. But intrauterine gets all those little guys where they need to be. With this much effort, we cannot take any chances. I’m afraid we have to do IUI.”

“Fine,” Jack said, waving his hands in the air.

“Then let’s make an appointment for tomorrow. How about around noon?”

Laurie and Jack looked at each other and nodded. “That’s fine,” Laurie said.

“Noon it is,” Arun said. “We’ll do all we can to see that your little one is conceived here in India. Now that that is out of the way, what is your business here at Queen Victoria Hospital? Is it something I can help you with? I am free. Today is my research day.”

“Do you have any friends who are forensic pathologists?” Laurie asked.

“I do. A very good friend, in fact: Dr. Vijay Singh. He and I have been friends since childhood. We both wanted to go into forensics. He actually did. He teaches at one of the private medical colleges here in New Delhi.”

“Do they have pathology facilities at this medical school?” Jack asked. He was encouraged.

“Absolutely. It’s a medical school and a small hospital.”

“How about autopsy facilities?” Laurie asked.

“Of course. As I said, it is a medical school. They do quite a few academic autopsies.”

Jack and Laurie regarded each other, then both nodded. They knew each other well enough that a significant amount of nonverbal communication occurred between them.

“Arun—do you mind if we call you Arun?” Jack asked.

“I prefer it,” Arun said.

“Do you think your friend Vijay might be willing to allow us to use his facilities? We’d like to do an autopsy.”

“You have to have permission to do an autopsy here in India.”

“This is a special case,” Jack said. “It is not an Indian but rather an American, and the immediate next of kin is here and gives her consent.”

“That is a unique request,” Arun said. “To be honest, I don’t know the legal situation.”

“Doing the autopsy, we believe, is very important.”