“Let me run upstairs and find out what’s going on,” Arun said.

“While Arun’s doing that, why don’t we go up and have a bite to eat in the coffee shop?” Laurie suggested. “Depending on what he finds out, there might not be another chance.”

“Good idea,” Arun said. “I’ll meet you in there.”

It took Arun a little longer than he expected, but he also found out more than he had anticipated. By the time he entered the coffee shop, the others already had their sandwiches. The moment he sat down, the waitress appeared at his side. He ordered a sandwich as well.

As soon as the waitress left, he leaned forward over the table. The others leaned in as well. “This is incredible,” he said in a low voice, making certain no one else could hear. He looked from one to the other. “First of all, the hospital is furious that Maria Hernandez is gone. They are so furious, that the old man downstairs has been fired.”

“Damn,” Jack voiced. “I was afraid of that.”

“They are also sure that the medical examiners from New York City stole it. Curiously, though, they haven’t filed an FIR against you guys.”

“What’s an FIR?” Laurie asked.

“It’s a First Information Report,” Arun explained. “It’s the first thing that must be done if you want the police to do something. But the police hate to file them because it means work.”

“Who are you getting this from?” Jack asked.

“I’m getting it from the hospital CEO,” Arun said. “His name is Rajish Bhurgava. We are reasonably good friends. I’ve known him from our school days.”

“If they know we took the body, why aren’t they filing the FIR?” Laurie asked.

“I’m not sure I understand, but he said it had something to do with someone very high in the health ministry, a man by the name of Ramesh Srivastava, who’d ordered him not to file. It has to do with fear of the media.”

Laurie, Jack, and Neil shared a sustained glance to see if anyone wanted to respond to what Arun had said. Laurie was the only one who spoke up. “Maybe this Ramesh is on the trail of the healthcare serial killer and is afraid of the media alerting him or her too soon in the investigation.”

Jacked looked askance at Laurie.

“Well, it’s just a guess,” Laurie offered.

“Let’s go on to the next, more important, part,” Arun said. “Both Benfatti and the body from the Aesculapian Medical Center hospital, Lucas, have been removed by a magistrate’s writ that gives the hospitals the right not only to get them out of the hospital but also to dispose of them as a public nuisance and public danger. But the weirdest part is that they have somehow arranged to have them cremated at the main burning ghat of Varanasi.”