“But they tried to force me to decide even before I got here, and once I did get here, and I’ve only been here for hours, it’s been push, push, push, cremate or embalm. I mean, they literally wanted to do it yesterday for fear the sky would fall. Initially, maybe I was just being obstructive from being angry because they killed my granny. Now it’s something else.”

“Like what? What are you implying?”

“I asked them what killed Maria, and they said heart attack. Then I asked them what caused the heart attack, given that she came out to visit me in L.A. not too long ago, and while she was there, she got a very thorough physical at UCLA Med Center. I was told her cardiovascular system got an A-plus report. Now, how can someone with an A-plus get an F a few months later, twelve hours post-elective surgery. I mean, during the procedure it might be understandable for idiosyncratic drug toxicity but not twelve hours later. At least I don’t think so.”

“I agree,” Laurie said. “With no apparent risk factors, you have to ask the question why.”

“And that’s why I did ask the question, but I certainly did not get a satisfactory answer, at least from the case manager. She just told me she wasn’t a doctor and apparently considered that adequate. It was then that I suggested the autopsy.”

“Good for you,” Laurie commented. “That is exactly what is needed if you have questions.”

“Fat chance,” Jennifer scoffed. “The case manager, Kashmira Varini, said whether or not there is going to be an autopsy is not up to the doctors or next of kin but the police or the magistrates. She went on to say that since Granny had been issued a death certificate, then there was not going to be an autopsy, case closed!”

“I’ve heard that the Indian forensic pathology system is behind the times. It’s too bad. It creates a circumstance where miscarriages of justice are waiting to happen. In many developing countries, the police and the judiciary are almost invariably corrupt and often in cahoots.”

“There’s more,” Jennifer said. “For the second night in a row, there’s been a death at the same hospital that sounds strangely similar. First it was my granny, then last night it was a man named Herbert Benfatti. Both were apparent heart attacks the night of their surgery, and like Granny, Mr. Benfatti had been recently cleared by an essentially normal pre-op angiogram.”

“Did they do an autopsy on the second patient?”

“I have no idea. When I asked the case manager handling Granny’s case, she told me she didn’t know about any death last night, but I didn’t believe her.”

“How come?”