There is very little the matter with them. They are not strictly speaking mentally disturbed.’
‘But they just cluck,’ Tommy suggested. ‘As you say. Mrs Moody clucked. She caused the nurses a fair amount of trouble although they were quite fond of her.
She had a habit of forgetting when she’d had her meals, mairlng a fuss because no dinner had been served to her when as a matter of fact she had actually just eaten a very good dinner.’ ‘Oh,’ said Tommy, enlightened, ‘Mrs Cocoa.’ ‘I beg your pardon?’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Tommy, ‘it’s a name my wife and I had for her. She was yelling for Nurse Jane one day when we passed along the passage and saying she hadn’t had her cocoa. Rather a nice=lookiug scatty little woman. But it made us both laugh, and we fell into the habit of calllng her Mrs Cocoa. And so she’s died.’
‘I wasn’t particularly surprised when the death happened,’ said Dr Murray. ‘To be able to prophesy with any exactitude when elderly women will die is practically impossible. Women whose health is seriously affected, who, one feels as a result of physical examination, will hardly last the year out, sometimes are good for another ten years. They have a tenacious hold on life which mere physical disability will not quench. There are other people whose health is reasonably good and who may, one thinks, make old bones. They on the other hand, catch bronchitis, or ‘flu, seem unable to have the stamina to recuperate from it, and die with surprising ease. So, as I say, as a medical attendant to an eldefly ladies’ home, I am not surprised when what might be called a fairly unexpected death occurs. This case of Mrs Moody, however, was somewhat different. She died in her sleep without having exhibited any sign of illness and I could not help feeling that in my opinion her death was unexpected. I will use the phrase that has always intrigued me in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. I have always wondered what Macbeth meant when he said of his wife, “She should have died hereafter.”‘
‘Yes, I remember wondering once myself what Shakespeare was getting at,’ said Tommy. ‘I forget whose production it was and who was playing Macbeth, but there was a strong suggestion in that particular production, and Macbeth cer-tainly played it in a way to suggest that he was hinting to the medical attendant that Lady Macbeth would be better out of the way. Presumably the medical attendant took the hint. It was then that Macbeth, feeling safe after his wife’s death, feeling that she could no longer damage him by her indiscretions or her rapidly failing mind, expresses his genuine affection and grief for her. “She should have died hereafter.”‘ ‘Exactly,’ said Dr Murray. ‘It is what I felt about Mrs Moody. I felt that she should have died hereafter. Not just three weeks ago of no apparent cause ‘ Tommy did not reply. He merely looked at the doctor inquiringly.
‘Medical men have certain problems. If you are puzzled over the cause of a patient’s death there is only one sure way to tell.
By a post mortem. Post mortems are not appreciated by relatives of the deceased, but if a doctor demands a post mortem and the result is, as it perfectly well may be, a case of natural causes, or some disease or malady which does not always give outward signs or symptoms, then the doctor’s career can be quite seriously affected by his having made a questionable diagnosis ‘ ‘I can see that it must have been difficult.’ ‘The relatives in question are distant cousins. So I took it upon myself to get their consent as it was a matter of medical i- teres, t to know the cause of death. When a patient dies in her sleep it is advisable to add to one’s medical knowledge. I wrapped it up a good bit, mind you, didn’t make it too formal.
Luckily they couldn’t care less. I felt very relieved in mind.
Once the autopsy had been performed and if all was well, I could give a death certificate without a qualm. Anyone can die of what is amateurishly called heart failure, from one of several different causes. Actually Mrs Moody’s heart was in really very good shape for her age. She suffered from arthritis and rheumatism and occasional trouble with her liver, but none of these things seemed to accord with her passing away in her sleep.’ Doctor Murray came to a stop. Tommy opened his lips and then shut them again. The doctor nodded.