Psalm 2:10
Sunday 11th November: "So why for God's sake did Mary kill herself?"
Mike and Rick sat together in Peter's Grill in the Mariott - as anonymous as you could be amongst the bustle. They were drinking coffee. It was late afternoon.
There was a third member of their little troop. She was Dr Paola Subani, the family physician that Mike and Rick shared in common with the late Mrs Mary Young. They had invited her over to milk her for information; and she knew it.
At 56 Dr Paola wore her years badly. Her breasts sagged, her face was prematurely wrinkled, but she remained attractive largely because her habit was to flirt.
It was an unconscious reflex action - her flirting. Had she been told that was what she did she'd have been quite surprised. But she did, and men always like a flirt.
However this afternoon she was not true to type. She was being cautious. She just shrugged in response to Rick's question.
Mike decided to bring an end to the incipient hiatus. He resorted to the obvious distraction. "Look let's can the coffee. Perhaps they can bring us something stronger." He raised his arm to flag down the nearest waiter.
Dr Paola lifted her head. She still had good hair, fine, black and curly. She liked to think of it as her crowning glory and she more tossed her head than shook it. "Coffee's fine for me but you boys go ahead."
Which they did. Ordering bourbon on the rocks and a BBC Steel Rail Beer. "You sure?" said Mike.
Dr Paola wanted to say Yes but intended to say No. She surprised herself when she said, "Well OK then. A glass of white wine; anything but Chardonnay."
Mike made small talk as they waited for the drinks which came swiftly, hotel style, with little glass bowls containing potato chips and olives respectively.
"Getting back to Mary," Rick said once they had all wished one another good health. "You understand Dr Paola? Why we ask you these questions I mean. It may be pertinent to the murder enquiry. Is there anything, anything at all, that you may have withheld from the police to spare the family's feelings - anything that you feel unable to share with the police at this stage as a consequence?"
Rick saw her hesitation and pushed his advantage. "Anything, anything at all, Dr Paola. It would help."
Dr Paola didn't answer at once. Instead she sipped her wine thoughtfully. Mentally she had an "Aw what the heck" moment. At last she commented, "Well there was something."
The two men lent slightly forward. "Yes?" said Rick.
Dr Paola paused a long while, sipping her wine while she considered. "This goes no further? I have your assurance on that."
The men nodded. "Of course," said Rick.
"Well I was concerned for the family. I didn't want to bring out Mary Young's private life when I spoke with the police. I saw no need. However since you've promised to retain confidentiality, I will tell you that Mary Young was taking Seroxat for depression."
"You prescribed that?"
Dr Paolo pursed her lips and sucked in her cheeks in one those smirkish you-should-know-better-than-to-ask smiles, "No, she brought it on the Internet. I warned against it. I would have prescribed Prozac. Seroxat may be a good workmanlike anti-depressant but it is known to have side effects on occasion."
"Such as making you feel suicidal?" interrupted Rick.
The doctor nodded, more somberly this time. "Not as a rule. Seroxat is a useful drug. But sometimes it may not be, well, the drug of first choice."
"Wow," said Rick. He whistled. "That may explain a lot."
Mike interrupted. "Shut up a minute Rick. This is important. He looked shrewdly into Dr Paola's eyes. "There's something else isn't there?"
Dr Paola snapped her head round, locking her eyes on his. "Yes there is. And as a matter of fact it turned out fine. There was nothing to worry about. But about two weeks before she died . . ." Dr Paola returned to her wine before she continued. "Just a couple of weeks before she died - she asked for an aids test."
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