Evolution of a Medical Specialist

than her address, refused to answer my questions and, in an emotional voice, repeated: “You must come now!”

This was a rather startling request. I was not going to put my neck into a noose by going alone, after midnight, to the apartment of an unmarried woman—a single man myself, divorced and not yet remarried. I decided to call upon the nurse in our x-ray department, a widow who was both intelligent and understanding, to help me out of this awkward situation. I phoned her, asking her to be dressed and ready to accompany me on a house call as soon as possible.

She was waiting on the steps of her apartment house when I arrived, and as we drove she tried to pry some explanation from me. But I was as perplexed as she was.

When we reached the modest apartment, Miss X was in a dressing gown, hair in disarray, face taut, obviously repressing extreme anxiety. She could hardly compose a sentence. As she stammered, we followed her to a bedroom. The body of a man wearing evening clothes—white tie and tails—lay on the floor. He was well past middle age, bald and portly. It was not necessary to seek a pulse or examine his pupils or hold a mirror to his nostrils. The man was dead.

“He” had been to a banquet, had eaten well and drunk liberally, had visited her apartment before going home, complained of indigestion and keeled over without another word. In order to help in so serious a situation, it was essential for me to know his identity. Finally, and very reluctantly, Miss X disclosed the name of an eminent scientist whose name and reputation I knew well. The necessary legal steps of notifying the police and the coroner’s office had, of course, to be taken immediately. But how were we to cover up the scandal?

53.