The Death Chamber (39 page)

Footsteps sounded along the corridor outside Walter’s room shortly after one a.m., and the knocking on his door was loud and urgent.

Walter had been in an uneasy half sleep in the narrow bed; he had developed a throbbing headache earlier so he had not bothered with supper, thinking he would try to sleep it off. But the sleep
was a very shallow one, and he came fully awake at once and called out, ‘Yes? What is it?’

‘Dr Kane, can you come? It’s Molland.’

Molland.

‘Hold on a minute, I’ll put some clothes on,’ said Walter, and reached for the sweater, shoes and trousers he always kept ready.

The warder outside his door was one of the new, temporary men Edgar Higneth had recently recruited. Walter did not know his name, but thought he was normally put on duty with the unprepossessing
Saul Ketch.

‘What’s the matter with Molland?’ said Walter as they hurried along the dimly lit corridors to the condemned block.

‘She’s sicking up her guts and rolling around moaning in pain,’ said the warder. ‘It’s my opinion she’s trying it on – wants the attention, or
she’s managed to swallow something to cheat the rope – but Mr Ketch said I was to fetch you anyway, Doctor.’

‘Quite right,’ said Walter tersely.

The door of the condemned cell was open and the shifty-eyed Saul Ketch was waiting. He darted a sideways look at Walter, which Walter found disconcerting. ‘Ketch, isn’t it?
I’ll go in on my own; you’ll wait outside, please.’

‘Orders are to stay with the prisoner at all times, Doctor.’

‘Be damned to orders,’ said Walter. ‘This is a young girl who might be genuinely ill, and I’m her doctor. So you’ll stay outside the room until I call
you.’

Ketch looked sullen, but he did as he was told and Walter closed the door. Elizabeth was lying on her side, hunched over. Her face was twisted in pain and it had a feverish flush. Tendrils of
sweat-soaked hair were sticking to her forehead. There was sour smell in the room, and Walter saw they had given her a basin and a towel and that she had been sick.

He sat on the edge of the bed, and said, quietly, ‘I’m here to help, Elizabeth. You know that. Just say where the pain is.’

‘Stomach. Low down – this side.’ She indicated the right-hand side, and Walter nodded.

‘I’ll give you something for the pain in a minute, but I need to examine you first and take your temperature.’

He put the thermometer into her mouth, and made a careful examination of her abdomen. She watched him from half-closed eyes, wincing several times. Halfway through she struggled up in the bed,
and reached blindly for the bowl to be sick again. Walter held the bowl for her and wiped her mouth afterwards, giving her a sip of water from the jug. Her temperature was 101.

‘I’ll give you a shot of morphine, Elizabeth,’ he said. ‘You’ll feel better presently.’

‘Thank you, Dr Kane,’ she said on a gasp, and one hand came out to take his briefly.

Walter opened the door and stepped outside; the two warders looked at him.

‘She’s gammoning us, isn’t she?’ said the man who had knocked so hard on the door. Ketch said nothing, but his eyes were on the figure on the bed.

‘No, she isn’t,’ said Walter sharply. ‘She is very ill indeed. Ketch, stay with her – keep the bowl handy in case she’s sick again.’

‘I ain’t no nursemaid to a murderer—’

‘You’ll have to be for the next ten minutes,’ said Walter.

‘I think it might be appendicitis,’ said Walter.

Higneth stared at him in horror. ‘Are you sure?’

‘No. Appendicitis can mimic other conditions – diverticulitis, an abscess on the right-hand kidney, pelvic inflammation – although I’ve examined her for that and I think
it can be ruled out.’ He frowned. ‘But taking it overall, the symptoms fit for appendicitis – the pain’s in the right place and there appears to be rebound tenderness,
particularly around McBurney’s point. There’s sickness and some fever. And she’s the right age.’

‘Appendicitis,’ said Higneth, trying out the word. ‘Oh God. What do you advise?’

‘With most patients the best thing is to wait a few hours and see if it develops any more strongly – or if it calms down. But this isn’t an ordinary patient,’ said
Walter, ‘so I don’t think we can take any risks. We need to get her to a hospital so more precise tests can be made. Blood and urine and so on.’

‘If it is appendicitis?’

‘Left untreated it may well burst, and peritonitis will set in. That’s treatable, but it can be fatal.’

Higneth stared at Walter, as the appalling complexity of the situation washed over him.

‘I don’t know if there are any rules that govern you in this situation,’ said Walter. ‘But there are certainly medical rules that govern me and I’m afraid
I’ll have to follow them.’

‘I don’t think this situation has ever arisen before,’ said Higneth. ‘Walter, if we wait – and if it does worsen and you think it’s appendicitis, can’t
you – isn’t it possible for you to do the operation here?’

‘Good God, no. It needs a properly qualified surgeon.’

‘Could we get a surgeon here?’

‘No,’ said Walter. ‘It needs full operating facilities: anaesthetic equipment; properly trained nurses. It would take far too long to set up.’

‘You mentioned blood tests – Could they be done here? If we got Kendal hospital to send out anything you’d need and a laboratory technician and so on?’

‘The trouble is,’ said Walter slowly, ‘that if she does need an appendectomy . . .’

‘She needs to have it as soon as possible so that she can recover in time for – Yes, of course. This is the most macabre situation,’ said Higneth.

‘I know. But let’s take it a step at a time. I could be wrong. I’ll telephone the hospital and see if they’ll send out an ambulance for her. They’ll do the tests
and if I’m wrong, she could be back here by lunchtime tomorrow. But if I’ve made the right diagnosis, they’ll be able to operate at once. I’ll go with her, of
course.’

‘You should have at least one warder with you,’ said Higneth. ‘A female – only I don’t think any of the women are on duty – we’re so wretchedly
short-staffed at the moment.’

‘If I travel in the ambulance with her, wouldn’t that do? I’ve given her a shot of morphia and she’s barely conscious – she isn’t any danger to anyone. If
necessary, we can send one of the women out to the hospital tomorrow. If they need to operate, I mean.’

Higneth said, ‘An operation to save her life so that she can be executed. Walter, would she be—’

He stopped and Walter finished the sentence for him. ‘Would she be sufficiently recovered in time to be hanged?’ he said, and Higneth winced. ‘Yes, I should think so. Just
about. But we really shouldn’t jump to conclusions yet. I’ll make the call from the surgery now.’ He went to the door and then turned back. ‘We’re letting her family
know, are we?’

‘I haven’t done yet, but I must, of course. Apart from anything else, she’s under twenty-one. Technically still a minor.’

‘Would you like me to telephone the Mollands?’ said Walter. ‘There’s someone with her now, and she’ll be all right until the ambulance gets here. You must have a
great many other things to do.’

‘Would you mind?’ said Higneth gratefully.

‘Not at all. I’ve met them which will make it a bit easier.’

‘I feel so sorry for that couple,’ said Higneth. ‘Whatever she did, they’re still Elizabeth’s parents.’

Elizabeth’s parents . . .

‘Mr Molland? It’s Walter Kane from Calvary Gaol. I’m so sorry to be telephoning you at this time of the night, but we wanted to let you know about a rather unexpected
development.’

‘Has there been a reprieve?’

The sudden hope in Molland’s voice sliced through Walter like a knife. He said quickly, ‘No, I’m sorry, nothing like that. But Elizabeth’s been taken ill – severe
abdominal pains and some sickness. We’re worried in case it’s appendicitis, so I’ve arranged for her to go into the infirmary at Kendal: there’s a big new one on the
outskirts.’

‘Oh, I see,’ said Molland. ‘It’s very kind of you to telephone us yourself, Dr Kane. Is she very ill?’

‘She’s certainly unwell,’ said Walter. ‘I can’t be sure that it’s appendicitis. If it is there’ll have to be an immediate operation but it could turn
out to be a wasted journey for everyone.’

‘I’m very grateful to you for telephoning. I’ll let my wife know what’s happened – I don’t think she heard the telephone.’

But he did not seem as if he wanted to ring off and after a moment, Walter said, ‘How is your wife?’

‘It’s an odd thing,’ said Molland. ‘But since the trial – since all that evidence came out – she’s been better. It was the not knowing that was so bad,
you see.’

‘Yes, of course.’

‘After the trial, she seemed to pick up. She said it was as if it wasn’t our girl any longer. As if we’d lost her over a year ago. That’s how Edith sees it, Dr Kane
– that we’d lost our bright lovely girl, and that a – a cruel vicious monster had taken her place.’

‘Do you feel the same?’ said Walter.

There was another pause, then Molland said, ‘Have you children yourself, Dr Kane?’

‘No.’

‘Ah. Well, a man looks on a daughter as a bit special like. But I go along with my wife, of course.’

‘Of course.’

‘Will the – the execution still be on the same day? I mean, if there’s an operation, will that delay it?’

‘I don’t know yet,’ said Walter. ‘I don’t think it’s a situation that has ever happened before. At the moment the plan is for it to be on the original day,
but I think we have to be prepared for that to alter. An ambulance is collecting Elizabeth shortly. It’ll be here in about three quarters of an hour.’

‘I understand,’ said Molland. ‘Thank you for telling me all this. I’m very grateful to you, Dr Kane.’

Elizabeth’s parents . . .

‘Sir Lewis? I’m sorry to phone you in the middle of the night.’

‘Walter? What’s wrong? Is it the prisoner?’

‘Yes. Taken ill. I suspect appendicitis.’

‘Good God.’ He started to speak, and then hesitated. Walter waited, and Lewis said, ‘I saw her earlier today.’

‘I thought you’d visit her at some point.’

‘Higneth knew, of course,’ said Lewis. ‘But hardly anyone else saw me. Most of the staff were in the warders’ recreation room. She wasn’t in the least what I
expected, Walter.’

‘She wasn’t in the least what I expected, either,’ said Walter.

‘I didn’t tell her anything,’ he said. ‘I just said I still took an interest in things at Calvary – in the people who came there. I only stayed for about half an
hour. She seemed all right then. Are you taking her to the infirmary yourself?’

‘I’ve asked them to send out an ambulance,’ said Walter. ‘It’ll be easier all round. And the hospital will have the facilities to make a more definite diagnosis.
It’s not very far from here to Kendal anyway.’

‘Nor it is,’ said Lewis, ‘in fact if they use the high road it’ll only take half an hour.’

‘It may turn out to be a false alarm, of course.’

‘Does everyone know about it – everyone who ought to know, I mean?’

‘I’ve phoned you and I’ve phoned the Mollands,’ said Walter. ‘I thought you should know. And if you know of anyone else who ought to be told . . .’

‘I understand,’ said Lewis, exactly as Molland had said. He added, ‘Thank you, Walter,’ and he, too, rang off.

He’ll tell Belinda, thought Walter. We understood one another over that.

‘It’s all arranged,’ said Walter to Higneth, who was standing rather helplessly at the open door of the condemned cell. He glanced inside. Elizabeth was lying
as he had left her, but it looked as if the morphia had taken effect. He thought for a moment, and then said, ‘Will you tell the officer on the gate to let the ambulance through when it
arrives? I’ll get Ketch to help me carry her down on one of the stretchers. She can be put in the guard room until the ambulance comes. She’s not fully conscious, and it’ll save a
bit of time.’

‘A good idea,’ said Higneth, and went along to his office to give the order to the gatehouse.

Ketch was annoyed to be sent for the stretcher, because he did not want to miss whatever might be happening in the condemned cell. There were some very interesting things
inside Calvary at the moment, and Ketch’s nose was telling him that something was happening tonight. It was all about the Molland bit, Ketch knew it in his bones. But McNulty did not deal in
bones – he would not pay money for feelings in bones – so Ketch would have to get proper facts. He dared say McNulty would be very pleased if something could be found against Walter
Kane. Something dark and sly that Kane would not want knowing. That would be worth a lot of money to McNulty, which meant it would be worth a lot of money to Ketch as well. So he was keeping his
eyes open and his ears on stalks.

He got the stretcher from the stores, took it back, and helped Dr Kane lift the Molland tart onto it. She was wailing fit to wake the dead, thought Ketch, pleased with the humour of his thought,
although what with the wailing and what with her chucking her guts up again, it was a dismal task. Ketch would have to have a word with somebody about the mess all over his uniform shirt. He would
have to request a brand new one, in fact now he came to think about it, he might insist on new trousers and boots as well.

They might need to operate on Molland at the hospital, or so it seemed. Ketch listened to Dr Kane talking about this with Old Hedgehog and thought what a waste of time to operate on somebody who
was going to die in a couple of weeks anyway. But Molland had all the men feeling sorry for her; Ketch had seen that for himself. Fluttering her eyes at Old Hedgehog and saying, Oh, Mr Higneth,
you’re being so kind to me. Putting on that, I am a meek little lamb and the wolf got me air with everybody. She was tough as old boots, Elizabeth Molland, and none of them could see she was
working on them to get out of Calvary and out of reach of old Pierrepoint’s rope! Ketch could see it, though. Ketch knew a thing or two about women, and he knew a thing or two more about
frail waifs who were about as frail as a drunkard’s hobnailed liver, and who pretended to be poor little victims when they were really vicious little vixens. A survivor, that was what this
one was.