Page 12 of A Curious Ending

Lara launched into her prepared speech about her foot and how she was worried about whether it was safe to drive. She was acutely aware of her thudding heart and sincerely hoped that Dr Patil did not take her blood pressure. She was also making a supreme effort not to look at her Kindred Spirit who was wandering around the room looking at the bookshelves and at the papers on the doctor’s desk.

She was not helped in this by Abby, who was giving her a running commentary. ‘I think he looks like a nice man. I do prefer an older doctor, don’t you? It makes you feel you are in safe hands. He certainly seems very well read and not just medical books here I see. Quite eclectic taste, natural history and some nice poetry…’

Lara interrupted her flow, ‘I do like the peace and quiet of this town, don’t you, Dr Patil?’

‘What, er yes, yes, I suppose I do,’ he replied, looking up from his examination of her ankle.

Lara kept going before Abby could resume her monologue. ‘I hope you didn’t mind me asking about Lady Porter that evening in the pub. I wasn’t trying to be nosy, it’s just that I was very fond of her.’

Dr Patil did not reply but instead asked, ‘Does this hurt?’ as he pressed down on her instep.

Lara shook her head and was about to fill the silence when she became aware of Abby watching her with a finger held to her lips. ‘Give him time,’ she said softly.

Abby’s instinct proved to be correct as after a while the doctor drew himself up, grunted slightly and addressed Lara. ‘I know that she enjoyed your company too. Yes, she was very pleased when you became a frequent visitor.’

‘The two of you were close?’ Lara tried to make the question a gentle rather than an impertinent enquiry.

‘We had known each other for many years. Even before I came to settle here. I did my foundation training in Nottingham after moving from India and lived there for some years. As a younger doctor I helped care for her husband Reginald – Lord Porter – at the University Hospital when he died of pneumonia. The tragedy is that today, while we would not have been able to cure him, we would have been able to prolong his life. Things were never the same for her after that, she cut all ties with the area and moved here.’

‘Did you know Lady Porter when she lived in India?’ Lara ventured.

‘India? What on earth makes you ask that?’ He sounded genuinely surprised. ‘She was never in India… as far as I know.’ He frowned as if the thought upset him. Then looking at Lara over the top of his glasses, and smiling sardonically, added, ‘Do you presume I would know everyone in India just because it is the country of my birth?’

Lara then said something that made Abby stare at her, a rare look of surprise on her face.

The effect on the doctor, however, was completely different. His face split into a boyish grin and he laughed. ‘And that is a very good lesson for me. Not to make assumptions too. Where did you learn to speak Hindi?’

Lara smiled back, pleased that her one Indian language turned out to be the one that the doctor spoke. She also really hoped that Dr Patil did not turn out to be their murderer. ‘I studied languages at university. Mainly Middle Eastern but I know a little Hindi. Enough to apologise anyway.’

‘No need for an apology,’ his smile then faded. ‘I find that extraordinary – the mention of India.’

‘Yes, she told great stories about her childhood and from when she was a young woman,’ Lara informed him.

He shook his head and said, ‘How well can we ever say we know anyone?’

Lara wondered if he was talking about himself, or her. However, encouraged by this more personal conversation (and trying to ignore Abby who was sitting on top of a long line of filing cabinets), Lara ventured, ‘Did you think it was suicide, Dr Patil?’

This time he looked at her sharply. ‘In my experience, it is impossible to predict who will take their own life. It is often those who hide their pain from the world and as I said earlier, how well can we know anyone? So in that sense… yes… on reflection… yes, I do.’

‘But why? I still don’t understand why?’ Lara couldn’t help pleading. She felt as Lady Porter’s doctor and her friend – surely he must have some idea.

After a pause Dr Patil continued, ‘All I can tell you is that once Elizabeth had made her mind up to something, she wouldn’t have hesitated. And that is why I believed it to be suicide. No fuss. No bother.’

Lara had always called her friend Lady Porter and now she realised she had never known her first name. It wasn’t social hierarchy that kept Lara calling her Lady Porter, it was just that it suited her so well… the stories… her way of speaking… the Pink Gins. Now she wondered if that is what they had been, just stories? Or was the doctor hiding something?

Lara nearly missed the doctor’s next comment.

‘A determined woman without a doubt.’ He gave a funny gesture, somewhere between a shrug and a laugh. ‘You could say it runs in the family.’

Lara heard Abby’s long drawn out, ‘Interesting.’

‘Family?’ Lara queried, looking at Abby, who gave her a small nod.

‘What?’ It seemed Dr Patil’s mind had wandered.

‘You said it ran in the family. Were you thinking of Lord Porter or—’

Lara had been about to add Richard, but Dr Patil cut in, ‘Yes, yes, Reginald. You don’t get to be a peer of the realm from a working-class background without a considerable amount of drive.’ He sat back down at his desk.