Dead of Winter

Chapter 64

When the call came from her ex-husband Simon, Harding was busy examining the contents of Sonny’s stomach. Seemed that Sonny liked to drink and snort coke but eating wasn’t high on his list.

‘Jo. . how are you?’

Funny how the sound of someone’s voice could evoke such a mix of feelings, thought Harding.

‘I’m great, thanks. Over-worked, underpaid but people will keep dying on my shift.’

‘Ha-ha. . you were a bad girl in your last life; it’s payback time.’

‘You could be right. I saw James Martingale the other day. He said you were head boob man.’

‘Hey. . it’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it. Not many men get to look at women’s breasts all day.’

‘And draw a line over them saying: “cut here”.’

‘Ha-ha. . So. . Miss “Acid Tongue”, to what do I owe your recent communication?’

‘Chrissie Newton’s death. We were going through a divorce at the time.’

‘I recall that. . yes.’

‘At that time you were a surgeon at St Bloom’s?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did anyone ever ask you to perform an organ transplant in a private hospital and you thought to yourself, there’s something not quite right about this?’

‘Not sure I understand what you’re saying. You know the procedure as well as I do. There’s a lot goes on behind the scenes to free up an organ and match someone from the transplant lists. That part of it is someone else’s responsibility. What’s this about?’

‘Have you seen the news about Bloodrunners?’

‘I thought it was just the gutter press sensationalizing.’

‘No. There’s a lot more and it gets a lot worse than even they could imagine. People are being harvested to order. Bloodrunners offer a “made to measure” service. They hunt down a blood type, a body type, a lifestyle match — they offer anything the wealthiest require. Someone, somewhere pays big money for a bespoke service. We think they harvested Chrissie Newton thirteen years ago.’

‘Does Martingale know?’ Simon’s voice was breaking. He coughed.

‘He knows. The thing is, Simon, I need your help to make a list of all those surgeons who you worked with at the time, who you think have the expertise to carry out complicated transplants.’

‘I told you, procedures are in place. It just wouldn’t happen.’

‘And you have to remember that it did and it still does. There are surgeons out there who are operating on living donors without knowing that they are perfectly healthy. They are taking life from one to give to another without ever realizing what they’re part of.’

‘Alright. . okay. . I get the point. I will help, of course.’

‘I don’t want Martingale informed.’

‘No. . I agree. Of course. Anyway, I value my job here. I’ll email the names and what details I have over to you. But keep my name out of it.’