frailty of his thin body, his voice was strong and his intellect seemed quick and unimpaired.
‘Good of you to see me Doctor,’ said Bannerman, stretching out his hand. He found MacLeod’s grasp firm and free of masonic information. He was shown into what was obviously MacLeod’s consulting room and invited to sit down.
‘There’s really not much I can tell you,’ said MacLeod, placing his elbows on the desk and resting his chin on folded hands.
Bannerman could imagine him adopting this posture in front of generations of patients … Tell me all about it Mrs Macpherson, when did you first notice the swelling …
‘The condition came on so quickly that there was very little I could do, except provide some relief from the pain and give them sedation. One of the men was dead of course when they found him and another was raving mad in the streets. Gordon Buchan was the only one I managed to attend, simply because he had a wife to call me in.’
‘What were your thoughts when you first saw him?’ asked Bannerman.
MacLeod grimaced slightly at the memory. He said, ‘‘I once saw a man die of rabies in North Africa. That’s the only thing I could compare the condition to. Progression into complete dementia with the patient experiencing the most horrible nightmares.’
‘‘I wonder if I might see your case notes on the men?’ asked Bannerman. ‘‘I’m trying to collect together every single detail.’
‘Of course,’ replied MacLeod, getting up stiffly from his chair and opening a three-drawered filing cabinet. He brought out the relevant files and placed them on the desk in front of Bannerman.
‘I understand that some kind of viral meningitis is being blamed for the deaths,’ said MacLeod, as Bannerman worked his way through the slim files.
Bannerman met MacLeod’s eyes briefly and said, That’s what I understand too.’
‘Did you know that the men were employed on burying dead sheep when they fell ill?’
‘I had heard,’ said Bannerman without raising his eyes this time, although his pulse rate rose a little.
The sheep died of
This time Bannerman felt he could no longer avoid MacLeod’s clever probing. He lifted his head and said, ‘Yes Doctor.’
‘Just so as you know,’ said MacLeod gently with a vaguely amused look on his face.
Bannerman closed the files and stacked them together on the desk. He said, ‘Yes Doctor, you are perfectly right in your suspicions. The
MacLeod shook his head slightly and made a gesture with his hands to signify that no offence had been taken. Then you believe it’s a real possibility?’
‘I’m afraid so,’ replied Bannerman. ‘All the evidence seems to point to the men having contracted sheep
‘A breach of the species barrier would be no joke,’ said MacLeod.
Bannerman nodded. He had taken a liking to MacLeod. He felt guilty about having misjudged the man when he first heard about the length of his service in the area. He asked, ‘What happened after the men’s deaths?’
‘I requested that post-mortems be carried out by the MRC instead of the area pathologist.’
‘Why?’
‘The symptoms displayed by the men suggested acute brain disease to me and I was aware of the MRC’s national survey. I called Stoddart in Edinburgh and he sent up a chap named Gill and his research assistant, Dr Napier. I must confess I was quite surprised to get George’s letter saying that meningitis was being blamed but I didn’t say anything.’
‘Why not?’
‘I know my place,’ grinned MacLeod. ‘GPs are the equivalent of village idiots as far as the medical establishment are concerned.’
Bannerman smiled and asked, ‘Do you know Stoddart personally?’
‘I once taught him basic anatomy,’ said MacLeod.
‘I think he forgot,’ said Bannerman and MacLeod’s face broke into a huge grin.
‘I didn’t realize you had taught medicine,’ said Bannerman.
‘Just for three years,’ replied MacLeod, ‘I had a spell in Africa in the fifties, playing at being the saviour of the dark continent and then a lectureship at Edinburgh — a different sort of jungle.’
‘And that’s where you met Stoddart?’
‘He was one of my students. In fact I think I can say that I was responsible for directing Stoddart towards a career in pathology.’
‘Really?’
‘I didn’t want him getting his hands on any
Both men laughed.
‘It hasn’t stopped him getting to the top,’ said Bannerman.
‘Intellectual short-coming seldom does in my experience,’ said MacLeod.
‘So academia wasn’t for you?’ said Bannerman.
‘It certainly wasn’t,’ agreed MacLeod. ‘Academics are more institutionalized than prisoners in jail, only they don’t realize it.’
‘Why general practice?’ asked Bannerman.
‘I wanted to be part of a community, not something outside it. As a GP I’m at the heart of things. I’m in at the beginning and I’m there at the end. It was what I wanted to do and I’ve never regretted it.’
‘There’s not too many people can say that about their lives,’ said Bannerman.
‘On the contrary, Doctor,’ said MacLeod. ‘A lot of people
‘Point taken,’ conceded Bannerman.
‘Would you join me in a drink, Doctor?’ asked MacLeod, opening his desk drawer and taking out a bottle. ‘But first be warned that if you should happen to say, “It’s a little early for me” I may be inspired to violence.’
Bannerman smiled and said, ‘I would be honoured.’
MacLeod poured the whisky and Bannerman asked, ‘What happened about the examination of the bodies?’
‘They were taken to the small cottage hospital facility we have at Stobmor. Dr Gill performed elementary examinations and then Dr Napier took over the brunt of the laboratory work while Gill went around asking questions. After a few days it was decided that the bodies would be taken to Edinburgh for full autopsy.’
‘I didn’t realize you had a hospital in the area,’ said Bannerman.
‘It’s more of a clinic, really,’ replied MacLeod. ‘But we have a nursing sister and it’s somewhere where small or emergency operations can be carried out, should the need arise.’
Bannerman wondered about MacLeod’s ability to operate at his age but did not say anything. MacLeod smiled as he read his mind and said, ‘We can call on a surgical rota from Inverness and Glasgow.’
‘I see,’ said Bannerman.
‘And now you are going to ask me about the power station,’ said MacLeod.
‘I am?’
‘Yes.’
‘How did you know that?’ asked Bannerman who was increasingly enjoying MacLeod’s company.
‘If you are looking for a likely cause of mutation in a virus, you could hardly ignore the presence of a nuclear power station next door could you?’
‘Once again I have to take my hat off to you Doctor,’ said Bannerman, with a smile. ‘Has the presence of the station caused any health problems in the area?’
‘It’s hard to be objective,’ replied MacLeod. The population is so small up here that it’s difficult to gather meaningful statistics.’
‘You have a higher than average childhood leukaemia incidence,’ said Bannerman. ‘I’ve had a look at the figures for the area.’
That’s a good example,’ said MacLeod. Two years ago our figures were slightly below the national average.
