Judy’s neck and sat down at the small table.
‘Good thing you called me when you did, I thought my bladder was going to burst.’
Judy placed bacon and tomatoes before him and sat down to her hard-boiled egg. He hated eggs first thing in the morning.
He unfolded the Mirror to look at the headlines. He usually read the paper on the bus on the way to school – he loved to leave it around the staff-room, to the disapproval of his colleagues who thought any newspaper other than The Times or the Guardian were comic-books - but he always glanced at the headlines at breakfast.
’Christ, listen to this,’ he mumbled through a mouthful of bread. ‘Six tramps eaten alive by rats. Late last night, police were called to a bomb-site in Stepney after passers-by had heard screams and the sounds of violent struggle coming from the ruins of the old St Anne’s churchyard. On investigation, the police officers discovered the remains of six bodies, apparently killed by rats, a few of which were still feeding on the corpses. The area was immediately cordoned off, and police, wearing protective clothing and assisted by a leading pest extermination company, combed the ruins for the rats’ lair but were unable to discover any trace of- the vermin. Earlier in the day, Karen Blakely, aged thirteen months, and her dog, were attacked and killed by rats in their home. The girl’s mother, Paula Blakely, is still in hospital under sedation and is now said to be seriously ill
An inquiry committee will be set up to...’ Harris finished reading the article in silence and Judy came round and leaned over his shoulder.
‘It’s awful.’ She shuddered and pressed close to him. ‘How can that sort of thing happen in this day and age?’
‘I knowthere’s still some terrible slums left, but I didn’t realise that they were bad enough to breed anything like this.’ He shook his head in puzzlement. ‘That must be the woman I saw in hospital yesterday. And Keogh. He said he saw two enormous rats. Perhaps he wasn’t exaggerating after all.
What the hell’s happening?’
They both got dressed and left the fiat. As they were both going in opposite directions, Harris to the East End, Judy to the big department store for which she
‘created’ fashions in the West End, they kissed goodbye in the street and went their separate ways.
On the bus Harris pondered on the question of rats and wondered if the three incidents were connected.
‘Was it just coincidence or were they tied up in some way? Could it have been the same rats or were they different groups? He decided he’d question Keogh further about his two rats when he remembered the boy wouldn’t be in that day. Well, nevermind, tomorrow would do.
But there wasn’t a tomorrow for Keogh. When Harris reached the school he was called into the principal’s office and told that the boy had been rushed to hospital the previous night with a severe fever and was at that moment in a critical condition. The hospital had rung and asked if anyone else had been with him when he’d been bitten by the rat?
And could the teacher who had brought him to the hospital yesterday come along to see them?
‘Yes, I’ll just get my class organised and I’ll go over right away,’ Harris said to the worried-looking Mr Norton.
‘No, I’ve seen to that,’ said the headmaster. ‘You get going now. They insisted it was urgent. Try not to be too long.’
Harris left the school and made towards the hospital at a brisk pace. When he arrived he began to explain who he was but the receptionist had been expecting him and immediately took him to an office near the rear of the building where he was asked to wait. He had barely sat down when the door opened and three men strode in.
‘Ah, you’re the boy’s teacher?’ enquired the first man, walking around to the desk. His portly figure lowered itself into a chair with a weary slump and his tired eyes barely flickered towards Harris. He waved his hand at the two others before Harris could reply. ‘Doctor Strackley’ – the doctor nodded -
‘and Mr Foskins from the Ministry of Health.’ Foskins stretched a hand towards the teacher who shook it. ‘And my name isTunstall, I’m the Hospital Group Secretary.’ The man behind the desk finished his introductions glancing through a sheaf of papers. He stopped at one in particular, seemingly studying it closely, but at the same time asking, ‘Your name?’
‘Harris. How is Keogh?’
Tunstall looked up from his document. ‘You haven’t been told?’
Harris froze at the tone of the group secretary’s voice, ’I’m’ afraid he died during the night.’
Harris shook his head in disbelief. ‘But it was only yesterday that he was bitten.’
‘Yes, we know, Mr Harris,’ the doctor stepped forward and leaned on the desk, his eyes looking intently at the stunned teacher. ‘That’s why we asked you to come along.
You brought the boy here yesterday. Perhaps you could tell us how and where he received the bite?’
‘But you can’t die just from a bite. And in one day?’
Harris shook his head at the three men, ignoring the doctor’s question.
Tunstall spoke up, putting the papers finally to one side.
‘No, it seems impossible, doesn’t it? A post mortem is already being carried out to see if Keogh was suffering from any other illness at the time. We thought possibly the bite may have acted as some kind of catalyst for a hidden disease carried by the boy. But we’ve virtually discounted that theory now, although we’re still checking it out. You see, a woman was brought in yesterday too - you may have read about it in the papers; her child was killed by rats - and she was herself attacked by them in an attempt to save her daughter. She died two hours ago.’
‘But that means anyone who comes in contact with the rats and gets bitten by one...’ before Harris could finish, Foskins interrupted.
‘Yes, Mr Harris. Once a person has been bitten, they have about twenty-four hours to live. That’s why it’s essential to learn as much as possible about these particular rats. They’re obviously an unknown species, unknown to us inEnglandanyway. From what we’ve heard, their sheer size is quite extraordinary...’
‘We want to know everything the boy told you of’ the incident,’ said Tunstall impatiently.
‘Yes, of course,’ Harris nodded. ‘But how did they die?
What did they die of?’ He looked at each of the three men in turn. The room filled with an uneasy silence.
Finally, the doctor cleared his throat and looked at the group secretary. ‘I think it’s only fair that we take Mr Harris into our confidence. I think we can trust him to be discreet, and he may be able to help us if he knows this area well.’
‘I was born here. I know most of this region - and I know exactly where Keogh saw his rats.’
‘Very well’sighed Tunstall. ‘But understand, you must not repeat anything said in this room to anybody.
We’re not sure what we’re up against yet, and until we are, we must treat it with the utmost discretion.
We don’t want people to panic over something that may only be a rare occurrence.’
‘Like six tramps being eaten alive,’ interjected Harris.
‘Yes, yes, Mr Harris, we know it’s a bit frightening,’ said Foskins quickly. ‘But we don’t want people panicking do we? I mean, the first thing to suffer would be the docks, wouldn’t it? Heaven knows, the dockers don’t need much excuse to stay away from work so just think of what this sort of scare could do. And if foodstuff were left to rot in the warehouses and ships, what then? The whole waterfront would be infested within a few days. Vicious circle, Mr Harris, vicious circle.’
The teacher remained silent.
‘Look, we’ll probably overcome this problem before anything else occurs,’ Tunstall leaned forward, pointing a finger at Harris. ‘Now your help isn’t essential, but if you do want to assist us you must agree to silence.’
What brought that on wonderedHarris. He must be really worried. ‘All right,’ he shrugged. ‘I just want to know how Keogh and the woman died.’
‘Of course,’ smiled Doctor Strackley, trying to break the icy atmosphere. ‘The deaths were mused by an infection introduced by the bite of the rat into the bloodstream. The usual disease mused by the vermin is calledWeil’s Disease , Leptrospirosis or Spirochoetal Jaundice. We only have about ten or eleven cases of this a year in this country - it’s that rare. The organism that causes it, Leptospira Icterohaemorrhagae, is carried by rats and conveyed to man in their urine, either through the skin or alimentary tract. It’s an occupational hazard to workers in
