“Well, two days ago, when I read about her death in the newspaper, I went to my files and reviewed the whole case.” He smiled. “I mean, you can’t be too careful, what with all these malpractice suits.” He shifted slightly on his feet. “Well, anyway, I wanted to make sure that I was clear of any negligence in her case. I didn’t even want the appearance of negligence. I mean, that’s all they need, these people and their goddamn lawyers, just appearance.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “But thank God, I’m clear on this case.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, there was nothing to it,” Dr. Clark said. “She came for two office visits. She was given a routine examination and pregnancy test. After that she was appropriately notified of her pregnancy. No medicines were prescribed, no course of treatment recommended.” He snapped his fingers. “In and out, like that.” He looked at Frank pointedly. “So there’s no goddamn way any shyster lawyer can nail me on a negligence suit. I’m like Caesar’s wife on this one.”
Frank continued to hold his pen over a blank page in his notebook. “When did she first visit your office, Dr. Clark?”
“May eleventh,” Clark said. “It’s all right there in my files. The visit lasted about an hour. I did an examination and a pregnancy test, and she was on the streets in no time.”
“Did she know she was pregnant when she came to you?” Frank asked.
“She suspected it.”
“She told you that?”
“She indicated that her menstrual cycle was off, that she was late.”
Frank wrote it down. “So, May eleventh,” he repeated.
Clark smiled happily. “At eleven oh five in the morning, to be exact. I keep very accurate records.” Then he noticed that Frank was writing in his notebook, and the smile vanished. “Now look,” he said, “I didn’t come to this funeral in order to be drawn into the investigation.”
Frank looked up. “Why did you come?”
“It’s a nice gesture.”
“What do you mean?”
“For the deceased person’s relatives,” Dr. Clark explained. “I always make it a policy to attend the funerals of my patients. It shows my sympathy. The relatives appreciate it.” He chuckled lightly. “I think it helps to protect you from lawsuits. The family sees you in your black suit. They see you mourning their dead loved one. It makes them feel grateful to you for being such a caring person. Nobody sues a kind, sympathetic doctor.” He laughed again. “I mean, it’s an inconvenience, but it’s worth it. I figure that over the whole life of a medical practice, it could probably save the average physician close to a million dollars in malpractice claims.”
“Where is your practice, Dr. Clark?” Frank asked.
“Midtown, not far from the Hyatt,” Dr. Clark said. “I’m in the book. Clark, Herman, M.D.”
“Are you an obstetrician?”
“Yes,” Clark said. “I usually handle the entire pregnancy. I expected to do that in Miss Devereaux’s case.” He shook his head. “I mean, if all she’d wanted was to confirm her pregnancy, she could have done that at home and saved herself a lot of money.”
“Why didn’t she do that?”
“She was very naive,” Dr. Clark said. “It was like talking to a little girl. I could hardly believe that she was eighteen.” He smiled. “And so beautiful. Her body, I mean, was stunning. Nothing childlike about it.” He pressed his hand against Frank’s arm. “Between us, she was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever examined. And let me tell you, my practice being what it is, dealing with the kind of clientele I have, I’ve examined some beautiful women.” His eyes drifted toward the grave. “What a waste. “ For a moment, he stared at Angelica’s coffin, then he looked back up at Frank. His eyes widened somewhat, as if he were seeing him for the first time. “My word, what happened to you?”
“What?”
“Your face, my dear man. What happened to your face?”
“Nothing much.”
“Well, I hope you got some medical attention for that,” Dr. Clark said. He moved his hand to touch Frank’s face.
Frank flinched away.
Clark smiled oddly. “She was like you, jumpy.”
“Angelica?”
“Yes,” Dr. Clark said. “Of course, that’s sometimes the case. An examination of this kind involves a certain amount of intimacy. It isn’t unusual for a woman to be a little nervous.”
“But Angelica was more than that?” Frank asked.
“A good deal more,” Dr. Clark said.
“How long did the examination take?” Frank asked bluntly.
Dr. Clark’s face stiffened. “What?”
“How long did it take?” Frank repeated.
Clark hesitated. “About an hour,” he said finally.
“You examined her body for an hour?” Frank asked coldly.
Clark’s whole body tightened. “It was my medical judgment that a routine examination was not enough.”
Frank jotted it down.
“My professional judgment,” Dr. Clark added nervously. “There’s nothing wrong with a more intimate examination if it is in the professional judgment of the examining physician.”
“Why did she need one?”
“I just thought she did.”
“Why?”
Clark’s lips fluttered rapidly. “What is all this? I’m not on trial here.”
“You wanted to see her, didn’t you?”
“What!”
“She was beautiful and you wanted to see her … touch her.”
“How dare you!”
Frank stepped toward him. He could feel the rage of every woman who had ever been stared at by a man.
Clark glared at him fearfully. “Now, look, I don’t have to submit to this.”
Frank realized that he was right, and he drew back and glanced quickly down at his notes.
“I am a professional physician,” Dr. Clark said haughtily. “I do not ‘look’ at women.”
“What did you find out in this ‘examination’?” Frank asked.
Clark took a deep breath, calming himself. “I’m not sure I wish to continue this discussion.”
Frank looked at him lethally. “You said she needed an examination. You gave her one. What did you find out?”
For a moment, Clark did not answer. He seemed to consider his options for a moment. Then he made a decision.
“I discovered that she was a very healthy young woman,” he said finally.
“Anything else?”
“Other than that she was pregnant, no.”
“Did she say she was married?”
“No.”
“What did she tell you, exactly?”
“She said that she’d missed her period, that she had always been very regular, and that she suspected that she was pregnant.”
“Anything else?”
“That she wanted everything to be kept in confidence,” Clark said. “Of course, that really was not in question. I always keep everything confidential.” He hesitated. “You know, it was odd.”
“What was odd?”
