episode_0151

Episode 151. Headless Corpse (1)

****

It’s a different sound from usual.

Who is it? It doesn’t look like Amy, Istina, or anyone else who usually comes in. I looked at the lab door with my eyes slightly squinted.

“Come in.”

The person who opened the door to the lab and came in was a soldier in uniform with a baton on his waist. Or maybe he was more like a police officer.

“Who are you?”

“Hello. I am Scipio Grazia, an officer of the Capital Police. Nice to meet you.”

I sighed.

“Are graduate students also subject to the Labor Standards Act? Medical professionals are an exception-”

The police shook their heads.

“What does that mean… … . Are you Professor Asterix? There are important suspects in the vicinity who have contracted an unknown disease and are in quarantine. I would like you to treat them.”

That’s fortunate. You were worried because you thought I was being taken away. If all you have to do is treat the suspect, it won’t be difficult.

This happens often in university hospitals.

When prisoners have illnesses that cannot be treated in the prison infirmary, correctional officers bring them in. Sometimes they come in handcuffs.

Sometimes, detectives get injured during an arrest, and the person ends up in the hospital right after the arrest.

“What kind of people are they and what kind of disease is it? Can’t you bring the patients here?”

“Can’t bring it.”

“Please sit down first.”

The police handed me a folded piece of paper, and I read what was written on it.

“So. Does this mean that these people are currently locked in the temple and receiving treatment, but are not in a position to be questioned?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think it will be like this every time. I don’t even know why you came to me.”

I know it’s hard to say, but you don’t usually go to the best doctor in the country to treat suspects. I think you’re hiding something.

Scipio scratched his head.

“It’s quite a hot topic in the capital. He’s a baron from an imperial bureaucracy that was popular. It would be best to resolve it thoroughly. It would also be right to treat him with courtesy until a conclusion is reached.”

“Didn’t those people give you extra money? If it were me, I would have done the same.”

If I were being questioned and isolated in a hospital, wouldn’t I have tried bribing the police to find a good doctor? I think I would have tried that.

Scipio thought for a moment.

“Yes. Thank you for your consideration.”

“Was the medical fee and bribe separate? Or did you receive the bribe including the cost of bringing her in?”

The policeman looked around with a somewhat anxious expression. Why did the cop get scared and act like that when he was the one over there? Was he just a timid person?

“Oh, I’ll take care of you too, Professor.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

I was just wondering if this cop really took a bribe. What matters is what disease this patient has. It would be much better to bring the patient to this hospital.

“Please tell me what kind of patients these people are. What was their situation? Is there anything unusual?”

“This is an ongoing case. I can’t tell you until you decide to see it.”

I nodded.

“I will take care of the patient. If you have any medical records or summary of the situation, please let me know.”

****

It is quite common for nobles to request a royal visit. Most of them refuse. It is much safer and has better results to just come to the hospital.

The only cases where you end up going to the king’s office are special cases. Like the last time when the Serullis family offered a large sum of money and asked you to come because the whole family was sick.

And like today.

I was riding in the security guard’s carriage with Amy. The officer gave me a copy of the patient’s medical record, which was written simply.

Amy flipped through her medical records.

“Amy. What do you think?”

“Isn’t it just pneumonia?”

Well, I’m not sure.

“First of all. My father has a deep cough, phlegm, and a fever, so it’s likely pneumonia.”

“Yes.”

“That’s right, but the rest is the problem. All four of them have different symptoms. The mother has a severe skin rash, the boy has intermittent difficulty breathing, and the girl has puffy eyes as her main symptom.”

“What the heck, is it? Is it a mental illness?”

“If he was faking it, he wouldn’t have bribed people to find a doctor. He would have just given it to the police.”

“It doesn’t make sense that four people have the same disease but have different symptoms. Should we assume that they all have different diseases?”

That seems like too much of a coincidence. I wonder if there is another common reason for getting other diseases.

“There are three reasons why disease occurs.”

“Oh, yes.”

“Diseases that occur without a great cause. Diseases that are contagious. And diseases that occur due to the surrounding environment.”

“What about trauma?”

That’s a sharp point. I thought about it for a moment. Maybe I should add trauma as a fourth.

“Anyway. Think about it carefully. Which of the four do you think caused our patient’s illness?”

“I don’t know.”

“Since the whole family suddenly got sick at the same time, it is likely due to infection or the environment. However, if there is no one around these people with a similar disease, it is likely due to the environment.”

“Then. If we look for infectious diseases that can cause skin redness, eye irritation, and intermittent breathing difficulties, excluding pneumonia as an exception or separately… … .”

“What is the basis for excluding pneumonia?”

These are not specific symptoms at all. They are just diseases that can easily be caused by a lot of pollen. We have to see the patient first to find out what’s going on.

It doesn’t make sense to take out the most important symptom. If you do that… … . Wouldn’t it be better to take out death from cancer and diagnose it as body aches?

“See you later.”

****

This incident took place inside the capital city walls. It didn’t take long to reach the destination. It was an ordinary small temple.

A policeman wearing a uniform similar to Scipio’s was leaning against the temple door and dozing off, looking very bored.

We walked to the front of the temple. The sleeping policeman stood up straight as soon as he saw Scipio.

“Hello.”

“Yeah. Was everything okay?”

“There was none.”

“Murder case.”

“I don’t know. I have no idea what that means, and it’s the first time I’ve heard of someone dying.”

“Go and sit down. I brought a healer to cure the suspect, so you won’t have to suffer for a few days.”

We entered the temple. I put on my mask. Where could my patient be…?

Scipio walked to the sickroom on one side of the temple as usual. There were four beds there. The four people from the medical records must have been hospitalized there, right?

The police nodded.

“Then. Go in and examine the suspect, and treat him. If there’s anything unusual or necessary, tell me or that guy outside.”

****

I went into the sickroom with Amy.

– During treatment with the Alaric family

That’s an unusual name.

The patient’s family’s room was not quiet. There was coughing and some talking. The latter subsided when we came in.

I first moved to the bed closest to the door. The first patient. The father of the family. We stuck our heads out from behind the curtain of the bed.

“Colok, ah, hello.”

This patient looked depressed.

He seemed conscious. His eyes looked a little tired, but there was nothing particularly unusual. There were no spots on his hands or feet.

The patient coughed several times. It was not a cough that you usually hear. If a dry cough comes from the mouth and a dry cough comes from the throat, this was a deep cough that came from the trachea or deep in the lungs.

Just hearing the sound makes me feel like I have pneumonia.

It doesn’t matter what kind of pneumonia it is, though.

“That, the healer, is that the doctor I asked you to come to? The security management unit earlier-”

“Yes.”

Hearing that, the patient let out a small sigh of relief. Amy opened her notebook.

“Oh my. That’s a relief.”

“When did your symptoms start?”

“It’s been a few days. I don’t remember exactly. My cough has been getting worse for a few days-”

The patient was coughing so hard that he couldn’t continue speaking. I waited for the patient to finish coughing and thought about it. What kind of pneumonia could it be? Are these families suffering from the same disease?

“Patient. Have you recently met someone with a cough or cold symptoms? If so, where did you see them?”

“Not at all… … . I’ve never seen anyone like that outside of my family. I don’t know why I’m so sick.”

“Did your family members start getting sick at the same time?”

“Yes, I think it was almost like that.”

The sound of Amy’s pen moving.

****

There are many types of pneumonia. There are many types of bacteria that cause pneumonia. There are pneumococci, tuberculosis bacteria, and mycoplasma.

You can look at sputum under a microscope, but whether that result is meaningful is another matter.

Phlegm comes out through the mouth, and there are countless bacteria living in the mouth. It is highly likely that only meaningless bacteria will come out.

What do you diagnose this with?

First of all, it doesn’t seem to be mycoplasma. The symptoms seem too severe for mycoplasma.

“Has anything special happened recently? Did you get stung by a bee or see mosquitoes in the house?”

The patient thought for a while and then opened his mouth.

“They said a headless body was found in the house. Cough, cough. For now, if the doctor can explain what it means… … .”

I asked him if he had been stung by a bee, and why he suddenly confessed to murder. It might have something to do with the patient’s illness, but-

“What do you say?”

“I have never killed anyone, nor have I ever cut off a person’s head and hidden the body.”