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then she would have been nearly six foot in life. She was also a young woman, about twenty-five years old, no older, possibly younger.’
    ‘Again, very useful to know, there won’t be many six-feet tall women in our mis per files. Hardly any in fact . . . and possibly just one . . . but only if she is local,’ Hennessey added, ‘only if she is local. I do so hope that some day we’ll have a national missing person’s database . . . the National Missing Persons Helpline is a charity. It has been useful in the past but we need nationally held mis per records on the Police National Computer.’
    ‘Yes,’ Dr D’Acre replied softly, ‘that would make things much easier for all concerned. I am afraid I am close to completing here. All I can do now is remove one of the teeth and age it, that way I can tell how old she was when she died, plus or minus one year, and detach the skull and send it to the forensic science laboratory at Wetherby for facial reconstruction by computer modelling, so you might then have some idea of her appearance when alive . . . but as for cause of death . . . we will never know, not by post-mortem examination anyway. All information for your attention will be with you asap.’
    ‘A very interesting patient, very interesting indeed, and very popular with the reception staff and our visiting nurses.’ Dr Richard March smiled warmly at Webster as he momentarily took his eyes off the computer monitor on his desk. ‘Yes, got his details up on the screen. Old boy, died of respiratory failure.’
    Webster’s face broadened into a smile.
    ‘You find that funny?’ March’s smile faded rapidly.
    ‘Frankly, yes, I do, but not in a spiteful way, I assure you. What I mean is . . . what I find amusing is the term because what does “respiratory failure” mean but “stopped breathing”?’
    March chuckled. ‘I see . . . yes, quite true, but so many relatives of elderly patients need something more than “stopped breathing” and as doctors we can’t put “stopped breathing” on a death certificate, if we do then our credibility is out of the window. The term “respiratory failure” gives relatives a reason for death or a cause of same . . . but as you say, all it means is that the person in question just stopped breathing. It’s only used in the case of elderly people who are closely monitored up to the end . . . never on a younger, healthier person who dies suddenly. For that we have the diagnosis of Sudden Death Syndrome and in infants it is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome . . . but for geriatrics who have run their race and who die in their sleep, then “respiratory failure” it is. Mr Housecarl did contract a mild chest infection at the time of his death, but that might be because his immune system was shutting down and so allowed infection in. In the end, it was just the case that Mr Housecarl was one of those persons whose life had run its course and that was it. So “respiratory failure”, though I knew he was about to die because he had had a visit . . . his brother.’
    ‘A visit?’
    ‘Yes, people who work in terminal care often know when one of their patients is about to expire because they will report that a predeceased relative has visited them. You’ll hear it often in geriatric care, a nurse will approach her colleagues and say “Mrs Smith’s just had her visit . . . she won’t be long now”, and sure enough, within three or four days said Mrs Smith will die quietly, often in her sleep. In just that manner, when I last visited Mr Housecarl he told me that “Tommy” had visited him. Upon enquiring who “Tommy” was I learned that Thomas Housecarl had died in New Zealand some twenty years earlier. “Tommy” had appeared to Mr Housecarl and two days later he was deceased. And patients that receive such visits are lucid, not suffering from dementia.’
    ‘That’s very interesting.’ Webster sat back in the upright chair which was