Hellier looked strangely shrunken. I dont understand, he muttered, shaking his head. I just dont understand.
You dont, agreed Warren. Youre wondering what has happened to medical ethics. Well come to that later. He tented his fingers. After a month I managed to persuade June to take treatment; there are clinics for cases like hers. She was in for twenty-seven days. He stared at Hellier with hard eyes. If I had been her I doubt if I could have lasted a week. June was a brave girl, Sir Robert.
I dont know much about the er the actual treatment.
Warren opened his desk drawer and took out a cigarette-box. He took out a cigarette and then pushed the open box across the desk, apparently as an afterthought. Im sorry; do you smoke?
Thank you, said Hellier, and took a cigarette. Warren leaned across and lit it with a flick of his lighter, then lit his own.
He studied Hellier for a while, then held up his cigarette. Theres a drug in here, you know, but nicotine isnt particularly powerful. It produces a psychological dependency. Anyone who is strong-minded enough can give it up. He leaned forward. Heroin is different; it produces a physiological dependency the body needs it and the mind has precious little say about it.
He leaned back. If heroin is withheld from an addicted patient there are physical withdrawal symptoms of such a nature that the chances of death are about one in five and that is something a doctor must think hard about before he begins treatment.
Hellier whitened. Did she suffer?
She suffered, said Warren coldly. Id be only too pleased to tell you she didnt, but that would be a lie. They all suffer. They suffer so much that hardly one in a hundred will see the treatment through. June stood as much of it as she could take and then walked out. I couldnt stop her theres no legal restraint.
The cigarette in Helliers fingers was trembling noticeably. Warren said, I didnt see her for quite a while after that, and then she came back six months ago. They usually come back. She wanted heroin but I couldnt prescribe it. There had been a change in the law all addicts must now get their prescriptions from special clinics which have been set up by the government. I advised treatment, but she wouldnt hear of it, so I took her to the clinic. Because I knew her medical history and because I took an interest in her I was able to act as consultant. Heroin was prescribed as little as possible until she died.
Yet she died of an overdose.
No, said Warren. She died of a dose of heroin dissolved in a solution of methylamphetamine and thats a cocktail with too much of a kick. The amphetamine was not prescribed she must have got it somewhere else.
Hellier was shaking. You take this very calmly, Warren, he said in an unsteady voice. Too damned calmly for my liking.
I have to take it calmly, said Warren. A doctor who becomes emotional is no good to himself or his patients.
A nice, detached, professional attitude, sneered Hellier. But it killed my June. He thrust a trembling finger under Warrens nose. Im going to have your hide, Warren. Im not without influence. Im going to break you.
Warren looked at Hellier bleakly. Its not my custom to kick parents in the teeth on occasions like this, he said tightly. But youre asking for it so dont push me.
Push you! Hellier grinned mirthlessly. Like the Russian said Im going to bury you!
Warren stood up. All right then tell me this: do you usually communicate with your children at second hand by means of letters from your secretary?
What do you mean?
Six months ago, just before you went to America, June wanted to see you. You fobbed her off with a form letter from your secretary, for Gods sake!
I was very busy at the time. I had a big deal impending.
She wanted your help. You wouldnt give it to her, so she came to me. You promised to write from America. Did you?
I was busy, said Hellier weakly. I had a heavy schedule a lot of flights conferences
So you didnt write. When did you get back?
A fortnight ago.
Nearly six months away. Did you know where your daughter was? Did you try to find out? She was still alive then, you know.
Good Christ, I had to straighten out things over here. Things had gone to hell in my absence.
They had, indeed! said Warren icily. You say that you found June a job and set her up in a flat. It sounds very nice when put that way, but Id say that you threw her out. In the preceding years did you try to find out why her behaviour had changed? Why she needed more and more money? In fact Id like to know how often you saw your daughter. Did you supervise her activities? Check on the company she was keeping? Did you act like a father?
Hellier was ashen. Oh, my God!
Warren sat down and said quietly, Now Im really going to hurt you, Hellier. Your daughter hated your guts. She told me so herself, although I didnt know who you were. She kept that damned patronizing secretarys letter to fuel her hatred, and she ended up in a sleazy doss-house in Notting Hill with cash resources of three shillings and four-pence. If, six months ago, youd have granted your daughter fifteen minutes of your precious time shed have been alive now.
He leaned over the desk and said in a rasping voice, Now tell me, Hellier; who was responsible for your daughters death?
Helliers face crumpled and Warren drew back and regarded him with something like pity. He felt ashamed of himself; ashamed of letting his emotions take control in such an unprofessional way. He watched Hellier grope for a handkerchief, and then got up and went to a cupboard where he tipped a couple of pills from a bottle.
He returned to the desk and said, Here, take these theyll help. Unresistingly, Hellier allowed him to administer the pills and. gulped them down with the aid of a glass of water. He became calmer and presently began to speak in a low, jerky voice.
Helen thats my wife Junes mother my ex-wife we had a divorce, you know. I divorced her June was fifteen then. Helen was no good no good at all. There were other men I was sick of it. Made me look a fool. June stayed with me, she said she wanted to. God knows Helen didnt want her around.
He took a shaky breath. June was still at school then, of course. I had my work my business it was getting bigger and more involved all the time. You have no idea how big and complicated it can get. International stuff, you know. I travelled a lot. He looked blindly into the past. I didnt realize.
Warren said gently, I know.
Hellier looked up. I doubt it, Doctor. His eyes flickered under Warrens steady gaze and he dropped his head again. Maybe you do. I suppose Im not the only damned fool youve come across.
In an even voice, trying to attune himself to Helliers mood, Warren said, Its hard enough to keep up with the younger generation even when theyre underfoot. They seem to have a different way of thought different ideals.
Hellier sighed. But I could have tried. He squeezed his hands together tightly. People of my class tend to think that parental neglect and juvenile delinquency are prerogatives of the lower orders. Good Christ!
Warren said briskly. Ill give you something to help you sleep tonight.
Hellier made a negating gesture. No, thanks, Doctor, Ill take my medicine the hard way. He looked up. Do you know how it started? How did she ? How could she ?
Warren shrugged. She didnt say much. It was hard enough coping with present difficulties. But I think her case was very much the standard form; cannabis to begin with taken as a lark or a dare then on to the more potent drugs, and finally heroin and the more powerful amphetamines. It all usually starts with running with the wrong crowd.
Hellier nodded. Lack of parental control, he said bitterly. Where do they get the filthy stuff?
Thats the crux. Theres a fair amount of warehouse looting by criminals who have a ready market, and theres smuggling, of course. Here in England, where clinics prescribe heroin under controlled conditions to Home Office registered addicts, its not so bad compared with the States. Over there, because its totally illegal, theres a vast illicit market with consequent high profits and an organized attempt to push the stuff. Theres an estimated forty thousand heroin addicts in New York alone, compared with about two thousand in the whole of the United Kingdom. But its bad enough here the number is doubling every sixteen months.
Cant the police do anything about illegal drugs?
Warren said ironically, I suppose Inspector Stephens told you all about me.
He gave me a totally wrong impression, mumbled Hellier. He stirred restlessly.
Thats all right; Im used to that kind of thing. The police attitude largely coincides with the public attitude but its no use chivvying an addict once hes hooked. That only leads to bigger profits for the gangsters because the addict on the run must get his dope where he can. And it adds to crime because hes not too particular where he gets the money to pay for the dope. Warren studied Hellier, who was becoming noticeably calmer. He decided that this was as much due to the academic discussion as to the sedation, so he carried on.
The addicts are sick people and the police should leave them alone, he said. Well take care of them. The police should crack down on the source of illegal drugs.
Arent they doing that?
Thats not so easy. Its an international problem. Besides, theres the difficulty of getting information this is an illegal operation and people dont talk. He smiled. Addicts dont like the police and so the police get little out of them. On the other hand, I dont like addicts theyre difficult patients most doctors wont touch but I understand them, and they tell me things. I probably know more about whats going on than the official police sources.
Then why dont you tell the police? demanded Hellier.
Warrens voice went suddenly hard. If any of my patients knew that I was abusing their confidence by blabbing to the police, Id lose the lot. Trust between patient and doctor must be absolute especially with a drug addict. You cant help them if they dont trust you enough to come to you for treatment. So Id lose them to an illicit form of supply; either an impure heroin from the docks at an inflated price, or an aseptic heroin with no treatment from one of my more unethical colleagues. There are one or two bad apples in the medical barrel, as Inspector Stephens will be quick enough to tell you.
Hellier hunched his big shoulders and looked broodingly down at the desk. So whats the answer? Cant you do anything yourself?
Me! said Warren in surprise. What could I do? The problem of supply begins right outside England in the Middle East. Im no story-book adventurer, Hellier; Im a medical doctor with patients, who just makes ends meet. I cant just shoot off to Iran on a crazy adventure.
Hellier growled deep in his throat, You might have fewer patients if you were as crazy as that. He stood up. Im sorry about my attitude when I first came in here, Dr Warren. You have cleared up a lot of things I didnt understand. You have told me my faults. You have told me of your ethics in this matter. You have also pointed out a possible solution which you refuse to countenance. What about your faults, Dr Warren, and where are your ethics now?
He strode heavily to the door. Dont bother to see me out, Doctor; Ill find my own way.
Warren, taken wrong-footed, was startled as the door closed behind Hellier. Slowly he returned to the chair behind his desk and sat down. He lit a cigarette and remained in deep thought for some minutes, then shook his head irritably as though to escape a buzzing fly.
Ridiculous! he thought. Absolutely ridiculous!
But the maggot of doubt stirred and he could not escape its irritation in his mind no matter how hard he tried.
That evening he walked through Piccadilly and into Soho, past the restaurants and strip joints and night clubs, the chosen haunt of most of his patients. He saw one or two of them and they waved to him. He waved back in an automatic action and went on, almost unaware of his surroundings, until he found himself in Wardour Street outside the offices of the Regent Picture Company.
He looked up at the building. Ridiculous! he said aloud.
III
Sir Robert Hellier also had a bad night.
He went back to his flat in St Jamess and was almost totally unaware of how he got there. His chauffeur noted the tight lips and lowering expression and took the precaution of ringing the flat from the garage before he put away the car. The old bastards in a mood, Harry, he said to Helliers man, Hutchins. Better keep clear of him and walk on eggs.
So it was that when Hellier walked into his penthouse flat Hutchins put out the whisky and made himself scarce. Hellier ignored both the presence of the whisky and the absence of Hutchins and sank his bulk into a luxurious armchair, where he brooded deep in thought.
Inside he writhed with guilt. It had been many more years than he could remember since anyone had had the guts to hold up a mirror wherein he could see himself, and the experience was harrowing. He hated himself and, perhaps, he hated Warren even more for rubbing his nose into his shortcomings. Yet he was basically honest and he recognized that his final remarks and abrupt exit from Warrens rooms had been the sudden crystallization of his desire to crack Warrens armour of ethics to find the feet of clay and to pull Warren down to his own miserable level.
And what about June? Where did she come into all this? He thought of his daughter as he had once known her gay, light-hearted, carefree. There was nothing he had not been prepared to give her, from the best schools to good clothes by fashionable designers, parties, continental holidays and all the rest of the good life.
Everything, except myself, he thought remorsefully.
And then, unnoticed in the interstices of his busy life, a change had come. June developed an insatiable appetite for money; not, apparently, for the things money can buy, but for money itself. Hellier was a self-made man, brought up in a hard school, and he believed that the young should earn their independence. What started out to be calm discussions with June turned into a series of flaming rows and, in the end, he lost his temper and then came the break. It was true what Warren had said; he had thrown out his daughter without making an attempt to find the root cause of the change in her.