A Plea

I called Dr. Hermann, the chief medical examiner of Volusia County, with the intent of begging her to reconsider or at least to explain how her office could so absurdly claim that my mother died of natural causes and therefore her death did not warrant an autopsy.

She didn’t answer her phone, of course. I left her a desperate voice mail message explaining why I was calling. I recited my name and phone number, repeated each three times, and closed by saying, “Please, please, please, Dr. Hermann. Please return my call.”