A gothic tale of morphine and murder in Flanders
Was it coincidence? Or was something more sinister behind the high death rate in the 38-bed geriatric ward of the public hospital in the picturesque Flemish Belgian town of Wetteren? Early last year, some of the nurses assigned to the ward, presided over by a short, plump nun named Sister Godfrida, of the Apostolic Congregation of St. Joseph, decided to compile a secret diary about the peculiar goings-on there. In their record they listed not only the continuing deaths and the circumstances surrounding each one but also various incidents of...