A spearfisher in a crumbling South American village makes a discovery that could change medicine forever. The timing could not be worse.

Most elderly people are friendly and charming. And then there is Mr Gibbenbury. And as if he wasn't cranky enough already, a strange phone call disturbs him.

Death sighed. It was a short sigh, with a small, almost musical overtone to it. Not one of those drawn-out, emotion-laden exhalations that her clients sometimes produced when Death, well, did her job.