He pointed to a name written inside the cover.
Edmund Rook.
His father.
Gideon had been told that Edmund died when he was young. He had grown up believing that his mother had cared for him until her death, after which distant relatives took him in.
Rosalie turned another page.
A short note had been written in a different hand.
If the condition returns, seek the original instrument. Do not allow Dr. Vane to operate without independent examination.
Rosalie read it twice.
Then she looked at her husband.
What instrument?
Gideon shook his head.
He did not know.
Or he was afraid to tell her.
That was when the pain became unbearable.
He doubled over, clutching his ear.
Rosalie looked at the dark shape in the swollen canal.
She could no longer pretend it was a trick of the light.
Something was moving inside him.
Rosalie had never been a doctor.
