He allowed her to enter.
Gideon was lying on a narrow bed, pale but conscious.
When he saw her, he reached for the notebook.
Is it gone?
Rosalie nodded, tears running down her cheeks.
She wrote:
It’s gone.
Gideon closed his eyes.
For several seconds, he did nothing.
Then his shoulders began to shake.
He was crying.
Rosalie sat beside him and held his hand.
She did not tell him to be strong.
She did not tell him that everything would be fine.
She simply stayed.
After a while, Gideon opened his eyes and wrote one question.
Why would my father allow this?
Rosalie had no answer.
Neither did Dr. Whitcomb.
But the old medical notebook contained enough clues to suggest that Edmund Rook had known more than anyone had admitted.
Before they left Bell Creek, Dr. Whitcomb made copies of the relevant pages.
He also gave Rosalie the name of a retired clerk who had once handled the Rook family’s legal papers.
