Chapter 4 - The Doctor Who Never Looked Up
The brass key was warm from Evelyn’s hand. Naomi closed her fingers around it as the guards walked her to the gate. She did not look back until she reached the sidewalk. In an upstairs window, Evelyn stood behind the curtain, one hand pressed to the glass.
The next morning, Naomi went to a walk-in clinic and asked a nurse what could be learned from a photograph of the pills. The nurse refused to identify medication from an image but advised her to report the concern to a physician or pharmacist and preserve any remaining packaging. Naomi had no bottle left. Celeste had made sure of that.
At noon, Naomi returned to the neighborhood and watched a black sedan enter the Vale driveway. A man in a gray suit stepped out carrying a leather case. Dr. Peter Halden had been the family physician for years. Naomi had met him twice. He had never once looked her in the eye.
“Doctor, I’m worried about Mrs. Vale. Her medication has changed, and she’s having memory problems.”
He stepped past her. Naomi noticed a small blue stain on the cuff of his sleeve, the same shade as the ink on the document Celeste had carried the day before.
Halden stopped beside his car. “You should be careful about making accusations you can’t support.”
Naomi used the brass key at the back of the old library, where Evelyn kept personal papers. It opened a narrow cabinet behind a row of books. Inside sat a leather-bound notebook, a stack of bank statements, and an envelope marked FOR ADRIAN—ONLY IF I CANNOT SPEAK FOR MYSELF.
The notebook listed dates, visitors, and short notes in Evelyn’s careful handwriting. Beside three dates was the same phrase: H. came. New pills. Lost the afternoon.
Then she heard a click behind her.
May you like
Adrian stood in the doorway, holding a framed photograph.
“What are you doing in my mother’s private cabinet?”
