“That was around the time Gideon became ill.”
“Yes.”
“Why did he leave?”
“No one knows.”
Rosalie waited.
Whitcomb lowered his voice.
“There were rumors.”
“What rumors?”
“That Bell had been treating children with methods other doctors considered experimental.”
Rosalie’s skin went cold.
“What kind of methods?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how do you know they existed?”
Whitcomb looked uncomfortable.
“Because my father was a physician too.”
That surprised her.
“He kept records. Letters between doctors. Complaints.”
“Do you still have them?”
Whitcomb looked toward his upstairs rooms.
“Somewhere.”
“Can we see them?”
His hesitation was answer enough.
Rosalie stepped closer.
“Dr. Whitcomb, my husband has spent most of his life believing his suffering was unavoidable. If someone knew differently, he deserves the truth.”
Whitcomb studied her for several seconds.
