Della: A Drake T. Marlow Mystery by J.J. Starling

Author:J.J. Starling [Starling, J.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HP
Published: 2023-08-14T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

Early Monday morning, I went to the Dunbar home with my thermos of coffee, a dry piece of toast, and my usual assortment of accessories—binoculars, camera, notepad, and pen. As before, I parked between cars across the street and watched discretely through the open window. Within minutes, Mr. Dunbar pulled out of his driveway. I noted the time. The familiar gray Model A Ford drove into the driveway an hour later, and the same woman got out. This time, she wore a dark blue cloche hat she pulled low, obscuring her eyes and facial features. I snapped a photo of her arrival, waited for her to leave, then took another picture. The same scenario followed on Tuesday. This time because of a morning shower, the woman carried an open umbrella, again obscuring her face.

I dropped the roll of film off at Mr. Stills’s studio for development, then returned to the office and phoned Mr. Dunbar. Though I wouldn’t have the photos for another few days, he deserved an update on my progress. I made an appointment with him to come to the office after work on Friday when I’d have the photos, and we could discuss his case in more detail.

In the meantime, I phoned my former family physician, Dr. Homer. I hadn’t seen him since I returned and wanted to re-establish him as my family doctor. Plus, I wanted to ask him some questions regarding Della’s case. Fortunately, I was able to see him in the late afternoon.

~~~

“Drake, my boy, so glad to see you. I heard you were back in town.” Dr. Homer, a lean man in his sixties wearing his white doctor’s coat, greeted me in the reception room. His last patient had just left, and his receptionist was closing the office. His warm smile and sparkling green eyes were as welcoming as I remembered. “Come on back to the office.”

He led me down a hallway with several exam rooms on either side, then to a small compact office with a desk, two chairs, and bookcases crammed with medical books.

“Doesn’t look as though anything’s changed,” I said, scanning the room I was familiar with from childhood.

“Maybe not the look of the office, but things have changed dramatically since the Depression. Half of my patients don’t even come in anymore, thinking they can wait out their illness since they don’t have the money to pay for treatment. But that only leads to them getting worse, especially the children. I’ve tried to convince them to come anyway and that I’ll make provisions for payment, but most don’t want to be beholding.”

“It seems the Depression has taken its toll on everyone except those living in Palm Beach.” For that, I was grateful, given my line of work.

“But there is some positive news,” said Dr. Homer. “Last year was the first clinical trial of a new medicine called penicillin. It has great promise in treating harmful bacterial infections. If it pans out, we’ll have something that will save thousands of lives worldwide.

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