The Plague Doctor Read Online Free PDF Page A

doodads and what-nots. Gradually, the house deteriorated, and the sisters grew into suspicious old ladies who peered from behind frayed lace curtains as the rest of the world passed by.
    I was really surprised that Ethan had been able to persuade them to rent him the apartment. They seldom went out anymore and rarely opened their doors to strangers. I finally decided that Doc Baxter had arranged it. He was one of the few people they saw. Doc still made house calls for some of his older patients, and he was especially fond of the old ladies. Their mother had been a good friend of his mother’s. Ties of family and friends were strong in our little town, and people had long memories. That alone was reason to behave yourself and not do something “unforgettable.”
    Ethan’s apartment was above the garage and consisted of two rooms originally intended as servant’s quarters. The stairway to the entrance was discretely turned away from the main house so that neither master nor maid could observe the after-hours activities of the other. For this I was very grateful because I did not wish to be seen or questioned by anyone. Cassie apparently hadn’t thought beyond the immediate necessity of meeting Ethan’s request. I wanted to keep us from being implicated as accessories after the fact.
    Cassie reached up under the eaves on the landing and retrieved the door key. The room inside was sparsely furnished. A wooden table had been placed in front of a large window in the corner. That was the sunniest spot in the whole place. The rest of the living room and the smaller adjoining bedroom, really only an alcove, was shrouded in shadows and gloom.
    Cassie pulled me over towards the table by the window where some expensive computer equipment was neatly arranged. Most of the stuff was state of the art and very sleek and compact. The computer itself was a laptop like mine, but newer and with more memory. The printer was a dilly—small and portable, it looked more like a ladies black plastic purse. There was also a scanner and something very unusual on the floor next to the table—a paper shredder. I wondered if the sisters Parsons had rewired the place for all of Ethan’s electronic goodies.
    Cassie turned on the computer, and I sat down in a rickety old wooden chair next to her to observe as she tentatively pushed buttons.
    â€œI think I’ve done it right. I wish I weren’t so nervous.”
    She wiped her palms on her jeans and typed in Ethan’s password. I didn’t ask and she didn’t tell me what it was. The screen flashed with a network logo, and then the letters “CDC” and a menu. Cassie read each selection carefully before she made her decision.
    â€œHere we go.”
    She moved the mouse and pointed at one of the titles on the screen.
    â€œInfectious Diseases Branch of the NCEH.”
    Another menu popped up and she breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m in, Mom. Now I’ll just type in his e-mail password and his user ID, and then I can send the message to his supervisor. Damn!”
    â€œWhat, what?”
    â€œI made a mistake…wait, there I backspaced…okay!”
    Dr. Ethan David McHenry’s mailbox opened up like a neon rose. There were at least thirty entries, but Cassie ignored everything except the messages from a Dr. Eloise Haywood.
    I was surprised that his boss was a woman. I had assumed that like most government agencies, the CDC was an old boy’s club. I can be sexist, too.
    Cassie moused over to the most recent message from Dr. Haywood and clicked. A brief message flashed on the screen.
    â€œEthan, here’s the info you requested. State’s getting antsy. Try to have something concrete for us ASAP, but CYA. E.”
    â€œNow Mom, here’s the part I’m not sure about. He said just ‘reply.’
    Where is…?”
    I squinted at the top of the screen and saw it as soon as she