Chapter 4

"Mrs. Dunwoody, Doctor Blake filled me in and Doctor Kluk gave me his assessment. I don't want you to worry. Between the three of us, we will get this sorted but what I need from you now is permission to disseminate your medical information with Jean in the room," Doctor Harvey said. The three ladies were in one of the private exam rooms down at the hospital. Mrs. Dunwoody sat on the examination table, while Jean took one of the empty seats next to it.

"It is your right to your privacy. I do not need to be here," Jean told her husband's patient. She reached out and took the woman's hand.

"I don't have anyone left. My husband…" the woman stopped herself and squeezed Jean's hand. Jean looked at Alice. Neither one of them knew what had happened to her husband.

"I lost Christopher in the war. I know that handling things on your own can be overwhelming, but I also know that if you had wanted to stick your head in the sand, you could have done so. You went out and went to doctor's appointments all by yourself but you're not alone now. You're amongst friends," Jean told her. Mrs. Dunwoody heaved a sigh and said,

"Please go ahead Doctor and please call me Phyllis."

"All right Phyllis. Now, your diabetes had been relatively controlled on the insulin, but it seems that your kidneys are not functioning as well as they could," Alice started. There was a knock on the door and Alice looked confused, but she went to open it.

"Doctor Blake, talk about timing," the pathologist said.

"I got Danny to drop me off. They can handle the crime scene for a bit without me," he winked at her.

"I do have some information that may help you with that later. Phyllis said that Jean could listen in," Alice told him.

"Excellent. So, Mrs. Dunwoody, have they been taking good care of you?" Lucien asked.

"They have. Doctor Harvey was just about to go over a few things," Phyllis smiled.

"Well then let's hear it," he smiled and sat down on the second empty seat, next to Jean.

"As I was just telling Phyllis, her kidneys are not functioning as well as they could be. Doctor Kluk suggested dialysis, but as he noted it's really only a short-term solution," Alice was little blunt about it. Admittedly, she wasn't used to handling live patients.

"Indeed, but an excellent one to start with," Lucien tried to reassure his patient.

"What would a long-term solution be?" Phyllis asked.

"A kidney transplant. We would need to find a suitable donor so until we do, the dialysis will have to do. Of course, we will continue to treat your diabetes as well," he explained.

"Have you done one of these transplants?" Phyllis wanted to know.

"No, I have not, but the Americans did it in nineteen-fifty-four and I've been reading up on the procedure. I'll put a call into Doctor Kluk, so he knows what we have been discussing," Lucien told her.

"This is a lot to absorb," Phyllis admitted.

"Yes, it is. Do you have somewhere you can go to be with some friends?" Lucien wondered.

"My sewing circle. We're supposed to meet this afternoon," she told him.

"Excellent. Now, if you have any questions, you can call me or if I'm not answering, you can call here to reach Doctor Harvey. We will help you get through this. Alice, could you get the first dialysis appointment made, while I call Doctor Kluk?" Lucien asked.

"Yes of course. Phyllis, we need to head downstairs. I'll introduce you to the staff down there," Alice smiled and helped the woman down off the exam table. Phyllis thanked Jean and left with Alice. Jean followed Lucien down to the morgue.

"How bad is it? A transplant sounds…" Jean started as they walked into the thankfully empty room.

"It's not great. Phyllis had one kidney that didn't really work well before she was diagnosed with diabetes. I thought originally that it might come to something drastic, but I had hoped we'd have longer," Lucien frowned as he headed for the phone. He did not like to share his patient's information and there were laws against it, but Phyllis had agreed to allow his wife to listen in, so he felt he could answer Jean's question. His wife placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from picking up the receiver.

"You've done what you can do for her and you made sure that she got a second opinion. I know it doesn't help but sometimes I think you forget that you're human," she said. He turned around and pulled her into his arms.

"You remind me every day that I'm human. We have our faults, but being able to love is not one of them," Lucien told her. He leaned in and Jean met him for a kiss. There was that heat again that welled up between them. It was over almost as soon as it had started though. There was business to attend to. Lucien held onto Jean's hand while he dialed Doctor Kluk's number.

Meanwhile, Rose pulled up to the farm that Jean had given her the address of. Matthew saw her and gave her a look before heading over to her car. She quickly explained that Jean had put her in charge of the sandwiches.

"That was nice of her. The cadets are overheating and we're taking a break," her uncle explained. Rose could see the cadets in the shade of the trees.

"It is a sweaty one out here today, isn't it?" She commented as they both moved into the shade with the picnic basket full of sandwiches. Rose handed them out as an Aboriginal man approached with jugs of water in his hands.

"Thank you, Reginald," Matthew smiled.

"Anything I can do to help," he smiled back.

"Reginald, this is my niece, Rose. She took some time off of work to bring sandwiches. Would you like one?" The Chief Superintendent asked.

"Much obliged," Reginald nodded and Rose handed him a sandwich. That's when a lady, not much older than Rose, exited the house.

"I can't find any paperwork. I could have sworn that Mr. Arnold said it was in his desk," she announced to the police with a sigh.

"Mary, this is my niece, Rose. Would you like a sandwich?" Matthew asked.

"Oh yes, thank you," she smiled.

"No paperwork?" Rose asked.

"Mr. Arnold always promised that we'd be taken care of if something happened to him. He knew that he was struggling with his health. He was worried about the future of the farm," Mary explained.

"You work the farm?" Rose was surprised considering the fact that Mary did not have any sort of tan.

"I cleaned house for Mr. Arnold," Mary clarified.

"Arnold didn't have any relatives, did he?" Matthew asked.

"No. He viewed us as his family. Though I cannot say the same for the Wagner farm," Mary had a look on her face that told Rose all she needed to know – there was a dispute between neighbors.

"I sent Detective Davis over to the Wagners with Constable Benson. We'll see what they come up with. Would Arnold have let one of the Wagners into the house?" Matthew wanted to know.

"No, but then they know not to come on the property," Reginald spoke up.

"They do?" Rose was a little surprised. Matthew knew what was going on, but he could tell that Rose did not.

"They don't like people who don't look like them, do they?" The Chief Superintendent asked.

"Let's just say that Arnold told them a few choice words when they had a few choice words for me and the others," Reginald admitted. Almost all of the twenty farmhands were Aboriginal with a few Asians, children of those who had fled the Japanese invasion during World War Two. Australia's policies of the time were not what could be called enlightened. Old policies in place since the turn of the twentieth century meant that people of color struggled to find a foothold.

"Arnold sounds like a good man," Matthew said.

"He was," Reginald nodded. Rose looked at her uncle. Could Arnold's wishes for those close to him have gotten him killed?

To Be Continued…