Free Acceptable Risk by Robin Cook Page A

done in low relief. On it was written: Here lyes buried y body of Ronald Stewart y son of John and Lydia Stewart, aged 81 years Dec’d. oct. y 1. 1734.
    “Eighty-one,” Edward remarked. “Healthy guy. To reach such a ripe old age he must have been smart enough to stay away from doctors. In those days with all the reliance on bloodletting and a primitive pharmacopoeia, doctors were as lethal as most of the illnesses.”
    Next to Ronald’s grave was Rebecca Stewart’s. Her stone described her as Ronald’s wife.
    “I guess he got remarried,” Kim said.
    “Is Elizabeth buried in here?” Edward asked.
    “I don’t know,” Kim said. “No one ever pointed out her grave to me.”
    “Are you sure this Elizabeth even existed?” Edward asked.
    “I think so,” Kim said. “But I can’t swear to it.”
    “Let’s see if we can find her,” Edward suggested. “She’d have to be in this general area.”
    For a few minutes they searched in silence, Kim going one way, Edward another.
    “Edward!” Kim called.
    “Did you find her?” Edward asked.
    “Well, sort of,” Kim said.
    Edward joined her. She was looking at a headstone similar in design to Ronald’s. It belonged to Jonathan Stewart, who was described as the son of Ronald and Elizabeth Stewart.
    “At least we know she existed,” Kim said.
    They searched for another half hour but didn’t find Elizabeth’s grave. Finally they gave up and went back to the car. A few minutes later they pulled up in front of the old house. They both got out.
    “You weren’t kidding when you said it looked like the Witch House,” Edward said. “It’s got the same massive central chimney, the same steeply pitched gable roof, the same clapboard siding, and the same diamond-shaped panes of glass. And most curious, there is the same protrusion of the second story over the first. I wonder why they did that.”
    “I don’t think anyone knows for certain,” Kim said. “The Ward House at the Peabody-Essex Institute has the same feature.”
    “The pendants under the overhang are much more decorative than those at the Witch House,” Edward said.
    “Whoever turned those had quite a flair,” Kim agreed.
    “It’s a charming house,” Edward said. “It has so much more class than the castle.”
    Slowly they strolled around the aged building, pointing out its details. In the back Edward noticed a freestanding, smaller structure. He asked if it were equally as old.
    “I believe so,” Kim said. “I was told it was for the animals.”
    “A mini-barn,” Edward said.
    Returning to the front door, Kim had to try multiple keys before she found one that unlocked the door. As she pushed it open it creaked just like the outer gate to the compound.
    “Sounds like a haunted house,” Edward said.
    “Don’t say that,” Kim protested.
    “Don’t tell me you believe in ghosts?” Edward said.
    “Let’s just say I respect them,” Kim said with a laugh. “So you go first.”
    Edward stepped through the door into a small front hall. Directly ahead was a flight of stairs that twisted up out of sight. On either side were doors. The door on the right led into the kitchen, the one on the left to the parlor.
    “Where to first?” Edward asked.
    “You’re the guest,” Kim said.
    “Let’s check out the parlor,” Edward said.
    The room was dominated by a huge fireplace six feet wide. Sprinkled about the room was some colonial furniture as well as lawn tools and other paraphernalia. The most interesting piece of furniture was a canopied bed. It still had some of its original crewelwork bed hangings.
    Edward walked over to the fireplace and glanced up the flue. “Still in working order,” he said. Then he looked at the wall above the mantel. Stepping back, he looked at it again.
    “Can you see that faint rectangle?” he said.
    Kim joined him in the middle of the room and peered at the wall. “I see it,” she said. “Looks like a painting used to hang there.”
    “My thought