My eyes
filled.
Daniel looked away respectfully.
“He loved you,” he said.
“I know.”
We searched the house.
Samuel had been there.
Drawers were open.
Cabinets emptied.
Floorboards pulled loose in the bedroom.
But nothing obvious was missing.
“What could he still want?” I asked.
Daniel shook his head.
Then I remembered something Claire had said.
The loose floorboard.
I walked into the living room.
“Where did Claire find the ledger?”
Daniel pointed toward the fireplace.
“Somewhere there.”
Several boards had been removed.
But not all.
One remained untouched beneath a heavy iron stove.
I stared at it.
“Daniel.”
Together we moved the stove.
Beneath it was a narrow gap.
Inside lay a small tin box.
Daniel whispered, “You have got to be kidding me.”
The box contained no financial records.
No ledger.
No money.
Only a key.
And a folded piece of paper.
The handwriting belonged to Evelyn.
Daniel unfolded it.
