Dozens of boxes and plastic containers were neatly arranged and stacked in varying heights. From one cardboard box Madeline removed a small wooden music box made of burl maple with a burnished finish. A violin and horn carved from mother of pearl were inlaid into the wood and accented by a very subtle, light-colored border.
“Wow, look at this,” she said, admiring the box. She lifted the cover and then stroked the red velvet interior of the top compartment, which was divided into two sections. The right section contained the mechanism for playing music; the section to the left was empty. Underneath the main compartment was a drawer for storing valuables.
Madeline handed the box to Angie, who turned the wind-up mechanism. The chimes, like metallic raindrops, plinked out the recognizable melody of “The Blue Danube.”
“I’ve never seen this before.” Angie turned the box over in her hands, admiring it from all angles. “It’s so beautiful.”
“Was it your mother’s?” Madeline asked.
“I don’t know.”
It was a bit stuffy in the attic. Angie wished she had changed out of her dress into something more comfortable. When the song finished, she wound the mechanism once more. Again those notes chimed out, sad to her ears.
“I love the song,” Madeline said.
“I wonder why my mom never had this out?” Angie pulled open the bottom drawer, tugging just hard enough so the drawer came out entirely. She was about to put it back in when she noticed a slight gap in the bottom panel. Removing the panel revealed yet another compartment.
Something was inside.
Angie’s long fingers removed a colored photograph of a young girl—four years old, five at the most—wearing a pink short sleeve dress decorated with white polka dots, shirred detail at the waist. The brown-haired girl had doleful eyes but a sweet albeit sad smile, and a strangely deformed right ear that was almost non-existent.
Angie tried to the place the girl, but she was certain she’d never seen her before. The picture was taken outside, in some cityscape that Angie didn’t recognize.
Turning the photograph over in her hands, Angie gasped aloud. On the back, in her mother’s impeccably neat and distinctive handwriting, were words and a code that made no sense.
May God forgive me
IC12843488
Angie studied the message, then handed Madeline the photograph with the message facing up.
Madeline turned the picture over and studied it for some time. “What the hell is this all about?”
Angie couldn’t answer. She didn’t know.
CHAPTER 9
Exhibit D: Excerpts from the journal of Nadine Jessup, pages 13-22
I did the photo shoot today! Oh, wait, before I go into that I should re-introduce myself. I’m Jessica Barlow. Whadda ya think? Pretty sexy, huh? It’s got that Jennifer Lawrence ring to it I think. I mean, it’s the same number of syllables and everything. So no more Nadine Jessup. Ricardo now calls me Jessie and I think that’s super cute. Jessie Barlow. I like that.
Oh, and here’s the update on my phone and wallet. They’re gone. Like gone for good gone. Ricardo and I walked up and down the street and he asked a bunch of people but nobody had them. And they would have given it to him, too, if they did because he’s really respected out here. People looked at me different just because I’m with him. One gross guy actually tried to grab me and said something like how much for this fresh meat, something disgusting like that and Ricardo went off on him. I thought he was gonna rip the guy’s head off. But the bad news is my phone and wallet are gone and I’m not getting them back. I don’t have my license yet, but I did have a credit card, a student ID, all my money and now I don’t have any of it. FU*K YKWIM?
Ricardo took my jewelry (well, my mom’s jewelry) and he’s gonna sell it for me so I’ll have some money again. And then I should make money once I get an acting job, or something. And Ricardo says I’m DEFINITELY going to get hired.
And about Ricardo . . . here’s the big news on that. We kissed last night!!! It was incredible. He’s the best kisser, I swear. It wasn’t like I was expecting it or anything. It just happened. We were on the futon in my bedroom (yes, it’s my bedroom now), just talking. He’s so sweet the way he talks to me, how he looks me in the eyes. I was telling him something about my mom, I think. About how much she drinks and how I think she’s really messed up. Ricardo’s dad drank too much, too and he really got what I was trying to say. Then all of a sudden we were kissing. At first I was totally freaking out because he’s like way older than me, but my mom was like five years younger than my dad and I’m only seven years younger than Ricardo so that’s not such a big difference.