Chapter 6 - The Unmarked Envelope
Downstairs in the study, Mr. Bell was helping Sarah sort through a box of Clara’s old personal belongings that had been shipped from her city apartment.
The brass desk lamp cast a warm, yellow glow over the desk, but the corners of the room remained swallowed in gloom. Mr. Bell lifted a stack of receipt books, and beneath them lay something that made his breath catch in his throat.
It was a thick, manila envelope, completely unsealed, bearing no return address or postmark. Across the front, written in Clara’s frantic, rushed handwriting, were three words: If I vanish, check the attic.
“Sarah,” Mr. Bell whispered, holding up the envelope. “Did you find this in the boxes from the movers?”
May you like
Sarah shook her head, her face draining of color. “No. I went through those boxes twice. That envelope... it wasn't there ten minutes ago.”
They stared at the desk in stunned silence. The heavy oak door to the study was closed, and the only other entrance was a narrow hallway connected to the kitchen. Neither of them had heard anyone enter.
