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She grimaced as she slid the duffel bag off her arm and handed it to him. “I hope I’m doing the right thing...”
“This is what you found?” he asked.
She nodded.
“And where was it?”
“Hidden in the wall of Remy’s closet.”
His head came up.“In the wall?”
That was part of the reason she was worried. If those things were truly innocuous, why would they be in such a strange place—a place where someone who had something to hide would put them? “Yes. After the power went off, I was looking for a lighter and I noticed a loose board above the high shelf in the closet. I hoped I’d discover pot paraphernalia or something. But it was this duffel bag and its contents.”
He seemed concerned and curious as he unzipped the bag and looked inside. Then, because it was probably tough to see with his body creating a shadow, he squatted down, set the bag on the beach in front of him, and pulled out the panties and jewelry that were inside. “Where do you think this stuff came from?” he asked in surprise.
“That’s just it,” she said. “I don’t know.”
He held each pair of panties up and checked the size, something she hadn’t thought to do, mostly because she’d been loath to even touch them. “They’re not from the same person,” he said. “At least, they’re not all the same size.”
That didn’t make her feel any more comfortable.
“I’ve heard of men who like to wear women’s underwear. Maybe Remy’s one of them. But that doesn’t explain the jewelry,” he said, looking at a heart necklace.
“What do you think?” she asked.
He seemed as bewildered as she was. “I can’t say with any degree of certainty. But... I can tell you what it reminds me of.”
The apprehension in his voice caused her heart to sink. She could tell he was reluctant to say, and she could guess why. “Trophies?” she volunteered.
He blanched but nodded. “Maybe itwasn’tRemy who put this stuff in the wall...”
“That’s what I want to believe,” she said. “But I found his notebook with it—not inside the wall but very close to the loose board.”
“How do you know it was his notebook?”
“His name’s on the cover. And I recognize his work.”
He pulled the photograph out of the bag, sat on the beach instead of squatting, and used his phone’s flashlight to study it.
“This is all so weird, isn’t it?” she said as she stood over him and watched. “Do you think whoever owned the cottage before Remy’s family might’ve left this stuff there? It’s possible he didn’t know what was right behind the wall when he put his notebook on that shelf.”
“His family has owned that house for three generations. These panties would look very different if they were from a hundred years ago,” he said.
“True.” The style and brands looked like those she’d been familiar with growing up. That was partly what alarmed her. The items inside weren’t that old. The jewelry made it possible to date them as well. “Who could that girl be? I tried using Google’s facial recognition software, but... I couldn’t come up with anything.”
He didn’t respond.
“Bo?”
“Hmm?”
“What’re you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I should keep this stuff and try to figure out where it came from.”
“No! What if it’s Remy’s and he tries to look for it?”
“That’s a good point. But if we return it to that hole in the wall, you’ll need to send me that picture, at least. It’s too dark to snap another.”
