“What’s wrong with the number I called last night?”
“That line routes through security.”
“Of course it does.”
Theo stood.
“There’s also a note.”
When he left, I opened the envelope.
One sheet of cream paper.
Four handwritten lines.
Rue,
Belle would like you to know she has recovered her shoe.
I would like you to know I will not open the archive box without you.
If you decide you never want to see it, I will respect that.
Harlan
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
On the back, in purple crayon, someone had drawn a lopsided heart.
Inside it was written:
THANK YOU FOR THE COAT.
BELLE.
That decided it.
Not Harlan.
Not Eleanor.
Not the mystery.
The purple heart.
I went to the Meridian the following afternoon.
The old Meridian Theater had spent most of my childhood behind plywood.
I passed it hundreds of times without really seeing it.
