“It’s procedure,” Gavin said. “Humor me.”
So they all put on gloves. Park fumbled with his keys, unused to the tactile sensationof trying to handle them with gloves on. Then he opened the door.
The apartment looked the same as it had when Park had last seen it. The front door opened into a spacious living room, which looked like it had been riffled through but was otherwise mostly unaffected by whatever investigation had occurred here. The pillows on the sofa had moved from their usual spots and most of the DVDs onthe shelf near the TV had been put back in the wrong places, but otherwise, everything mostly sat where it should have been.
“Nice place,” Jackson said, looking around.
Park opted not to answer.
“Not much happened in this room,” said Gavin.
So Park followed Gavin into the kitchen. The crime scene unit had disturbed this room more than they had the living room. Park couldn’t pullhis gaze away from the knife block, where the large kitchen knife was indeed missing. A thin layer of dark gray dust covered the block and a good portion of the counter. Someone had yanked open every door and moved things around, which bothered Park immensely. He didn’t love the idea of anyone going through his things, but he disliked the idea of his things being moved from their proper place evenmore.
Jackson walked up behind him. “This must be driving you batty.”
Park shivered, both at Jackson’s nearness and his distaste for the situation. And because Jackson knew exactly why this bothered him. “They could have at least put the silverware back in the right section of the drawer.”
“Anything missing?” Gavin asked.
“Besides the big kitchen knife?” Park gestured toward theknife block.
“Besides that, yes.” Gavin’s deadpan was unnerving.
Park did a quick visual inventory. The blender he hardly ever used was tucked into the corner section of the counter. The dismantled parts of his coffee maker lay in the dish rack where he’d left them over a week ago. The toaster oven was where it should have been, as was the microwave. The magnets on the fridge were askew,but none of them seemed to be missing. He opened and closed each of the cabinets, and everything seemed to be in order there, too. He hardly had any food, but he hadn’t been home much, either. He saw an expired box of cereal in one cabinet next to a box of instant oatmeal. His dishes were still stacked neatly in their cabinet.
When he opened the cabinet that contained glasses and coffee mugs,Jackson said, “Jesus. Half of those were mine.”
“I just grabbed things when I moved out.” Park glanced at Gavin, who looked unfazed by this conversation, so Jackson must have explained this situation. “I don’t see anything missing. Out of place, sure, but I bet your crime scene unit is responsible for most of that.”
Gavin shrugged.
“You really are a robot,” said Jackson to Gavin.
“Just doing my job. You spot anything missing in the living room?”
“No,” said Park. “Everything seemed to be there.”
“No keepsakes? Knickknacks? Valuables?”
“I mean, I’ll look again if you want me to, but nothing immediately...wait.”
Park walked back into the living room and beelined for the little shelf behind the TV that held the few things he actually cared about. He’d purchasedmost of the living room furniture within the last five years and it had about as much sentimental value as a dust bunny, but this shelf was where he kept a few important mementos. The main thing was a small box, now covered in fingerprint dust, which he picked up and opened. Jackson walked up behind him to peer into the box with him. At first, Park thought about telling him to back off, butJackson seeing this didn’t bother him much. He didn’t have much to lose at this point.
Inside the box were two photos, one of Jackson by himself and one of Park and Jackson together, both taken in happier times.
“That’s my law school graduation,” Jackson said, taking the photos from Park.
Indeed, the photo of just Jackson showed him with his robes on, but unzipped, and he held hiscap in his hands as he looked off at something in the distance. He was laughing, and his face displayed so much perfect, beautiful joy. This was Park’s favorite picture of Jackson, and he kept it in this box so that no one would ask questions, but he could still look at it whenever he wanted. The other photo showed Park and Jackson the same day, this one with Jackson’s robes taken off, and they stoodwith their arms around each other, grinning. Park had a hand on Jackson’s chest, an affectionate gesture meant to show how proud he was.
“These went missing from my law school photo album,” Jackson said softly. “I should have known you had them.”
“Yeah, well.” Park looked away, feeling caught.
Also in the box was a watch Jackson had given Park as an anniversary gift. He’d had “J +P, 5 years and counting” engraved on the back.
And at the bottom of the box was a set of gold rings that Park had bought but never given to the one man who had meant more to him than the world. Park’s breath caught in his throat as Jackson’s gaze ran over them.
Jackson put a hand over his mouth. He must have recognized their significance. “I can’t believe you kept all this stuff,” he said.“You weren’t kidding last night when you said you wanted to...” But he closed his eyes and shook his head.
