Page 211 of Rangers Unexpected Return

Empty.

The Keeper had wanted us to find Emily’s letter.

He had wanted us to find the photograph.

He had wanted us to find the recorder.

Nothing about tonight had happened by accident.

I stood in the middle of what remained of the office, closed my eyes, and rebuilt the room in my mind.

The cabinet.

The desk.

The broken window.

The overturned chair.

Emily had hidden the envelope beneath the cabinet shelf.

The Keeper had somehow missed it.

Or he had left it.

No.

That didn’t fit.

He had set fire to the office after we opened the cabinet.

He hadn’t expected us to find the envelope.

So what had he expected us to find?

Something else.

I slowly opened my eyes.

The desk.

I had been so focused on the ringing phone that I hadn’t examined anything else.

“Mace.”

He appeared in the doorway almost immediately.

“You called?”

“I need your flashlight.”

He handed it to me without asking why.

“What are you looking for?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Fair enough.”