I needed to contact Detective Marcus.

I needed to know what he saw in that photo.

I remembered the reflection in the copper pot.

If you zoomed in on the polished metal, you could see the reflection of the pantry door.

The door had been slightly ajar yesterday.

Inside the pantry, on the top shelf, was a cardboard box.

It was a box Julian had told me never to open, claiming it held old tax documents.

And next to that box, barely visible in the shadow of the shelf…

It was a red leather handbag.

The same handbag worn by the woman who had disappeared three years ago from the downtown market.

The woman whose face had been on every local news station for months.

The woman Julian claimed he had never met.

I opened the cabinet and took out two white ceramic plates.

They felt incredibly heavy and fragile in my hands.

If I dropped them, Julian would know exactly how terrified I was.

I carried them to the dining table and set them down.

The silverware clinked against the wood.