“Yes, please,” Tim said while Sydney handed it to me.
I gave Sydney a look that I hoped she understood, motioning with my eyes to the box and then the backyard. When she started firing off questions at Tim and Sue, I knew she’d gotten the message loud and clear.
Distract them.
“Your backyard is stunning. Is that a tombstone over there?” Sydney asked, standing and making her way across the yard.
Tim and Sue stood and followed her.
I studied the box. I’d seen one like this in my Colonial America class in college. If it had been made the same way, I knew the inside of the box had a secret compartment somewhere.
Sydney laughed at something Tim said, causing me to glance over at them.
“Tim? Do you mind if I take a picture of this box? One of my old college professors had a box like this he’d found at an estate sale once. He would love to see this.”
Tim waved his hand at me. “Have at it, Mike.”
It wasn’t a lie. I would send the pictures to Professor Tully.
After snapping a few pictures, I found what I was looking for. I just needed something to pry the piece of wood apart and pray I didn’t break it. I took out the small pocketknife I always carried with me. I made sure to keep an eye on what Tim and Sue were doing with Sydney. They had walked off to the corner of the yard and out of my sight.
I gently pried the piece of wood until it popped off, and a small piece of paper dropped into the box. It didn’t appear to be as old as the box. I quickly opened it and read the two lines of numbers written on it.
Four, zero, one, four, three, two, seven, zero. The next line read seven, with a dash in front of it, five, two, seven, one, one, three, zero.
At the end of the line of numbers were two letters: R and C.
I took a picture of the writing and then took a picture of the piece of paper with the name R. COLLINS on it that had been tucked away with the spoon. I put my phone on the table and slipped the knife back into my pocket.
“Tim! Sue! Did you know there was a secret compartment?”
“What!” Tim said, rushing back over to the table. Sue and Sydney were hot on his trail.
“Yes, I was lifting the box over to look at the bottom and this small piece of wood fell out. This was inside.”
I handed the paper to Tim. Sue and Sydney stood there, transfixed on the paper in Tim’s hands.
“It’s more numbers and the letters R C.”
“That must stand for R. Collins, the name on that piece of paper,” Sydney said. “They must be dates!”
“That is amazing! Oh, Tim, this is so exciting. How in the world did we miss this?”
“If only we knew who R. Collins was,” Sydney stated as they all studied the paper, perplexed by the numbers.
I made a show of checking the time. “Syd, I didn’t realize how late it was. We’re going to miss our reservations if we don’t get a move on.”
With a confused look on her face, Sydney asked, “Reservations?”