Decrease

Monday - September 13

Aunt Ruth grabs her coat and begins to button up, reminding Claire about the Population Control Administration Conference. "Now, dear, I expect you to be there. As I said before, this will be a momentous conference. So, it's extremely important that you attend. I will see you on Thursday, Claire. Give John my love, and tell him I'm so sorry I wasn't able to see him." She gives Claire a kiss on her cheek. Displaying a big smile, she opens the front door and descends the stairway. When Aunt Ruth takes the last step, she turns around to Claire and gives a gentle wave in the wind. Claire returns the wave along with a mixture of confusion.

As Claire watches Aunt Ruth disappear into the winter's cold, she wonders why Aunt Ruth reacted so strangely when she saw Daniel. Claire shuts the door and goes back to the living room to look at the photo once again. As she skims through the picture, she notices that Daniel is holding a folder in his hand with something written on it, but it's too small to read. She goes to the desk and retrieves a magnifying glass. She turns on the desk lamp for more light, then takes the magnifier and focuses it to read the folder. Suddenly, Claire gasps, drops the magnifier and photo onto the desk, and runs to the bedroom. Frantically, she begins searching for the mystery box that she had quickly stuffed under the mattress. Locating the box, she rushes back to the desk, sits, and quickly removes the lid to read the inscription. Picking up the photo and magnifier, she confirms that the folder in Daniel's hand reads, "Twenty-eight".

"Twenty-eight," she mutters.

Thinking there has to be a connection between the folder and the key, Claire picks up the photo in hope for some more clues. Carefully examining the photo with the magnifier, she doesn't discover anything new. Checking the back, she uses the magnifier to see if she has missed anything. As she nears the bottom she notices some lines, which clearly shows that something was erased. Claire turns on the computer and scans the photo in for enlargement. After scanning the front and back, she carefully looks at the erased area. Zooming in as large as she can to see what was there, she notices some lines that are not consistent with the erased lines. She opens a photo editing software, where she begins the tedious task of tracing the erased lines in blue, and then the other lines in red. When she finishes, she is shocked to see that the red lines create the number twenty-eight. Looking at the inscription on the lid, on the photo, and on the computer screen, Claire realizes that someone, somewhere, wants her to locate the folder that Daniel holds in his hand; but who?

Not knowing what to do, Claire heads to the kitchen to retrieve her cell to call me. She is startled when it begins to ring. She notices the call is from me. Telling herself to be cool, she inhales deeply so as not to sound suspicious. She answers my call on the fourth ring, and cheerfully says, "Well, it's about time you called. You missed your normal lunch time call. They must be working your ass off down there," as she chuckles, trying to cover up her true feelings.

"Well, hello to you," I say, "What have you been doing all day?"

"Just some housework and things of that nature," Claire replies, as she tries to keep her voice as calm as possible.

"Are you all right, Claire? Is there something wrong?"

Not wanting to hesitate too long, Claire responds, "Wrong? What makes you think anything is wrong?"

"Well," I continue, "you sound different, tired. Are you tired?"

Claire sits down at the kitchen table, and says, "Aunt Ruth was just here. She wants us both to attend the Population Control Administration Conference on Thursday. I explained to her that you're swamped at work, but she insists that I attend. I don't want to go, John; as you might have figured."

After careful consideration, I say, "Claire, I think it would be a great idea for you to go. We need to make sure that everything is fine."

Understanding perfectly what I meant by "fine", Claire pronounces a distinguishable tsk noise, then reluctantly replies, "I guess you're right, John. Everything will be fine. I'll go to the conference with Aunt Ruth on Thursday."