Michelle had been waiting all morning to open the box.
She wanted so badly to know what was inside, but she was also terrified.
If her dad had been hiding this box in the wall, then it must be something he didn't want anyone to find out.
Or something he didn't want her to find out.
She made herself lunch and then grabbed the key off the counter.
She was tired of waiting to see what was inside.
She pulled the box out of the wall and held the key in her hand.
With trembling hands, she put the key in the lock and then slowly turned it.
Taking the padlock off, she slowly opened the box.
She glanced inside.
To her surprise, she found about fifty letters that were all addressed to her.
"Please give to Michelle"
She noticed that it was in the same handwriting as the note she had gotten in the mail earlier.
She took out all of the unopened notes.
Why would these all be addressed to her and who would they be from?
She was just about to open one when the doorbell sounded.
She quickly shoved all of the notes back in the box and shut it in the closet.
She walked out to the door to see who it was.
She cautiously looked through the window and saw Detective Bradley standing there.
She opened the door and beckoned him to come in.
"What brings you here, Detective Bradley?"
"I have some bad news."
"Nothing worse than I have already heard this week I am sure."
"Someone stole the evidence from my office."
"Who would do that?"
"Well, that is what I am trying to figure out."
"You are not implying it is me, right?"
"Not exactly, but you did have motive. Maybe you wanted the evidence gone so we would have no proof he is really dead."
"Detective, there are so many reasons why I could not have stolen the evidence. Plus, I don't really care what you do now. I am figuring this out on my own."
"Have you found something else out?"
Michelle wanted to wait until after she read the letters to tell Detective Bradley about them, but considering he was already here, she decided to let him in on it.
"Follow me."
She brought him into her father's bedroom and pulled out the box she had already told him about.
"Did you find the key?"
She nodded.
"It came in the mail."
"Well, what was inside?"
She opened up the box and pulled out a letter. She handed it to him.
"There are a bunch more letters that are all addressed to me in this box. They are all in the same handwriting as the letter I got in the mail."
"Have you opened any to see what they say?"
She shook her head no.
He went to open the letter she had handed him.
"Wait!"
He stopped and looked up inqusitively.
"Don't you think if they are addressed to me, I should read them?"
He handed back the letter.
She opened up the envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper.
She began to read it out loud.
"Dear, Michelle
You have not responded to any of my letters thus far. I can assume you are reading them because your father knows what will happen if they don't get to you. Despite you not responding to me, I will still write and I will still watch you. If you do not respond soon, I will have to result to other measures in getting your attention. Trust me, you don't want that to happen.
Love, HV"
"Sounds like your father knew you had a stalker and decided not to tell you."
Michelle gulped back a sob.
Maybe her father really was dead.