Page 105 of Last Seen Alive

“Yes, I—”

“Good.” The delivery man turned around and went back to his truck, where another man had now come out the back. They unloaded a huge box with a picture of a barbecue on the side.

“I’m going to need a little help to understand why…” She gestured toward the delivery men.

“This case was a little personal for me with Claire being Shell’s sister. You never gave me a hard time. Never once asked if I could be objective.”

He was referring to the past when he’d questioned that of her.

“Maybe consider it an apology too.” He smiled, but it faded as Logan’s truck pulled into Amanda’s driveway.

“I should probably go.” Trent stepped outside. “But I’ll come back and put it together another time.”

“No you won’t. You’re not going anywhere.”

He’d already gone down a step. He turned around. “Why not?”

“Because you’re doing it right now.”

“I don’t want to get in the way.”

“You won’t be. You’ll be putting a barbecue together. I’ll go get Kevin’s tools out of the garage.”

Logan got out of his truck with a box in his hands. What was with the men in her life bearing gifts today?

She waved at him. He smiled back, but the expression dulled at the sight of Trent.

She backed up, letting them into her house, after directing the delivery men to take the barbecue through the side gate into the backyard.

“How are you holding up?” she asked Logan.

“Better than you might think, but I have my answers.”

“All of them?” She was surprised. There were answers that even she and Trent didn’t have, and might never. For one, where had all the stolen goods ended up from the heists? They had asked Nick for the names of his buyers before they left him, but he had refused to talk.

“I found a letter from Claire. She must have found time to hide it before… well, you know.”

“Probably the one originally in that safe deposit box,” Amanda said. “Where did you find it?”

“She stuck it between pages in our wedding album. I was feeling a little melancholy and looked at it this morning.”

“So happy you have your answers.” Claire must have been able to hide it before Nick got to the house. The lab ended up confirming yesterday that Claire’s prints had been on Logan’s house key, and even as Nick had testified, she had been inside before him.

“There was more.” Logan lifted the box he held. It had a lid. “Open it.”

She hesitated but did so. Inside was the most beautiful sight. A Fabergé egg, encrusted with gold and platinum, diamonds, and rubies. Trent stepped closer to her.

“Where did you get that?” he asked Logan.

“With the letter, Claire left me a key to another safe deposit box. Different place than we went, Amanda.”

She wondered if the key Claire left was a duplicate to the small brass one in her purse. They never did confirm where it belonged.

Logan went on. “The egg was inside with a card. It’s there if you want to read it.”

Amanda lifted the index card.

To the love of my life. I thought this was the most valuable treasure until I met you. Now I want you to have it.