Part XIX:
“There must be a key somewhere. We searched his pockets and found nothing. Where else would he keep it?” McKinley asked.
Hearing the response, in a soft woman’s voice, I thought I must surely have been dreaming. “I have never even seen what is inside. How would I know where he keeps the key?”
It was Loretta! That two-faced, no good witch! If you haven’t been stabbed in the back by somebody close to you, you can sleep easy knowing you have been spared the throes of this incalculable misery. There is very little worse than a person you confided in and trusted seeking to destroy the very trust you have bestowed. Fortunately, I kept certain secrets to myself.
“You can’t just start swinging axes, willy-nilly,” I overheard Loretta saying to McKinley. “If there is something inside, surely it may be fragile. It will be no use to us if it is damaged.”
“Then tell me what to do!” McKinley shouted, as if he was the one in charge here.
Eery quiet followed. I took some solace in the fact that they weren’t able to locate the key to my safe. After finding the seed to what amounted to no less than a magical plant, I took great pains to protect it. I was not about to let these criminals have access to my prized possession and the current subject of my life’s work.
To be continued…
