A Satin Christening Gown Hidden Away in a Texas Cedar Chest

I dialed with a steady finger and listened to the long-distance static crackling on the line.

A woman picked up on the fourth ring.

She said she was the classifieds clerk at the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

“I need to put an obituary in tomorrow’s paper,” I said.

“I’m sorry for your loss, ma’am,” the clerk said.

“Do you have the wording ready?”

“I do, yes.”

I read out Evelyn Bradley.