I signed the contracts and left for New York.

When I returned, the packet had disappeared from my desk.

That night I asked Helen and Meredith to accompany me to the study.

I opened the deep drawer beneath my filing cabinet where I kept old agreements and private correspondence.

There were annual reports, expired passports, and a cedar box containing letters from my father.

The packet was not there.

But beneath the cabinet was a slim locked drawer that I had not opened in years.