I found my missing daughter’s bracelet at a flea market. The next morning, the police burst into my garden and said, “We need to talk to you.”
“Ghost hunt! We don’t know where this bracelet came from. People steal things. And then they resell them. Maybe someone found it in a donation bin.”
I can’t continue down this path, Natalie.
“Here’s the engraving,” I said, staring at him.
“Do you think this means anything? Do you think this proves she’s alive?”
“That means he touched her. Recently. Doesn’t that have any value in your eyes?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “She’s gone. You have to let her go.”
“What if that’s not the case?”
He didn’t answer. He ran out of the room, leaving behind steaming coffee and an air filled with a smell I can’t describe.
“Do you think this proves she’s alive?”
***
I didn’t have dinner that evening. I curled up on the sofa, clutching the bracelet to my chest, then checked my phone, even though I knew there would be nothing there.
My mind went back to the last time I saw her: Nana, barefoot, laughing while trying to grill a waffle and tie her hair up at the same time.
As a child, she couldn’t pronounce her full name. Savannah… she called herself Nana.
It stayed. It was sweet, and it was his. And she was mine. Still. Somewhere…
I fell asleep like that, the bracelet pressed against the pain I had never been able to relieve.
I curled up on the sofa and clutched the bracelet to my chest.
***
I woke up because of loud noises.
It was early. Too early for anyone to be at my door. I was still in my dressing gown when I opened it. Two officers were standing there: one older, with greying temples, the other younger and tense.
Behind them, three police cars were parked near the sidewalk.
Across the street, Mrs. Beck stood on her front steps and muttered, “Poor woman… ten years.”
“Mrs. Harrison?” asked the eldest.
It was early. Too early for anyone to be at my door.
“YES?”
“I’m Officer Phil. This is Officer Mason. We’re here about a bracelet you bought yesterday.”
” How do you know… ? “
“We need to talk,” he said. “It’s about Nana. Or… Savannah, her legal name.”
Felix appeared around the corner, wearing a tracksuit and half asleep. “What the hell is going on?”
“We’d like to get in,” said Officer Phil, his gaze fixed.
“We need to talk.”
“You can’t just show up like that,” said Félix, stepping between us.
Agent Mason spoke for the first time.
“Sir, this relates to an unsolved missing person case. The bracelet corresponds to a piece of evidence registered in your daughter’s name. She disappeared on May 17th, ten years ago.”
“That’s not evidence,” Felix retorted. “That’s nonsense. This is evidence…”
“You can’t just show up here like that.”
“Sir,” interrupted Officer Phil in a calm but firm tone. “We need to get her out. This conversation will go more smoothly if we separate you.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Wait, what? But why on earth…”
“Please,” Phil said softly, turning to me. “Where’s the bracelet now?”
I pointed to the table where I had carefully placed it the previous evening. Mason picked it up with gloves and placed it in an evidence bag.
“Where is the bracelet now?”
“It was recorded in the original file,” Phil explained. “It has been confirmed that your daughter was wearing it when she disappeared.”
“But how did you know who I was?”
“That stall was already under surveillance,” Phil said. “Stolen prescription. When my informant saw the bracelet, he reported it, but the vendor sold it to you before we could retrieve it.”
“This stand was already under our surveillance.”
“So he remembered you,” said Phil. “And you were the only one who inquired about the woman who sold him the property.”
“So… she’s alive? Is that what it means?”
Phil didn’t move.
“This means someone has had it. Recently. That’s all we can confirm at the moment.”
Phil was sitting on the edge of my chair as if he had done so a hundred times.
Mason clicked on his pen, waiting.
“Have you ever mentioned wanting to leave?”
“That means someone had it. Recently.”
