Gemstone Butterfly

Peggy pondered over a photo of a parked car with a vast beach in the background. Once again, the license plate was unreadable, as the car was photographed from the side. Another photo depicted a beach picnic at noon. The young man, with a slim waist and broad shoulders, sat cross-legged on the ground. The phone rang, and Peggy picked it up. It was Don Kimberly’s voice, saying, “Thank heavens, I’ve finally found you, Peggy.” “What’s wrong?” “This morning, I went to the office and heard a detective was looking for me. I thought before I talk to anyone, we should find out more about that letter, so I’ve been hiding. But I don’t plan to hide from you, and I don’t want you to think I’ve abandoned you to deal with this alone. I’ve been looking for you all day.” A wave of relief washed over her. “Oh, that’s nice, Don,” she said, “I’m glad you thought of me. Where are you now?” “Now,” he said, “I’m at a payphone.” She said, “I think you’re quite the photographer.” “Yes, I’ve done a lot of photography work.” “I have some film, I think we should – oh, I think we should enlarge a couple of them.” “Where did you get this film?” She didn’t answer. Kimberly said, “Oh – oh, I see.” “How long will it take?” “How many are there?” “Nine, but I think only two or three are important.” “No problem,” he said, “We can enlarge them to your satisfaction, or pick out the parts of the film you want to enlarge, then we’ll go out to eat. By the time we’re back, the prints will be dry. We can have a good look at them.” “Can you handle all this by yourself?” “Of course. I’m ready, I’ll come to pick you up shortly.” “Okay, but you have to give me half an hour to bathe and dress.” “I’ll be there on time in half an hour,” he said. Peggy hung up the phone, rushed to take a bath, her heart swelling with an unusual joy because Don hadn’t abandoned her, hadn’t left her to face these issues alone.