His Secret Obsession
At the staircase, she embraced me one final time.
“I’ll return soon,” she whispered. “Until then, behave as though this conversation never happened.”
I watched her leave.
Only after returning to my bedroom did I unfold the handkerchief.
Something hard had been concealed inside its stitched edge.
I found a pair of scissors in the dressing room and carefully cut through the thread. A small brass key fell into my palm, followed by a narrow strip of paper.
A place, a day, and a time had been written across it.
Thursday. West gate. 4:10.