Rating: ★★★★☆ Tags: Mystery Detective, General, Fiction

So hurry up, get going, please do / And this time I’ll
teach you a thing or two
. The final words of Amy’s first clue.
How did I not see it?
‘If she’s framing you, why let you know?’ Go was still
staring, transfixed by the contents of her shed.
‘Because she’s done it so perfectly. She always
needed that validation, the praise, all the time. She wants
me to know I’m being fucked. She can’t resist. It wouldn’t be
fun for her otherwise.’
‘No,’ Go said, chewing on a nail. ‘There’s something
else. Something more. Have you touched anything in here?’
‘No.’
‘Good. Then the question becomes …’
‘What does she think I’ll do when I find this, this
incriminating evidence, on my sister’s property,’ I said.
‘That’s the question, because whatever she assumes I’ll do,
whatever she wants me to do, I have to do the opposite. If
she thinks I’ll freak out and try to get rid of all this stuff, I
guarantee you she has a way I’ll get busted with it.’
‘Well, you can’t leave it here,’ Go said. ‘You’ll definitely
get busted that way. Are you sure that was the last clue?

---

Where’s your present?’
‘Oh. Shit. No. It must be inside somewhere.’
‘Don’t go in there,’ Go said.
‘I have to. God knows what else she’s got in store.’
I stepped carefully into the dank shed, keeping my
hands tight by my sides, walking delicately on tiptoes so as
not to leave tread marks. Just past a flat-screen TV, Amy’s
blue envelope sat on top of a huge gift box, wrapped in her
beautiful silvery paper. I took the envelope and the box
back outside into the warm air. The object inside the
package was heavy, a good thirty pounds, and broken into
several pieces that slid with a strange rattle as I set the box
on the ground at our feet. Go took an involuntary quick step
away from it. I slid open the envelope.
Darling Husband,
Now is when I take the time to tell you that I know you better than you could
ever imagine. I know sometimes you think you are moving through this world
alone, unseen, unnoticed. But don’t believe that for a second. I have made a
study of you. I know what you are going to do before you do it. I know where
you’ve been, and I know where you’re going. For this anniversary, I’ve arranged
a trip: Follow your beloved river, up up up! And you don’t even have to worry
about trying to find your anniversary present. This time the present will come to
you! So sit back and relax, because you are DONE.
‘What’s upriver?’ Go asked, and then I groaned.
‘She’s sending me 
up the river
.’
‘Fuck her. Open the box.’
I knelt down and nudged off the lid with my fingertips,
as if expecting an explosion. Silence. I peered inside. At
the bottom of the box lay two wooden puppets, side by
side. They seemed to be husband and wife. The male was
dressed in motley and grinning rabidly, holding a cane or a
stick. I pulled the husband figure out, his limbs bouncing

---

around excitedly, a dancer limbering up. The wife was
prettier, more delicate, and stiffer. Her face looked
shocked, as if she’d seen something alarming. Beneath her
was a tiny baby that could be attached to her by a ribbon.
The puppets were ancient, heavy, and large, almost as big
as ventriloquist dummies. I picked up the male, gripped the
thick, clublike handle used to move him, and his arms and
legs twitched manically.
‘Creepy,’ Go said. ‘Stop.’
Beneath them lay a piece of buttery blue paper folded
over once. Amy’s broken-kite handwriting, all triangles and
points. It read:
The beginning of a wonderful new story, Nick! ‘That’s the way to do it!’
Enjoy.
On our mom’s kitchen table, we spread all of Amy’s
treasure-hunt clues and the box containing the puppets. We
stared at the objects as if we were assembling a jigsaw
puzzle.
‘Why bother with a treasure hunt if she was planning …
her plan,’ Go said.