Chapter 3 — The Compass Behind the Dresser
Room 412 looked exactly as Robert had left it.
Bed neatly made.
Curtains open.
Ocean visible beyond the balcony.
Robert pointed toward a side table.
“The compass was there.”
Jason stared at the table.
Then toward the heavy dresser beside it.
His face changed.
“I moved that.”
Robert looked at him.
“When?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
Jason had moved the dresser several inches while searching for the old wall panel.
William crouched.
“Help me.”
He and a maintenance employee carefully pulled the dresser away from the wall.
Something metallic glinted near the baseboard.
Robert immediately bent down.
His brass compass.
He picked it up.
The glass wasn’t broken.
Only slightly dusty.
Robert closed his hand around it.
Relief appeared on his face.
Then anger returned.
“So you didn’t steal it.”
Jason nodded.
“No.”
“But you caused it to fall.”
“Probably.”
Robert looked at him.
“And if you had admitted entering my room when I first asked, we could have found it ten minutes ago.”
Jason had no answer.
William pointed toward the wall.
“Show us what you were looking for.”
Jason moved toward the window.
Near the floor was a decorative wooden panel added during the 2002 renovation.
He pressed one corner.
It moved slightly.
Claire frowned.
“That’s loose.”
A maintenance worker carefully removed it.
Behind the modern panel was an older wooden frame.
Then Jason saw it.
A narrow gap beneath the original window trim.
He reached in.
His fingers touched paper.
Jason stopped breathing.
Slowly, he pulled out a faded envelope.
The paper was yellow.
One corner had been damaged by moisture.
Across the front, written in blue ink:
MELISSA.
Jason stared at it.
“That’s my mother.”
Then he noticed a second line.
If you change your mind, meet me at the pier at sunrise.
Below it was one name.
Mark.
Jason went completely still.
Robert asked:
“Who’s Mark?”
Jason’s voice was barely audible.
“My father.”