Mrs. McAllister.\u201d Felix handed the box back to her. Mrs.McAllister frowned with disappointment. She insisted he take something for his troubles and fetched a grocery bag filled with apples for his daughter, Suzie. Afterward, she slumped into her armchair with a loud groan, clearly exhausted. Felix insisted that Mrs. McAllister call him next time she needed help and left her to rest. Later that day, Suzie rushed up to Felix with an excited grin. \u201cDad, look what I found under the apples Mrs. McAllister gave us!\u201d She showed him the same strange metal box. \u201cI think these dials are a combination lock, but I can\u2019t open it.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Suzie, I know you love old puzzle boxes and things,but we aren\u2019t keeping this.\u201d He held out his hand for the box. \u201cI\u2019m going to return it to Mrs. McAllister.\u201d Suzie was deeply upset, but Felix insisted. He marched back to Mrs.<\/p>\n
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McAllister\u2019s house with the box, but she didn\u2019t answer the door. With a frustrated groan, he tried the door handle. He yelled to Mrs. McAllister that he was coming in to return her box safely, then stepped inside. Mrs. McAllister\u2019s body was slumped in the armchair. Her eyes stared at the wall, unseeing and empty. \u201cMrs. McAllister!\u201d Felix shouted as he rushed to her side, but it was no good: Mrs. McAllister was gone. Felix forgot about the box until much later when he realized it was in his pocket. On a whim, he searched online for similar antique boxes. He swore when he finally found a match. This box was worth $250,000! Felix hadn\u2019t wanted to keep the box, but he couldn\u2019t return it anymore, and that amount of money would secure Suzie\u2019s future. He had to sell it, for Suzie\u2019s sake. In the meanwhile, Felix stored the box in a safe place. A few days later, Felix got a strange phone call. \u201cThis is Tim, Mrs. McAllister\u2019s lawyer. I\u2019d like to meet with you, as soon as possible. Are you available now?\u201d Tim\u2019s urgency made Felix wary, but he agreed to meet the lawyer at a cafe in town. Despite his unease, he was curious about why Tim wanted to see him. His confusion grew when he arrived and saw Mrs. McAllister\u2019s son, Henry, seated at a table with the man who had to be Tim. Henry glared at him when Felix joined them. \u201cI\u2019m going to cut to the chase, Felix. A precious heirloom has gone missing from my mother\u2019s house, a small box with some dials on the lid. You were the last person in her house and I wanted to give you a chance to do the right thing.\u201d \u201cYou think I stole from your mother?\u201d Felix yelled. \u201cMrs. McAllister gave the box to me as thanks for cutting her grass\u2014a chore you should\u2019ve done for her!\u201d \u201cMom would never have given you that box!\u201d Henry stabbed his finger in Felix\u2019s direction. \u201cIt belonged to my great-great-grandfather, a well-known politician, who commissioned it from a famous artisan! It\u2019s one of only two in the world! You\u2019re going to return the box to me and I\u2019ll give you $1000 for it. Deal?\u201d\u201dNo.\u201d Felix stood. \u201cYou\u2019re welcome to join the bidding when I put it up for auction. Goodbye, Henry.\u201d The next day, Felix went to a local auction house to have the box appraised. An earnest man with a snooty accent called Mr. Whitaker invited him into a back room for the appraisal. They were joined by a woman called Ellen. \u201cI can immediately verify that the craftsmen\u2019s mark on the underside is authentic,\u201d Mr. Whitaker said. \u201cThat means this is quite a notable piece, sir. One of only two in the world.\u201d Ellen leaned over to study the box. \u201cThat is quite lovely\u2026may I see your provenance documentation?\u201d \u201cExcuse me?\u201d Felix asked. A muscle twitched in the woman\u2019s cheek. \u201cYou need to provide a certificate of authentication, or any verifiable document that proves the artifact\u2019s authenticity and your ownership.\u201d \u201cUh\u2026I left all that stuff at home,\u201d Felix lied. He didn\u2019t like the turn this appraisal had taken. He took the box from the table and moved toward the door.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019ll fetch it and be right back.\u201d \u201cWe can\u2019t let you do that.\u201d Ellen sidestepped to block his path to the door. \u201cWe are obliged to notify the authorities of any\u2026irregularities concerning items tied to historical figures.\u201d Felix panicked. He dodged around the woman and Mr. Whitaker and rushed into the hallway. He reached the reception area just as an alarm started blaring. Felix felt like he was back on his high school football field as he dodged and slipped past guards who hurried to stop him. One caught hold of his arm, but he jerked free and raced out of the building and onto the street. He ran from there until his legs felt like jelly. Felix paced his sitting room as he pondered his next move. He needed to sell the box to invest in Suzie\u2019s future, but he couldn\u2019t do that without some kind of paperwork. He wished he could ask Mrs. McAllister about it. She\u2019d know exactly what documents he needed to prove provenance and probably be able to provide them too. Felix paused as he realized there might be a way to sell the box. It wasn\u2019t something he wanted to do, but he had no other choice. Felix selected some useful items from his toolboxes and then fetched his boltcutter from the garage. After Suzie went to bed that night, Felix crept out and broke into Mrs. McAllister\u2019s house to search for the documents he needed. A chill went down Felix\u2019s spine as he stepped into Mrs. McAllister\u2019s bedroom. It still smelled like her in here. Looking through her personal space felt creepy and invasive, but he forced himself to continue. He was halfway across the room when the bedroom light turned on. \u201cNot so high and mighty now, are you Felix?\u201d Henry crowed from the door. Felix turned. Henry was holding his phone up, and the flash flickered in Felix\u2019s eyes as Henry took photos of him. Felix raised a hand to hide his face. \u201cThis isn\u2019t what it looks like, Henry. I just need\u2014\u201d \u201cThe documentation for the box, I know.\u201d Henry smirked. \u201cMy family has a known connection to that box so the auction house contacted me after you tried to scam them. Of course, I told them you stole it\u2014\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s a lie!\u201d \u201cBut you can\u2019t prove ownership without proper documentation.\u201d Henry crossed his arms and widened his stance, filling the doorway. \u201cYou can\u2019t sell it either. I\u2019ll give you until 8 a. m tomorrow to hand it over, otherwise I\u2019ll call the cops.\u201d Henry stepped aside, and Felix fled from Mrs. McAllister\u2019s house. The consequences he now faced weighed heavily on him. He wished he\u2019d left the box in Mrs. McAllister\u2019s house the same day he found her dead. But she\u2019d wanted him to have it! Felix didn\u2019t believe Henry would stick to his word if he handed the box over. Thoughts raced through his mind. By dawn, he knew what he had to do. He asked his mom to come over immediately, then woke Suzie and told her to quickly pack a bag.<\/p>\n
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A few hours later, they all stood at the front door. He\u2019d explained everything, and now they had to say goodbye. Felix gave the box to Suzie. \u201cSell it as soon as you can. Don\u2019t take anything less than 100, 000 dollars for it, okay? This is the only way to get clear of this mess while still ensuring you get to live your life to the fullest.\u201d Felix hugged his daughter tightly and held back the tears forming in his eyes. Saying goodbye to her was one of the hardest things he\u2019d ever faced in his life. \u201cPromise me you\u2019ll live a good life, Suzie,\u201d he said as he looked into her eyes. \u201cStudy hard so you make something of yourself, and travel so you can see what the world has to offer you. Take care of your grandma\u2026family is important, and the elderly deserve our respect.\u201d Police sirens wailed in the distance. It was 8:30 a.m., half an hour past Henry\u2019s deadline. He suspected those sirens were coming for him. He watched Mom and Suzie pull out of the driveway as the police sirens grew closer and closer. He took some comfort from knowing they were clear of this mess when the cops arrested him. Despite Henry\u2019s threats, the charges against Felix were complicated by legal technicalities. Since the box was now missing, key parts of Henry\u2019s case were in doubt. Felix spent four months in a holding cell awaiting his court date. One day, a guard told him someone posted his bail. Felix was deeply confused. He followed the man to the front section of the prison, where Suzie was waiting for him. They walked outside together. Mom was parked at the curb, waiting for them. \u201cOkay, Suzie, I can\u2019t wait anymore,\u201d Felix said as they got into the car. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d \u201cWell, I didn\u2019t listen to you about the box.\u201d Suzie smiled sheepishly. \u201cInstead, I figured out how to open it. Inside it was a certificate of authentication, and a note from Mrs. McAllister. She really wanted you to have that box, Dad. The note said so.\u201d Felix frowned. He still didn\u2019t understand Mrs. McAllister\u2019s insistence that he take the box, but Suzie wasn\u2019t finished, so he didn\u2019t get much time to mull it over. \u201cSo I showed the note to your lawyer, and then I took the box with all the papers to an antique dealer.\u201d Suzie grinned broadly. \u201cHe gave us enough money for it to post bail and we still have $100,000 left!\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs. McAllister.\u201d Felix handed the box back to her. Mrs.McAllister frowned with disappointment. She insisted he take something for his troubles and fetched a grocery bag filled… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20474,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20473","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n