第4章 第6節 半分の真実
Half a Truth
The reel her father held was only half of the whole truth.
He explained why one half alone could no one.
On his tape, Edwin admitted planning the cannery fire.
But the name of the man who died was on the other half.
Without both reels, a lawyer could break the case apart.
"This is the reason your mother divided it," Thomas said.
She had made a place where neither half could be destroyed alone.
If one reel was found, the other still kept its secret.
Nora remembered the number on Gabriel's cold palm.
"He wrote thirty-seven, just before they killed him," she said.
Her father looked up, and his tired eyes grew sharp.
Every reel in the collection had been given a number.
He turned his half of the tape slowly in the lamplight.
On the side, in ink, was written the number 37.
This was the place where the two halves finally met.
Gabriel had left her the number that named this very reel.
"He was telling me your half was the key," Nora whispered.
The old had died protecting this .
Now Nora understood why he had pressed the key on her.
The brass key must open the place where the other half waited.
"We have one half and one number," she said slowly.
"Somewhere there is a lock this key was cut to fit."
Her father nodded, though the seemed to cost him.
"There is one place I have never told you about," he said.
Outside, the was turning, and the long night went on.