I Still Dream About You

A Lost Object

MAGGIE WAS ANXIOUS TO GET CRESTVIEW ON THE MARKET AS soon as possible, and she had hired Griggs Roofing, the company they always used, to inspect the slate roof. On Saturday morning, when Maggie drove up to the house, she saw that Mr. Griggs was already up on the roof working, and his ten-year-old son, Warren, was out on the front porch. He was a sweet little boy, and Maggie was happy to see him. As she headed up the stairs, she could see that he was busy playing with something. She assumed it was a toy or a ball, until she got a closer look, and then she almost fainted. The object he was scooting all around the stone floor was the missing foot!

Oh, Lord. She had to be very careful how she handled this, so as not to alarm him. She casually walked over and said, “Hi there, Warren.”

He held the foot up and shook it at her. “Hey, look what I just found! It’s a foot; it’s got toes and everything!” He rattled it at her again.

“Oh, yes, I can see that. Where did you find it, honey?” she asked, trying to remain as calm as possible.

“Down there in the bushes,” he said, pointing at the boxwood hedge. “I’m gonna take it to school on Monday. I think it’s a real dead person’s foot.”

Maggie smiled at him. “I know it looks real, but it’s not.”

Warren shook the foot again. “It looks like a real foot to me.”

“No, darling, it’s much too small to belong to a real person.”

He held it up and looked at it. “Are you sure?”

“Oh yes. You’ve heard of a lucky rabbit’s foot, haven’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, what you found is a lucky monkey’s foot.”

“A monkey foot?”

“That’s right. The lady who used to live here lost it when she was moving out, and she’ll be so happy you found it. I know she’ll want me to give you twenty-five dollars as a reward. Isn’t that wonderful? Give it to me, and I’ll take it to her right now and bring you back your reward, okay?”

Warren still seemed a little reluctant to hand over the foot, so Maggie added, “Why, she might even give you thirty dollars!” She had been prepared to go as high as fifty, but luckily, Warren settled for thirty.

As she drove back across town with the foot in her purse, Maggie was horrified. What was her life becoming? Just three days ago, she had stolen a dead body and lied to the police, and she had just shamelessly bribed an innocent child. Once you took that first criminal step, it was all downhill from there.

Brenda was waiting for her in front of the storage unit, and when she pulled up, Brenda opened the car door and got in.

“Where is it?” Brenda asked, looking around to see if anyone was watching.

Maggie opened her purse. “It’s in here,” she said, looking around as well. “Oh Lord, I feel just like we’re doing some kind of dope deal.”

Brenda took the foot out and put it in a small paper sack from Baskin-Robbins. “Got it.” As she climbed out of the car, Brenda added, “I just hope it’s the right foot.” And she walked away.

Maggie called after her, “What do you mean, ‘the right foot’?”

But Brenda didn’t hear her. Oh great, Maggie thought, now she was going to have to worry about that. Did she mean the right foot as opposed to the left foot? Or did she mean the right foot for that particular skeleton? Oh God, she was being punished for stealing that listing from another agent; she just knew it. Finally, Brenda came back out and walked over with a strange look on her face.

“Well?” asked Maggie. “Was it the right one?”

“The right foot?”

“Yes…”

“No, it was the left foot.”

“What? It can’t have two left feet.”

“No… it was the right foot, but it was the left foot. Anyhow, I hate to tell you this, but a toe is missing.”

“What? What toe?”

“The little toe. Didn’t you count the toes before you put it in your purse?”

“Nooo, I didn’t count the toes! Oh, Lord.”

“Well, just calm down, and look in your purse; maybe it got caught on something…”

“Dear God in heaven.” Here she was in broad daylight, searching for a dead stranger’s little toe in the bottom of her purse. But after a minute, she found it and handed it to Brenda. She would never be able to use that purse again, and it was brand-new. But at least they had all the parts in one place.