Miss Anna Dale, 22, of Plainfield, New Jersey, is the Edenton winner of the 48-States Mural Contest sponsored by the United States Treasury Department. Upon completion, the 12 × 6 mural will be mounted on the post office wall above the door to the postmaster’s office. Miss Dale did not get specific in discussing the subject of the mural. “Edenton has a rich history and a rich present,” she said. “I hope to capture both in the mural.” When asked about the concern some Edenton residents have expressed about an artist from New Jersey painting a mural for a Southern town, she replied, “It’s an honor to get to live in Edenton while I work on the mural so I can get to know the residents and hopefully give them a painting they can enjoy for many years to come. I’m very excited about the opportunity. I’ve already begun creating the proposed sketch for the mural,” Miss Dale said, “and will soon submit it to the Section of Fine Arts. Once I get approval from them, I can begin working in earnest. At that time, the public will be most welcome to come to the warehouse to watch me work. I hope I can create something that will make Edenton proud.” Miss Dale believes she will hear from the Section of Fine Arts sometime after the New Year.

I was transfixed. By the words. By the photograph. I gently touched the old paper, soft as felt beneath my fingertips, and was surprised to feel my eyes sting.

“What happened?” I asked the air as much as Oliver. “Why did she just disappear and leave the mural behind? She sounds perfectly sane, but if she did go crazy, like Jesse told Lisa, do you think they locked her up, or…” My voice trailed off as I studied the photograph of the smiling young artist.

“Something clearly went wrong,” Oliver said.

“How did Jesse Williams end up with the mural?” I looked at the date of the article again. December 14, 1939. “He would only have been a kid then.”

Oliver shrugged. “I don’t think we’ll ever know,” he said.

“She looks and sounds perfectly sane,” I said again.

“She does.”

I sat back, my gaze resting on the photograph. I touched Anna Dale’s smiling face and felt something shift inside me. All I had wanted to do when I got out of bed that morning was come up with the quickest way possible through this job to get my fifty thousand dollars and stay out of prison. Lisa didn’t care as long as I could hang the mural on the wall by August 5.