Instead I said, “Yes, she was one of a kind.”

Azalea turned back to the stove. “I’m going to be scrambling some eggs and frying up some bacon.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said. “I think I’ll head upstairs for my shower. I’ll be back down in about fifteen minutes.”

Azalea nodded, and I left her in the kitchen. Diesel followed me up, but he kept on going when I stopped on the second floor. He would make sure Justin was up in time for breakfast.

I was almost finished eating by the time Justin appeared. He ate quickly, explaining that he needed to get to the library before class to meet a friend for a study date. The way he bolted his food down, I doubt he tasted much of it, but I remembered the hasty meals of my own student days and forbore commenting.

Diesel and I spend three Fridays a month at the public library where I volunteer. I fill in as needed, helping with reference, doing a bit of cataloging, and running one of the reading groups for retirees. Today, however, was not one of those Fridays, so I decided to go instead to the archive and poke around some more in Godfrey’s papers.

By the time Diesel and I reached the campus, the building was open. I debated seeking Rick out and talking to him about Godfrey, but what pretext could I use? Nothing that wouldn’t make me sound like a tabloid journalist on the hunt, I realized. I decided to wait and see if a good opportunity presented itself. Perhaps Rick would attend the memorial service tomorrow.

We made it upstairs without Melba spotting us. I would just as soon she didn’t know—at least for a while—that Diesel and I were here today. I wanted to focus on Godfrey’s papers, and Melba would only be a distraction.

I shut the door behind us and turned on the lights. The boxes of Godfrey’s papers appeared undisturbed, and I hoped that the change of locks would keep them that way.

Diesel made himself comfortable in the window. I eyed the inventory as I sat down at my desk. Where to start?

I didn’t want to read more letters this morning, so I decided against starting on Godfrey’s business correspondence. While I sat there, I remembered the box of computer disks. I might as well see what was on them and start making an inventory of their contents.

I retrieved the box and set it on my desk. I pulled out one of the containers of disks from inside and opened it. They were the large floppy disks that hadn’t been used for years. Under normal circumstances these disks would cause a problem, since few people these days had computers that could accommodate them.