“OK. OK. I’ll do it this afternoon. I know it looks simple, but I don’t want to break it or ruin the flap. This is sensitive work, my dear.”

“You’d think he was performing surgery,” Luna joked.

“It’s my kind of surgery.” Cullen made a face.

“What-ev.” Luna rolled her eyes. “Here, take a look at this.” She opened the wooden box. “It has some flyers, ticket stubs, and coins that look like they came from a carnival or something.”

Gaines peered into the box and moved a few of the memorabilia around with his pen. “I don’t suppose you used gloves when you opened the letter?”

Cullen’s face dropped. “It hadn’t occurred to me because I didn’t know it was going to be anonymous.”

“Good point,” Gaines replied.

“Do you think you can lift some prints off any of this?” Luna pointed to the contents.

“I could,” Gaines said. “But why? Do you want me to run them through AIFIS?” He was half joking, referring to the fingerprint data system.

“Could you?” Luna’s eyes widened.

“Not unless we believe a crime has been committed,” Gaines informed her.

“But what if there was but we don’t know it yet?” Luna asked, hoping he would oblige.

“I’ll tell you what. You put the pieces of this puzzle together, and we’ll review it.”

“Are you pulling my leg?” Luna asked.

“I wouldn’t dream of it. I’m serious. I know how your mind works and the rest of that woo-woo stuff.” He made a circular gesture in front of her.

“Deal?” Luna put out her hand for him to shake.

“Deal.” Gaines shook her hand. “Maybe you’ll have some info when you come out to Charlotte.”

Luna thought carefully. “We’ll have a lot of ground to cover between this and your renovation. Besides, I don’t know how much info I’ll have by then.”

“Well, we’ll just save your project until after you’re done with mine. How’s that?” Gaines asked.

“Sounds like a very good plan.” Luna was elated. They now had two projects to work on together. Any excuse to spend time with him. And Gaines felt the same way about her.

Gaines looked at his watch. “I’ve got to hit the road.” He turned to Cullen. “Thanks again, man, for putting me up at your place last night.”

“Any time,” Cullen replied, but Luna had her own ideas about future sleepovers. She was going to have one at Gaines’s house in a couple of weeks. She got all goofy thinking about it.

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

The next day