I spent that first night home from the hospital lying awake, staring at the ceiling and trying to convince myself that there might be an innocent explanation for my missing jewelry. Perhaps Lisa had moved the box for security reasons during my absence. Perhaps she’d taken it to have something cleaned or repaired as a surprise for my return. Perhaps I was confused about where I’d kept it, still disoriented from the stress and medication of hospitalization.
But by morning, I knew I was lying to myself.
The jewelry box had sat in the same place on my dresser for twenty years. Lisa would never move something so personal without asking my permission first. And the sick feeling in my stomach told me that my instincts about Nick’s character had been correct from the beginning.
I waited until Lisa left for work before approaching Nick about the missing jewelry. He was in the kitchen, making coffee and scrolling through his phone with the casual air of someone who didn’t have a care in the world.
“Good morning,” I said, keeping my voice carefully neutral. “How did you sleep?”
“Pretty well, thanks. You look like you’re feeling better.”
“I am, thank you.” I paused, gathering my courage for what I knew would be a difficult conversation. “Nick, I need to ask you about something.”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“My jewelry box is missing from my dresser. Do you know anything about that?”
Nick’s expression didn’t change, but I saw something flicker in his eyes—a moment of calculation before his features settled into a mask of confused concern.
“Your jewelry box? That’s weird. Are you sure it’s not somewhere else?”
“I’m sure. It’s been in the same place for twenty years.”
“Maybe Lisa moved it while you were in the hospital? You know, for security or something?”
“I asked Lisa last night. She doesn’t know anything about it.”
Nick shrugged, turning back to his coffee as if the conversation were of no particular importance. “I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe you should check with the cleaning service?”
“We don’t have a cleaning service, Nick. Lisa cleaned the house herself while I was away.”
“Well, then I guess it’s a mystery,” Nick said, his tone suggesting that mysteries were unfortunate but not particularly urgent problems to solve.
The casual dismissal of my concern confirmed what I’d already suspected, but I pressed him for a more direct answer.
“Nick, did you take my jewelry box?”
