Grace rushed in to find Michael and the girls just sitting down to dinner. She was carrying the trash bin and balancing her shopping bags on top of it. Michael was dishing some sort of casserole onto Jessie's plate. He looked up and smiled, greeting her with a friendly "Hi."

Grace felt flushed as she stood in the hallway looking harried and feeling anxious. Alex and Michael looked at her quizzically.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," she answered, trying to sound light. She set the trash can in the hall. "I'll just put this stuff away and be right down. Dinner smells great," she shouted back as she disappeared up the stairs.

She set everything in her room and stopped to splash some water on her face. She stood in front of the mirror and breathed deeply in an attempt to shake off the apprehension that still clung to her. Impatient to talk with Michael, Grace headed downstairs. She wanted to see what he thought about the necklace, the note, and the picture. She could show the photo to Alex and see if she recognized the necklace, but not until she could reign in her own emotions.  She didn't want to upset or influence her in any way.

After dinner with homework, baths, and goodnight rituals behind them and with quiet once more restored, Grace poured herself a cup of coffee and joined Michael at the kitchen table. At first, she thought he was texting on his phone, but upon closer scrutiny, she realized that he was working on his appointments. He glanced up and saw her watching him.

"I'm changing some of my morning appointments, so I'll be able to take the girls to the bus stop for my mom while you're in Sausalito."

"Great!" she exclaimed as if an electric current had just run through her. "I mean that's great. Thank you."

"Grace is everything okay?"

"Well, I did want to talk with you about something, or maybe it's nothing."

He set his phone down and folded his hands on top of the table. Looking straight at her he said "Shoot."

She told him about Laura and the necklace and the note. She described to him how she had found the envelope in the picnic basket and what Alex had said about it.

"I know it doesn't sound like anything. It's just that the necklace seemed to upset Laura and now she and Scott are dead. This is the type of thing Detective Hillman said he wanted to know about right?"

Michael sat still watching and waiting. He could tell there was more she needed to say.

"When I was four and Laura twelve, our mother died from a fall." She took a sip of coffee to help regain her composure. She told him about her mother's necklace and how it had been lost and never found. She looked up at him and again saw that he was looking at her intently. Taking the picture from her lap and setting it on the table, she pushed it over in front of him. She told him where she had found it. "This is a picture of my mother. Laura enlarged it from the photo that's on the mantle in the living room. I think she wanted a better look at the necklace my mother's wearing."

Michael spoke for the first time, "Why?"

"That's what I want to know! Did it have something to do with the necklace she received? Could it have been my mother's necklace? How could that be, it was lost 24 years ago."

She suddenly stopped talking. The revelation had slipped out before her mind had consciously formulated the actual thought. "It could have been my mother's," she gasped.

Michael looked at the picture again. Kate was beautiful. Laura and Grace looked so much like her in their coloring, features, and piercing eyes. "Did you ask Alex if she recognized the necklace?"

"No, I didn't want to without talking it over with you first. Maybe I'm just being crazy."

"Maybe or maybe there's something going on here."

"What though?" There was a hint of panic in her voice.

"That's what we need to figure out. I think you should leave this picture on the table for the girls to see. Let them discover it on their own. They'll probably recognize it from the one on the mantle."

Grace nodded in agreement.

Reggie started scratching at the sliding door to be let in.

"Let's get some sleep and see what comes from this in the morning." Michael slid the door open as Reggie trotted in.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow." Suddenly she felt exhausted.

The morning came much sooner than Grace would have liked. The alarm went off piercing the stillness in the room. She had slept like a rock after all the emotional turmoil of yesterday. Sitting up, she felt the chilly morning air hug her. She got out of bed and quickly showered and dressed. Downstairs, she was hit by the picture lying on the kitchen table. As she tried to keep herself from going where she had emotionally been yesterday, she started setting the table for breakfast. Michael and Reggie were already gone, and Grace felt alone and empty inside. She wanted him to be here now that she had confided her concerns to him.

She heard footsteps overhead and realized the girls had gotten up on their own. She hoped they were getting dressed for school, and hurried to get some bread in the toaster. It wasn't long before she heard the clomping of all three girls rushing down the stairs, their high-pitched voices shattering any quiet that proceeded them.

"Good morning," Grace chirped.

All three girls answered at the same time. Charlie and Jessie climbed onto their chairs and immediately began fighting over the cereal box. Alex stood by her chair and appeared to be studying the picture. Jessie and Charlie took notice and looked to see what she was gazing at.

"We have that picture," Jessie said.

"That's my mommy's mom," Charlie added as she grabbed the cereal box.

Alex stood quietly still staring at the photograph. Grace finished putting the toast on a plate and headed over to set it on the table.

"That's the necklace! That's the necklace that was in the envelope, Aunt Grace!"

Grace stopped in mid-step. For the next few seconds, her world moved in slow motion. The plate seemed to drift out of her hands, while the toast floated in front of her, before gently falling to the floor. The sound of the plate shattering on the tile shook her from her trance.

"Oh no," she moaned, "let me get this cleaned up then I'll make some more toast."

The girls turned back to their breakfast. Alex poured milk for her sisters and herself. After Grace swept up the pieces, she put more bread in the toaster.

"You can eat your toast in the car. We're running short on time."

Sitting down next to Alex, she very carefully broached the subject of the necklace. "Alex, do you think the necklace your mom got in the envelope looked something like this, or do you think it looked exactly like this?"

Alex considered her question for a while. "I remember the charm was like this one," she said pointing to the picture. "Yes, I think it was just like this."

Grace could feel her heart trying to pound its way out of her chest. She picked up the picture. Running her hand gently over Alex's head she whispered, "Thank you."

Grace got her purse from the hallway and slid the picture in the side flap. Clapping her hands, she directed, "Okay, toast is ready. Everyone get your coats and let's go."

After dropping the kids off at the bus stop, Grace headed for the police station. She had made up her mind to tell Detective Hillman about the necklace. She was to leave for Sausalito the next day, and she wanted the police to know of her concerns before she left. She knew they probably wouldn't view the urgency the same way she did, but they'd have to see that it was something that must be checked out.

Detective Hillman greeted her with a warm smile asking how the girls were doing.

"They're back in school," she told him. "I think that getting back on a schedule has helped them cope with this big adjustment."

"That's good. I was going to call you this afternoon with an update. Actually, we've come to the conclusion that your sister and brother-in-law's deaths were a result of road rage."

He saw her surprised expression and knew she wasn't expecting to hear this.

"That doesn't mean we're not looking for the person or persons responsible, Grace. We're not closing the investigation, we've just decided on which direction to take it." He paused hoping to see relief replace the tense expression on her face.

"Something else has come up. I think my sister was being stalked."

"Oh, and what makes you think this?"

She told him all her concerns. She showed him the envelope, note and enlarged printout of her mother's picture. When she finished she sat back and waited. Hillman looked over the items she had handed him. After a few minutes, he looked up at her and smiled patiently. She was beginning to hate that smile.

"You haven't found the necklace that came in the envelope, is that right?"

Grace shook her head, starting to feel angry and silly.

He continued, "And the necklace your mother is wearing in this photograph disappeared years ago?"

"Yes," she answered through clenched her teeth.

"Well, I don't honestly think the two are related, but I'll have someone look into it."

Grace could tell he was trying to placate her. She stood up, thanked him in a terse voice and left. She wondered if Hillman disliked outsiders interfering in his investigations, or if he was a complete misologist. He did, however, keep what she had offered him as documentation of her concerns. No doubt to appease her. By the time she reached her car, she was ready to let the whole thing go.

~~~~~

Hillman shook his head as he put the items Grace had given him in the file. He understood that it was important, even necessary, for family members to stay involved. He also knew that the good intentions of relatives who wanted to help could set up smoke screens that might very well hamper an investigation.

~~~~~

Grace arrived back home feeling quite dejected. Rosa, who was always in a happy mood helped lift her spirits. Grace poured herself a second cup of coffee for the day and sat down at the kitchen table. She was working on a list of what she needed to do back in the Bay Area, in order to make her final move to Agate Cove. She hoped she could organize her list so that she wouldn't be away more than three days. The muffled ring of her phone broke her concentration. She pulled it from her purse and saw that it was Michael.

"Hello?"

"Grace, hi. I called because I need a favor if possible."

He sounded like he was outside. Distant noise interfered with the reception and a tunnel quality made her think she might lose him at any moment. She decided this wasn't the time to try and talk with him about Hillman; besides, she was still feeling embarrassed by his quick dismissal.

"Sure what do you need?"

"Could you pick Reggie up at the groomers? He should be ready by 1:30. I pushed in an extra job, so I'm running behind."

She realized he was fitting in appointments to help his mom with the girls while she was away. "Of course, I'll be happy to get him. Where's the groomer?"

After getting directions, Grace worked a while longer on her list and then decided to take a walk on the beach before she went after Reggie. The fog had lifted a little, and its thick pewter curtain had melted into a diaphanous veil of light gray. The moist air caressed her face, brushing away her melancholy mood. The waves collided with the shore in a thunderous symphony. Grace stopped walking and turned towards the sea. The wind tugged her coat away from her body and yanked at her hair. She grabbed her jacket, pulling it around her more securely. She closed her eyes and stood her ground, as she attempted to conjure up some vision of Laura and her mother. She raised her face towards the sky and asked for their guidance and help. Grace felt she could never measure up to Laura. She also had so many unanswered questions about her mother, that she was overcome by the full weight of responsibility and uncertainty, as it pressed down on her.