The box sat in the middle of the kitchen table unopened. It was mint green with small, pink flowers carefully, hand-painted over it. The police officer sat across from her Mother. He was silent, eyeing her expectantly, but didn’t dare make a move to open the box. With slow, shaking hands, her Mother uncovered it.
“It’s just a box full of s***!” shouted the officer, shoving it away from him. “This isn’t going to help us in our investigation at all!”
Her Mother didn’t say anything as she took the collection of odd items out one by one and laid them on the table in front of her. These were her daughter’s favorite things:
A dead rat. A baby pink ribbon was tied gently around the lifeless creature’s neck. His name was Nicolas and he was her first pet.
A gold chain with a circular white pendant that resembled a full moon. Given to her by her great-grandmother. She wore it to school every single day in the 2nd grade.
Locks of mousey brown hair. They belonged to her and her best friend. They were secured loosely with the pink ribbons the used to tie in each other’s hair.
A doll’s head. When she was 15, she ripped it from the rest of the doll’s body and burned it.
An ebony rose locket. Inside was a photo of her Father. She never met her Father.
A heart pendent. It was a bright orange and looked like something 4th grade girls would wear.
Teeth. Pulled from her mouth when she was 9. Her Mother recalls her not wanting the doctor to wash away the blood. She liked the way it looked like blood in a glass of milk. The doctor washed the teeth.
“No,” her Mother breathed finally. “I suppose this won’t help with the investigation.”