??All I know is that they were staring at each other when I found them. Staring at each other from beyond the grave. ?
??That's a bit melodramatic, don't you think? ?
Jerry grabbed his wrist. ??You know what it is, don't you! I remember what you said. ?
??What are you talking about? ?
??Oh come on. The only thing you found strange about it was that the eyeball was in my yard. Like you knew it was supposed to be somewhere else. So spill it. What aren't you telling me? ?
He bit his lip. ??I think I'll have to show you. ?
??Show me? ? Jerry thundered. ??Just what the hell kind of secrets have you been keeping, anyway? ?
Sam didn't say anything further until they'd reached his basement. But when he did, he made Jerry promise not to reveal what he was about to see. While leading his neighbor to a stand with a cut-open burlap sack over it, he made small talk about the paintings in Jerry's house, and asked about the auction house where he had bought them. He didn't interrupt, waiting for Jerry to finish his answer before grabbing the edge of the burlap.
??I bought this piece a few years before you moved in, ? he said quietly, ??at an auction house in New York that specializes in a rather peculiar kind of artifact. ? With that, he raised the cloth, revealing the stylized head and trunk of a person. The head was built on a framework that Sam explained was a carved cocoanut. It's right arm, which was made from the woven branches and roots of several kinds of tree, was held in front, with the open palm facing up. The hand held a sizeable uncut emerald. It's left arm, however, was missing.
??And the missing left arm? ? Jerry prompted, his fingers a hair's-breadth from the place where it had been broken off.
Sam nodded. ??Yes. Well, you've already seen that. ?
??The tree root I dug up? ?
??The same. ?
??So the glass eye was originally part of the sculpture? ?
??It was. And you can imagine my surprise when it finally turned up under your new plum bed. ?
??Well, yeah. So what happened to it? Did Mousse break it off and bury it when he was a puppy? ?
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
