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know, I think one of the cases that the prop master held up looked a lot like that one. I remember thinking it looked like a candy shop.”
    “Well, then we know this one will work,” Annie said. “Which one do you like?”
    Alice rooted a bit, and then pulled out a small case covered in horsehair canvas and trimmed in reddish leather. “I think this is Hermes,” she said, examining the hardware closely. “Look at the engraving on the metal. It looks like it was done by hand. I’ll bring this one.”
    “Hermes?” Annie said. “Is that valuable?”
    “It’s designer and seems to be in nice shape,” Alice said, “but I don’t think it’s particularly valuable. Unless, of course, it contains a stash of cash or diamonds.”
    Annie shook her finger. “Don’t talk like that,” she said. “You never know what we might find.”
    Alice flipped the latches and opened the case. A creamy linen-covered tray fit down into the case with elastic straps running the length of the tray to catch small items you might not want rattling around in the suitcase. Nothing lay in the tray, but once they lifted it out, they saw a small bundle of sepia-toned photos tied in a ribbon. “No diamonds,” Alice said as she took the bundle from the case. “Just someone’s photos.”
    Annie took the bundle and gently untied the ribbon. “Oh, I recognize these,” she said as she leafed through them. “They belonged to my grandfather. Look, that’s him in his uniform.” She held the photos out for Alice to see. Her grandfather stood very erect; he looked so young and dashing. She felt a pang of melancholy that she couldn’t carry the bundle to her grandfather and have him tell the story behind each one. She had always loved hearing him tell stories. “My grandfather loved photos. I saw another bundle like this in Gram’s room. I’ll put these in with them.”
    “All right,” Alice said, “now you open your case. Maybe you got the diamonds.”
    Alice set her case down and held her breath as Annie snapped it open. The inside was completely empty. “Ah-ha, no mystery here!” Annie exclaimed. “Just an empty box.”
    “Oh well, I guess we can’t score a juicy mystery every time we come to the attic,” Alice said with a mock pout. “I think we should console ourselves with some more zucchini bread.”
    “That sounds good.” Annie looked over the pile of luggage. “Do you think we should take another case, just to help out? That young man seemed anxious to get enough.”
    “Oh, tempting fate,” Alice said, with a grin. “I’m game. I would cheerfully open them all. With your history in this attic, we’d be sure to find a mystery in one of them! Are you sure you want to open another one?”
    Annie pulled another case from the pile. This small, hard-sided valise was covered in printed fabric. The background was charcoal gray with a small fleur-de-lis print. It was a pretty case, though faded. Annie liked the feminine quality it had. Her hand rested on the brass locks for a moment, and then she put it carefully back in the pile. “Let’s not tempt fate,” she said. “I think some zucchini bread is a better idea.”
    “Well, I would love to find a mystery, but eating sounds like a great backup plan,” Alice said, shrugging good- naturedly. They hurried downstairs to cut a slice while the loaf was still warm.
    Annie smiled as she looked back at the attic. Somehow it seemed like a victory to get out of the attic with nothing that anyone could possibly consider mysterious.
    They snacked on bread for a while, and Annie asked how the Divine Décor business was going.
    “When the tourists leave, I always have a bit of a lull,” Alice said, and then waved a hand in the direction of the window. “No one wants to go to any parties in this kind of weather. But it never completely dries up. My customers like to give little knickknacks for Christmas. In fact, my sister asked me to send her a couple things just last week. Which